Gregarius

Another body believed to be the second of two missing Hungarian tourists was recovered near the accident site.

A $7.2 billion federal stimulus package will help extend high-speed access to more poor and rural sections of the United States.

The Disney star, 17, has gone from teen idol to sexual icon. Many of her young fans disapprove and some are moving on.

Children can say the darnedest things, but when they start asking financial questions, it’s best to be prepared.

The success of two Indian-American politicians — Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina — has stirred pride and backlash among Indian-Americans.

With elections on Sunday, the lack of a party with clear momentum has left political opinions divided.

With elections on Sunday, the lack of a party with clear momentum has left political opinions divided.

The replacement of the containment cap could begin as early as Saturday, said Adm. Thad W. Allen.

By lashing out with a personal attack, Dan Gilbert made LeBron James a sympathetic figure.

The White House began deliberating a spy swap with Moscow nearly a month ago, well ahead of the arrests of 10 Russians in the United States less than two weeks ago, a White House official said Friday.

The suicide attack, which killed at least 60, was aimed at tribal elders and authorities involved in helping people resist the Taliban.

The suicide attack, which killed at least 60, was aimed at tribal elders and authorities involved in helping people resist the Taliban.

The chairman of the New Black Panther Party, in an interview Friday with Fox News, defended his group amid an uproar over a voter intimidation case dropped by the Obama administration, a move that an ex- Justice Department official alleges was for racial reasons

The renewal, which allows Google to continue to operate in China, ended months of tensions over censorship.

For months, the dissolution of the marriage of the Dodgers’ owners has riveted Los Angeles.

Evelyn Konrad has sued Southampton, N.Y., for allowing fancy homes to be constructed in formerly middle-class areas.

A quick flick of your fingernail can transform your V magazine from a PG-13 to an R
5 SCRATCH-OFF COVERS

They had zillions, but now they've got zilch — these once soaring star athletes have hit rock bottom and lost it all

'Momager' Dina Lohan pushing 16-year-old Ali for interviews, needs her to make money, source says
LINDSAY'S LAWYER QUITS

Coal miners are using the actress's nude magazine shot against her!
STARS 1ST NUDE SCENES

THEN/NOW: We grew up watching them kick some serious villain butt. So what happened after they hung up their costumes?

It's summer and it's cocktail time, so have a taste of a classic liquor that's perfect for the muggy dog days ahead

From Wonder Woman's new look to Lindsay Lohan's stay in the slammer. Here's YOUR take on some of the week's top stories

The White House is "thumbing its nose" at one of the most fundamental American rights by not investigating allegations that the Justice Department wrongly abandoned a 2008 voter intimidation case, former Bush adviser Karl Rove charged on Friday.

The exchange on Friday of 10 convicted Russian sleeper agents for four men deemed to be spies for the West ended an episode that had threatened relations between the two nations.

The study supports critics’ contentions that the diabetes drug may cause heart attacks.

A Cincinnati mother gave birth to twin sons earlier this week, each weighing around 10 pounds, FOX 19 reported.

As the threat of violence stemming from illegal immigration hangs over federal lands in southern Arizona, an internal memo from 2007 reveals that refuge officers have been spending most of their time struggling to deal with border-related activities instead of protecting wildlife habitat.  

The seizure appeared to involve products that escaped a nationwide recall of dairy foods after the 2008 scandal.

In his latest book, bestselling author and journalist Gary Rivlin says the rapacious practices of subprime lenders laid the foundation for powerful mainstream banks to get into the subprime business and turn it into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. He calls this the "poverty industry." And for those in this industry, business is booming. The book is called, "Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.–How the Working Poor Became Big Business."[includes rush transcripts]

Scores of people were arrested in Oakland, California Thursday night in protests over the verdict in the Oscar Grant shooting. Grant was the unarmed 22-year-old African-American man who was shot dead by Johannes Mehserle, a white transit officer, on an Oakland train platform on New Year’s Day, 2009. A jury in Los Angeles convicted Merserle of involuntary manslaughter but he was acquitted on the more serious charges of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.[includes rush transcript]

We speak with Lance Rosenfield, a freelance photographer who was hired by ProPublica to take pictures of BP’s Texas City refinery that had spewed thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the skies. While on assignment Rosenfield was followed by BP Security and then detained by local police.

