A United Nations panel is investigating reports of possible weapons-related shipments from Pyongyang to Syria and Burma. “Member states did not report to the committee any violations involving transfer of nuclear or other WMD-related or ballistic missile items," the panel affirmed in their findings. "But they did report several other violations, including illicit sales of arms and related material and luxury goods.” The report also claimed that “the DPRK [North Korea] continues actively to defy the measures in the [U.N. sanctions] resolutions.”

TMZ reports that singer Donna Summer died Thursday morning after fighting cancer, and Summer's family confirmed her death shortly afterward. The disco star was reportedly trying to keep the extent of her illness under wraps while she completed a new album, though sources who saw her several weeks ago said she "didn't seem too bad." The five-time Grammy winner was known as the "Queen of Disco" and rose to superstardom in the 1970s with her hits "Last Dance," "Hot Stuff," and "Bad Girls."

It’s been a rough few days for JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. First came news that his company suffered a $2 billion trading loss. Then came reports that the loss might be closer to $3 billion. Now, Dimon is going to have to go before the Senate Banking Committee to explain what happened. The invitation comes as the committee finishes its efforts to implement Wall Street reform. Critics of the big banks say this is the perfect opportunity to do something about institutions that are “too big to fail” and argue JPMorgan Chase should be broken up.

No pressure, Mark Zuckerberg! Wall Street insiders are closely tracking the nation’s biggest Web IPO offering ever—Facebook—making sure things go well on day one of its trading. The third-biggest IPO was made official Thursday when the company announced it had raised $16 billion in funding to seek a $38 share price, giving the Silicon Valley leader a $104 billion valuation. "It has to go off without a hitch. There's going to be a lot of visibility on this," said Larry Tabb, CEO of a consulting and research firm. "If this goes poorly, it will not just be a poor reflection on NASDAQ—it will be a poor reflection on the U.S. market structure." Facebook shares are scheduled to begin trading at 11 a.m. EST, 90 minutes after the stock exchange opens, giving brokerage firms enough time to process what is anticipated to be an enormous amount of opening-day orders.

The White House will ease the ban on trading and other investments with Burma, as well as name the first U.S. ambassador in 20 years. These steps mark the first significant trading between the U.S. and Burma in decades, and it comes just a few weeks after dissident Aung San Suu Kyi took office—signaling a major step forward in the country’s harsh military rule. Administration officials said Obama’s order would allow the legal authority to impose sanctions but will allow American corporations to make broader investments in Burma.

Trayvon Martin had drugs in his system when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, the official autopsy on his body revealed. The report said that THC, which is found in marijuana, was found in Martin’s blood and urine. The autopsy report also shows that Martin was shot from between 1 inch and 18 inches away, supporting Zimmerman’s claim that he shot Martin during a struggle. The autopsy report is part of a collection of documents and photos released on Thursday, as a result of the discovery process requiring state prosecutors to turn over their evidence in the case to Zimmerman’s defense. Among the documents are photos of Zimmerman taken the day after the shooting that show a bruised nose and scratches on the back of his head. Statements from witnesses also corroborate that the shooting may have been in self-defense. But the documents also show that Sanford Police believe the entire incident was “ultimately avoidable” if Zimmerman had “remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement.”

The FBI said Thursday that there is no indication of a terror threat against the city of Chicago leading up to the NATO summit that will take place in the Windy City this weekend. The bureau will be on high alert and is equipped to bring in extra agents if it appears an attack is imminent. Law-enforcement officials admit that Chicago is a target even without the summit, but a throng of police, FBI, and Secret Service agents will be patrolling the city center during the two-day summit.

Iran is angry at Google for dropping the name “Persian Gulf” from Google Maps. Officials at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran threatened a lawsuit on Thursday if Google—which has left the waterway without a name—didn’t properly identify the body of water. “One of the seditionist acts taken as part of the soft war against the Iranian nation has been Google’s shameless act to drop the name “Persian Gulf” which is … against historical documents,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.

An autopsy revealed Mary Kennedy’s cause of death was asphyxiation as a result of hanging, medical examiners said Thursday. Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr., was found dead Wednesday in her Bedford, N.Y., estate. Bedford police said they discovered Kennedy’s body inside an “outbuilding on the property.” Kennedy was the mother of four children, ages 10 to 17, and reportedly battled drug and alcohol problems in recent years.

Real estate in Manhattan is known for its hefty price tags, but an anonymous buyer has set a new a near-nine-figure record. The person is paying more than $90 million for a duplex penthouse in Midtown. The apartment is nearly 11,000 square feet and is located on the 89th and 90th floors of the building, named One57, which is planned to be build just shy of the south end of Central Park. For those keeping track, that’s about $13,000 per square foot—another record. The previous record was $88 million the daughter of a Russian billionaire shelled out for a penthouse at nearby 15 Central Park West, purchased earlier this year.

