Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a prominent Republican supporter of President Obama during the campaign, is voicing doubts about some of his agenda. "I'm concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them," Powell told CNN. Read More
Climate change is causing a breed of wild sheep in Scotland to shrink, according to research. Scientists say milder winters help smaller sheep to survive, resulting in this "paradoxical decrease in size." Read More
Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her home Friday morning. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the Governor's Picnic at the end of the month, Palin said. Read More
Brushing aside British and European efforts to seek the release of local British Embassy staff members held in Tehran, the Iranian authorities indicated Friday that they planned to put some of them on trial -- a move that could deepen a crisis in diplomatic relations with the European Union and provoke the withdrawal of ambassadors.
On the eve of the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, former competitive eaters report weight gains of 100 pounds, stomach woes, chest pains and other health problems from their pursuit of gluttony. "Any way you look at it, it's not healthy," said Dave "Coondog" O'Karma, a retired gurgitator. "I don't think loading your body with fat and salt is healthy." Read More
Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" -- Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper's own reporters and editors. Read More
An exchange between White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and reporter Helen Thomas, 89, who has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. RealClearPolitics has the video.
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In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face fines of more than $1,000. The details were unveiled Thursday in a health care overhaul bill supported by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Obama's top domestic priority. Read More
Senator Jim Inhofe (R.-Okla.) described incoming Sen. Al Franken as "that clown from Minnesota" in an interview, later backing off the remark. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I don't know the guy, but -- for a living he is a clown," the senator said. "That's what he does for a living." Read More
Major League Baseball has loaned as much as $15 million to the Texas Rangers after Owner Tom Hicks reportedly couldn't meet payroll, according to Yahoo News. "He won't be running the team much longer," a source told the site. "Major League Baseball is helping him through this until someone else can be put in place to run the club." Hicks, whose net worth was reported by Forbes as $1 billion, also owns the Dallas Stars and 50 percent of Liverpool FC.
When participants in an experiment looked at photos of women's and men's faces looking sad, afraid, angry, or disgusted, with a sentence beneath the image purporting to explain the emotion, they offered starkly different explanations for the emotions -- women in the photos felt sad, angry or afraid because they were "emotional," while the pictured men felt those emotions because they were "having a bad day" -- even when the expressions and their explanation was identical.
"I was kept in a van till evening that day and then transferred to a solitary cell where I was kept for two days," he said. "Then I was repeatedly interrogated, beaten and hung from a ceiling. They call it chicken kebab. They tie your hands and feet together and hang you from the ceiling, turning you around and beating you with cables." -- an Iranian election protester describes his time in jail
U.S. payrolls tumbled by an unexpectedly large amount last month on widespread declines across manufacturing, construction and professional services and the unemployment rate continued to creep toward double digits, rising to its highest level in over 25 years. Read More
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has been bragging about the fact that she plans not to answer Census questions this year, which is a violation of federal law punishable with a fine up to $5,000. In the latest rebuke of her claims about the Census, three out of the four House Republicans on the subcommittee that oversees the Census have released a statement calling her boycott plan "llogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country."
The high court in India has determined that consensual homosexual sex should no longer be against the law, a new chapter in gay rights in a country that is home to over 17% of the world's population.
