After last week’s crazy market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose past 10000 Wednesday—following a steady increase Tuesday—for the first time since June 28th. Last week had seen stock prices fall to their lowest levels of the year due to global worries about the economy, but the market slowly started to creep back up  this week and eventually rose 274.66 points Wednesday. Financial stocks—including American Express, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank of America—all gained, and BP also experienced a 4 percent increase.

The outcome of the Obama administration’s lawsuit against Arizona’s harsh anti-immigration law will have national consequences: Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah are all preparing similar measures, according to The Washington Post. In fact, lawmakers in at least 17 states have proposed such laws, which would allow officers to question people they suspect of being illegal immigrants. However, most states, with the exception of these three, are unlikely to adopt them.

Federal prosecutors Wednesday charged five people in the U.S. and the U.K. as suspected al Qaeda plotters, and Justice Department officials said the men were planning attacks in New York and the U.K. Prosecutors said the men used similar code words, and used the phrase “planning a wedding” to indicate an attack. One suspect, Abid Naseer, has been in and out of British courts for more than a year, after an immigration official found he was an al Qaeda operative, but did not deport him to Pakistan because he would be tortured there. Also arrested were Adnan El Shukrijumah, Adis Medunjanin, Tariq Ur Rehman, and a fifth defendant known as "Ahmad," "Sohaib," or "Zahid.” Police said Medunjanin was already in custody for plotting to bomb the New York City subways.

Los Angeles police have arrested Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57 years old, in the Grim Sleeper serial-murder case, believing him to be responsible for 11 deaths over 30 years. Police used DNA evidence to connect the deaths—which occurred between 1985 and 2007—and Assistant District Attorney Steve Cooley said Franklin’s arrest is the first by Los Angeles police using DNA as an investigative tool. In February, police released a 911 call made more than 20 years ago by a woman who had seen the killer dispose of a body. A period of disability was the reason why no killings occurred between 1988 and 2002. Franklin’s victims were all black, 10 were women, and most were prostitutes. A 12th victim escaped after being shot and raped.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is finding himself pulled into the Liliane Bettencourt scandal, which has been making headlines in France. Now, an accountant for the billionaire L’Oréal heiress has alleged that her former boss—who is engulfed in a tax-evasion scandal—donated €150,000 (around $190,000) in cash in one year to Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign, an amount that exceeds the legal limit of €7,500 a year. The accountant, Claire Thibout, said the cash was given to party treasurer Eric Woerth, who is now the government minister in charge of pension reform. Although Woerth denies the accusation—saying he “never, ever received a single euro”—and Sarkozy called it “slander,” the public prosecutor has begun an inquiry into the allegations. Woerth accused the rival Socialist Party of orchestrating the scandal, and tensions got so high last week that Socialist ministers walked out of a parliament session.

Could LeBron James be one more person trying to make it in the city where big lights inspire you? On the day before he makes his official announcement, rumors ran rampant that the world’s most desired free agent is in an Empire State of mind, after Phoenix Sun Jared Dudley tweeted that James will pick the New York Knicks as his team. Shares in Madison Square Garden—the owners of the Knicks—jumped 4 percent on the rumor as well. All this came on the same day that other hot free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh announced they will be going to the Miami Heat, leaving New York with more money for James—who has said that he wants to be a billionaire—and also more room for James to be a star. James has visited several teams over the past few weeks, and has remained tight-lipped about his plans. Another reason to think James might be coming to New York? ESPN confirmed James will make his special Thursday-night announcement at the Boys and Girls Club in neighboring Greenwich, Connecticut.

CNN’s Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs Octavia Nasr will be leaving the network after she tweeted that she “respected” fallen Hezbollah leader Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. Mediaite quoted an internal memo that says Nasr’s “credibility in her position… has been compromised.” Nasr’s tweet caused a firestorm, and she was criticized for praising someone who has been considered terrorist. Nasr later said in a CNN blog post that she should not have phrased the comment the way she did, but she did not apologize. Nasr has been with CNN for 20 years.

