A probe looking at the effectiveness of harsh interrogation techniques in the United States military is expected to conclude that the methods didn’t produce breakthroughs. One official familiar with the investigation says they found no evidence that the tactics aided long-term antiterrorism operations. Democrats from the Senate Intelligence Committee have spent three years examining records charting daily operations of investigations to disprove claims by Bush supporters that waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and other tactics led to counterterrorism coups. The CIA had began starting to pull back from these techniques before Obama banned them upon taking office.

The current and former presidents are tackling the 2012 election season together. President Obama and Bill Clinton joined forces when appearing at a Virginia fundraiser Sunday night, with two more set for the near future. Clinton told supporters that “Barack Obama deserves to be reelected president of the United States” and joked about Romney’s camp referring to the Soviet Union as a U.S. enemy. Clinton, the fundraising powerhouse, is a valuable ally during the campaign season and was making his first appearance at an Obama event after the two had a tension-filled back-and-forth during the 2008 Democratic primary, although has become a White House ally. Clinton told those in attendance at the campaign dinner that Obama is “beating the clock” to restore the economy to good standing.

Members of an advance team of United Nations observers on Sunday toured Homs, Syria, a city that saw some of the heaviest violence as regime forces clashed with a popular opposition. The observers are in the country to maintain a tenuous peace brokered by the U.N. that was supposed to take hold April 12, though fighting has continued. Thirty-two people were killed Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Neeraj Singh, a spokesman for the U.N. mission, told reporters that observers are now permanently stationed in Homs and other hotspots. “I think things have been moving as fast as possible,” Singh said.

A senior U.S. diplomat has been dispatched to China as tensions rise between the two countries over Chinese dissent Chen Guangcheng seeking refuge at the American Embassy in Beijing. Kurt M. Campbell, an assistant secretary of state, landed in China Sunday to discuss the matter with officials and ensure it doesn’t impair relations. This week, Hillary Clinton has scheduled meetings with Chinese leadership, who gathered today to decide what to tell her, according to an official. Today, Mitt Romney called for the American government to do everything in their power to protect Guangcheng, and put pressure on China to end human rights abuses. An activist friend of Guangcheng’s confirmed that he has, indeed, taken refuge at the American Embassy.

A Peruvian judge has approved the extradition of Jordan van der Sloot to the U.S. at Uncle Sam's request. Van der Sloot is serving 28 years on a murder charge in Peru, and he's the primary suspect in the mysterious 2005 killing of Natalee Holloway while the teen vacationed in Aruba. Van der Sloot's attorney says his client should be leaving Peru within three months and will be charged with extortion and wire fraud after receiving $25,000 to allegedly tell Holloway's mother where her daughter's remains are.

Seven people died at the Bronx Zoo Sunday as a van plunged 60 feet off the Bronx River Parkway and near the park at about 12:30 p.m. All the victims were in the car, three of them being children. Police reported their ages to be from 7 to 84. Police closed the parkway as the accident was investigated; some eyewitnesses claimed the crash was caused by a blown tire. Zoo officials confirmed that the van landed inside of zoo property, though far away from visitors and animals.

Unidentified gunmen shot down at least 16 people in a brutal assault on a Nigerian church Sunday after setting off explosives to draw worshipers outside. The attack came on a section of a university campus, a police spokesman said, and left an unknown number wounded. Gunfire continued to be heard in surrounding streets as security forces rushed to secure the campus, but the attackers reportedly escaped on motorcycles before police could arrive. No group claimed responsibility immediately after the attack, but the tactics were similar to those used by Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group that has mounted numerous attacks on the Nigerian government. A second attack was reported in the Northeast region of Nigeria, five people dying in a church shooting.

A home strewn with refuse and clothes, drugs paid for in cash, and a circle of opportunistic hangers-on—these were what Whitney Houston, one of the greatest vocalists of the past century, surrounded herself with as the singer neared the end of her life. Allison Samuels tells the heartbreaking tale in Newsweek of a talent overcome by addiction, of a New Jersey girl whose hard-partying ways made it impossible to maintain the record-label veneer forever. When the end came, Samuels writes, Houston was found as she’d been for much of the last years of her life—alone.

