Eyder Peralta

The judge overseeing the Apple/Samsung patent case decided to throw out about half of the $1 billion in damages awarded by the jury in a trial last August.

All Things D explains:

"Judge Lucy Koh ordered a new trial to determine damages for certain of the products in ...

Update at 4:08 p.m. ET. Report Released:

The State Department, which is ultimately charged with approving or denying TransCanada's plans to build a 1,700 mile pipeline from Canada and through the U.S., has released a draft report that details the potential environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The ...

Saying it was a "sad day," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared a financial emergency in the city of Detroit. He said that while it would not be appropriate to appoint an emergency manager, now, he would think about doing so after March 12. That's the day set aside for a ...

We'll get back to the real news in a little bit, but first some amazing footage from Stanford University.

As the school tweeted, it shows mathematics undergrad Ravi Fernando "solving a Rubik's Cube while juggling." Here's the video — warning, there's a curse word:

Fernando, by the way, is ...

Update at 6:44 p.m. ET. Limited Gay Marriage Right:

The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to end a ban on gay marriage in California.

But NPR's Nina Totenberg tells our Newscast unit that the government is arguing for limited gay marriage rights.

"The position that the ...

Update at 5:52 p.m. ET. Judge Accepts Plea:

A military judge in Fort Meade, Md. accepted 10 guilty pleas from Army Pfc. Bradley Manning on Thursday.

Manning pleaded guilty to lesser charges, but he is still facing a court martial over the charge of aiding the enemy.

NPR's Carrie ...

Marco McMillian, thought to be one of the first openly gay men to seek political office in Mississippi, was found dead near a levee, yesterday.

McMillian was running for mayor of the town of Clarksdale, a town known for its rich artistic history. (At one point or another it was ...

After much handwringing from GOP House members, the Democratic minority and some Republicans joined forces to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

The vote was 286 to 138. Eighty-seven Republicans voted in favor of the bill; no Democrats voted against it.

According to The Hill, the bill authorizes a "program ...

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning revealed today that he leaked classified information to WikiLeaks because he wanted to "spark a domestic debate on the role of our military and foreign policy in general."

As The Christian Science Monitor reports, Manning made the statement in a court filing that is part ...

The Senate voted 71-26 today to confirm the nomination of Jacob "Jack" Lew as the country's next Treasury secretary.

Lew served as Obama's chief of staff. As NPR's Mara Liason reported, he "has had years of experience toiling in the fiscal trenches. ... Before he was White House chief ...

Elba Esther Gordillo will remain behind bars, a Mexican judge decided today.

Gordillo's arrest, yesterday, shocked the country. She is the president of Mexico's national teacher's union and considered the most powerful woman in the country, having the ability to sway both small, local elections and even presidential ones.

Things on Capitol Hill today turned emotional, when Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son was killed in Sandy Hook, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Throughout, Heslin held a picture of him holding his son Jesse Lewis, who was 6 at the time of rampage, during his first Christmas. Two other ...

The American businessman who paid $20 million to visit the International Space Station in 2001, has presented an ambitious plan for a manned fly-by mission to Mars.

If all goes as planned, a couple would be on a rocket headed to the Red Planet in January of 2018.

Space ...

The American concert pianist Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn has died, according to the Associated Press, who is quoting a representative.

Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow as a 23-year-old. What's more he did so in 1958, at the height of the Cold ...

Apple has agreed to give out more than $100 million in iTunes store credits to settle a lawsuit that alleged it was allowing children to make in-app purchases without the consent of their parents.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

"The lawsuit, which was filed by five parents ...

General Motors Co. said today that its Chief Executive Dan Akerson will not take a pay raise this year.

Documents filed with the House Committee On Oversight and Government Reform showed that GM was asking the U.S. government to OK a $2.1 million raise for Akerson. The government still owns ...

In his first foreign trip as Secretary of State, John Kerry defended America's civil liberties during his talk with German students.

Kerry said that the United States' tradition of freedom of speech — even if it includes offensive speech — is a virtue.

He said, according to Reuters:

...

Update at 5:10 p.m. ET. Hagel Confirmed:

After an unprecedented filibuster by Republicans, the nomination of Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense prevailed, Tuesday afternoon.

With a vote of 58 to 41, the Senate acted mostly along party lines to confirm Hagel.

Hagel was a two-term Republican senator ...

Just a week after a blizzard swept through an area from Western New Mexico to West Texas, another system is dumping record snowfall today.

The headline from the National Weather Service in Amarillo, Tex.? "Crippling, Historic Blizzard Ongoing."

As of 12 p.m., one weather station had measured 17 inches ...