More dire news from General Motors: Sources tell the Associated Press the struggling automaker is planning to close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer.Earlier today, GM's chief financial officer told The Wall Street Journal the automaker has no intention of paying its scheduled $1 billion debt payment to the government on June 1. Instead, the company is banking on a "debt-for-equity exchange" or the court protection that would result from bankruptcy. GM is currently burdened with $28 billion in debt and must prove to the government that it has restructured and is moving in the right direction on June 1. The CFO said GM will achieve this "in court or out of court," conceding that bankruptcy is "probable." He also expressed hope that the company will weather the storm and emerge a "viable entity," adding, "We're going to get this done."

Scary news from Pakistan: The Taliban have seized a district close to Islamabad, and the government appeared to make no move to fight back. The district borders the Swat Valley, a region the Taliban wrested from Pakistan’s army in February. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s government recently agreed to the introduction of Sharia law in Swat, which the Obama administration thinks is too big a concession to the Taliban. “I think that the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday. The Taliban have tried to take over the Buner district before, but citizen militias forced them away. Now the Taliban have more recruits in Swat and were easily able to invade—and they’re one step closer to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

President Obama can’t seem to get out from under the shadow of George W. Bush, much as he’s trying to move on. The Washington Post’s Dan Balz reports Obama released the CIA interrogation memos last week instead of forming a commission—like the one convened after 9/11—to look into abuses because such a panel would have dragged the issue out for months. The president wanted to move on with his own agenda, which is why he said no one would be prosecuted for the abuses. Now everyone’s mad: Critics on the right say he is soft commander in chief for making the information public, while critics on the left think he’s letting former Bush officials get away with murder. The administration is now backtracking, saying that while no CIA agents will be prosecuted for harsh interrogation tactics, those who authorized the tactics might be.

A stunning report from ABC News: The channel has obtained a videotape showing Sheik Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, brother of the country’s crown prince, brutally whipping, electrocuting, and running over a terrified man lying prone in the desert. The United Arab Emirates has acknowledged the video and after conducting an investigation has said it found no illegal activity. The man who smuggled the tape, now in Houston, has sued the sheik, accusing him of torture. In the graphic video, the sheik—with the aid of a police officer in uniform—is shown stuffing sand into a man’s mouth, firing bullets within feet of the man, shocking him with a cattle prod, and finally running over him with an SUV. Sheik Issa is said to have become more violent and unstable following the death of his father in 2004. The U.S. government has yet to make any public remarks criticizing the UAE, one of its most important allies in the Middle East.

The recession, it seems, has frozen Americans in place: They changed residences less often in 2008 than in any year since Census tracking began in 1948. The trend affected moves of all distances—local, state to state, and even abroad. “We are normally thought of as a country on the move, but now all levels of migration have almost come to standstill,” a demographer at the Brookings Institution tells The Wall Street Journal. “People are just staying put.” The national mover rate, which tracks how many people lived in a different home than they did the year before, was 11.9 percent last year, equal to about 35 million people, down from 13.2 percent in 2007. People in the South and West move most, at 13 percent, while Northeasterners move least, at 8.2 percent. Many are staying put because they can’t sell their homes or won’t accept lower offers from buyers.

Another Bush administration policy overturned: The FDA will allow 17-year-olds to buy Plan B—aka the morning after pill—over the counter. A U.S. district court judge has ruled that the policy restricting access to minor was based on politics, not science, and opened up an investigation into whether any age limit should exist for the drug. Plan B contains a high dose of birth control that can prevent a woman from becoming pregnant up to 72 hours after she has had sex, but does not interfere with an existing pregnancy. Pro-lifers say the pill is like an abortion because it prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, though research suggests that is unlikely.

Acting Freddie Mac Chief Financial Officer David B. Kellermann “worked himself into a frazzle” before his apparent suicide early Wednesday, according to a co-worker. Police found Kellermann hanging in the basement of his suburban home he shares with his wife and 5-year-old daughter outside Washington, D.C. Colleagues said he was fun-loving, upbeat, and popular at Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage company that has been under investigation by federal authorities the past few months. Kellermann, 41, joined the firm in 1992 and was appointed CFO just last September, when the government seized control of the company. He also was due to receive about $850,000 in bonuses this year thanks to a controversial bonus program designed to retain talent in a demoralizing atmosphere.

The world’s favorite frumpy singer, Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle, insisted she wouldn’t let fame change her signature look, but she stepped out yesterday in a new bold-patterned dress, a leather-ish jacket, and a more shapely browline. And heels! Despite telling The Times of London last weekend, “I’m content with the way I look. What’s wrong with looking like Susan Boyle? What’s the matter with that?” the 48-year-old YouTube star apparently did a little shopping. But the new look hasn’t gone to her head—Boyle still took time to strike a pose for photographs with locals outside her home.

