In a somewhat atypical Labor Day vacation, Obama’s chief adviser on the economy, Larry Summers, departed today for a three-day visit to China to press the country on a number of fiscal policy issues. Joined by Deputy National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon, Summers will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and other high-ranking officials to “discuss a wide range of issues touching on bilateral and international issues," the White House said. Obama is urging China to set the foreign exchange value of its yuan currency by market forces—a response to U.S. lawmakers, many of whom remain concerned that the yuan’s unfairly low levels against the dollar are dampening economic growth. Samuels International Asia expert Chris Nelson is among them, asking Summers and Donilon “to make sure [Chinese President] Hu & Co understand that Congress has run out of patience on the RMB valuation issue.”

Good news for investigators: After almost 30 hours of work, BP’s 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer was raised to the surface on Saturday from more than mile below the sea’s surface. Meanwhile, 137 people waited aboard the Helix Q4000 vessel—FBI agents among them—to escort the massive fixture to a NASA facility in Louisiana for analysis. So far, investigators know that a bubble of methane gas escaped from the well, causing the accident, but what they don’t know is why—or how—it happened. The retrieved Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer could possibly help answer those questions.

President Obama heads to the Midwest for an economy-related tour with less than two months until congressional elections: He speaks at a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee Monday and plans an economic speech in Cleveland Wednesday. He is scheduled to hold a news conference at the White House Friday. Late last week, Obama said at the White House that “new ideas” to boost the economy and help increase job hiring are on the way. Armed with the “positive” news that private payrolls climbed 67,000 in August, according to the Labor Department, the president will be promoting his policies in Wisconsin and Ohio. “I will be addressing a broader package of new ideas next week,” Obama said, adding that job numbers are still “not nearly good enough.” On top of these new measures, the president is asking Congress to help small businesses by passing legislation that includes $12 billion in tax breaks and $30 billion worth of aid to free up credit. The question, of course, is whether the White House can turn these ideas into a political reality.

Anyone trawling Craigslist for a little fun Saturday morning woke up to a nasty surprise. With no explanation, the classifieds site replaced its link to its adult services section with a banner reading “censored.” Many had criticized Craigslist before, saying the adult listings promote prostitution and sex trafficking. In fact, seventeen state attorneys general joined together to call on the site to end its adult content last week, and a site spokesman said the company agreed with a part of the politicians’ statement. Craigslist retains the legal right to run the section (which pockets the company about $36 million a year), though it's unclear if today's redaction was part of a permanent or temporary shift. Said one expert, “What’s happened here is the states’ attorneys general, having failed to win in court and in litigation, have decided to revisit this in the court of public opinion, and in the court of public opinion, they have been much more successful.”

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she "misspoke" when she claimed that headless bodies were in her state's desert when defending her signing of a controversial immigration law. Brewer was unable to back up that story in a debate with Terry Goddard, who is challenging her for the governorship. "That was an error, if I said that," Brewer told the Associated Press. (The governor told a local TV station, "Oh, our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert, either buried or just lying out there, that have been beheaded," in June, and also mentioned "beheadings" on Fox News.) Goddard pressed Brewer on the issue during the debate, saying she had never acknowledged her facts were wrong. Brewer gave a stumbling, giggling performance in the debate, in which she was nearly silent for a full 10 seconds, apparently having lost her train of thought.

Hurricane Earl—which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm—has left the U.S. for Canada after an unexpectedly wimpy assault on the Eastern Seaboard. By the time Earl hit Cape Cod, it was weaker than a typical nor'easter. Massachusetts residents suffered a few hundred power outages and a little flooding. The dozen people who spent the night at a Red Cross shelter in Yarmouth found the storm a bit anticlimatic. North Carolina's Outer Banks experienced some power outages, but only a bit of damage and no injuries. Early Saturday morning, the storm hit Nova Scotia, bringing down a few power lines and trees.

Sound familiar? In an effort to stall—or even flat-out stop—a financial crisis, the Central Bank of Afghanistan, along with assistance from the United States Treasury Department, made bailout arrangements for Afghanistan’s largest bank on Saturday. The new flow of cash is intended to aid Kabul Bank, which has seen upwards of $200 million withdrawn from accounts as economic fears in the country grow. The Afghan government took out $300 million of its sovereign funds held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, but the U.S. did not contribute any money. "No American taxpayer funds will be used to support Kabul Bank," a Treasury Department spokeswoman said. The Afghanistan Banks Association, a commercial-banks conglomerate, called the situation "normal and controlled."