Just over three months ago, thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals begin spewing into the skies from BP’s massive oil refinery in Texas City. The release began on April 6, two weeks before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, but it took BP weeks to even realize there was a problem. BP now estimates 538,000 pounds of chemicals escaped from the refinery over a 40-day period. We speak with reporter Ryan Knutson of ProPublica and Frontline who traveled to Texas City to investigate what happened.[includes rush transcript]

Concerns are being raised about the hazards posed by thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells throughout the Gulf Coast. An Associated Press investigation found more than 27,000 abandoned sites are in danger of leaking, with about 13 percent said to be particularly worrisome. Regulations forcing companies to plug the wells have been routinely ignored with no government intervention. We speak with Jeff Donn, the AP reporter who broke the story.[includes rush transcript]

Mixing policy and politics, President Obama called on Congress Friday to expand a clean energy tax credit that could pay off in Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is struggling in his re-election campaign.

Sentenced to eight years in a North Korean labor camp, a man from Boston attempted suicide, state media reported.

• Appeals Court Maintains Reversal of Deepwater Drilling Ban
• Mass. Judge Rules Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
• Protests Erupt in Oakland After Verdict in Grant Trial
• CENTCOM Nominee Led Fallujah Assault, Dropped Charges in Haditha Massacre
• Over 50 Killed in Pakistan Bombing
• U.S., Russia Swap Alleged Spies
• European Lawmakers OK U.S. Monitoring of Financial Transactions
• Netanyahu: Israel "Has Done Enough" for Resumption of Talks
• Libyan Charity Claims Aid Ship Heading to Gaza
• Wages for High School, College Graduates Fell in Last Decade
• Wealthier Americans Have Higher Mortgage Default Rate
• U.S. Denies Visa to Colombian Journalist
• CNN Fires Middle East Editor for Twitter Post
• Protesters Call for Cancellation of MLB All-Star Game in Arizona
• Nixon and Kissinger Admitted to CIA Assassination Attempt in Chile; Nixon Ordered Plans for Nuking North Korea

If elected to Congress, Kesha Rogers has an ambitious agenda. She has campaigned on colonizing Mars, impeaching President Obama, and freeing America from the clutches of the British Empire. But first, the improbable Democratic nominee in Texas's 22nd district just wants to win recognition from her fellow party members. A devotee of Lyndon LaRouche—the fringe leader whose following is more often likened to a cult than a political movement—Rogers shocked Texas Democrats by winning the House primary race in March, carrying 53 percent of the vote in an anemic three-way contest in Tom DeLay's old district.

Rogers poses little threat to incumbent Rep. Pete Olson in the securely Republican district, located in the southern Houston area. But her extreme views have prompted the state party to disavow her. Since her primary win, the Texas Democratic Party has refused to even list her on the party's website. The party has defended its actions by saying that the LaRouche movement has had a long history of "illegal activities, discriminatory proclamations and thuggish behavior."

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A judge's rulings in Massachusetts that the federal law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional could have implications far beyond the state if they're upheld by a higher court after an appeal by the Obama administration, legal experts say.

An American service member was killed by an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, the NATO-led international force said.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that he was recalling the top United Nations official in Sri Lanka and closing an office there because of anti-United Nations protests led by a government minister.

A Security Council diplomats’ statement on the attack, which killed 46 sailors aboard a South Korean warship, condemns it but bows to China and Russia in not blaming the north.

Wu Yuren, who helped lead a protest over a land dispute in February, has been held since the end of May after a confrontation at a police station.

The government is struggling to restore faith among domestic investors, who fear it risk increasing inflation to hit its economic growth target.

In a long-delayed report on exchange rates, the Treasury Department called China’s currency undervalued, but it did not label the country a currency manipulator.

A battle unfolds in Afghanistan's Paktika province requiring deadly force and careful diplomacy.

With a new flagship showroom about to open, the company is striving to overcome price disadvantages and an underground market.

New rules on filing claims for post-traumatic stress disorder could affect hundreds of thousands of war veterans.

Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, a Sudanese man captured in Afghanistan, acknowledged following Osama bin Laden and working at Qaeda compounds.

The weather page of the New Beijing News gives lots of helpful advice. But, in one of the most polluted cities in the world, it doesn't mention something really important: how clean is the air?

American officials reacted with puzzlement to the prison sentence imposed on an American geologist because he sold a database on China’s oil industry.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel says the arrest of 10 Russian agents who spent years in the U.S. posing as American citizens sends a signal to other countries that the U.S. is on guard.

A federal appeals court has rejected the U.S. government's effort to keep a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium in place.

Rep. Darrell Issa, a prominent GOP leader, joined a growing list of conservatives trying to distance themselves from Michael Steele by declaring that the beleaguered chairman of the Republican National Committee "is not my leader" and "doesn't represent me."

Eighteen months after President Obama promised and failed to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, 181 detainees remain, deflating some of Obama's most ardent supporters.

Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle said Thursday she was wrong in calling BP oil's $20 billion victims' compensation program "a slush fund," backtracking just hours after her widely criticized remark.

