It’s official: After two days of work, BP’s submarine robots have placed a new, tighter-fitting cap on the gushing Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. This suggests, for the first time in nearly three months, that the leaking crude could be completely contained, thus keeping it from polluting the water—for now. Only a temporary fix, the 18-foot-high, 150,000-pound metal cap will provide aid until one of two relief wells, currently being drilled, reaches the pipe, most likely in mid-August. Starting tomorrow morning, according to National Incident Commander Thad Allen, the new cap will be tested and monitored for 48 hours to see if it truly diverts all of the gushing crude. The flow won’t stop instantaneously, said one expert: “Rather than like a train running into a brick wall, it’ll be more like putting the brakes on slowly.”

Has Obama finally clinched the votes needed for his financial reform overhaul? Senate Democrats and Republicans—or three Republicans, at least—appear to be closing on the 60 votes needed to give final approval to the legislation, given the certainty of a GOP-led filibuster. Crossing the aisle, Republican senators Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia Snowe of Maine announced on Monday that they would vote for the hefty overhaul bill. “It is a better bill than it was when this whole process started,” Brown told the Wall Street Journal. “While it isn’t perfect, I expect to support the bill when it comes up for a vote.” Brown and Snowe join Susan Collins, also of Maine, as the three Republicans who say they will vote in favor of the bill. This would give the White House the backing necessary—60 votes—to pass it by Friday without a filibuster. The final bill already passed House of Representatives, who voted by a 237-to-192 margin, several weeks ago.

In yet another sign of the shifting complexity of the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. now finds itself unwittingly funneling money to the Taliban as a result of well-intentioned efforts to upgrade a crucial Afghan power plant. U.S. forces have spent about $100 million in taxpayer dollars to upgrade the Kajaki hydropower plant, the largest source of electricity in southern Afghanistan. The problem, though, is that it’s located in a region run by the Taliban, which has control of the local power grid. Residents, then, pay their monthly utility bills to the insurgent group, who are free to turn around and use the cash flow to fund their fight against American troops. “The more electricity there is, the more money the Taliban make,” a local government tribal-affairs adviser told The Wall Street Journal. Cutting the Taliban’s power, unfortunately, would also adversely affect government buildings intertwined in the power grid, an unpleasant option: Providing basic services like electricity is a key component of the U.S. strategy to bolster faith in the Afghan government.

First came the photos of former Cuban President Fidel Castro greeting workers at a science facility in Havana, which were posted on a pro-government blog on Saturday. Now there’s this: On Monday, in a much-publicized television appearance on the daily Cuban talk show Mesa Redonda—all the more rare since Castro underwent intestinal surgery in 2006—the 83-year-old revolutionary talked about foreign politics, singling out Iran as "the most serious crisis," and also addressing the North and South Korean conflict. Castro, having largely stayed out of the public eye since ceding power to his younger brother Raul, appears to be making a media resurgence. Public appearances, especially this interview, may suggest a more pronounced role for the dictator, who still remains head of Cuba’s Communist Party.

More trouble for Mel Gibson: After a second tape of the actor going off on his ex-girlfriend in a hate-filled rant was leaked on Monday, Los Angeles cops are anxious to get their hands on it. Their investigation against the actor has been growing since Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of Gibson’s eight-moth-old daughter, filed a formal domestic abuse complaint against him last week. The audio recording is angry and violent, with two definite death threats, and such choice phrases as: “You should just f----- smile and blow me.” Detectives expect to wrap up their inquiry by mid-August.

Let the offers start pouring in: Anna Chapman, the sexy redheaded Russian spy recently sent packing in last week’s spy swap, is considering selling her story, according to Newsweek blog Declassified. Chapman has at least considered it, according to her lawyer, Robert Baum. She could run into trouble, though, due to a provision in the swap’s plea-bargain provision that bars her from selling the story, not to mention another clause that requires any sleeper agent to give the U.S. government the proceeds of any potential book. Baum told Newsweek that Chapman “knows well that the provisions of the agreement would put any money in jeopardy,” and adds that her “view at the time of her departure from the U.S. was that perhaps she would just be better off trying to re-establish her business in a way that doesn’t challenge the provision.” But would the U.S. even be able to enforce the deal if she broke the clause? That remains to be seen.