For the first time in its history, Spain will play in a World Cup final. Carles Puyol’s towering header in the 74th minute was enough to secure the 1-0 victory and make a date with the Netherlands in Johannesburg on Sunday. That matchup guarantees that this World Cup will produce a first-time winner. (The Dutch will be playing in their first final since 1978.) Spain dominated possession for much of the game, while Germany’s free-flowing style seemed to desert the team. Instead, Joachim Löw’s men seemed content to sit back and wait for counterattacking opportunities. But Spain, playing as if it had extra men on the field, never cracked. An excellent save from goalkeeper Iker Casillas denied Toni Kroos with the score at 0-0, and Germany never threatened after that. And so, two years after Spain sank Germany in the final of Euro 2008, La Furia Roja dashed the Germans’ hopes once again.

The Daily Show’s female staffers—about 40 percent of the staff—issued an open letter Wednesday disputing claims by the blog Jezebel that the show had a “woman problem” and is a boys’ club in which women have a hard time succeeding. The female employees of the show started the letter as “Dear People Who Don’t Work Here,” and wrapped up by using one of Stewart’s signature send-offs: “Go F--- Yourself.” In particular, Jezebel took aim at the dearth of female correspondents—former Playboy model Olivia Munn is one, as well as show veteran Samantha Bee—and writers, although the letter said the show had plenty of female staffers in other positions. The winner of the debate? Viewers might have to tune in to see if Jon Stewart himself addresses it tonight.

Could it all just be a ploy for a comeback? Jeremy London isn't ready to get out of the spotlight yet. The fallen star will reportedly be checking into Dr. Drew Pinsky’s Celebrity Rehab either Sunday or Monday. Last month, the actor claimed he was kidnapped and forced to take drugs. London first entered rehab in September 2009 for an addiction to prescription drugs, and has been subject to random drug tests after losing custody of his 3-year-old son. His wife Melissa is also subject to random drug tests, and sources said she will be periodically taking their son to visit his father at Celebrity Rehab. London will reportedly be paid $40,000.

Thirty seven people—including many children—were thrown into Delaware River Wednesday afternoon after a barge hit a duck boat packed with tourists. Two people, a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man, both visiting from Hungary, are listed as missing. Police divers entered the water around 5:30 p.m. to search for  victims, who were submerged in about 10 feet of water. The duck boat was shut down after mechanical difficulties and a fire when the barge smacked into it. "People were screaming,” said witness Talmadge Robinson. "I looked out and all of these kids were in the river." The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.

As the saga of Lindsay Lohan’s prison sentence and accompanying profane nail polish continues, her judge’s sentence order, released Wednesday, specifies that she will also undergo three months in rehab and a year of random drug testing. In addition to 90 days behind bars, Superior Court Judge Marsha N. Revel sentenced Lohan to an additional 90 days in an inpatient rehab facility and she also must remain sober for the following 12 months. Judge Revel’s order states the fallen actress will be randomly tested for drugs and alcohol until August 2011, which is when her probation term ends. "Lindsay got the typical sentence for anyone who has a serious problem with drugs and alcohol," a veteran criminal-defense attorney, who is not involved with the case, told People magazine. "Lohan repeatedly tested the patience of the judge, who saw through all her excuses. That's what addicts do: Tell lies." Lohan will likely serve her sentence at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, which is the only jail for women in Los Angeles. She is also eligible for early release, depending on her behavior behind bars.

The curse of the The Bachelor and The Bachelorette continues—two weeks after Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi's notorious split, The Bachelorette star Jillian Harris is also spending time apart from her fiancé, People magazine reported Thursday. An ABC source revealed the betrothed couple is separating to "re-evaluate their relationship." Harris and Ed Swiderski got engaged in Hawaii last May on the ABC reality-TV dating show, but in August, rumors spread about Swiderski's infidelity. At the time, Harris told People, "Ed and I are trying to find humor in all of this—and there isn't much—but it's bringing us closer."

