According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

In the midst of the U.S. economic downturn, China has surpassed the United States as Brazil’s biggest trading partner, a role the U.S. has played for the last 70-80 years. In April, the sum of China’s trade with Brazil reached $3.2 billion, exceed...   read more

Of all the torture techniques banned by President Barack Obama, the one that CIA leaders wanted most to retain was sleep deprivation. The reason was two-fold: sleep deprivation was both effective in getting suspected terrorists to talk, and it was...   read more

While the pork industry has been sweating out the swine flu panic, fearing a loss of markets and profits, another industry has been gearing up to make a killing off the virus: pharmaceutical companies. Responding to the hysteria over a potential p...   read more

After rejecting similar appeals for the past 10 years, the Mormon Church has agreed to encourage the Department of the Interior to grant National Historic Landmark status for Mountain Meadows, the southern Utah site where 120 pioneers were massacr...   read more

President Barack Obama wants to spend $150 billion over the next decade to create “a clean energy future” by developing alternative sources of energy. But the most important players in this ambitious plan—oil companies—don’t want to participate. D...   read more

Even after the scandals involving Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and Xerox, some big-time auditors continue to be part of the problem instead of acting like the financial watchdogs they’re supposed to be. Two top 10 audit firms—BDO Seidman and McGladrey & ...   read more

“Kudos to Obama for working for needed balance [between crack and powder cocaine sentencing] but he could do more,” argues Debra J. Saunders, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which impl...   read more

Disagreements between the Israeli Defense Ministry and the Pentagon about access to computers continue to stall Israel’s order of 75 new F-35 stealth fighter jets manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Access to the F-35’s computer remains at the hear...   read more

What’s bad for polar bears and walruses is actually quite golden for Shell and other oil companies. While scientists, environmentalists and policymakers fret over the shrinking of the polar icecap, oil executives are planning to take advantage of ...   read more

In a sign of the times, nine members of two human rights organizations in Guatemala have received serious death threats by text message, according to Amnesty International. Between April 30and May 5, the members of the Association for the Study an...   read more

Although housing prices have declined throughout the country, many of those expected to benefit from the federal stimulus still can’t afford to buy a home, according to the Center for Housing Policy, the research wing of the National Housing Confe...   read more

The sex boycott in Kenya is over, but the litigation has just begun. Two weeks ago several prominent women called for a week-long sex strike to get Kenya’s male leaders to resolve their political differences and avoid bloodshed between supporters....   read more

“Fed up with high fees, low returns and poor service at your bank? It may be time to shop for a credit union,” argues Kathy Kristoff, a longtime business writer. Credit unions are a “misunderstood” option in the banking world, but should be explor...   read more

The U.S. Supreme Court has increasingly become a favorite of big business, writes Rob Larson, an assistant professor of economics at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Indiana. A conservative five-justice bloc, led by Chief Justice John Ro...   read more

Much to the dismay of environmentalists, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) will not be employed by the Interior Department to protect the polar bear, whose habitat is rapidly disappearing as a result of global warming. The announcement by Interior ...   read more

The Obama administration plans to spend more money than ever on secret military projects, commonly referred to as the Defense Department’s “black budget.” Just over $50 billion will be allocated, which representing a 3% increase over last year’s t...   read more