President Obama will sign an executive order on Monday overturning the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, according to ABC News. The announcement will be made at an event at the White House and will be about, according to one official, “restoring scientific integrity to health care policy.” Former-president Bush signed the ban originally in 2001 and vetoed two efforts to overturn it.

The field for surgeon general just got louder: Howard Dean is in the running. The doctor, a former Vermont governor, presidential candidate, and Democratic National Committee chairman, had wanted to run the Health and Human Services Department but was passed over amid rumors of bad blood between him and Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Now it looks like Dean and Rahm have patched up their differences, and since CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta’s surprise exit from contention yesterday, the man whose screech will live on in all our memories is back at the top of the heap. But is he actually interested in the post? 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had some tough words for Russia today in an interview with the BBC. "There are areas where we just flat out disagree and we are not going to paper those over," Clinton said an interview before a meeting with her Russian counterpart in Geneva. "We will not recognize the breakaway areas of Georgia, we do not recognize any sphere of influence on the part of Russia and their having some kind of veto power over who can join the EU or who can join NATO.” She also, however, reproached the Bush administration’s approach to Russia: "There was a rather confrontational approach toward Russia in the prior administration. How much that contributed to Russian behavior I think is a legitimate question to ask.”

Might Bernard Madoff soon plead guilty? According to the Associated Press, “Prosecutors filed court papers Friday indicating Bernard Madoff may be ready to plead guilty to charges arising from one of the biggest financial frauds in history. ... The U.S. attorney's office suggested Friday in a brief court filing that the money manager is ready to waive an indictment and one of Madoff's lawyers said he had already done so. A waiver of indictment is a necessary procedural step before a defendant enters a guilty plea."

Chris Brown, who allegedly attacked girlfriend Rihanna last month, may have gotten his arraignment pushed back, but he’d better move fast if he’s going to salvage his pop career. And that’s what he’s planning: The Chicago Sun-Times reports the 19-year-old singer will team up with Rihanna, who’s taken him back with some key provisions: to co-author a book about abuse and “go on a talk show whirlwind to speak directly to their fans and the general public.” As part of Brown’s plan, “Project Mea Culpa,” he’ll tell of his increasingly abusive behavior and partner with clinical experts. And what if Rihanna is abused again? Brown “has agreed to pay Rihanna ‘as much as $10 million’ and possibly more ‘if he as much as squeezes her arm the wrong way,’” says a source.

Today the official unemployment rate today topped 8 percent—up from 7.6 percent in January to 8.1 percent in February—but even more troubling: The broader unemployment rate, which is the most comprehensive unemployment measure, rose 0.9 percent to 14.8 percent in February. The broader unemployment rate includes the 8.1 percent figure plus people who want a job but have stopped looking and people working part-time because they can’t find full-time work. That means about one out of seven Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. Some economists think the figure will top out at 20 percent.

Some (more) tragic news from Zimbabwe: Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was killed today in a car accident. Tsvangirai too was present at the accident but survived with non-critical injuries. They were travelling to their home village when their car was hit by a truck whose driver appears to have fallen asleep. Tsvangirai runs Zimbabwe’s unity government with President Robert Mugabe.

She may have undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer last month, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she expects to be on the Supreme Court for years to come. In an interview with USA Today, she speaks out against Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, who predicted she’d be dead within nine months. Explaining why she attended President Obama’s speech to Congress last week, Ginsburg, 75, said: “First, I wanted people to see that the Supreme Court isn’t all male. I also wanted them to see I was alive and well, contrary to that senator who said I’d be dead within nine months.” Ginsburg returned to the court Feb. 23, when justices returned from a winter recess.

The most tedious exercise in election history continues: The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Al Franken’s petition to be seated in the U.S. Senate while a lawsuit disputing the election is resolved. Franken still leads by 225 votes, but Norm Coleman is alleging that uncounted absentee ballots were wrongly rejected. Franken was suing to force Governor Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie sign an election certificate.

