An NBC News poll shows that GOP presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are neck-and-neck in Michigan, Romney’s birthplace. Romney, meanwhile, has a comfortable lead in Arizona, which has a sizable Mormon population. Less than a week before Tuesday’s crucial Republican presidential primary in Michigan, a new NBC News/Marist poll shows Mitt Romney and [...]

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Violent protests left at least five dead and others wounded Wednesday as demonstrations over Quran burning intensified in Afghanistan. Police killed four people and wounded 10 others during protests in Parwan province, said Abdul Wassi Sayedkhili, a provincial council official. Health officials said a fifth person died and 10 others wounded [...]

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Erika Solomon AMMAN | Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:31am EST AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, trying to hammer the city of Homs into submission, on Wednesday killed 19 more people including two Western journalists in an onslaught that has caused an international outcry for intervention to end [...]

By Samuel P. Jacobs COLUMBUS, Ohio | Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:18pm EST COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) – Sporting his signature sweater vest and telling stories of his coal miner grandfather, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has struck a chord in the U.S. Rust Belt that is helping propel his once long-shot candidacy. Although he is [...]

By JONATHAN CHENG And CHRISTIAN BERTHELSEN The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 13000 for the first time in almost four years, though it failed to hang onto the gains through the day’s end. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pierced the 13000 level for the first time in almost four years, but traded largely below [...]

By Deepa Babington ATHENS | Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:18pm EST ATHENS (Reuters) – Support for Greece’s two pro-bailout parties has sunk to an all-time low, but pollsters predict the squabbling rivals will still scrape through upcoming elections with enough seats in parliament to push through the reforms demanded by lenders. With Greece finally clinching [...]

BY GEOFFREY T. SMITH, AINSLEY THOMSON AND COSTAS PARIS BRUSSELS—Euro-zone finance ministers early Tuesday agreed to an ambitious €130 billion ($172.1 billion) rescue deal that will see Greece’s private creditors take an even larger loss in order to put the debt-laden country on a sustainable footing and avert a catastrophic default. The agreement revolves around [...]

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being questioned Tuesday by French police investigating a suspected hotel prostitution ring. Strauss-Kahn arrived at the police station in the northern city of Lille, an Associated Press reporter saw. Police are probing a suspected prostitution ring in France and neighboring Belgium that has implicated police and other [...]

AP Feb. 21, 2012: An Afghan protester points towards a US soldier in front of the US base of Bagram during an anti US demonstration in Bagram north of Kabul, Afghanistan. KABUL, Afghanistan –  More than 2,000 angry Afghans rallied Tuesday against the inadvertent burning of Korans and other Islamic religious materials during trash disposal [...]

But Santorum, fueled by a recent trio of victories and sensing an opportunity to upset or at least bloody Romney with a strong primary finish of his own, is charging hard at a state that he says shares many of the same characteristics as his blue-collar state of Pennsylvania. Santorum pledged Monday that, under his [...]