Straight from the desk of Captain Obvious: The Israeli military’s report on the botched flotilla raid that killed nine Turkish activists on May 31 admits “mistakes”—mainly in planning and intelligence. However, the report defends the decision to dispatch commandoes to the boat, saying the only other options would have endangered the entire vessel. Specifically, the report said that the navy did not consider the possibility of a violent confrontation on board the boat, and that it did not consult enough with Mossad beforehand. It also said that the commandoes who carried out the raid should be “praised” for their operation.

Officials finally nabbed Colton Harris-Moore—the 19-year-old “Barefoot Bandit” who went on a two-year international crime spree—in the Bahamas on Sunday. Now, with the investigation officially under way, the question arises: How will enough direct evidence be collected to fully prosecute him? The answer may lie in toe prints Harris-Moore allegedly left on the floor of a Washington state grocery store, according to Slate. The difficulty, however, is that no one knows if toe-print matches are as accurate as fingerprints—and even then, fingerprinting is a hotly debated subject. Slate’s conclusion: Fingerprints are much more useful to police, because officials keep large record databases of them—occasionally, however, toe prints save the day.

Guitar legend Carlos Santana enjoys playing to the beat of his drummer (and longtime girlfriend), Cindy Blackman. So much so, in fact, that he’s marrying her. The 62-year-old Santana proposed onstage to the 50-year-old Blackman at a concert in Illinois on Friday. “Being in love is a gift from the universe, and the spirit and vibrations that come with it are infinitely powerful,” the musician said in a statement released to MTV News. “I look forward to expressing that incredible energy through my music, and in helping to tip the balance toward more love in the world with what Cindy and I share.” This will be Santana’s second marriage. His first was to Deborah Santana, his wife of 34 years, whom he divorced in 2007. No official wedding information has been released.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs politely reminded NASA Administrator Charles Bolden of his job title today, saying that Bolden was quite mistaken when he said—twice—that a large part of NASA’s duties are to reach out to the Muslim world. The NASA head made the comments in February and again in an interview with Al Jazeera. The impetus for Muslim outreach at the space department, said Bolden, is to engage with the world’s best scientists. So far criticism has been swift, which is why Gibbs corrected Bolden’s comments at a daily briefing on Monday. “That was not his task and that’s not the task of NASA,” he said of Bolden’s remarks. Asked if Bolden had misspoken, Gibbs said, “I think so.”

An al Qaeda-linked terrorist group from Somalia has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombings in Uganda that killed 74 people. “We will carry out attacks against our enemy wherever they are,” said Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for al Shabab. The group previously made headlines for recruiting young Somali-Americans. One of the targets of the bombings was an Ethiopian restaurant—a nation which kept troops in Somalia until January 2009 and is a longtime enemy of al Shabab.

Say goodbye to Brad Pitt’s beard: The actor was seen Monday on the Los Angeles set of the upcoming movie Moneyball with a fresh, clean face—and no facial hair. The 46-year-old shaved his highly buzzed fuzz to play the role of Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s. Other big-name stars in the film will include Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright.

Republicans may have rejected an extension of unemployment benefits for 2.1 million Americans without work, but when it comes to giving tax cuts to the wealthy, the deficit can be damned: Senators Judd Gregg and Jon Kyl and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor are pushing for an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, with Kyl saying that the cuts should be extended regardless of how they affect the deficit: “You do need to offset the cost of increased spending, and that's what Republicans object to. But you should never have to offset cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans,” Kyl argued. This bodes poorly for President Obama’s deficit commission, which is going to propose that three-quarters of future deficit reduction comes through reduced spending. That still won’t likely be enough for Republicans: “Since it includes tax increases, zero Republicans will vote for it,” Matt Yglesias writes. “But since it’s mostly weighted to spending cuts, most Democrats will reject it.” Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, meanwhile, says Democrats are likely to preserve tax cuts for households making less than $250,000.

Will Hugh Hefner be blocked from buying back his own company? The Playboy founder announced today his intention to buy up all shares of the media empire that he doesn’t own and make it private again, but FriendFinder Networks—the company that owns rival Penthouse—quickly jumped in with plans of its own. On Monday, FriendFinder CEO Marc Bell told the Financial Times that his company will also make a bid for Playboy, saying, “We are working on it as we speak.” Hefner noted in his bid—which would value Playboy at $185 million—that he would not consider other offers due to the brand’s “editorial direction” and “legacy.” Launched in 1953, Playboy’s circulation peaked at 7 million in the early 1970s. Its current circulation: 1.5 million.