How time flies! Just one year ago, Kanye West famously interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at MTV’s Video Music Awards. And now, here we are, with Kanye apologizing—for the second time—on Twitter. “When I woke up from the crazy nightmare I looked in the mirror and said GROW UP KANYE… I take responsibility for my actions,” the rapper tweeted. In another tweet, Kanye said he even wrote a song for Swift: “[It’s] so beautiful and I want her to have it. If she won’t take it then I’ll perform it for her.” A slew of other tweets followed, one of which said, simply, “I’m sorry Taylor.” This year’s VMA host Chelsea Handler, meanwhile, is hoping to bring the two together during this year’s awards ceremony on September 12.

Thousands of protesters across France decried the new immigration policies of President Nicolas Sarkozy, which include sending Roma to Eastern Europe, calling the crackdown "inhumane" and "repression." Sarkozy is hoping the strategy will boost his popularity as 2012 elections loom, perhaps distracting the public from tough spending and pension cutbacks. And he says the measures will reduce crime. Demonstrators also protested a rule that revokes French nationality for immigrants who've been found guilty of attacking police. About 12,000 marched through Paris Saturday, and tens of thousands marched in about 130 other cities, including Marseilles, Lyons, and Bordeaux.

Paul Conrad, a longtime political cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times, died on Saturday of natural causes. He was 86. Long considered one of the Times’ best-known journalists—he won three Pulitzer prizes for his cartoons—his favorite accomplishment was to have been included on President Richard Nixon’s enemies list. As L.A. Observed’s Kevin Roderick describes him, “He was liberal but skewered almost everybody, and he famously had independence from the editor and publisher, who would regularly get calls from this or that mayor, senator or president demanding that Conrad be stopped.” An exhibit of his work opened this week at College of the Canyons in Valencia, California.

Over three decades after the Viking mission to Mars led scientists to believe there was no organic material on the red planet, new research says the results were misinterpreted. It turns out there was organic material there after all. But don’t jump to conclusions. This does not mean NASA is on the verge of discovering little green men. It simply means that there is a greater likelihood that some form of life exists, or has existed on Mars, and changes how scientists approach the search for it. "For decades NASA's mantra for Mars was 'follow the water' in the search for life, and we know today that water has been all over the planet," said one researcher. "Now the motto is 'follow the organics' in the search for life."

Notorious White House gate crasher Michaele Salahi is going full-frontal naked in her photo shoot with Playboy. Photos of a naked, 44-year-old Real Housewives of D.C. will be taken later this month, though it’s unclear whether Salahi will be rewarded with the magazine’s cover for her effort.

President Obama says he’ll offer a new package of tax cuts and other incentives for businesses to hire people, as the unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in August. That’s the first time the jobless rate has risen since April; last month, about 54,000 net jobs were lost. Obama plans to outline his proposal Wednesday, when he discusses the economy in a speech in Cleveland. New incentives include: extending research and development tax credits, boosting spending on infrastructure including highways, and keeping the part of the Bush tax cuts that help the middle class. With only eight weeks till the midterm elections, there’s not enough time for the president’s plan to help the economy much before voting begins. No massive stimulus plan will be offered.

Police have ordered an overnight curfew after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Christchurch, New Zealand. Officials said the goal was to protect residents from falling debris in the nation's largest city, which suffered "immense" damage. Two men were injured by falling glass and parts of buildings. Strong aftershocks have followed, and gale force winds will rush through the city within the next 24 hours. New Zealand experiences thousands of quakes each year, but they rarely cause any damage.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s decision to reenter the fray and stump for Democratic congressional candidates this fall came after months of careful planning. Obama is emphasizing quality over quantity in her campaign appearances—she wants to make sure her events make a difference, that they’re spread out enough to give her some time with her kids, and she wants to push her own signature issues: military families and healthy eating. Realizing she’s not above criticism—White House aides warned her there would be an angry reaction to her Spain vacation—the first lady wants to stay positive, and will avoid attacks on Republicans. Her first Fox News interview was with Republican Mike Huckabee, and she visited a school with Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS). She’ll join Laura Bush in Shanksville, Penn., to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11. This fall, Obama will be working on her anti-childhood obesity campaign, Let’s Move!, announcing a partnership with the NFL.