It should not come as a major surprise that John McCain would vote against Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court bench, but in a USA Today op-ed, he explains precisely why. McCain's beef with Elena Kagan is over the way she handled military recruiters during her time as dean of Harvard Law School. "She unmistakably discouraged Harvard students from considering a career in the military—even while claiming to do otherwise," the senator writes, "by denying military recruiters the same access to Harvard students that was granted to white-shoe law firms." Kagan argues she only did so to mark her opposition to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But that isn't good enough for McCain. In his eyes, she ignored the law that binds universities to allow them on campus "under terms of equal access with all other recruiters."

Now why can’t we just do the same? The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to restrict bankers’ bonuses. Under the law, bonuses would be linked to salaries, cash bonuses would be restricted to 30 percent of total bonus, and a large portion of the bonuses would be deferred so that the bank can recover it, should investments not pan out. The European Parliament also set new capital requirements so that banks can cover risk more adequately.

Apple essentially created the PC with the Mac, only to see Microsoft copy its software and takeover the market. Is it possible that Apple hasn’t learned any lessons? Henry Blodget at Business Insider is having déjà vu: With the PC, Apple “insisted on controlling every aspect of its product” and lost to Microsoft, which “sold the software to every PC vendor who wanted it.” Now, something similar is happening with the iPhone and Google’s Android: Apple is insisting on controlling every aspect of its products, while Google is giving it to any smart-phone distributor who wants it. Already, more developers are developing for Android than they are for the iPhone operating system, iOS. Blodget writes, “Apple fans want to believe that Apple can maintain its extraordinary profit growth merely by being a "premium" player—selling fewer devices than the Walmart of the smartphone world (Android) but maintaining a superior product and superior margins. This is wishful thinking. There just aren't that many premium buyers in the world. And the gap between the latest iPhone and the latest Android phones is closing.”

We’ll let the stimulus plan of Alvin Greene—the unemployed veteran who mysteriously won the state’s Democratic Senate primary without campaigning—speak for itself: "Another thing we can do for jobs is make toys of me, especially for the holidays. Little dolls. Me. Like maybe little action dolls. Me in an army uniform, air force uniform, and me in my suit. They can make toys of me and my vehicle, especially for the holidays and Christmas for the kids. That's something that would create jobs. So you see I think out of the box like that. It's not something a typical person would bring up. That's something that could happen, that makes sense. It's not a joke."

A feather in President Obama’s cap: His administration scored its first conviction at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday when Ibrahim al Qosi pleaded guilty to conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support to terrorists. Ibrahim al Qosi was Osama Bin Laden’s cook and helped Bin Laden escape from Tora Bora. He has been held at Gitmo since 2002 and is just the fourth person to be convicted in a tribunal there.

Sorry folks, no more free Joe Klein for you: Time Magazine is the latest publication to put a pay wall on its website. The website only has abbreviated versions of the magazine’s articles, ending with a note that says “The following is an abridged version of an article that appears in the July 12, 2010, print and iPad editions of TIME.” Time Inc. will be implementing pay walls on other publications as well, including possibly Sports Illustrated.

GOP filibusters have once again led President Obama to turn to recess appointments: He is to name Dr. Donald Berwick to head Medicare and Medicaid while Congress is on summer recess. The decision means Berwick’s term will expire in late 2011, at the end of the next session of Congress, and is somewhat unusual since the Senate is only in recess for two weeks. Berwick, who will oversee implementation of many measures of Obama’s health-reform law, is a pediatrician and a Harvard Medical School professor, and he co-founded the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. He’s expected to be a strong voice backing Obama’s health-care plan and likely would have seen a long, painful confirmation process.