Does Polanski’s real-life drama finally have an ending? Today the Swiss Ministry of Justice denied a request to extradite film director Roman Polanski to the United States to face sentencing for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Polanski is also no longer under house arrest and is not being electronically monitored. In a statement the ministry said, "The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the U.S. extradition request, although the issue was thoroughly examined. Moreover, also the principles of State action deriving from international public order were taken into account." The 76-year-old director moved to France in 1978 while facing charges in the U.S.

The Senate’s newest senator is learning to throw his weight around: Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts said on Monday that he’ll support the financial-regulation bill. "I appreciate the efforts to improve the bill, especially the removal of the $19 billion bank tax," he said in a statement. "As a result, it is a better bill than it was when this whole process started. While it isn't perfect, I expect to support the bill when it comes up for a vote.” Democrats still have to secure 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster—they’re hoping to pry away Olympia Snowe of Maine or Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

Harvey Pekar, the Cleveland comic book artist, has died at the age of 70. Pekar was most famous for his autobiographical American Splendor series, which began publishing in 1976 and was adapted into a film starring Paul Giamatti in 2003. He was found by his wife just before 1 a.m. While the cause of death is unknown, he was said to be suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high-blood pressure, and depression.

Talk about self-incrimination. California resident Jeanne Manunga reported to three different police departments in Orange County that her ex-boyfriend and his sister-in-law were threatening her with harassing text messages—but authorities discovered that Manunga was actually sending them herself. Apparently, following her 2008 breakup, the 25-year-old bought a prepaid cell phone in the name of her ex-boyfriend’s sister-in-law and started texting threats to herself, ultimately resulting in the ex-boyfriend and his sister-in-law each being arrested. The two proved their innocence by tracking down the store where Manunga purchased the prepaid phone. The woman has has been convicted of three counts of felony false imprisonment by fraud, two misdemeanors for the false police reports, and ordered to pay the victims $50,000 in restitution.

East-coasters who have long envied the West Coast’s In-N-Out Burgers may soon be able to make their own: Josh Chapon, the chef of Lure, snuck into a kitchen at Las Vegas’ In-N-Out and says he discovered the restaurant’s secret ingredient: a smear of mustard on the patty on the grill, right before he flips it. According to Chapon, the mustard cooks off but the flavor remains.

Does the Hef still got it? Hugh Hefner is in talks to buy Playboy back from its shareholders, according to the Chicago Tribune. The company’s shares surged 35 percent on Monday morning on the news that Hef wanted to take Playboy private once again. Hefner has proposed buying up the company’s shares. The 84-year-old currently owns 69.5 percent of its class A common stock and 27.7 percent of its class B common stock. His bid values the company at $185 million. The board has yet to make a decision on the offer.

Fans of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Stieg Larsson's other bestselling novels are getting lost in the Swedish countryside looking for Hedestad, the town where much of the book's central action takes place. The problem is, the town doesn't exist. The confusion is occurring as readers flock to Sweden to pay homage to  Larsson's books, which have sold 30 million copies worldwide and inspired several movies. But while Hedestad eludes, followers are lining up for the Stockholm City Museum's Larsson tour. Others are visiting scenes of fictional detective Mikael Bloomqvist and cohort Lisbeth Salander's exploits with maps provided by the tourist office. The first stop on the museum's two-hour tour is "Bloomqvist's apartment" at  1 Bellmansgatan, where a guide gives a long description and rehashes much of the book's plot. While no one from Hedestad has shown up, the tour has attracted visitors from Japan, Australia, and Canada.

The Verizon iPhone can’t come soon enough: A judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit against Apple that says the company has violated anti-trust laws when it comes to the practice of “locking” iPhones into AT&T’s shoddy network and also with its control over which applications it makes available on the iPhone. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Apple from selling locked iPhones and determining which apps its customers can download.

Someone find this man a pelican to scrub. A few weeks ago, Adam Dillon could be found on a Louisiana beach, working as a contractor for BP and attempting to block reporters’ access to the oil spill. These days, though, he’s singing a different tune: After earning a promotion for his good work intimidating cameramen, he has been fired and become a whistleblower. Dillon tells New Orleans television station WDSU he was fired “after taking photos that he believes were related to the use of dispersants and the cleanup of the oil.” Dillon has “lost faith in the company in charge,” for whom “the bottom line is just about money.” He says, “What this company is doing to this country right now is just wrong.”