A massive new climate study in Australia concluded that the past 60 years have been the hottest in the past thousand for the Australasia region, and that the extreme temperatures cannot be explained by natural causes. The study used data from 27 climate indicators, including tree rings, corals and ice cores, to map the temperature over the past millennium. The climate map was done 3,000 different ways, and concluded with 95 percent accuracy that post-1950 warming was “unprecedented” and exceeded the possibility of an explanation by natural, random variations in climate.

Newsweek has launched a new Tumblr called Picture Dept, a photo blog for work published in Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Photo editor Cara Philips said, “We created this Tumblr to participate in this photo community. It’s meant to be a single destination where we can share what we think is great out there and what people should be looking at.” The Tumblr has three sections: “Found,” which is for content from elsewhere on the web; “Features” for more in-depth looks at photos that did not make it into the magazine; and “Recommended.” The publication already has three other Tumblrs.

Typically the euro zone’s hard-line fiscal enforcer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday night that she is committed to keeping Greece in the euro even if that means more stimulus for the ailing country. Merkel has been a firm advocate of austerity for the currency’s profligate nations, partially because of the political climate in her own country. But her tentative embrace of new growth policies signals a shift, possibly the result of the election of socialist François Hollande in France. Hollande, who campaigned on turning euro zone policy toward growth instead of austerity, met with Merkel for the first time Tuesday.

Backed by a conservative billionaire, a cadre of top Republican strategists is considering a hardline attack on President Obama timed to disrupt the Democratic convention. The strategists wrote that they are preparing to “do exactly what John McCain would not let us do”—which includes a blitz of television ads linking Obama to the incendiary comments of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The $10 million project, known as the Ricketts Plan, calls for hiring an “extremely literate conservative African-American” to accuse Obama of lying in presenting himself as a “metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln” rather than a radical supporter of “black liberation theology.”

Police have yet to reveal the identity of a gunman who surrendered after a dramatic standoff in Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday morning. A SWAT team and two ambulances surrounded the restaurant in the city’s downtown historic district where the suspect had barricaded himself, prompting officials to close down surrounding streets. It’s not yet clear whether he had a motive or was holding anyone hostage.

The autopsy released Wednesday showed that Florida teen Trayvon Martin died of a single gunshot wound to the chest fired from “intermediate range.” The only other injury on Martin’s body was a quarter-inch abrasion on his left ring finger below his knuckle, the report said, according to NBC News. A medical report revealed yesterday showed that George Zimmerman, Martin’s killer, had a fractured nose, two black eyes, and cuts on the back of his head. The medical report and autopsy are just two documents among 300 pages of evidence that are expected to be made public soon in the second-degree murder case against Zimmerman.

An Arabian horse named William was rescued from the sea on Tuesday after he got spooked and ran into the water, swimming two miles out to sea. The 7-year-old horse bolted from a beach photo shoot near Santa Barbara, Calif. and plunged into the ocean, launching a rescue effort that included helicopter searchers. He was finally spotted two miles from the shore, swimming toward oil rigs. Rescuers attached a hook to the horse’s reins and pulled him into a boat. He was examined by a veterinarian and released back to his owner.

Britain’s former Home Secretary Jack Straw testified Thursday that he and Rebekah Brooks, the former head of News International, would “gossip” together when they commuted on the train. Straw said that from 2007 until 2009—the time when he was the justice secretary—he and Brooks “would talk about what was in the paper, but Straw insisted the conversations never covered anything sensitive since there were always people “earwigging.” Straw conceded that former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government and members of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire were “very, very close, sometimes incestuous”—which has been one of the chief claims by the Leveson Inquiry. Brooks was charged last week with perverting justice during the hacking investigation.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s estranged wife, Mary Kennedy, was found dead in her home on Wednesday in an apparent suicide. RFK Jr., the son of former Senator Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, filed for divorce in 2010 after 16 years of marriage, though the divorce was never finalized. Mary was arrested for drunk driving three days after her husband filed for divorce. Sources close to Kennedy said she was depressed about the split and it is rumored that she had hanged herself. Medical examiners began an autopsy on Kennedy on Thursday.

Gunmen and bombers stormed a government compound in the southern Afghan province of Farah Thursday, leaving 11 people dead. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which Afghan police were able to repel after the several lives were lost. The dead included six police officers, one civilian, and all four attackers. The Taliban said the assailants were “martyrdom-seeking” fighters participating in the group’s spring offensive; several similar attacks have shaken the country the past few weeks.

JPMorgan’s trading loss disclosed last week could be higher than the $2 billion initially thought—50 percent higher. Last Thursday, when CEO Jamie Dimon announced the loss he mentioned it could mushroom in the coming months because of the market. The Federal Reserve is looking into the trade and growing losses to determine whether the FDIC-insured bank took inappropriate risks. But experts said Wednesday that an additional $1 billion was expected to be added on to the $2 billion announced last week. The bank is expected to earn $4 billion in the second quarter even with a $2 billion loss. Analysts are reportedly optimistic about the bank’s future.

