WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's new requirement that most health insurance plans provide contraceptive services has exploded into a high-octane political weapon, with combatants on both sides scrambling to score points among the electorate and gin up fundraising from their most ardent supporters. (Today)

WASHINGTON -- Amid mounting tensions over whether Israel will carry out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, the United States and Israel remain at odds over a fundamental question: Whether Iran's crucial nuclear facilities are about to become impregnable. (Today)

CAIRO -- Egypt's government won't back off its criminal investigation of U.S. and other civil society workers even if the United States withdraws financial aid, Egypt's military-appointed prime minister said Wednesday, in a case that could end one of the closest U.S.-Arab alliances. (Today)

MAFRAQ, Jordan -- Every day, rockets and mortars fired by Syrian government forces rattle the streets of the Syrian city of Homs. Armed rebels ambush government military checkpoints. Hatreds brew on either side of the avenues that divide the bloodstained city. (Today)

MOSCOW -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday of a growing "cult of violence" around the world and expressed concern that upheavals in the Middle East could spread to his own country. In an apparent reference to Western governments, Mr. Putin said he was alarmed by what he deemed to be interference in the affairs of sovereign nations, especially Libya and Syria. (Today)