Dina Manzo, the former Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member, revealed Wednesday to Life & Style magazine that the reason she left the show was because, she alleges, her on-air nemesis Danielle Staub tried to have her daughter taken away. Manzo, the 40-year-old mother of now-14-year-old Lexi, says that during the show’s first season, which filmed in 2008, she and her daughter’s father, Manzo’s ex husband, were both required to give permission for her to appear on television. "My ex-husband was well aware of Lexi's involvement in the show," Manzo told the tabloid. But once her ex saw the show, he reportedly decided he did not want his daughter on it. At that point, Manzo claims, Staub began spreading rumors in an effort to turn Manzo’s ex against her. "She told my ex's family that I'd actually forged his signature on the contracts, which I did not," Manzo says. "She supplied him with every phone number of everybody he'd need to follow through with a lawsuit." Though he did not believe Staub, Manzo was still hurt. “I could lose custody," Manzo says. "She just wanted to hurt me." Manzo also claims Staub is now saying that her current husband left her for someone younger. The former reality-TV star says, however, “Things are better than ever.”

A NATO airstrike mistakenly killed five Afghan soldiers, forcing Gen. David Petraeus to begin his tenure commanding the coalition effort there with an apology for the friendly fire incident. The few such incidents in Afghanistan, usually due to bad communication or darkness, have further driven a wedge between the American and Afghan militaries. The soldiers killed were readying for a raid in the south-central part of the country, in Ghazni province. NATO forces thought they were insurgents. The incident is under investigation. Separately, the U.S. announced three American deaths from an IED in the south.

This is going to ruin Andrew Sullivan's day: Levi Johnston told People magazine he said things that were “not completely true” about the Palins after he and Bristol broke up and he attempted to make amends with his former fiancee’s family. "Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry.” Johnston said. "So to the Palin family in general and to Sarah Palin in particular, please accept my regrets and forgive my youthful indiscretion. I hope one day to restore your trust,” he added in a statement. Bristol Palin—who recently guest-starred on an episode of the television drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager—released a statement saying she and Johnston were trying to create an “honest” relationship for their one-year-old son, Tripp. The two former lovebirds have also reportedly reunited after breaking up in 2009.

The summer concert tour cuts continue as American Idol announced the final eight shows of its Season 9 tour have been canceled. Like Christina Aguilera, Lilith Fair, the Jonas Brothers, and John Mayer before it, the Idol tour is ending two weeks earlier than planned, on August 31 in Indianapolis, and has also rearranged other shows. Though the tour’s promoters at LiveNation have yet to make an official statement, there is speculation that the economy is to blame for the boom in concert cancellations.

Nothing fishy here: Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune, who was featured regularly on the reality show Whale Wars, was convicted Wednesday of assault and obstructing Japan’s Antarctic whaling fleet, but the Japanese court suspended his sentence, sparing him from jail time. Climbing from a Jet Ski, Bethune boarded a whaling ship and threw bottles of butyric acid at the whalers, giving three minor burns. A member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Bethune claimed he boarded the ship to confront the captain about the sinking of a Sea Shepherd protest ship, and presented him with a bill for damages. He was taken into custody instead, living on the ship a month before the ship returned to Japan. Japan says its whaling program—which kills 1,000 whales a year—is for scientific purposes, but activists say it’s a cover for commercial whaling, banned in 1986.

Hawaii isn’t paradise for everyone: Republican Governor Linda Lingle vetoed a bill allowing same-sex civil unions Tuesday, the very last day she had to decide whether to sign the legislation passed in April—after weeks of airing emotional appeals from those favoring and opposing it. Lingle said the decision to legalize civil unions should be left up to voters. Pro-civil union activists, whom Lingle had invited to her press conference announcing the decision, vowed to keep fighting.

She survived the heat wave: In her first visit to New York in 35 years, Queen Elizabeth laid a wreath at Ground Zero Tuesday and spoke with families who’d lost loved ones in the terrorist attack. The queen then blew through the United Nations, addressing the General Assembly for the first time since she spoke there 53 years ago. She urged the U.N. to continue addressing terrorism and climate change. "When people in 53 years from now look back on us, they will doubtless view many of our practices as old-fashioned," Queen Elizabeth said. "But it is my hope that, when judged by future generations, our willingness to take a lead . . . will stand the test of time." Later, the queen formally opened the British Memorial Gardens, in lower Manhattan’s Hanover Square, which honors the 67 British people who died on 9/11.