Before his trial was suspended indefinitely Thursday due to the prosecution's errors, former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic nodded, smiled and clapped his hands on his lap as 16-year-old footage was shown at his U.N. war crimes tribunal. The film showed the “butcher of Bosnia” screaming at a Dutch general, demanding to know why he authorized NATO planes to bomb advancing Serbian forces. After the footage, Mladic signaled a time-out and the tribunal broke for five minutes. The trial is turning to Mladic’s involvement in a massacre of Muslim men and boys in the Srebrenica region, a U.N. safe haven for Bosnian Muslims who had fled the conflict. The Dutch withdrew when it was clear Bosnian Serb forces were overrunning them, and 8,500 people were killed within a few days.

A South Carolina woman has been diagnosed with a potentially deadly flesh-eating virus and is currently in critical condition, her husband said Thursday. Lana Kuykendall gave birth to twins on May 7 and was discharged soon after, but she returned to the hospital days later after noticing a rapidly expanding bruise on her leg. Doctors have since removed the dead skin and the tissue from both her legs and she is now on a ventilator, and her husband said she is suffering from the flesh-eating virus, although doctors have not publicly confirmed it. The case comes just weeks after Georgia graduate student Aimee Copeland contracted necrotizing fasciitis after cutting her leg while ziplining and is also currently on ventilator.

The Mitt Romney campaign will not join Republican super PACs in accusing President Obama of pretending to be a "metrosexual black Abe Lincoln" while secretly being a Rev. Jeremiah Wright-loving supporter of "black liberation theology." Instead, Mitt will attempt to follow the path laid out for him by Obama's previous Republican challenger, John McCain. "Unlike the Obama campaign, Governor Romney is running a campaign based on jobs and the economy, and we encourage everyone else to do the same," said Mitt's campaign manager Thursday. 

Online scrapbooking site Pinterest has raised $100 million as of Thursday, according to in its latest financing round—and that puts the startup’s value at $1.5 billion. Last year, a funding round valued the startup at $200 million. Much of the recent funding is being spearheaded by Japanese e-commerce site Rakuten Inc., which Pinterest chose to lead the funding round because of its global presence and ability to help the startup expand internationally. Most of the interest in the startup is based on the rapid increase in the number of users. The site crossed 20 million users last month, up from 1 million in July 2011. But the company has no specific business model, has no way of making revenue, and was unprofitable as of earlier this year.

If at first you don’t succeed, try something else. Jon Huntsman’s daughter Abby wants the former GOP presidential candidate to consider running for mayor of New York City. Abby, who lives there, has taken to Twitter for support. She tweeted, “Trying to convince dad @JonHuntsman to run for mayor of NYC. Thoughts? #whynot?” The Republican Party still needs a candidate for the mayoral race, but Huntsman would have to overcome the fact that he does not reside in the city.

White people have been on the way out in America for a long time, but it’s finally official: the U.S. Census Bureau announced Thursday that, of all births in the 12-month period ending in July 2011, non-Hispanic white babies made up less than half. Of 2.5 million births, 49.6 percent were non-Hispanic whites, while 50.4 percent were Hispanics, blacks, Asians, and others of mixed races. The new racial makeup represents a milestone for a country founded by white Europeans, and represents a generational divide between younger Americans and those who grew up in a predominantly white society.

Former Sunday Times editor Sir Harold Evans testified Thursday before the Leveson Inquiry, saying the famous paper had "lost its sense of moral responsibility" when Rupert Murdoch purchased the paper in 1981. Evans said he became "disgusted, dismayed and demoralized" by the atmosphere at the Times by 1982. Evans testified that Murdoch had tried wield his influence at the paper, and, in one incident, Evans said the relationship between him and Murdoch became so sour that an argument over a piece on the economy "almost ended in fisticuffs." Evans is the husband of Newsweek and The Daily Beast's editor-in-chief Tina Brown.

Nick Stahl’s life has turned into a Hollywood movie of sorts—and not in a good way. The 32-year-old actor best known for his roles in Terminator 3 and Sin City went missing on May 9 and has not been heard from since. Stahl’s wife, Rose, filed a petition in February calling for child support, supervised visits, and drug tests for her husband, who is known in the movie industry to be a hard worker. She reported him missing Monday, four days after he had been last seen in downtown Los Angeles. No foul play is suspected in the case—though the papers filed by Rose say that Stahl had been behaving erratically and getting high around their 2-year-old daughter.

Facebook confirmed that history will be made on Wall Street on Friday morning. The giant Web company will price shares of its stock at $38 each, making its IPO one of the biggest in the history of the stock exchange. The company is said to have raised $16 billion for the IPO, according to sources, and will sell 2.138 billion shares on the NASDAQ exchange, bringing its valuation over the $100 billion marker. The site is said to have 512 million active users who participate in a combined 3.2 billion likes comments each day, according to statistics from the first quarter of 2012.