The White House and top Democrats, intensifying their push to build support for their party's health overhaul proposals, are increasingly targeting women, a politically crucial group with strong opinions on health care that polls suggest has yet to be sold on the changes.

In speeches, news conferences and even an all-female talk-in on the Senate floor Thursday, Democrats have been pounding away daily on the message that their ideas — along the lines of what President Barack Obama has called for — are especially good for women. The campaign reflects a concern among Democrats that women, who typically make most of a family's health care decisions, are not yet on board with the sweeping changes Obama and his congressional allies are advocating.

That's despite the fact that women have historically been more concerned about health care, and more likely to support changes, than men.

A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that women, like the public overall, are generally split on the health care legislation. Although younger women — those under 55 who many opinion experts consider crucial in any health care debate — slightly favor the proposals, nearly one-third of them are on the fence, saying they are neither supportive nor opposed.

"What we're seeing is that the administration and the Congress still has to make the case to women," said pollster Mark Mellman, who has advised Democrats and liberal groups on public attitudes on the health care overhaul. "The volume has to be turned up on the communication, and the communication has to be directed to a large degree toward this group."

A British man accused of hacking into American military computers has failed in his latest bid to avoid extradition to the U.S., his lawyer said Friday.

Gary McKinnon is charged with breaking into dozens of computers belonging to NASA, the U.S. Defense Department and several branches of the U.S. military soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. U.S. prosecutors have spent seven years seeking his extradition.

The 43-year-old claims he was searching for evidence of alien life, although prosecutors say he left a message on an Army computer criticizing U.S. foreign policy.

The High Court decision denies McKinnon the possibility of taking his case to the country's new Supreme Court — the latest in a series of blows to his campaign to remain in Britain.

Lord Justice Stanley Burnton said that extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response" to McKinnon's alleged crimes and that the legal issues raised by the case were not important enough to be considered by the nation's highest court.

Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP, a law firm that specializes in representing venture capital and start up companies, will move its New England headquarters from Boston to Waltham, Mass.

The firm leased 31,140 square feet in the Reservoir Woods office park located at 850 Winter St. in Waltham. It will move from its current location at 610 Lincoln St. in January, according to Colliers Meredith & Grew, which represented the firm in the lease negotiation. CB Richard Ellis/New England represented the landlord, Davis Marcus Partners. The lease’s financial details were not disclosed.

The 180,000-square-foot building at 850 Winter St. was built in 2008 and is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, per the U.S. Green Building Commission.

A Florida appeals court has chastised a judge for granting extensions in a foreclosure case for compassionate reasons.

The Third District Court of Appeal ruled last week that Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr could not grant extensions solely on grounds of benevolence or compassion.

Schurr had given a Miami couple an extra month to sell their house. The judge said in court she understands times are bad and that she hates to see anyone lose a home.

The appeals judges ruled that the law doesn't allow compassion or benevolence alone to be used as the basis for such a decision. The court said the continuance was an abuse of judicial discretion and the one-month delay should not have been granted.

The house was sold at auction last week for $1.3 million.

A federal judge says a New York businessman accused of orchestrating a $413 million Ponzi scheme has violated conditions of his release on bail.

But U.S. District Court Judge Denis Hurley allowed Nicholas Cosmo to remain free pending a Friday hearing on whether to revoke his $1.25 million bail package.

Hurley agreed with prosecutors following a two-day hearing that Cosmo violated bail conditions by using a computer, and asking his girlfriend to download some of his business e-mails.

The former head of Long Island-based Agape (uh-GAH'-pay) World and Agape Merchant Advance in New York City has pleaded not guilty to charges he fleeced some 6,000 people.

He was released in July provided he remain under house arrest at his parent's Wantagh (WAHN'-tah) home, which includes monitoring by a private security firm.

A Maryland man calmly described to detectives how he methodically drowned his three young children by holding them underwater in a hotel bathtub for 10 minutes each — a confession that was recorded by police and played in court Wednesday.

Mark A. Castillo, 43, of Rockville faces trial on three counts of first-degree murder in the March 2008 deaths of his children: 6-year-old Anthony, 4-year-old Austin and 2-year-old Athena. His attorneys contend that he is not criminally responsible for the slayings — Maryland's version of an insanity plea.

Castillo's attorneys are trying to prevent his two statements to police from being admitted as evidence at trial. Prosecutors played a tape of the first of those statements for the judge Wednesday to verify its authenticity. The jury has not yet been chosen.

Asked by homicide Detective Raymond Yost why he killed his children, Castillo let out a long sigh before describing a custody battle with his former wife.

"We've been going through an extremely hard divorce. ... My wife had denied my visitation," Castillo said. "I felt like I didn't want them to be in this world anymore."

Castillo described how he took his children to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore and then checked into a Marriott hotel downtown.