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The mystery of Air France’s Flight 447, though far from over, may have some answers soon: Brazil’s Air Force just discovered two male passengers’ bodies and debris from the wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, report Fox News. The discovery occurred about 400 miles northeast of Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil’s northern coast and included a suitcase that contained a plane ticket for the flight. All 228 passengers and crew are thought to have perished in the crash, caused perhaps by a storm four hours into the flight.
Just what Congress ordered: A detailed outline of the Democrats’ current draft of the much-heralded health care bill reached Politico on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the House Democratic caucus’ scheduled briefing on Tuesday. The draft, “identified as an update from the House Energy and Commerce Committee,” is more detailed than previous versions. It includes a “soft” requirement for individuals to purchase health insurance as well as a waiver for those who can’t afford it; a “moderate” tax penalty for those who refuse; tax penalties for large employers who skip insuring employees; and subisidies for small businesses that buy into insurance. Insurance companies will have minimum requirements for all health care packages and won’t be allowed to deny coverage or alter consumer rates based on “preexisting conditions.” Still in need of hashing out are Medicare details, and physician payment formulas. Politico notes that, if the Dems’ “goal” on physician payments is met, the result would be a “huge win for doctors”—though not so much for insurance companies.
If the Venice Biennale is the Olympics of the art world, then the United States has just taken home the gold. Bruce Nauman, one of the most influential living American artists, secured a Golden Lion for the States on Saturday for his work Topological Gardens. Nauman’s mixed-media work represents developments from his four-decade career, which the judges described as “iconic embodiments of human pain and fragility to pithy jabs at our frailties.” Germany’s Tobias Rehberger won the Golden Lion for Best Artist, a special mention went to Dutch curators Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, and John Baldessari and Yoko Ono were awarded Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement.
June, 6, 1944 -- the Allies stormed the beaches in France for the final assault on Hitler's forces that ultimately would rescue Europe from the Nazis. Now veterans of the invasion are returning to Normandy to commemorate the 65th anniversary of their battle, an anniversary celebration likely to be among the last with significant numbers of surviving Allied soldiers in attendance."I know it'll be my last trip," a 94-year old veteran of the US 29th Infantry Division attending the ceremony, William Doyle, told the Washington Post. "You said that last time," his fellow division member, Sam Krauss, 92, responded. President Obama will mark the occasion in Normandy with a speech at the US war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, which overlooks Omaha Beach.
There are still surprises on the racetrack. At the 141st Belmont Stakes on Saturday, long shot Summer Bird took the Triple Crown by a narrow victory ahead of fellow horse Dunkirk. Mine That Bird, the unexpected Kentucky Derby champion ridden by Calvin Borel, came in third. Summer Bird’s jockey, three-time Derby and two-time Preakness winner Kent Desormeaux said, “I can tell you how much I'm glowing inside and how much I'm at ease knowing I won all three of the Triple Crown classics.” Borel was favored in the weekend race after his 50-1 win five weeks ago, but his arrogance may have gotten the best of him—he spent the week prior to the race sightseeing around New York and meeting David Letterman.
‘Truthiness’ is going to Iraq, and it’s got an all-access pass. The US Army confirmed on Saturday that Comedy Central star and Bill O’Reilly parody Stephen Colbert will be in Iraq for a week to film episodes of television show The Colbert Report. Colbert’s trip—dubbed “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando”—was organized by United Service Organizations (USO), which arranges entertainment for American soldiers overseas. According to the Army’s statement, Colbert has interviews with Army General Ray Odierno and Iraq Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh. For weeks, Colbert has been hyping his Middle Eastern sojourn on his nightly show, but the exact whereabouts of his destination and schedule were under wraps.