A search of suspected “Craigslist killer” Philip Markoff’s apartment has yielded creepy results: two pairs of women’s underwear kept as mementos and a gun concealed in a hollowed-out copy of the textbook Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body. Who the underwear belonged to has yet to be determined—as has whether the gun found was used in the murder of the 26-year-old masseuse found in the doorway of a room at the Boston Marriott Copley. The Suffolk County district attorney says the 23-year-old med student, who has pleaded not guilty, “seems to have no problem physically hurting women and dominating them.”

Defying analysts’ predictions and shareholders’ worries about the health of its CEO, Apple raked in an unexpected $1.21 billion in net income last quarter, up 15 percent. The iPhone led the charge: The company sold 3.79 million units, double the amount from the year earlier. New versions of the iPod also boosted profits, though sales of Macs dipped slightly. Investors expect Apple to introduce new inventory in June to keep sales up. A new iPhone, an iPod Touch media player with a larger screen, and a tablet computer are among the possible new products. Last quarter, health problems forced CEO Steve Jobs to step back from his usual day-to-day guidance of Apple, leaving some worried about its future.

In one of the creepiest stories in recent memory, a mad scientist named Panayiotis Zavos has been filmed creating 11 cloned embryos and then implanting them in four women. None of the embryos led to a viable pregnancy, but the doctor has said this is only the first step, and a human clone is right around the corner. In a possibly even more disturbing revelation, the doc revealed he produced three cloned embryos of dead people, made from cells turned over to him by grieving families. One of the clones was of a 10-year-old child who was killed in a car crash. He then fused the cells with eggs taken from cows to “create a human-animal hybrid ‘model’” that would allow him to study the cloning procedure. The doctor said he had no intention of actually going through with the cloning process of these hybrids. That’s comforting.

Could all of New England allow same-sex marriage by 2012? As many as 4,000 people attended a rally today in Maine featuring speakers on both of sides of the debate. State Senator Dennis Damon, a sponsor of the state’s gay marriage bill along with 60 others, was greeted with a standing ovation, and thunderous applause rang out for the men and women who presented their perspectives. Not surprisingly, religion was a common topic: One Baptist reverend exhorted the people of Maine to “not make the decision of not voting on it...as a lame way of getting out of your responsibilities.” An alliance of 120 clergy offered their rebuttal, saying: “Jesus led a life of doing justice. We are called to do the same.”

Hope you weren’t pegging your hopes on economic growth in 2009: According to the International Monetary Fund, the world economy is likely to shrink this year for the first time in six decades.” The 1.3 percent projected decline is revised downward from an earlier projection of 0.5 percent growth. "By any measure, this downturn represents by far the deepest global recession since the Great Depression," the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook. "All corners of the globe are being affected."

Hillary Clinton has thrown off the gloves and jumped into the debate raging over the torture memos. Speaking at the House Foreign Affairs Committee today, Congressman Dana Rohrbacher of California pressed Hillary Clinton to persuade Obama to release all the relevant torture documents, as Dick Cheney has requested. "Well, it won't surprise you, I don't consider him a particularly reliable source of information," Clinton replied, eliciting laughter from the crowd. The congressman was not amused and pressed further, but Clinton only added that it was important to "get to the bottom of this entire matter."

When American Idol judge Randy Jackson received word that Condoleeza Rice would like to dine with him, "he was sort of mystified," Us Magazine reports. So are we. But, supposedly, Condi's interest was innocent enough; She is "a longtime admirer of Randy and enjoyed the opportunity to meet him in person and talk about their common passion for music." The former big-shot in the Bush administration, who is a classically trained pianist, was in town for an appearance on Jay Leno and decided to arrange the dinner. One can only speculate about the topics of conversation: Torture memos? Susan Boyle's siren song? Condi reports Randy was "utterly fascinating."

Congresswoman Jane Harman’s legal troubles, stemming from an alleged quid pro quo with an Israeli agent overheard on a wiretap, are not apparently news to everyone: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the NSA briefed her on the wiretap “a few years ago,” though she was not told what the eavesdroppers overheard on the call and did not tell Harman at the time. “I have great confidence in Jane Harman,” Pelosi said. “She’s a patriotic American. She would never do anything to hurt her country.” Her knowledge of the wiretap perhaps explains her decision to pass over Harman for the House Intelligence Committee chairmanship in 2006.