As the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s new immigration law, the fight got even more personal. Just last week, Gov. Jan Brewer decisively canceled a yearly conference between U.S. and Mexico governors, after all Mexico border governors refused to set foot in her state. The meeting happened to be scheduled for Phoenix this year and was set to be hosted by Brewer. The move has irritated other states’ governors, who say Brewer had no authority to cancel the summit flat out. New Mexico’s Bill Richardson has said he will seek for an alternative city for the conference, “with or without Arizona’s participation.” In the past, the conference has allowed the U.S. and Mexico to address issues related to the border.

Are raised emotions clouding scientific judgment in the Gulf? The Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit over the weekend for Louisiana state officials' plan to build $30 million of rock dikes across the Barataria Bay, in the southeast area of the state—a move officials say will protect the bay from oil, but which scientists say will cause massive erosion and the possible breaching of the bay’s barrier islands. Louisiana officals were outraged, with even Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joining the fray, calling the denial “absolutely ridiculous” and blaming it on “bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”—a characterization the scientists strongly resist. It’s not the only trouble scientists are facing in the area: The Huffington Post says a squad of researchers equipped to “definitively measure” the oil spill and its effects has not received the green light it needs from the federal government and BP.

The party’s over for Lindsay Lohan: A Los Angeles judge sentenced her on Tuesday to 90 days in jail for violating the terms of her probation from a 2007 drunk driving case. "It's like someone who cheats but doesn't think it's cheating if they don't get caught," said Judge Marsha N. Revel. Lohan tearfully said, “as far as I knew, I was in compliance with my programs.” She also told the judge "I take responsibility for my actions. I’ve tried to do the best I can. It’s been such a long haul, I don’t want you to think that I don’t respect you." But Revel listed several instances when the starlet had lied about alcohol and drug use, and an operator of the alcohol education classes Lohan had been mandated to attend testified Lohan missed nine classes.

Is LeBron James really ready to pick a team already? ESPN’s Chris Broussard thinks so. Sources say James—the NBA’s most-coveted free agent—will pick his team Thursday on a live, one-hour special broadcast on ESPN at 9 p.m. The network would only confirm active discussions for the special. It didn’t reveal any details. James has visited six teams—the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls—but other teams have been vying for James’ star power. James opened his Twitter account Tuesday—following in the footsteps of hot free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh—and gave his followers this inaugural tweet: "Hello World, the Real King James is in the Building.”

Get ready to kiss Anna Chapman goodbye: A lawyer for a Russian academic who was convicted of spying for the U.S. in 2004 says her client is likely to be part of a prisoner exchange that will return the 10 recently accused spies—including hottie Chapman—to Russia. The lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, says her client, Igor Sutyagin, has already been notified of the deal; human-rights activists have criticized his imprisonment as unfair. He was serving a 15-year sentence in Moscow.

The so-called Climategate scientists have been cleared, but is the damage done? An independent inquiry into the affair, which was enthusiastically circulated among climate-change skeptics, found that the scientists involved acted honestly and that their research is reliable. The uproar broke in November when emails from scientists at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit were stolen and published online; the emails showed the scientists mocking climate-change skeptics and trying to keep them out of peer-reviewed journals. However the panel that led the study—the third inquiry into the matter—did reserve some harsh words for the scientists, rebuking them for “failing to display the proper degree of openness.”

If this isn’t holding the court in contempt, what is? Lindsay Lohan scribbled the words “F--- U” on her fingernail at her probation hearing on Tuesday. The starlet was seen holding her hand up to her mouth several times throughout the hearing, at which she was sentenced to 90 days in prison for violating her probation. If she is found in contempt of court for the message, she could find herself with an additional prison sentence.