Although the Batman incarnation franchise will be back for a third installment, the Oscar-winning role for the late Heath Ledger—the maniacal Joker in The Dark Knight—will not, director Christopher Nolan reveals. “For me, Heath was the definitive Joker,” Nolan said in a recent interview. “It wouldn't feel appropriate to readdress that character.” Nolan would not reveal which villain or villains will pop up in Batman 3, which is scheduled to hit theaters in July 2012.

Lindsay Lohan's latest advisor, criminal defense attorney Stuart V. Goldberg, declined to represent her after a six-hour meeting and tells People she's "a sleeping beauty with her head in the sand." Goldberg told magazine that the 24-year-old actress is "a fragile lost child." He added: "I'm concerned that she's not disciplined or tethered enough to the reality of adult consequences. She doesn't seem to have the awareness of what's going to befall her." Goldberg sat down with the actress and her mother and sister over the weekend after her last attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, resigned on Thursday. Holley will remain the lawyer on record until an official replacement has been found, Fox News reported Monday. Fox claims Lohan is reportedly demanding that whoever represents her continue to appeal her conviction for violating the terms of her 2007 DUI probation. It was a dispute over the effectiveness of filing an appeal, as well as rumors that Lohan was scouting new legal representation, that prompted Holley to jump ship, according to Fox.

What is happening in Haiti, six months after the earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince? The Guardian's Peter Beaumont reports on his three trips to Haiti, saying that most of the aid organizations and military support left on June 1; much of the aid money promised by the global community never materialized; and there still is no plan for reconstruction, no real leadership, and a basically absent government. Almost 230,000 people were killed in the earthquake on January 12, and 300,000 injured. 200,000 homes were destroyed, displacing 1.5 million people, most of whom are still without homes. The UN and Medecin Sans Frontieres are both still there, doing their best to help the daily crises, while billions of dollars of pledged aid money remain unfulfilled, the government is MIA, and even the Interim Reconstruction Commission that President Bill Clinton set up just met for the first time last month.

The Netherlands lost Sunday’s World Cup final to Spain 1-0, but commentators are wagging their fingers at the country anyway for the team’s rough play. Witness, for example, this dropkick by Dutchman Nigel De Jong, which earned him a yellow card. That was just one of the team’s nine yellow cards, plus a red card—a record for a World Cup final. “No more all-European finals, thank you very much,” writes Richard Williams at the Guardian as he remembers the defining moment of the previous World Cup final, when Frenchman Zinedine Zidane headbutted an Italian player. Raphael Honigstein bemoans the Dutch team's “downright cynical fouling.”

Little did she know the feds were already on to her: In late June, "hottie" Russian spy Anna Chapman phoned her father, a former KGB member working for Moscow's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, worried about her recent communication with an FBI informant. The call, in which she expressed anxiety that her cover would be blown, prompted the FBI to move more quickly in their planned arrests of the 10 Russian "illegals," as the feds were concerned that Chapman's communication with Moscow might prompt Russia's foreign intelligence agency SVR to summon the deep-cover agents back to Moscow, or at least out of the U.S. The FBI had hoped that informants could get Chapman and a newbie spy to commit acts that would put them in the position to be indicted for charges other than carrying out secret communication with Russia. Chapman's meeting with an informant who asked her to go above and beyond what SVR had typically asked of her inspired her to call her father.

One New Yorker who apparently isn’t upset that LeBron James chose the Miami Heat over the Knicks: Jesse Jackson, who defended James against a harsh statement by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert by saying that Gilbert thinks LeBron is a “runaway slave.” "He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers," Jackson said in a statement. "His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship—between business partners—and LeBron honored his contract."

Ed Norton has been dropped from his role as The Hulk for Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers, which will bring together the company’s heroes, including Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was unusually blunt in his statement about Norton: “We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members." The actor’s agent responded to HitFix.com saying it was Feige’s “fantasy” to have him reprise the role of Bruce Banner, but that the deal fell through. “This seemed to us to be a financial decision but, whatever the case, it is completely their prerogative, and we accepted their decision with no hard feelings… Counter to what Kevin implies here, Edward was looking forward to the opportunity.”