What was it like growing up under William F. Buckley? In an excerpt from an upcoming memoir, Christopher Buckley does not pull his punches when reflecting on his parents. For most of the author's adult life, his relationship with his mother was strained, owing primarily to her terrible alcoholism. Living in the shadow of "a great man" who "always got his way" was trying as well. But through the painful process of being branded with the label of "orphan" after losing both parents within the course of 11 months, Christopher Buckley came to understand how much he truly adored both of them. His reflections are laced with important house guests and parties on yachts, all described in the regal language befitting a blue blood borne into an intellectual tradition spanning generations.

Admissions guru Steve Cohen is out this week with his annual take on the good, the bad and the ugly of getting into college. For more than two decades now, Cohen has been breaking down the best strategies for picking the right campus, and with a week to go before deposits are due, his advice this spring centers on many families' primary concern: financial aid. If the numbers just aren't adding up to send your child to their first choice, Cohen says don't be afraid to renegotiate. It's never too late to ask for more money, and if another school gave you a more generous deal, let your desired institution's financial aid office know. Universities have a lot of discretion when it comes to aid packages, and admitted students have a surefire ace in their pockets—if a college lets you in, it definitely wants you to enroll.

What can’t the patron saint of all things do? Angelina Jolie is teaming up with Fox Atomic to star as Dr. Kay Scarpetta in the wildly popular series penned by Patricia Cornwell. The medical examiner role is part of a 16-book series and could jumpstart a franchise a la The Bourne Identity. Scarpetta, an “opera-loving coroner,” might prove to be a juicy role for Jolie, who as of late had only so-so success with the action flick Wanted and the raved-but-unseen Changeling.

President Obama’s auto czar, Steve Rattner, is tarnished by an alleged pay-to-play scandal, but did he really break the law? “Somewhere there's a line where legal bribery turns into illegal bribery,” Michael Kinsley writes in The Washington Post. “No one who knows Rattner … would be surprised that he skated close to the line. Everyone, including Rattner, would be astonished if it turns out that he crossed it.” Kinsley continues, “In short, nobody seems to have any idea where the line is. ... I lose no sleep over the danger that I may have inadvertently bribed a public official, and you probably don't either. It's not a hard danger to avoid, if you have no desire to manage part of a public pension fund. On the other hand, this ambiguity gives enormous power to government agencies and to those present-day Torquemadas, state attorneys general, to pick their targets and define the law as they wish.”

The ugly family situation of Rubina Ali, the nine-year-old Slumdog Millionaire actress, continues to worsen, according to The Times of London. Photographers captured a physical fight between Rubina's mother and stepmother over claims that the girl's father tried to sell her in an illegal adoption deal. Now, Sana Ali, Rubina's 13-year-old sister, said her father had driven her from the Mumbai slum home she shared with her siblings and stepmother. "My father said I was unwanted and Rubina was more precious," she said. "Abba [father] cared for us well before Slumdog ... The Oscar has destroyed my family." Sana also said that she knew about the alleged adoption negotiations.

Over the strenuous opposition of John McCain, the Senate has confirmed Christopher Hill as the new ambassador to Iraq. McCain, along with Republican Senator Sam Brownback, blocked the shortcutting of Hill’s nomination, arguing that he did a poor job as nuclear envoy to North Korea, which recently launched long-range missiles. “I don’t believe it is appropriate to select as our next ambassador someone who will require on-the-job training on Iraqi affairs and Middle East issues,” said McCain. The former presidential candidate also objected to Hill’s comments to a New York Times reporter about the Bush administration. “These [expletives] don’t know how to negotiate,” he was quoted as saying. Senator John Kerry, on the other hand, calls Hill one of the country’s best diplomats.

Despite the corruption and sex scandals he's weathered, Jacob Zuma expects his African National Congress to win big in elections in South Africa today, which would propel him to the presidency. The Associated Press reports that Zuma, a former anti-apartheid guerrilla, was implicated in an arms bribery scandal and was acquitted of raping a HIV-positive family friend in 2006. His testimony in the latter trial earned him ridicule for his testimony that he believed that showering after the encounter, which he maintains was consensual, would protect him from AIDS. In the 2004 elections, the ANC nabbed 69.9 percent of the vote, but has been accused of not moving fast enough to improve the life of South Africa's black majority.

Fidel Castro has put a damper on hopes of improved U.S.-Cuba relations by rejecting the idea that the island should release political prisoners. The 82-year-old dictator claims that President Obama misinterpreted remarks made by his brother and successor, Raul, at the recent Summit of the Americas. “Affirming that the president of Cuba is ready to discuss any topic with the president of the United States expresses that he's not afraid to broach any subject,” Fidel wrote of his 77-year-old brother, adding that “It's a sign of bravery and confidence in the principles of the revolution.” He made it clear that “Nobody should assume that he was talking about pardoning those sentenced in March 2003.” He was referring to 54 leading political opposition leaders who remain imprisoned after a crackdown that led to the arrest of some 75 dissenters. Castro also criticized the U.S. President, whom he had previously praised, by accusing him of “superficiality.”

