BARACK OBAMA

Every now and then - for better or for worse - a new presidency ushers in a new American era.

In 2012, buzzwords will bow to the British royals with Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, forecast as the most-used word in the media, according to a group that surveys the English language.

The Obama administration scores another preliminary injunction against a state that has enacted a law attempting to drive out undocumented immigrations.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., finally broke his silence and suggested the House pass the extension of the payroll tax cut, which has been languishing on Capitol Hill since the Senate approved it on Saturday, while Senate Democrats contribute to a conference committee aimed at ironing out a long term deal.

The GOP field looks like a rogue’s gallery of losers to me.

President Barack Obama would defeat any of the seven Republican presidential candidates in Nevada if the general election was held today, according to an 8NewsNow/Las Vegas Review-Journal poll released Wednesday.

Ron Paul's 2012 run represents the best anti-Obama hope America has. Paul and Mitt Romney polled the best against President Barack Obama in a recent CNN / ORC poll. Paul polled best against Obama in an earlier NBC News / Marist Poll.

In retaliation for the killings, Pakistan closed off key supply routes into Afghanistan.

Occupy Wall Street registers as one of the biggest surprises of 2011. Despite constant criticisms that it lacked a concrete set of goals or demands, Occupy Wall Street's broad critique of economic injustice resonated with a country still grappling with the fallout from the financial crisis. A timeline of the movement.

There are only ten days left for Iowa - the first GOP caucus state to go to polls - and there are still no signs of a clear Republican frontrunner. Furthermore, given an erratic approval graph, the best chance for President Obama and his hopes of a re-election will have to be a weak Republican candidate. Keeping that in mind, the Democrats and Obama will be happy to face former U.S. Speaker Newt Gingrich rather than the former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney.

With House of Representatives Republicans under attack from friends and foes, Democrats held out for victory in a fight over extending a payroll tax cut for millions of workers that is set to expire at year's end.

Ron Paul's 2012 campaign is beginning to gather some serious steam. He has polled first in some Iowa polls and third in national polls.

President Barack Obama tried to budge a Congress currently deadlocked over how to bridge a divide between Senate and House plans for extending the payroll tax cut, with both sides seemingly stubborn in ceding middle ground.

Bank of Nova Scotia has applied to re-establish a presence in Cuba and a report says rival Royal Bank of Canada is considering a similar move in the wake of Cuban reforms and a thawing of the country's icy relationship with the United States.

Investigation had revealed that Countrywide had charged higher fees and rates for more than 200,0000 minority borrowers from 2004-2008, in the midst of the housing boom. Some 10,000 borrowers were also pushed in to sub-prime mortgages when others with similar qualifications got standard mortgages.

Barack Obama won an upset victory in Virginia in 2008, and many people believe he has no chance to win it again in 2012 with his approval ratings so low. But a new Quinnipiac University poll shows that Obama's position is stronger than one might think.

Several of the states that are applying for relief from provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law have submitted proposals that lack detail and evidence that they will produce substantive reform, according to a new report.port.

The unemployment extension for 2012 has not passed yet. Some politicians in Washington still call for lawmakers to work out a solution before Jan. 1, 2012. Many critics and unemployment benefits recipients, however, fear no deal will be made by then.

A near-record high rate of Americans is concerned about the threat of big government, according to a recent Gallup Poll, trumping worries over big business and big labor. While not a specific political barometer, the results offer a good temperature reading of the nation's mood -- and it could spell trouble for Democrats in 2012.

The International Business Times has compiled comprehensive profiles of the top seven Republican presidential candidates, with complete rundowns of their political positions, from Rick Santorum on abortion to Newt Gingrich on taxes. These profiles will be updated as the primary campaign continues.

Europe's highest court will on Wednesday deliver a final ruling in a case over airline emissions that has triggered tit-for-tat legislation in the U.S. Congress and drawn a threat from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.