Lawsuit or no lawsuit, a Los Angeles auction house says it will auction off the contents of Michael Jackson’s Neverland estate, and may use the proceeds to pay for any litigation fees. Darren Julien tells The Wrap the debt-ridden Jackson—who’s mounting 10 comeback shows in London this summer—and his people contacted his firm on their own about holding an auction of his possessions. The auction house head expressed indignation at the King of Pop’s lawsuit, which accuses him of trying to sell those items without permission. Julien said the star and his closest confidant, “the mysterious Dr. Tohme Tohme” appeared happy with the auction plans until Wednesday, when the suit was filed. Among the items Julien and his staff cleared out of Neverland and are putting on the block: Popemobile-style electric vehicles, the estate’s crested gates, and dozens of sequined gloves.

New administration, new foreign policy: The White House is planning to invite Iran to an international conference on stabilizing Afghanistan. The move, which Secretary of State Clinton announced Thursday in Brussels, is a serious departure from Bush's strategy of isolating the Islamic republic, which has resisted Western calls to end its nuclear program. Western diplomats say talks with Iran on Afghanistan at the summit, planned for June, would show that Washington and Tehran have mutual interests—both are enemies of the Taliban and have sought to halt opium poppy cultivation, for example. "If you are going to have a regional conference on Afghanistan you have to include the country that is on their western border," said one administration official. "Whether or not Iran is prepared to play a positive role is another question."

Looks like Robin Williams' health problems are more serious than was previously thought: The Oscar-winning comic will undergo heart surgery in south Florida. An earlier statement from the 57-year-old actor said he was "experiencing shortness of breath" and that doctors were "recommending a week of rest." The surgery to replace his aortic valve will force the cancellation of Williams' one-man show, Weapons of Self-Destruction, which was headed to Broadway this spring. Now his reps say the tour will continue in the fall. "I'm so touched by everyone's support and well wishes," Williams said in a statement. "This tour has been amazing fun and I can't wait to get back out on the road after a little tune-up."

President Obama finally won some praise last week from New York Times columnist and longtime antagonist Paul Krugman for his budget, but the Nobel Prize winning economist blasts the administration once again today over its plan to rescue finance. "Among people I talk to there's a growing sense of frustration, even panic, over Mr. Obama's failure to match his words with deeds," Krugman wrote in his column. "The reality is that when it comes to dealing with the banks, the Obama administration is dithering." According to Krugman, White House officials have been floating unpopular and insufficient plans to temporarily patch up banks rather than take more drastic actions to quickly deal with insolvent banks. Krugman favors temporary nationalization to get rid of insolvent "zombie" banks that soak up federal aid without becoming viable again.

John Thain would be proud. Although it's undergoing a financial crisis, the U.S. Postal Service purchased a $1.2 million home in South Carolina from one of its employees to help him relocate in February, CNN reports. The sale comes on the cusp of a change in regulation that set $1 million as the Post Office cap on such purchases. A spokesman for the Post Office said the organization planned to resell the house, as is typical of such relocations. "It's not like we threw away a million dollars," the spokesman said. "We are hoping it's going to go for the appraised value." After all, it's not like the housing market is depressed.

President Obama's two-pronged foreclosure plan may have some initial support, but it's unlikely to aid many suffering homeowners in California. Obama's plan, which will allow people who are current on their mortgages to take out new loans with lower rates for up to a 105 percent value on their home, doesn't take into account thousands of homeowners who owe more than 105 percent, according to the Los Angeles Times. The plan's other component—paying mortgage companies to cap loan payments at 31 percent of a homeowner's total income—will only apply to those able to make payments, and with the unemployment rate sitting at 10 percent, the field of those who will benefit is narrowed significantly.

Vijay Mallya, the Indian liquor baron behind Kingfisher beer, scored Gandhi's glasses, sandals, food bowl, and other items yesterday for a mere $2.1 million after beating out a phone bidder, reportedly based in London. Working through his proxy, Toni Bedi, president of the U.S. branch of United Breweries Holdings Ltd, Mallya won the items for $1.8 million plus a commission. "This belongs to India," Bedi said. James Otis, the collector who put the items up for sale caused a kerfuffle the day before the auction when he said he'd withdraw the items if India increased its anti-poverty spending. India's culture minister said he'd been instructed to do "whatever possible" to repatriate the items, although the Indian government avoided bidding on the lot to avoid commercializing the objects. Tushar Gandhi, the leader's great grandson, said he was proud that an Indian bought the lot.