West Virginia's top lawyer cleared the way Thursday for Gov. Joe Manchin to put a special election for the late Robert C. Byrd's Senate seat on the November ballot.

The federal law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define the institution and therefore denies married gay couples some federal benefits, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Boston.

U.S. researchers discovered two powerful antibodies that neutralize more than 90 percent of all known strains of the HIV virus in the lab, new research released Thursday showed.

The federal prosecutor tasked with quarterbacking the Obama administration's high-profile case against Arizona's immigration law is no stranger to controversy or the limelight.

Retirees and other residents from all over the country were among those who donated nearly $500,000 to help Arizona defend its immigration enforcement law, with most chipping in $100 or less, according to an analysis of documents obtained Thusday by The Associated Press.

This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.

If one quality characterizes our wars today, it's their endurance. They never seem to end. Though war itself may not be an American inevitability, these days many factors combine to make constant war an American near certainty. Put metaphorically, our nation's pursuit of war taps so many wellsprings of our behavior that a concerted effort to cap it would dwarf BP's efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our political leaders, the media, and the military interpret enduring war as a measure of our national fitness, our global power, our grit in the face of eternal danger, and our seriousness. A desire to de-escalate and withdraw, on the other hand, is invariably seen as cut-and-run appeasement and discounted as weakness. Withdrawal options are, in a pet phrase of Washington elites, invariably "off the table" when global policy is at stake, as was true during the Obama administration's full-scale reconsideration of the Afghan war in the fall of 2009. Viewed in this light, the president's ultimate decision to surge in Afghanistan was not only predictable, but the only course considered suitable for an American war leader. Rather than the tough choice, it was the path of least resistance.

Why do our elites so readily and regularly give war, not peace, a chance?  What exactly are the wellsprings of Washington's (and America's) behavior when it comes to war and preparations for more of the same?

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An octopus known for his soccer punditry will make his final picks of the World Cup known on Friday. A rival prognosticator, a parrot in Singapore, advises fans to bet on the Netherlands.

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Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a website featuring his work.

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After issuing a new policy enforcing more discipline over military interaction with the media, Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday named to lead U.S. Central Command a general who in 2005 was rebuked for saying "it's fun to shoot some people." 

The Obama administration cast doubt Thursday on BP's assertion that it could potentially plug the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico by the end of July, weeks ahead of schedule. 

Gun control supporters are up in arms over Louisiana's new law allowing churchgoers to pack heat along with their Bibles.

The most eerie feeling is running into a random person on the street who resembles one of your friends killed in action. For a split second, you think it is your buddy and then reality hits you.

President Obama says there is hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but that does not mean that he is "blindly optimistic." The comments came as his administration and a crucial Arab ally stepped up appeals for the two sides to return to direct negotiations. 

Supporters of geoengineering have proposed radical ways to alter the planet to decrease the level of greenhouse gas emissions. Proposals include creating artificial volcanoes to pollute the atmosphere with sulfur particles, fertilizing the oceans and placing sun-deflecting aluminum foil in the sky. But opposition is growing to geoengineering. We host a debate between Indian environmentalist, scientist, philosopher and eco-feminist, Vandana Shiva, and geopolitical analyst and columnist, Gwynne Dyer. [includes rush transcript]

As a heat wave from Boston to Baghdad to Beijing sets record-breaking temperatures in cities across the world, a new analysis says the world is headed for an average temperature rise that far exceeds pledges at the Copenhagen climate conference last year. We speak with geopolitical analyst and columnist Gwynne Dyer about his new book, "Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats."[includes rush transcript]

Two U.S. military psychologists are facing complaints with their state licensing boards over their actions at Guantanamo Bay. The psychologists, Major John Leso and Col. Larry James, are accused of helping perpetrate the abuse and torture of prisoners in violation of standards of professional conduct. We speak with Dr. Steven Reisner, a New York psychologist who filed one of the complaints.[includes rush transcript]

The well-known Puerto Rican attorney, political analyst and historian Juan Manuel García-Passalacqua has died at the age of 73. After his death on Friday, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño declared three days of mourning. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, who has known Passalacqua for many years, talks about his life and legacy.[includes rush transcript]

• Appeals Court to Weigh Attempt to Restore Drilling Ban
• BP Claims New Target Date for Sealing Well
• Report: 27,000 Abandoned Wells Pose Threat to Gulf Coast
• 60 Killed in Iraq Bombings Targeting Shiite Pilgrims
• U.S., Russia Negotiate Swap of Alleged Spies
• Cuba to Free Over 50 Jailed Dissidents
• Indian Forces Impose Curfew in Kashmir in Wake of Protest Deaths
• Spanish Court Orders New Probe of U.S. Killing of Spanish Journalist
• Ex-Guatemalan Soldier Pleads Guilty to Concealing Role in 1982 Dos Erres Massacre
• British Probe Clears "Climategate" Scientists
• Obama Vows to Push Trade Pacts
• Report: Raytheon Hired for NSA Surveillance of Infrastructure Hacking