Aging cyclist Lance Armstrong's bid for his eighth Tour de France championship took a major blow on Sunday when he finished the eighth stage of the tour in 61st place. "Obviously the Tour's finished for me," he said in resignation. The once-unstoppable 38-year-old athlete cited problems with his left hip, "which for riding is not the best," and said "I've had a lot of years here where it's been very different, so I'm not going to dwell on today ... Really try and appreciate my time here, and the fact I'm not coming back here." Armstrong was done in by a crash on the course, noted to be one of the most challenging in years.

In a tragic aside to today's World Cup festivities, two bombs killed at least 64 people—including one American—in Uganda's capital, Kampala. The explosions went off at two restaurants where people had gathered to watch the televised World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands. Kampala Police Chief Kale Kaihura said today he believes that the Somali Al-Shabab militia, which has pledged loyalty to al Qaeda but has never attacked outside of Somalia, may be responsible for the blasts. The deadlier of the two blasts took place at a rugby club, and the other explosion took place at an Ethiopian restaurant, where three Americans were wounded; Al-Shabab is an avowed enemy of Ethiopia. According to an AP reporter on the scene at the rugby club, evidence suggests that a suicide bomber may be to blame. Kris Sledge, an 18 year-old Pennsylvania native who was wounded at the Ethiopian restaurant, said, "I remember blacking out, hearing people screaming and running...At this point we're just glad to be alive." An Al-Shabab leader did not accept culpability for the attack, but offered a chilling reaction: “Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy.”

An international outcry appears to have bought Iranian mother Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani more time: According to an Iranian news agency, Iran's judiciary chief has temporarily halted the death by stoning of Ashtiani. Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the judiciary head in East Azerbaijan province said, "The verdict has been halted due to humanitarian reservations and upon the order of the honorable judiciary chief [Sadeq Larijani] and it will not be carried out for the moment." According to Sharifi the execution will happen eventually, but only when the chief decides, saying "Whenever the judiciary chief deems it expedient, the verdict will be carried out regardless of Western media propaganda." Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two pleaded guilty to adultery in 2006 and was lashed 99 times; however, her lawyer contends that she did not understand the court proceedings—she is Azerbaijani and speaks Turkish, not Farsi.

Now if only there were a way to get him to the Hague: The International Criminal Court has charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur. It’s the first time the court has used the g-word with Bashir, though he has previously been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Over 300,000 people are said to have died in Darfur since 2003, and the ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said Bashir has kept 2.5 million refugees in Darfur in camps “under genocide conditions, like a gigantic Auschwitz.”

Well at least ExxonMobil knows a thing or two about how to deal with oil spills: The Telegraph says that ExxonMobil and Chevron have both sought permission from the White House to take over BP. No offer has been made yet, but the Telegraph says BP is preparing a defense plan, which it will unveil with its second-quarter results on July 27. Perhaps this explains why BP is in talks with oil-and-gas-producer Apache Corp. to sell as much as a $10 billion stake in BP’s Alaska operations—money BP badly needs to deal with the costs of the Gulf oil spill?

No word yet on wardrobe costs, but Politico is reporting that Sarah Palin's political action committee, Sarah PAC, garnered more in fund-raising cash, $866,000, in the second quarter of 2010 than it had in any three-month period since Sarah Barracuda formed the PAC in early 2009. Sarah PAC had revved up its fund-raising efforts as of late. Its expenditures were nearly double those of previous quarters, and were used to mostly to bolster her base via list-building and direct-email campaigns. The committee also contributed more than it ever had in campaign donations to other candidates, a cool $87,500. Her various national speaking engagements and her requisite $17,000 private jet bumped up her travel costs as well. This sophistication is a marked shift from her PAC's previous m.o., and, as Politico speculates, is more akin to that of a political figure gearing up for a Presidential bid.

Take two: The Obama administration issued a revised moratorium on offshore drilling on Monday after a judge threw out its first attempt last week. Unlike the first moratorium, which banned all offshore drilling, the new moratorium will only ban drilling in deepwater exploratory reserves, while allowing it to continue in known, shallow reserves. The purpose of the ban is to “protect communities, coasts, and wildlife,” while energy companies boost their safety measures. The ban will be effective through November 30 or until Interior Secretary Ken Salazar decides to rescind it—or, of course, if a judge decides once again to overturn it. Corporate interests are likely to challenge the new measure again.