Long live soup and puffy shirts! After making their final television bow 11 years ago—has it been that long already?—the main Seinfeld foursome never individually reached the success of their oft-quoted show. It was announced, however, that this fall the cast will reunite in a storyline on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, making it the first time Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards will appear on the same show since the Seinfeld finale. David, who co-created Seinfeld, created and stars in Curb, whose return airdate has yet to be announced.

Bad news for Obama and the Democrats: Senate Republicans late Thursday night blocked a $410 billion omnibus spending measure. Critics of earmarks, including Sen. John McCain, had criticized the bill, which the administration called "last year's business" because it "represented the balance of former President George W. Bush's final budget," The New York Times reports. Democrats apparently miscalculated, believing they had the 60 Senate votes necessary to avoid a filibuster, only to announce the measure was stalled. Now they must put together at stop-gap budget resolution to keep the federal government running past Tuesday; the omnibus bill is likely to pass next week after Republicans are allowed to offer additional amendments.

One sign of a real psychopath, we imagine, is someone who magnifies the scale of his crime even to the investigators who are charging him with and eventually punishing him for it. Bernard Madoff may fit the bill. According to the Associated Press, Madoff told investigators he stole $50 billion, but “A growing number of people involved in the case and outside observers are saying that the actual loss to investors could be far less than the mind-boggling total often treated as fact. The actual number is not known at this point, but some believe it's less than $20 billion.” The $50 billion number may include what one regulator calls “entirely fictitious profits.”

Details are beginning to come in on Treasury Secretary Geithner's notoriously vague bank rescue, which involves corralling wealthy investors into financing a government-led bailout. According to the Washington Post, the government will lend nearly $1 trillion to hedge funds, private equity firms, and other investors to buy highly rated securities that would finance consumer lending. The government backing will act to subsidize what might otherwise be a riskier investment in the ailing financial sector, where major banks like Citigroup are on the verge of being de-listed on the stock exchange. In addition to the securities, the government would commit an additional $1 trillion towards encouraging rich investors to buy up toxic assets from banks to help clear their balance sheets. Big investors helped get us into this mess—will they get us out of it?

The nation's jobless numbers are even worse than last month. Unemployment nationwide now stands at 8.1 percent, up from 7.6 percent last month. The Labor Department reported this morning that with 651,000 jobs lost in February, unemployment is now at its highest since 1983. "Employers are shrinking their work forces at alarming clip and are turning to other ways to slash costs—including trimming workers' hours, freezing wages or cutting pay—because the recession has eaten into their sales and profits," the Associated Press reported. Who's leading the way down? Construction companies, which cut 104,000 jobs in February; factories, which eliminated 168,000 jobs; and professional/business services that reduced payrolls by 180,000.

Sudanese President al-Bashir, indicted on war crimes charges this week by the International Criminal Court, is planning to take the whole country down with him it seems. In retaliation for the indictment, al-Bashir is kicking out foreign aid workers who are responsible for supplying millions of Sudanese refugees displaced by violence. The move threatens the food supply for some 1.1 million people and UN officials are scrambling to find ways to prevent mass starvation. More than 300,000 people have died in fighting over the last six years, according to the UN.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was able to squeak through his confirmation hearings, despite prior tax difficulties, but the rest of his staff isn’t faring as well. The Wall Street Journal reports that “Two candidates for top jobs at the Treasury have withdrawn their names from consideration, complicating efforts by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to staff his department at a time of economic crisis.” Annette Nazareth was supposed to be deputy Treasury secretary, while Caroline Atkinson was in line to oversee international affairs. “People familiar with the matter said Ms. Nazareth and Ms. Atkinson withdrew in part because of the long vetting process, which had dragged on for weeks and included several rounds of intense questioning.”