This ought to warm Dick Cheney’s heart: According to The New York Times, “President Obama’s national intelligence director told colleagues in a private memo last week that the harsh interrogation techniques banned by the White House did produce significant information that helped the nation in its struggle with terrorists.” “High value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qa’ida organization that was attacking this country,” Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the intelligence director, wrote in a memo to his office last Thursday. The memo was publicly released, but those words were cut.

Captured pirate Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse may have been all smiles when he arrived in New York, but prosecutors allege that he is not the innocent teenager his family and defenders claim. In their case against him—the first piracy trial in the United States in over 100 years—prosecutors have portrayed Muse as a tough criminal who was the first to board the hijacked ship, fired a shot at the captain, helped steal $30,000 in cash from a safe, and bragged about hijacking ships in the past. Members of the Maersk Alabama crew revealed new details about the attack, narrating how they captured Muse by tricking him into leaving his gun with other pirates while he searched the ship. According to crewmember ATM “Zahid” Reza, Muse counted himself lucky to raid a U.S. ship and carried himself as the leader of the pirate gang. “He was surprised he was on a U.S. ship,” said Reza. “He kept asking, ‘You all come from America?’ Then he claps and cheers and smiles. He caught himself a big fish. He can’t believe it.”

“The top 10 recipients of the government's $700 billion financial bailout spent about $9.5 million on federal lobbying during the first three months of the year,” reports the Associated Press. General Motors spent nearly $3 million, while Citigroup, AIG, and JP Morgan all spent more than $1 million. So on what, exactly, are they spending TARP money? On finding ways out of TARP, suggests  The Wall Street Journal. “The banking industry is aggressively lobbying the Treasury Department to make it less costly for financial institutions to get out of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.” The banks are worried that the government will convert its “warrants” to common shares so taxpayers can receive more of a return when the banks recover. “To do that, banks must either buy them back from the government or allow the Treasury to sell them to private investors.”

President Obama certainly charmed reluctant leaders in Latin America, but he might be pushing his luck with this latest move: He’s invited the leaders of Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories to meet in early June in Washington and talk peace. There’s no sign the Arab and Israeli leaders will meet directly, of course. Obama has pledged to address the conflict in the region and combat the “cynicism” surrounding the peace efforts. “What we want to do is to step back from the abyss, to say, as hard as it is, as difficult as it may be, the prospect of peace still exists, but it’s going to require some hard choices,” he said. The U.S. supports a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine coexisting as independent nations.

Something to think about next time you're fastening your seatbeat before takeoff: GQ's Jeanne Marie Laskas reports on America's struggling air traffic controllers from inside a control tower in New York's hectic La Guardia airport. The tower is "the center of the universe ... serving 23 million passengers a year as they fly in and out of the most congested airspace in the world." The air traffic controllers, nicknamed "swivelheads" for their fast-paced monitoring of planes, are over-worked, under-appreciated, and dependent upon ancient equipment. They are "choreographers, deciders, big-picture people with a knack for making split-second decisions based on physics, geometry, aerodynamics, and God-given guts." But what happens when these gifted people retire? Labor shortages are a big problem for the industry, so existing controllers are forced to work even more hours, and the FAA is recruiting less-educated people to fill the vacancies. Yikes.

When controversy erupted over prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the Bush administration pinned the crimes on “a few bad apples.” But, the 232-page report on torture released today shows that both military and CIA officers were being trained on how to conduct coercive interrogations as many as eight months before the Justice Department official okayed the measures, according to the Associated Press. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said, “Authorizations of aggressive interrogation techniques by senior officials resulted in abuse and conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment.” He continued, "In my judgment, the report represents a condemnation of both the Bush administration's interrogation policies and of senior administration officials who attempted to shift the blame for abuse such as that seen at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan to low-ranking soldiers."

If you got it, flaunt it. China will put its nuclear submarines on display for the first time at an upcoming international naval show. According to a Chinese naval officer, the showcase is "aimed at promoting understanding about China's military development." According to other observers, the show is a sign of China flexing its military might; Recent disputes with the U.S., the Phillipines, Japan and—most significantly—Taiwan, have motivated the rapidly growing country to bolster its military and serve notice that it means business. The submarines are the most powerful ships in the Chinese Navy, and there are reportedly interests in adding an aircraft carrier to the fleet. Chinese warships are part of the international flotilla patrolling the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia.