How much did American International Group really pay out in bonuses? The bailed-out insurance giant has just offered its third assessment of its bonus pool—in response to questions from Rep. Elijah Cummings—and it now says it paid $454 million for work performed in 2008, nearly four times what it said in March. “I was shocked to see that the number has nearly quadrupled this time,” Cummings tells Politico. “I simply cannot fathom why this company continues to erode the trust of the public and the U.S. Congress, rather than being forthcoming about these issues from the start.” A company spokesman explains the new number “reflects all types of variable compensation across all of our businesses.”

A torture scoop: The New York Times is reporting that the Justice Department's inquiry into the conduct of the Bush administration lawyers who okayed harsh interrogation tactics has concluded that they committed serious lapses of judgment, but should not be prosecuted. The report, by the Office of Professional Responsibility, is likely to ask that Jay Bybee and John Yoo be disciplined but not criminally prosecuted. Could the news be due to Bush lobbying? The Washington Post reports that former Bush administration officials are lobbying behind the scenes to persuade Justice Department leaders to “soften” an ethics report criticizing the lawyers. Attorneys for the two Bybee and Yoo have encouraged such lobbying from the ex-Bush officials, sources tell the paper. The two men faced a deadline of yesterday to respond to investigators, but have not yet done so. 

Time to take on the Taliban: President Obama begins talks with leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday to redraft the already outdated security strategy they released just five weeks ago. As the Taliban insurgency moves closer to Pakistan’s political center, the three countries must work quickly to prevent the militants from fracturing Pakistan and gaining control of Islamabad’s nuclear weapons. Afghanistan is not as much of a problem: “By comparison, it looks like Canada,” one U.S. official tells the Los Angeles Times. The Defense Department is pushing for $400 million in military aid, and the Obama administration wants to disburse more than a billion and a half more over five years under certain conditions from Pakistan. Obama will have to use all his powers of diplomacy at the talks: Pakistan is intensely opposed to U.S. “drone” airstrikes and Afghanistan is frustrated over civilian casualties.

A trickle has turned into a flood: Brokers are bolting from Wall Street in record numbers as slumping markets have investors turning away from stocks that produce high commissions. At the current rate, about 35,000 brokers will leave the industry by the end of the year, leaving about 630,000 behind. Brokers are often paid a percentage of the clients’ assets they manage—which tumbled with the markets last year. Investors have also turned to money market or insured deposit accounts for safety, neither of which pay much in commission. The cadre of brokers who make more than $1 million in fees are still in hot demand at firms like UBS and Bank of America, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Despite the fizzling swine flu threat, the Obama administration is weighing a fall vaccine campaign that would ask Americans to get two new swine flu vaccines in addition to the seasonal flu shot. The multibillion-dollar effort would challenge vaccine manufacturers as well as the ability of the government to track side effects to the new vaccines. During the 1976 swine flu scare, hundreds of Americans were left with neurological disorders after receiving the voluntary vaccine. “There will be adverse effects to any vaccine. That’s just science,” says Michael Hattwick, who was in charge of tracking vaccine side effects during the ’76 swine flu outbreak. The vaccine would first be tested on animals and then on humans in clinical trials before being rolled out.

Five years ago, Connie Culp’s husband shot her point-blank before turning the gun on himself, leaving his wife with a hole in her face that doctors attempted to fix—to no avail, even after 30 operations. In December, Culp received the first full face transplant in the U.S. Doctors graphed a face donated from a dead woman onto Culp’s, and now she can eat, speak, and breathe on her own. Until Tuesday, when Culp debuted her new face, her identity was kept secret. “I guess I’m the one you came to see today,” she said at a news conference. But she added: “I think it’s more important that you focus on the donor family that made it, so I could have this person’s face.”

In an irreverent interview with The New York Times Magazine’ Deborah Solomon, Sen. Arlen Specter says Norm Coleman should win the contested Minnesota Senate seat—to the chagrin, surely, of his Democratic supporters, who want him to toe the party line. “There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner,” he said, in response to Solomon asking if he minded that there will be no more Republican Jews in the Senate. Specter, who recently declared himself a Democrat, kept a light tone for the interview, saying of former Sen. Bob Dole, whom he grew up with in Kansas: “From reliable sources, he did not need Viagra then.”

Farrah Fawcett is taking her struggle with cancer public: NBC is set to air the actress’ chronicle of her battle with anal cancer—most of which was shot on her own video camera—on May 15. The two-hour documentary, called Farrah’s Story, features Fawcett recounting her treatments in the U.S. and Germany in video diary format. “This film is very personal,” she says. “At the time, I didn’t know if anybody would ever see it. But at some point, the footage took on a life of its own and dictated that it be seen.” Fawcett’s longtime partner, Ryan O’Neal, and two of her Charlie’s Angels co-stars make appearances in the film.

A new report on the Gaza war: A United Nations investigation has found that Israel’s use of white phosphorous munitions that killed Palestinians at a U.N. school showed a “reckless disregard” for human life. The projectiles struck U.N. premises twice, killing two and injuring more. The investigation found Israel responsible for seven of the nine worst attacks on U.N. premises earlier this year, including one that killed three men at a U.N. school in Asma. The panel blamed just one attack on Palestinians and said it was accidental. The panel called for Israel to apologize for falsely claiming it was responding to Hamas mortar fire when it shelled the U.N.’s Jabalia school in January, killing up to 40 people in the area. Israel’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Daniel Carmon, has called the report was biased.

Speaking at a judicial conference in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice David Souter reminisced about his long legal career and waxed poetic about his larger role in society. Souter opened up his 15-minute speech by noting that he had not expected for the news of his planned retirement to leak so soon. “I swear to you I was not the source of the leak,” he said, to a chorus of laughs. The speech reflected the justice’s characteristic humility: The significance of one’s work, he said, “is often slight,” but worth doing to the best of one’s ability. In a rare show of emotion, Souter choked up as he quoted one of his predecessors. He quietly stepped away from the microphone after expressing his admiration for his peers in the legal world.

Billy Elliot has danced to the top with 15 Tony Award nominations, including one for Elton John, for composing the show’s original score. For best actor in a play, James Gandolfini and Jeff Daniels, both in God of Carnage, will face off against each other, but they have a little outside competition: Geoffrey Rush in Exit the King, and Thomas Sadoski in Reasons to be Pretty. The two royals in Mary Stuart will go head to heard for best actress, and dark horse Jane Fonda even got a nod for her role in 33 Variations. But for all the lucky ones, there were also some high-profile snubs: Nathan Lane, John Lithgow, and Frank Langella all went without a nod.

The Taliban seizure of Mingora—the main town in Pakistan’s Swat Valley—is sparking the mass exodus of half a million people. On the heels of a deteriorating truce between the Pakistani government and the Taliban, the black-turbaned militants seized Mingora and are now roaming the city's streets, patrolling rooftops, and causing general hysteria. Civilians are packing buses to flee the region. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is preparing to meet with President Obama in Washington this week, when they will likely discuss the Taliban’s now almost full control of the Swat Valley and the country’s failed truce with the militia. Said a Taliban spokesman: “Everything will be OK once our rulers stop bowing before America.”

Maine is one step closer to becoming the fifth state in the country to allow same-sex marriage: The state Legislature has voted 89 to 57 to approve it. The bill now goes back to the state Senate, which has already passed it. If the measure is approved, it goes to Gov. John Baldacci, who once was an opponent of gay marriage but now says he’s keeping an open mind on the issue. Passage of the legislation in Maine would make Rhode Island the only state in New England that does not allow same-sex marriage.

Dashing the hopes of children everywhere, new Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Tuesday that the government is adjusting its recommendation that schools with cases of the H1N1 virus close up shop for two weeks. Sebelius said the virus posed less of a danger than the government had thought. More than 400 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the U.S., and many more are suspected, the Associated Press reports. However, there have only been two fatalities attributed to the virus. Last week’s hysteria is already becoming a distant memory.

Ben Bernanke is optimistic: According to the Associated Press, “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday that the economy should pull out of a recession and start growing again later this year.” His prediction was couched, however: “Bernanke warned that even after a recovery gets under way, economic activity is likely to be subpar. That means businesses will stay cautious about hiring, driving up the nation's unemployment rate and causing ‘further sizable job losses’ in the coming months.”

Two 11-year-old boys—one in Georgia, the other in Massachusetts—have hanged themselves after being bullied at school. Although the boys did not know each other, they had much in common: Both were black and were mocked mercilessly for being “gay.” Michael Arceneaux, writing for The Root, says the dual tragedies highlight how the African-American community remains frustratingly unaccepting of homosexuals, despite the fact that the two boys’ sexuality was unknown. Arceneaux, who is openly gay, says he can sympathize with the boys’ daily struggles at school, where anyone singled out as different can become a constant target. He writes that he would have told “that despite how bad things might feel for them now, tolerance is on their side, and that...for their generation, things will be much better than mine.”

John Edwards has admitted to having an affair with Rielle Hunter but denies that he fathered her child. Elizabeth Edwards, for one, isn’t buying it. In an interview with Oprah set to air on Thursday, Elizabeth says "I've seen a picture of the baby. I have no idea [if it’s John’s]. It doesn't look like my children but I don't have any idea.” When Oprah asks whether Elizabeth is still in love with John, she replies "You know, that's a complicated question.” The couple still lives together in North Carolina. Asked why she thinks John cheated, Elizabeth says, "This person is very different from me, and really very different from him. We're basically old-fashioned people. So, this was a pretty big leap for him. Maybe it's being so different is what was attractive.”

Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party because he knew he could not win a Republican Primary. Might he go down in defeat anyway? The Washington Post reports that Former Pennsylvania governor and homeland security chief Tom Ridge is “seriously considering” a 2010 bid for Specter’s seat. That’s bad news for Specter: In one recent poll, he led Ridge 46 to 43 while leading against the Republican who would have beat him in the primary, Pat Toomey, by over 20. In another poll, he trails Ridge by one percent.

One can't be a board member of two of the trendiest tech companies around without raising a few alarms. The Federal Trade Commission has opened an inquiry into Apple and Google that will determine whether they are violating antitrust laws by sharing two top executives. The law, which is rarely enforced, prohibits an executive working double duty for two businesses if it will impede competition between them. Google will likely be the subject of many government inquiries in the coming years as the feds have become increasingly wary of its monopoly of Internet searches and advertising. The ubiquitous company has close ties with Apple, (another brand that seems to be everywhere) though the two have become competitors in the cell phone arena.

Paving the way for same sex marriages to be performed in the nation's capital, the Washington D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill that recognizes civil unions performed in other states. Though support for same-sex marriage is growing nationwide, it still lags in African-American communities. Gay marriage advocates in D.C. may find strong resistance there, as 55 percent of the D.C. population is African-American. A debate is currently raging among local politicians in the capitol regarding the viability of putting the same-sex marriage question to a public vote.

Dom DeLuise, the funny guy who starred in classics such as Blazing Saddles, and The Cannonball Run, has died. The hilarious character actor, also well-known for his role in Fatso, passed away last night in a Los Angeles hospital. According to Burt Reynolds, DeLuise’s costar in Cannonball Run, Smokey and The Bandit 2, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: “Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much.”

Carrie Prejean, the Miss California who’s been busy denouncing gay marriage and making Joe the Plumber look like Socrates, has some trouble on her hands: Thedirty.com has posted one of what it claims are six partially nude photographs of Prejean. One of the judges from the Miss California pageant says it is “quite inappropriate” and “not befitting a beauty queen.” Prejean’s contract with the Miss California pageant prohibits her from being photographed “in a state of partial or total nudity.” In a statement, Prejean said “I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. Recently, photos taken of me as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith. I am not perfect, and I will never claim to be.”

Hoping for lobster at your next movie premiere? Studios used to drop millions to premiere their biggest films in style, but these days opening night budgets are being slashed in half. Besides big-ticket shows like Star Trek and the Night at the Museum sequel, there are no big bashes planned for this summer. Movie studios are focusing on the red carpet instead of lavish parties as a way to get publicity on the cheap: Stars get dressed up, get photographed, and end up in magazines.

Hope it’s not awkward at the water cooler: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has signed on to the GOP’s rebranding effort—the National Council for a New America—amid swirling rumors that Republicans would rather she stay home. The council has been cast as a Republican “establishment” group that shuns big-name, tabloid-ready figures like Palin and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. On CNN on Sunday, council member Mitt Romney snubbed Palin’s appearance on Time’s 100 Most Influential list: “I think there are a lot more influential Republicans than that would suggest,” he said.

Vincent van Gogh is remembered as the tortured artistic genius who cut off his own ear and then killed himself two years later. But a new study finds that van Gogh only pretended to cut off his ear to protect close friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin, who sliced it off with a sword during an argument. Historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans point to a few references by van Gogh of a “pact of silence” with Gauguin to back up their claims. Van Gogh also drew a picture of his ear with the word “ictus” next to it—the Latin term in fencing to mean a hit. Van Gogh was “hopelessly infatuated” with Gauguin, and their fight—not his own madness—is what led him to commit suicide, the historians claim.

Human rights activists are worried about President Obama’s commitment to their cause. According to Jennifer Windsor, a former  Clinton administration official who is executive director of Freedom House, a group that supports democracy activists, "the instinct of abandoning everything President Bush has stood for has done a disservice." She and other advocates criticize the administration’s suggestions that concerns over China's treatment of Tibetans and dissidents should take a back seat to issues such as climate change and that sanctions against human rights pariahs Burma and Sudan could be eased. According to Omar Ismail, a Darfurian refugee and policy activist who has met several times with Scott Gration, Obama’s special envoy for Sudan, "[Gration] said he wants to build rapport with Khartoum." Meanwhile, according to activist Eric Reeves, "The real situation on the ground is extremely grim, and getting worse in many places. The Obama people must know this, which makes the decision to go the accommodationist route even more bewildering."

Start stowing away your masks for the next outbreak. If all goes according to plan, Mexico City will begin to return to normalcy this week, as restaurants, libraries, and churches reopen—though nightclubs and schools will remain closed—following the H1N1 outbreak. Mexican and U.S. medical officials have said they see signs that the outbreak is slowing but continue to admonish the public to remain vigilant. One Mexican official warned that the virus could regain strength at any moment. The director of the Centers for Disease Control also said this morning that he expects to see cases of the H1N1 flu virus in all 50 states soon. Though the virus has turned up across the globe, it appears that substantial outbreaks have occurred only in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.

For the first time in history, federal money has surpassed sales and income tax collections as the largest source of revenue for state governments, USA Today reports. And the shift is just beginning, with tax collections continuing to sink while the bulk of federal stimulus aid is just starting to arrive. As Indiana State Sen. Jim Buck points out, "This money isn't manna from heaven. It comes with a price." He worries that the federal money will leave states under greater federal control and burden future generations with debt. The federal government plans to provide about $300 billion in extra aid to state and local governments over the next two years, mostly for health care, education and transportation projects. State and local governments spend about $2 trillion a year, and the federal government is now paying about 23 percent of those costs.

Conservatives should have some fun with this for a day or two: According to a study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, France is the industrialized country where people spend the longest periods sleeping—almost nine hours a day. Compared to the French’s 530 minutes of daily sleep, Americans averaged 518, while Koreans were the most awake with 469. The French also spend over two hours each day eating, which is about double the time Americans spend on their meals. And if that weren't enough, they hold a third record: 30 annual days of mandatory paid leave, compared with twenty in the U.K., ten in Japan, and zero in the U.S. The study also found that Italy is the country where leisure is the least fairly divided among the sexes. Italian men have nearly 80 daily minutes more leisure time than women. 

Details of the bank stress tests are leaking out: About 10 of the 19 financial institutions undergoing the government-ordered tests are going to be required to boost their capital, The Wall Street Journal reports. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup are expected to be among the number of banks that the government on Thursday will say need a stronger buffer against future losses. The news isn’t as bad as analysts feared it would be when the tests were announced in February. Because the Obama administration isn’t singling out one or two institutions to raise capital, the process seems less daunting. The stock prices of the three biggest banks likely to need more capital were all up on Monday.

The Taliban has, for all intents and purposes, ceased to distinguish the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, while the United States must continue to observe it. That spells a distinct disadvantage for the 20,000 new troops President Obama has ordered to the region. One Pakistani logistics technician for the Taliban described for The New York Times “a Taliban strategy that relied on free movement over the border and in and around Pakistan, ready recruitment of Pakistani men and sustained cooperation of sympathetic Afghan villagers.” Pakistan’s government, meanwhile, abandoned its truce with the Talban in the Swat Valley after militants attacked an army convoy. So far, that’s not going too well: The Taliban seized the main town in Swat, Mingora, yesterday.

1,000 NATO troops are scheduled to help Georgia practice crisis response tomorrow, but it looks like Georgia could have used them a day earlier: “Georgia claimed today to have foiled a Russian-backed plot to stage a military coup on the eve of training exercises involving NATO troops,” according to The Times of London. Apparently, a tank battalion with several hundred personnel at a base 20 miles east of Tbilisi mutinied. "The preliminary investigation materials show that the plot was coordinated with the Russians and was aimed at disrupting the Nato training," said a spokesman for Georgia’s interior ministry. "They were receiving money from Russia. It seems it was coordinated with Russia."

Masked gunmen with automatic weapons and grenades killed 44 people at an engagement ceremony in southeast Turkey on Monday, the Associated Press reports. The Turkish media reports that the slaughter was the result of a “blood feud” between families in the area, where tribal loyalties are sometimes more powerful than the state. "Citing unidentified authorities, CNN-Turk television said the attack may have occurred because one of the gunmen wanted to marry the engaged woman himself and he opposed the marriage. It said there was a family tie between the assailants and the couple who were killed." Eight gunmen have been arrested. 

Might the skeletons in Woody Allen’s closet soon be on parade (again)? The New York Daily News reports that Woody Allen is fighting to keep his ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow and Hustler publisher Larry Flynt from testifying at his upcoming lawsuit against American Apparel, the clothing company he is suing for $10 million for using image on a billboard. Allen’s lawyers accused American Apparel of turning the trial into a “spectacle” by listing Farrow as a witness so it can bring up their 1992 custody battle. "It is clear that the unproven allegations from the custody dispute will be used in a most lurid manner," Allen’s lawyer wrote.

Israel has in recent days been backing off its support for a two-state solution, but Hamas, it seems, is warming up to the idea. In an interview with The New York Times, Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, said his organization has stopped firing rockets at Israel and is seeking a Palestinian state only in the areas Israel won in 1967. “We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes East Jerusalem, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees,” Meshaal refused to concede Israel’s right to exist, though he said the Hamas charter that calls for the destruction of Israel through jihad is 20-years-old and “We are shaped by our experiences.” Israel has so far refused a full return to 1967 borders and a right-of-return for Palestinians.