Whatever happened to playgrounds and video games? Moshe Kai Cavalin, an 11-year-old from California, is four feet, seven inches tall, and there’s a good chance he’s smarter than you. The A-plus average student is graduating from East Los Angeles Community College with a degree in astrophysics after completing courses in algebra, history, and astronomy. For fun, he plays soccer, watches Jackie Chan movies, and, of course, studies wormholes.“Just like black holes, they suck in particulate objects, and also like black holes, they also travel at escape velocity, which is, the speed to get out of there is faster than the speed of light.” If you feel intellectually inferior, don’t worry, Cavalin doesn’t like to brag: “I don't consider myself a genius because there are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way.”
In addition to hundreds of family, friends, supporters, and former patients who came to mourn murdered abortion-provider Dr. George Tiller, the Wichita funeral has also drawn a handful of demonstrators. On Saturday morning the Associated Press reported that 17 congrgants from Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church (previously in the news for picketing soldiers' funerals and calling their deaths punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality), armed with signs accusing Tiller of "bloody murder," stood the requisite 500 feet away from the Wichita church where Tiller's funeral took place. The protesters exchanged "shouted" words with members of a pro-choice counter-protest. Tiller was shot to death at his own church, where he was as an usher.
President Obama is everywhere at once it seems, with appearances in France today as well as a new Youtube video calling on lawmakers to pass health care reform. As Barack comemorates D-Day in Normandy and visits Paris with Michelle and the kids, Congress is preparing major legislation on the issue—and Obama refuses to be out of the loop. The president has been laying out an outline for his ideal plan and making the case for action throughout the week. "All across America, our families are making hard choices when it comes to health care," Obama said today in his video address. "Now it's time for Washington to make the right ones. It's time to deliver." Citing figures that Americans will spend one out of five dollars on health care within a decade, Obama said that "fixing what's wrong with our health care system is no longer a luxury we hope to achieve; it's a necessity we cannot postpone any longer."
Sarah Palin's rogue side came out again in a speech on Friday night. Before gracing the Lower-48 with her trip to Seneca Falls, the Alaskan Governor introduced Michael Reagan at an event in Anchorage last week – but managed to steal the show with her own speech. Reagan works in talk radio, which Palin felt reason enough to launch a rant worthy of the medium. She praised him for his willingness “to screw the political correctness that some would expect him to try to adhere to" and lashed out at "self-proclaimed intellectuals, and the smug lobbyists who dominate Washington, and the liberal media." She also paused to condemn “fearful lawmakers” who caused “big government” to exert too much power.
Their high-security lodgings at the US embassy may be unique, but first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha are touring France the same way any American tourist would—starting with a visit to Paris' Eiffel Tower yesterday. The Obama ladies arrived in Paris last night before charting a course to Normandy to be with the president for his D-Day memorials. To the delight of surprised onlookers, Michelle and the girls made their unannounced visit to the Eiffel Tower last night. The first family intends to spend another night at America's Paris Embassy and to tour the Notre Dame Cathedral -- and sample some Parisian cuisine—after Normandy ceremonies conclude. The president will jet back to Washington straight away, but Michelle and the girls will be sightseeing until Monday. No word on how they'll spend Sasha's birthday, but they'll be in France for it.
Once dismissed as a novelty, US officials are no longer laughing at drug cartels' use of submarines to transport cocaine. More than a third of the cocaine smuggled from Colombia is now believed to enter the country through submersibles, with drug cartels employing a crudely built armada of dozens of the vessels. Officials warn that the ships are becoming more advanced and that sub-builders are working on remote-controlled models that will be able to do the job without risking dealers' being arrested or killed. As it is, the subs can be difficult for anti-narcotic agents to spot. "You try finding a floating log in the middle of the Pacific," one DEA agent said.
Hoping to bring detainees to justice after years of legal handwringing and confusion, the White House is considering changing the law regarding military commissions to allow detainees facing the death penalty to plead guilty without a full trial. The change could allow the military to try five detainees charged with the September 11 attacks who have openly sought "martyrdom" in the case by admitting to the crime. The proposal could allow their trial without letting slip details as to their interrogations—and any abuses that may have occurred along the way.