Former Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem’s body was discovered by a passerby floating in the Danube River in Vienna Sunday. Austrian police say there were no signs of violence to the body, and it’s possible he could have fallen in. Ghanem, who had also served as prime minister of Libya for three years, defected from Libya in the midst of the uprising against Mummar Ghaddafi in June 2011. He moved to Vienna, where he has family, and worked as a consultant for an oil company there.

This one’s really gotta hurt. Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose tore his ACL on Saturday night in the opening game of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Bulls won the game 103-91, but are now outside contenders for the NBA title with the loss of their star player. The injury also almost guarantees Rose’s absence from the summer Olympics in London, to be played in July. Rose crumpled to the floor in the closing minutes of the Bulls’ win, exiting the court with a pained look on his face.

Bill Clinton had some harsh words for the junior senator on the 2008 campaign trail when Obama was taking on his wife, Hillary, in the Democratic primary, but the former president will take another step in his formal support for the White House incumbent at a Virginia fundraiser tonight. The appearance marks the first time that Bill has openly campaigned for Obama. Five hundred guests are expected at a minimum-$1,000-per-ticket event at the home of Terry McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The fundraiser will be the first of three at which Clinton will accompany Obama, who officially kicks off his campaign next weekend at two rallies in Virginia and the swing state of Ohio.

Kim Kardashian is ready to go back on script, according to sources who say she’s developing a comedy series. The callipygian actress, model, socialite, and Kanye West companion sees acting as “something she wants to do just for her,” sources told the New York Post. It wouldn’t be Kardashian’s first foray outside the world of reality TV. She had a cameo role in a recent episode of 30 Rock and has appeared on ABC’s Last Man Standing. Sources have said that American Idol host Ryan Seacrest may be in line to produce a Kardashian vehicle, but that a final deal on a Kim-com is “not locked yet.”

The people are starved for more adaptations of the popular young-adult series of Hunger Games novels, but Lionsgate faces a few challenges in cashing in. The studio has three more installments based on the books planned, and the second film, Catching Fire, will be directed by I Am Legend’s Francis Lawrence, after Gary Ross backed out. The Hunger Games has done so well, however, that such blips may not matter much to Lionsgate, with some industry insiders going so far as to say that the franchise may be enough to boost the studio into the Hollywood big leagues, to the level of the six most-powerful studios in Tinseltown.

Seven hundred people in a London residential building on Saturday received leaflets informing them that the government may be considering placing a surface-to-air missile system on their water tower as the city ramps up security for the Olympic Games. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said a final decision has not yet been made to install missile systems in the city, but one resident of the complex claims to have seen soldiers in the building carrying a crate. The leaflet also informed residents of two planned multiday military exercises intended to test military preparedness for the Games.

While the U.S. has not confirmed that blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is under American protection, sources close to the situation said Saturday that he is in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. That report was seconded by ChinaAid, a rights group based in Texas that said it had been told by sources that talks were ongoing between the U.S. and China about Chen, who escaped after 19 months under house arrest. President Obama will have to find a quick response to the political standoff or risk facing charges from GOP candidate Mitt Romney that he’s soft on China. Three months ago, Chinese official Wang Lijun fled to a U.S. Consulate, causing political embarrassment for the ruling party.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir declared a state of emergency Sunday along his country's border with South Sudan. Sudan is reported to have engaged in at least one aerial strike in the region Sunday, after Dafallah ElHaj Ali Osman, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, justified air strikes against South Sudanese forces in an interview with a state news agency. A journalist who spoke to CNN reported coming under heavy fire from Sudanese helicopters and fighter jets while traveling with South Sudanese soldiers in the region Sunday. Violence between the two countries was reignited this month as they clashed over an oil-rich border region.

Saudi Arabia has decided to shutter its embassy in Cairo temporarily after days of protests by Egyptians against the detention of lawyer Ahmed el-Gizawy. The human-rights activist is being held in Saudi Arabia for allegedly smuggling anti-anxiety tablets into the country. The Muslim Brotherhood has come out in support of the protests, saying in a statement that the Egyptian protesters were “merely expressing the Egyptian people’s aspiration to preserve the dignity of their fellow citizens who visit, live, or work in Arab countries.” Ruler Hosni Mubarak was regularly criticized before being forced out of office for truckling to powerful Gulf nations at the expense of Egyptians abroad.

