Today

Aug 21, 2010

My soft spot for Dr. Laura

Parker: What she's done to help people should be balanced against her insensitivity.
Plus: Wired for racism?

Broder: Why Robert Gibbs is so angry
Ignatius: Obama's second-term master stroke
Milbank: Alaska's Tea Party hypocrisy
Will: A two-state solution is delusional

Begin Democratic panic

Ponnuru | Bad employment news. Obama's view on the Ground Zero mosque. Whatever the reason, Democrats have started to panic.

User Poll: Who 'owns' Ground Zero?
On Leadership: Of course you need vacation
On Faith: Hitchens 'a hero to the faithful'?
User Poll: What are you doing with $1 coins?

PLUS » Your Photos: Show us your vacation

Facing down intolerance

Video | Alyse Nelson of Vital Voices on how women all over the world are taking risks to become political and business leaders bettering their communities.

Paul Light: Secrecy in Obama's grant fund
PostLeadership: Ethical crisis in the C-Suite?
FedCoach: Overcoming technophobia

Americans slow to buy, employers slow to hire With consumers destined to disappoint for many years, economy is unlikely to recapture prosperity of quarter-century that preceded financial crisis.

Neil Irwin

Iran fueling first nuclear plantEngineers begin weeklong process of loading uranium fuel into reactor in first startup step.

Associated Press | 7:01 a.m. ET

Blago's defense, funded by you? If TV shows can't cover the ex-Illinois governor's costs for retrial, federal taxpayers may have to.

Jerry Markon

Blagojevich found guilty on one of 24 counts

Wikileaks founder is wanted man Swedish officials say chief of whistle-blower Web site is suspected in 2 cases of molestation, rape.

Associated Press | 8:11 a.m. ET

U.S. to host Mideast peace talks While citing obstacles, White House expresses hope that deal for Palestinian state may come soon.

Mary Beth Sheridan and Janine Zacharia

How the oil well was plugged BP and Uncle Sam overcome natural antagonism to create functioning team in gulf spill response.

Joel Achenbach

9/11 mediator assesses spill claims | Full coverage

You, nice to meet, it is

'Star Wars' speed dating event in Orlando offers attendees a three-minute shot at the chance to stop flying Solo. » Alexandra Petri

More Nation/World Headlines

News Columns and Blogs

Faster Forward: Requiring FM radios in phones?

With consumers slow to spend, businesses are slow to hire

70 Years On, UK Honors Battle of Britain's "Few"

A Hurricane Mk I from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at Biggin Hill Airfield on August 20, 2010 in London, England.

(AP) In the words of Winston Churchill, it was Britain's "finest hour," a turning point in world history - though it didn't always feel that way at the time.

Seventy years after the Battle of Britain, Churchill's daughter commemorated the pivotal air campaign Friday alongside surviving members of "the few," the Royal Air Force pilots who defied the odds to defend the country from German attack.

Mexico Catches Men with 3,756 Sea Turtle Eggs

A sea turtle egg. Six men were caught transporting 3,756 illegally harvested sea turtle eggs in Mexico on Aug. 20, 2010.

(AP) Police in Mexico say six suspects have been detained on the southern Pacific coast with 3,756 illegally harvested eggs from protected sea turtles.
Guerrero state police say the six men were caught with the Olive Ridley turtle eggs in a coastal town east of the resort city of Acapulco.

Analysis: How Are These Mideast Talks Different?

Pessimists will say "here we go again."
Optimists will point to the goal of a peace agreement within one year and say "this time things will be different."
Journalists will have to restrain themselves from ending stories with "only time will tell."
The Obama administration has been working toward this announcement for twenty months, literally since their first days in office. Former Senator George Mitchell was named special envoy in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first week on the job.

Wyclef Jean Ruled Out of Haiti Presidential Run - CBS News

Haitian-born singer and presidential candidate Wyclef Jean walks surrounded by security after Haiti's electoral council rejected his presidential candidacy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 20, 2010.

(AP) Updated at 12:20 a.m. ET
Haiti's electoral commission said Friday that hip hop artist Wyclef Jean cannot run for president of this Caribbean nation, ending his outsider's bid to lead a country struggling to recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Special Section: Haiti | The Road to Recovery
Jean, who faced a challenge to his candidacy in the Nov. 28 elections because. . . .

Blackwater Firm to Pay Gov't $42M in Fines

In this April 4, 2004, file photo, plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight in the Iraqi city of Najaf.

(AP) The troubled security firm formerly known as Blackwater will pay $42 million in fines to settle thousands of violations of U.S. export control regulations, according to The New York Times.
The newspaper reported on its website Friday that the Moyock, N.C.-based company now known as Xe Services reached a settlement agreement with the State Department.
The alleged violations included providing sniper training for Taiwanese police officers, illegal . . . .

Iran Begins Fueling Its First Nuke Power Plant - CBS News

Media members stand at a gate of Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's first, with its reactor building in background, just outside city of Bushehr, 750 miles south of the capital, Tehran, Friday. Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into the plant the next day. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

(AP) Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran's first nuclear power plant on Saturday, a major milestone as Tehran forges ahead with its atomic program despite U.N. sanctions.
The weeklong operation to load uranium fuel into the reactor at the Bushehr power plant in southern Iran is the first step in starting up a facility the U.S. once hoped to prevent because of fears over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Petraeus: Afghans Call Shots in Taliban Talks

Army Gen. David Petraeus talks with _CBS Evening News_ Anchor Katie Couric in an interview broadcast Aug. 20, 2010.

(CBS)
The war in Afghanistan has gone on for 3,240 days. With each day, the casualties mount. On Friday, NATO reported the deaths of three coalition soldiers, including an American.
Special Section: Afghanistan | The Road Ahead
In Helmand Province, at least seven Afghan road-construction workers were shot to death by Taliban insurgents.

WikiLeaks Founder Suspected of Rape in Sweden

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gives a seminar at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, in this Aug. 14, 2010 file photo.

(AP) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is suspected of rape in Sweden, where authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest, officials said Saturday.

The 39-year-old Australian denied the allegations on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying they "are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

Aug 20, 2010

PAOK beats Fenerbahçe 1-0 in Europa League play-offs

Buenavista Golf

Teams and captain profiles: Blair Macrorie - Sports

Holiday mobiles, Tenerife

Summer Jam Tenerife 2010

Picasso - Daily News - Tenerife

The English Live Theatre - Tenerife - - ISLANDCONNECTIONS.EU

Spain - Bullfighting (with the exception of Cataluña)

The (Orthodox) Church returns to Russia

The Cape Verde Experience 2010/11 Brochure

'OLOA' means family, Cape Verdean style, in New Bedford | SouthCoastToday.com

Cape Verde Newspapers on the Internet

«Le tourisme est le parent pauvre du pays» - Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes

La ville présente ses nouveaux projets , New Caledonia

Une 40e édition innovante - New Caledonia News

À vingt-six jours du départ, le Tour de Calédonie 2010 a été dévoilé hier, en début de soirée au Park Royal, par Gérard Salaün. Avec une distance qui dépasse légèrement les mille kilomètres, un prologue, onze étapes ou demi-étapes en onze journées de course, cette quarantième édition de la Grande boucle calédonienne sera disputée par soixante-treize coureurs répartis dans quinze équipes. Parmi eux, Joseph Cooper vainqueur l’an passé et qui revient mettre son maillot jaune en jeu.