THERE'S A CERTAIN AGE at which you cease to regard your own death as a distant hypothetical and start to view it as a coming event. For me, it was 67—the age at which my father died. For many Americans, I suspect it's 70—the age that puts you within striking distance of our average national life expectancy of 78.1 years. Even if you still feel pretty spry, you suddenly find that your roster of doctor's appointments has expanded, along with your collection of daily medications. You grow accustomed to hearing that yet another person you once knew has dropped off the twig. And you feel more and more like a walking ghost yourself, invisible to the younger people who push past you on the subway escalator. Like it or not, death becomes something you think about, often on a daily basis.

Actually, you don't think about death, per se, as much as you do about dying—about when and where and especially how you're going to die. Will you have to deal with a long illness? With pain, immobility, or dementia? Will you be able to get the care you need, and will you have enough money to pay for it? Most of all, will you lose control over what life you have left, as well as over the circumstances of your death?

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A version of this story first appeared on FairWarning.org.

As of last week, Washington lobbyists were looking to recruit automakers, insurers, and electronics manufacturers for a coalition to resist new safety restrictions on the use of mobile devices while driving. But their effort fizzled spectacularly yesterday, when Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and a safety expert named as the coalition's leading man denounced the effort at a DC press conference.

It all began with a 10-page proposal [PDF] put together by DC lobby shops Seward Square Group and Eris Group, along with a third firm, Praecere Public Relations.

"TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE" the memo blared in boldface. "With industries remaining silent, national transportation authorities and media celebrities have hijacked the debate....Auto, tech, and insurance industries, among others, have become collateral damage in this transportation battle. Failure to act will result in a scenario with 51 separate battles, instead of just one where a coalition can lead the debate....Even worse, stakeholders will get caught flat-footed by federal preemption and forced into a position against something, instead of being for something: enhanced driver education and enforcement."

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Senate Democrats plan to debate an energy package when they return from this week's recess—one they hope will be a slam-dunk with voters, considering the outrage churning in the country after the Gulf disaster. But there's still shockingly little in the way of specifics—including whether the package will include any climate change provisions at all.

Democrats emerged from a caucus meeting in late June flying high on the idea that a comprehensive package—one that sets new rules on the oil industry, incentivizes clean energy production, and possibly puts a price on carbon—would be a winner. And if Republicans blocked it, they reasoned, Democrats could use it as a bludgeon in the November elections.

"A number of senators said this was the best caucus they've ever attended," said majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). John Kerry (D-Mass.) described the meeting as "inspirational." Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said it was "an uprising of rank-and-file members of the caucus."

But that initial enthusiasm was short-lived. After a bipartisan group of senators met with President Obama, Republicans were still reticent about a cap on carbon, while Democrats said they had offered to scale back their plans yet again.

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Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of Dick, draws plenty of attention these days as a feisty conservative advocate and pundit. A board member of the hawkish Keep America Safe, she often blasts President Barack Obama and his national security policies—and vigorously defends the record of the Bush-Cheney administration. (Last month, she was on television claiming it was absurd to blame her father for the regulatory failures that led to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.) But a few years ago, Cheney was more than a mere talking head. She was a senior State Department official, and documents recently obtained by a Washington-based watchdog group show how Cheney was intimately involved in the creation of a pro-democracy foundation that has turned out to be something of a dud.

In February 2005, Cheney was appointed principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Initiatives. (Earlier in the Bush-Cheney administration, she had held a similar position.) With the administration bogged down in Iraq and pushing a so-called "freedom agenda," Cheney in May attended a meeting in Bahrain of representatives of G8, Middle Eastern, and North African governments, as well as civil-society groups and international organizations, who were planning a major gathering in the fall. She informed the assembled that the United States wanted that coming conference—known as the Forum for the Future—to launch a Foundation for the Future. The mission of this outfit would be to support civil society and democratic reforms throughout the Middle East.

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China announced a plan to spend more than $100 billion on its far west, a year after deadly ethnic protests there.

The protests, aimed at forcing India to withdraw its paramilitary forces from the predominantly Muslim Kashmir valley, have raged for weeks.

Mikhail Pletnev, also a world-renowned composer and conductor, described allegations that he raped a 14-year-old boy as a “misunderstanding.”

A Japanese court on Wednesday convicted a New Zealand man of assault and obstructing Japan’s whaling fleet in the Antarctic, but he will not be jailed.