This probably means they weren’t buying the book. Protestors pelted former British Prime Minister Tony Blair with eggs and shoes as he arrived for a book signing Sunday in Dublin. Lucky for him, he didn’t take a direct hit. It was his first signing since he published his autobiography, A Journey, in which he detailed, among other things, just how far he stretched the truth during negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland. The book has already shot to the top of Amazon’s best-seller list in the United Kingdom.

BP replaced the busted blowout preventer on the well that leaked for months into the Gulf of Mexico, another step toward killing the well. No oil leaked while the old equipment was removed or the new one was installed. The new blowout preventer is needed to keep the oil from leaking during “bottom kill,” in which thick drilling mud and cement are pushed in from the bottom. That operation will probably begin next week.

Time for Democratic governors to book the moving vans? Come the November 2 elections, the Republicans appear to be poised for a gubernatorial takeover, according to forecasting whiz Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight model. The nation’s governors’ mansions, which are now held by 26 Democrats, 23 Republicans, and 1 independent, could be drastically altered. Most likely, they’ll do especially well in the Midwest and swing states. For example, in Michigan and Pennsylvania—among 9 others—the Republican candidate has at least an 80 percent chance of victory. Democrats, by contrast, are only favored in four states: Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, and New York.

A new chapter in the ever-unfolding Blackwater saga: After it was slammed for its poor conduct in Iraq, the private military contractor company (now known as Xe Services) created a web of 30 “shell companies” to obtain millions from U.S. government contracts, former Blackwater officials and Congressional investigators revealed to The New York Times. The officials and investigators added that, while the number of contracts those Blackwater-linked businesses won remains vague, three had deals with the U.S. military or the Central Intelligence Agency and were awarded up to $600 million in classified contracts. Congress began its investigation last year, after two Afghans were killed by Blackwater personnel, and concerns have continually been raised over the Blackwater-CIA relationship. “I am continually and increasingly mystified by this relationship,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee. “To engage with a company that is such a chronic, repeat offender, it’s reckless.”

It’s official: American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is leaving Fox’s hit talent contest after weeks of media speculation. “I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave,” DioGuardi said in a statement. “I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol—it has truly been an amazing experience ... I look forward to my next challenge, and want to thank everyone who has supported me. All the best to everyone on Season 10!” Fox’s Alternative Entertainment President Mike Darnell said, “Kara was a great addition to our Idol family... She will be missed, and we wish her continued success.” Other reports suggest that Jennifer Lopez is nearing a deal to become an Idol judge, potentially alongside Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler and the show's only remaining original host, Randy Jackson.

The death toll from a suicide bombing Friday of a Shiite Muslim religious procession rose to 65 as wounded died in hospitals. About 150 were wounded in the Quetta attack, and some are still in critical condition. The Pakistani Taliban claimed credit for the bombing, its second against Shiite Muslims in a week after a triple suicide bombing Wednesday in Lahore. That blast killed 35. Shiite leaders were angry the Pakistani government appears unable to protect them; they are a minority group that makes up about 20 percent of Sunni-majority Pakistan’s population. Sectarian fighting has worsened there as the Taliban and al Qaeda have gained power.

Corruption may be rampant among Afghan officials, but for the time being, dealing with it will not be a priority for the United States. Military commanders are shifting to a strategy which would see them look the other way on some corruption because they are worried about creating power vacuums for the Taliban to exploit. "There are areas where you need strong leadership, and some of those leaders are not entirely pure," said a senior defense official. "But they can help us be more effective in going after the primary threat, which is the Taliban." Until now, the U.S. had taken a hard line on graft in Afghan government, which seemed to reach all the way up to President Hamid Karzai’s senior aides—one of them was recently arrested (and later determined to be on the CIA’s payroll). The strategy has been developed primarily by the military and it is unclear how far the White House and State Department are willing to back it.