BARACK OBAMA

DETROIT (Reuters) - Mitt Romney edged ahead of rival Rick Santorum in Michigan's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday as the former front-runner fought to avoid a humiliating defeat in the Rust Belt State where he grew up.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were virtually tied at about 40 percent each with 10 percent of the vote counted in the Republican presidential primary in Michigan on Tuesday, according to early vote counts broadcast on television networks.

Faced with deep budget cuts, NASA is restructuring its Mars exploration program in order to scrap up funds for a possible robotic mission to the red planet between 2018 and 2020.

Sen. Olympia Snowe will retire at the end of 2012, leaving the dwindling group of moderate Republicans without one of their most prominent members.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday hit Republican presidential challengers hard during a speech at the United Auto Workers conference in Washington, most notably lashing out at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for his views on the auto bailout.

Here’s something you’ll never hear in the mainstream media: conservatism is the most popular ideology in the country, beating liberalism by a score of 2-1. And the numbers are there to prove it.

The nonpartisan Governmental Accountability Office said Tuesday Congress and the Obama administration should find ways to cut down on federal programs across agencies that overlap with each other.

There are very few things Rick Santorum and Democrats have in common, but both want liberals and independents to vote for the GOP hopeful in the Michigan primary tonight. Both just want it for very different reasons.

On Monday, Michael Moore assured MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow his Democratic friends in Michigan would cast a ballot in the state's open primary to aid Santorum, a move they believe will ultimately make it easier for President Obama to win a second term in November.

President Barack Obama will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a new trade enforcement agency to ensure the nation's trading partners, namely China, play fair.

The alleged plan would not involve sending land troops into Syria given the formidable power of the Syrian armed forces,

Rick Santorum offered a unique theory to what caused the recession: rising gas prices.

President Barack Obama's support among women has risen as the economy improves, according to an Associated Press/GfK poll.

President Barack Obama, following through on a promise to beef up enforcement of trade agreements, on Tuesday will sign an executive order creating a new government team to make sure China and others play by the rules, the White House said.

Republican voters in Arizona and Michigan will decide Tuesday who they would like their party to nominate against President Barack Obama. The contest in Michigan is seen as a must-win for Romney, who was born in the state and continues to face doubts about his campaign's central premise -- that he is best positioned to defeat Obama in November.

Mitt Romney faces a day of reckoning on Tuesday when Michigan votes to either grant him a big victory in the Republican presidential nomination battle or hand him a humiliating defeat.

As fashion connoisseurs and red carpet followers turned their attention to the 84th Oscar Academy Awards, the First Lady of the U.S. made a glamorous entry at the White House dressed in a dazzling sequined cream gown.

A Canadian company's decision Monday to proceed with part of a U.S. pipeline might end up muffling one of the Republicans' loudest arguments in this election year: that President Barack Obama has pursued failed energy policies.

The Obama administration will not swerve from plans to move into an advisory role in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Monday, despite the killing of U.S. advisers over the weekend that underscored the risks foreign soldiers will face as they rush to train Afghan forces.

Renown street artist creator of the famous Obama Hope image plead guilty to contempt in Federal court Friday; we examine a few other art-related crimes.

White House officials Monday welcomed TransCanada's plans to reapply for the Keystone XL pipeline and showed their support for the company's aims to build the southern portion of the controversial pipeline as a standalone project.