Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Calling 2009 a “tough year for press freedom in China,” the International Federation of Journalists says what little progress was made during the Summer Olympics in Beijing evaporated after new restrictions were imposed by the government.   “Mu...   read more

A group of Vietnam veterans are proceeding with their lawsuit against the military and intelligence agencies for subjecting them to secret experiments that took place from the 1950s through the 1970s. A federal judge in San Francisco, Claudia Wilk...   read more

What would a modern American war be without an economic exploitation angle? While Iraq has long been characterized as a war for oil, Afghanistan has been portrayed as a security-based conflict rooted in a mission to cripple al-Qaeda and its Taliba...   read more

Spy by day, Wall Street consultant by night. This is the life led by many CIA officers who moonlight for financial firms and hedge funds, all with the blessing of headquarters in Langley, Virginia.   In an expose published by Politico, and take...   read more

Oil development giant Halliburton has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to have an alleged rape victim’s lawsuit thrown out, preferring instead to resolve the matter behind closed doors at an arbitration hearing. Jamie Leigh Jones, who was employ...   read more

As part of its effort to make the school more tolerant of different beliefs, the U.S. Air Force Academy has agreed to recognize an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers. The academy superintendent, Lie...   read more

Authorities in Canada have been reluctant to embrace Google’s street-view cameras, out of concern over privacy rights violations. But law enforcement in Vancouver was aided last year by the cameras when one of them captured a property owner illega...   read more

Military planners are taking global warming seriously, adding it to the list of destabilizing forces that must be accounted for when devising long-term strategies. In its latest Quadrennial Defense Review report submitted to Congress, the Departme...   read more

Israel’s military has reprimanded two senior officers for an artillery attack last January in the Gaza Strip that involved the use of white phosphorus, a chemical condemned by human rights groups.   The barrage came as part of the assault on Ham...   read more

With the surge of thousands more U.S. soldiers into Afghanistan has come another influx of specially trained personnel: bomb-sniffing dogs. Canines by the hundreds may eventually be sent to help fight the war against the Taliban, which relies on i...   read more

Last year wasn’t just bad for air travel—it was the worst ever, according to an airline trade association. Citing statistics for passengers and cargo, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said 2009 would go down in “history books as ...   read more

Dr. Leslie Baumann, a well-known dermatologist and clinical researcher in Miami Beach, spoke too soon about the supposed benefits of Dysport, an injectable antiwrinkle drug, getting her into trouble with the Food and Drug Administration. In anothe...   read more

The latest quarterly report from the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s (TARP) overseer offers at best a mixed review of the federal rescue that began in the fall of 2008, noting the fact that the program has helped stabilize an industry on the verge...   read more

In a twist of logic, Nobel Peace Prize winner President Barack Obama is claiming the nation must spend more money on nuclear weapons in order to get rid of them. That’s because a new treaty the administration is negotiating with Russia to reduce n...   read more

CBS is facing criticism for deciding to selectively accept advocacy advertisements for the first time during the Super Bowl. The network agreed to take $2.5 million from Focus on the Family, a conservative antiabortion, anti-gay group, and show it...   read more

Twenty-one years ago the United States and Taiwan agreed to the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which states that the US will supply Taiwan with arms to defend itself against a attack from mainland China. On January 29, 2010, the United States appro...   read more