Read this before you hit your set: TV is finally leaving the dark ages in a massive switch from analog to digital—but viewers will have to wait in the dark until it’s complete. Millions of Americans will temporarily lose television reception next week as over 1,000 broadcasters make the switch, a process the government has taken $2 billion to instate. Lower-income neighborhoods, the FCC chairman said, would be the hardest hit, as homes unequipped with satellite services or cable will lose their reception. But if you have cable, you’re in luck: the switch most likely won’t affect your set.
Hoping to nip his own interrogation in the bud, Phillip Mudd, Obama's pick for Homeland Security intelligence chief, withdrew his nomination on Friday amid questions about his connection to questionable CIA tactics. Set to meet with senators about the appointment next week, Mudd—who served as a senior CIA official in the Bush administration—said he didn't want to become a "distraction to the president and his vital agenda." Up for debate was the extent of Mudd's involvement in the previous administration's controversial interrogation, detention and rendition programs involving suspected terrorists, criticized by Obama and other Democrats. The White House accepted Mudd's withdrawal "with sadness and regret," saying he still had the president's full support. Some Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are considering the price former Bushies are paying for their role in protecting the country: "A chill wind is blowing through the intelligence community as operatives and analysts are now being forced to consider shifting political sands along with the national security decisions they make," said Michigan's Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.
Unsure how, exactly, to illustrate an intelligent Hispanic person, the artist of the cover of this week’s National Review found a solution in another ethnic stereotype: He drew Sonia Sotomayor as Asian. The cover, headlined “The Wise Latina,” depicts her as a Buddha with a pair of slanted eyes that would make a WW-II anti-Japan propagandist proud. Given the brouhaha over The New Yorker’s Obama cover last summer, will the National Review find itself with trouble on its hands?
29 children died and hundredswere injured in a fire at a daycare center in Northern Mexico on Friday. Many parents had already picked their children up from the center, but those who arrived later found the building fire-ravaged and behind police lines. Mexican President Felipe Calderon expressed his condolences, and said that the country’s attorney general would investigate the cause of the fire.
As authorities from France, Brazil, and the U.S. come to terms with the increasingly frustrating hunt for answers about the crash of Air France Flight 447, more and more resources are being diverted to the search effort in the Atlantic. Most recently, a French nuclear submarine with surveillance equipment joined the force to look for wreckage. Already on its way to the supposed crash site is a French marine research ship equipped with two non-nuclear submarines, along with three Brazilian boats, expected to arrive within the next few days. The top priority is to look for debris before it has a chance to sink or disappear, although the plane's black box may already be lost. The search for debris continues after material salvaged from the Atlantic Ocean early this week turned out not to be unrelated to the plane crash that killed all 228 on board.
The Obamas arrive in Paris tonight for the 65th anniversary of D-Day, but will be dining without the Sarkozys: The couple reportedly declined a dinner invitation from the French president and his wife, Carla Bruni. While the president no doubt has a packed schedule, rumors are swirling that he's hesitating to spend much time with Sarkozy because Sarkozy told colleagues that Obama is inexperienced and unknowledgeable, particularly in the realm of climate change. The dinner decline, coupled with Queen Elizabeth’s anger over not being invited to the D-Day commemoration, incited one newspaper to write, “Sarkozy has pulled off a double hit: insulting Queen Elizabeth and exasperating Obama.” The French media has, for some time, mocked Sarkozy’s attempts at befriending Obama.
Does Robert Hanssen need cell mates? The FBI has arrested Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn, on Thursday and charged them “with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to the Cuban government,” according to CNN. Myers is a former State Department official, and the couple has allegedly worked as spies for Castro’s government for 30 years. According to the indictment, the couple met with Fidel Castro himself in 1995. According to the Associated Press, "The indictment says the two agreed to be spies in 1979 after meeting with a Cuban government official while they were living in South Dakota."