The Gingriches, Sofía Vergara, and Gov. Chris Christie alike were at last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. As was Rick Santorum, who took a photo of Lindsay Lohan, proving once again that politics are America’s highest form of entertainment. A star-studded crowd of 2,000 gathered to hear Jimmy Kimmel and President Obama trade comedic barbs, with the commander in chief at one time remarking, “I have the nuclear codes. What am I doing telling knock-knock jokes to Kim Kardashian?” The president took aim at Mitt Romney, at one point saying that Romney would call the Hilton ballroom a “fixer-upper.” Last year at the annual event, Obama delivered his speech after giving the go-ahead to eliminate al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Christian high-school students uncomfortable with sex columnist Dan Savage’s comments on Bible passages intolerant of homosexuality walked out of a lecture at the National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle. Some said the antibullying advocate’s remarks became abusive when Savage began talking about “bulls--t in the Bible about gay people.” Rick Tuttle, a journalism adviser at a California high school, told Fox News that he was among those bothered by Savage’s remarks. “I thought this would be about antibullying,” Tuttle said. In his lecture, Savage pointed to other biblical proscriptions, including injunctions against eating shellfish, that are usually overlooked in even the most-severe scriptural interpretations.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel bombed with a joke about Keith Olbermann’s former employer Current TV going off “like a North Korean rocket” at Saturday evening’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the ousted Olbermann tweeted. Seems Olbermann doesn’t think that an annual event where even the president cracks wise at Newt Gingrich’s expense is the place to make jokes about his old post at Al Gore’s struggling channel. Olbermann took his complaints to Twitter, writing that Kimmel “desperately wanted me to fly to LA to be on his show this past Wednesday.” Olbermann later clarified, “I’m not complaining about the Kimmel jokes ... I’m complaining about the revenge element. It reminds me of O’Reilly.”

“For the past 30 years, the Murdoch empire has sought to undermine and destabilize elected governments, and independent regulators,” writes Labour peer David Puttnam in an op-ed for The Guardian. The pursuit of greater power for his media empire has long driven Murdoch’s maneuverings, Puttnam says, arguing that the mogul’s outlets propagate a political stance that “is in the end nothing less than a sophisticated attempt to optimize the power and influence of News Corporation and its populist, rightwing agenda.” According to Putnam, Murdoch is an opportunist when it comes to his political allies, attracting them with the massed allure of his media conglomerate, then dropping them when they become liabilities.

Apple subsidiaries in low-tax regions have helped the company save an enormous amount in taxes across the globe. A New York Times investigation shows that instead of collecting and investing profits in California, where the company is based, Apple is sending their funds to Reno, Nev., where the corporate tax rate is zero compared with 8.84 percent. The company is doing this around the world, with subsidiaries in places like Ireland and the British Virgin Islands. Last year, the tech giant coughed up $3.3 billion on its $34.2 billion in profits worldwide. Without the inventive, and legal, accounting tactics they've been using, Apple would have to pay an estimated $2.4 billion more in taxes to the United States government alone.

Mitt Romney called for the United States to press China to reform their human-rights abuses, saying the government should do everything in its power to protect Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who recently escaped house arrest and is reportedly hiding at the American Embassy in Beijing. “Any serious U.S. policy toward China must confront the facts of the Chinese government’s denial of political liberties, its one-child policy, and other violations of human rights,” said Romney in a statement. President Obama has yet to speak about the incident, and could face criticism from the GOP for being soft on China if he doesn’t. Diplomatic talks between the U.S. and China are scheduled for this week. The Obama administration announced Sunday it would send an official to Beijing to negotiate the ongoing situation.

What seems to have been an accident during a boat race from California to Mexico left three people dead and one missing Sunday as the Coast Guard continued its search. The Coast Guard began looking for the four crew members of a 37-foot sailboat after it was reported missing off the coast of Mexico and located three deceased crew members and debris from the boat Saturday. The Mexican Navy and civilian vessels are continuing the search for the missing crew member.