Convicted murderer and terminally ill cancer patient Susan Atkins may have a chance at freedom after serving 38 years in prison. Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have scheduled a September 2 parole hearing for Atkins, who in 1968 had a role in the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in Los Angeles. In 2008, Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer and has since had one leg amputated, while the other remains paralyzed. Doctors diagnosed Atkins with only six months to live, prompting her to appeal for “compassionate release” from her sentence. The plea once again raises the question of mercy in the court system, not to mention the amount Atkins is costing the state by being kept in prison. Most critics, however, hope for Atkins to stay in prison given the severity and brutality of her crimes.
Some good is finally trickling down from the success of Slumdog Millionaire to the youngsters in the film. Nine-year-old Rubina Ali, who played the younger version of Freida Pinto’s Latika character in the heartrending film, is publishing her life story. Slumgirl Dreaming: My Journey to the Stars, to be published in mid-July, will detail her rise from the shantytown where she grew up to her trip to the Oscars last year. Transworld Publishers and Random House Children’s Book are releasing the book and her publisher said, "Now she tells her own incredible story, from playing marbles with her friends beside the sewers of Garib Nagar in Mumbai, to dancing along to the Bollywood films she and her family watch on their old television set.” Presumably the book won’t discuss the minor drama when her father was (falsely) accused of selling her to the highest bidder.
Dial P for PETA. Newly released videos allegedly depicting medical testing on monkeys and goats may be used as evidence to prove that the military is violating its own animal-welfare regulations, says the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine under the Freedom of Information Act. The animals are used to train physicians in battlefield medicine and are inflicted with wounds, intubated with chest tubes, and administered drugs to simulate certain symptoms, such as difficulty breathing. The PCRM argued that alternative training methods can and should be employed; joined by 17 former military doctors and medics, they have filed a Petition for Enforcement with the Army surgeon general to put an end to the animal testing. Military officials argue that not only do they comply with animal welfare regulations, but that the animal testing provides an invaluable training opportunity. Jamie Campbell, a former U.S. Army medic, said the use of animals in medical training was "most definitely" an asset to him.
What does Silvio Berlusconi do in his free time? The Italian prime minister is allegedly furious over the publication in the Spanish paper El Pais of five photos that show two topless women and a naked man, as well as Berlusconi with a clothed woman, hanging out at his Sardinian holiday villa. Berlusconi has threatened to sue El Pais for publishing the photos, which were banned in Italy on privacy grounds. According to BBC, the photos “were taken from outside Mr Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia during a party for a Czech delegation.”
Last we heard about Angelina Jolie, she and Brad Pitt were denying split rumors and she was recovering from a minor on-set injury. Well, she managed to find time to add her two cents about what to do in Darfur. The actress—who just outranked Oprah Winfrey as the most-powerful celeb according to Forbes—published an editorial about Darfur in Time magazine on Friday, to coincide with the results of a United Nations Security Council inquiry. "Darfur has almost disappeared from the news, and experts now call it a 'low intensity' conflict," she writes. "But the intensity of the crisis has not lessened for those who are struggling to survive." She concludes: "Security Council Member states will be faced with a simple decision—to embrace impunity or to end it. As they are considering [Sudanese President Omar al Bashir's] fate they are also considering their own."
The photograph of an anonymous man standing down a tank in Tiananmen Square is one of the defining images of the twentieth century. On Thursday, the day before the 20th anniversary of the taking of that photograph, The New York Times published for the first time a new photo of the famous confrontation. The so-called “Tank Man” is only a small figure on the left side of the image, his posture erect and his back facing the lens of the camera in contrast to the men in the foreground who are facing the camera as they run away. On the right-hand side of the image, the tanks approach. “While working as a reporter in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, [photographer Terri Jones] shot many photographs and recorded several hours of video. It wasn’t until weeks afterwards, when he had returned to Japan, that he discovered the magnitude of what he had captured—an iconic moment in history from an entirely unique angle.”
Watch your back David Hasselhoff: The Germans have a new favorite American. President Obama. A whole slew of Obama-related merchandise has hit the German shelves, including a plush doll of Bo, the family’s Portuguese water dog. It’s quite cute. On the other end of the spectrum? “Obama-fingers”—frozen chicken fingers with curry sauce.
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