Topic: United States
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
-
Bestselling books the week of 5/19/13, according to IndieBound*
What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.
-
Test your Gangnam style?
Pop music sensation Psy has taught his signature horsey dance to everyone from the UN’s Ban Ki-moon to Britney Spears. But how much do you know about the artist?
-
Playing the IRS card: Six presidents who used the IRS to bash political foes
Since the advent of the federal income tax about a century ago, several presidents – or their zealous underlings – have directed the IRS to use its formidable police powers to harass or punish enemies, political rivals, and administration critics. Here are six infamous episodes.
-
Briefing
IRS 101: Seven questions about the tea party scandal
How the tables have turned: The Internal Revenue Service is the one under the microscope now, as revelations emerged Friday that the agency wrongly targeted conservative groups seeking nonprofit status. Here’s an accounting of what has happened, along with the ramifications.
-
Bestselling books the week of 5/12/13, according to IndieBound*
What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.
All Content
-
Energy Voices Does the US need federal fracking regulations?
Federal regulations on fracking barely apply because the states involved already have a say in the way drilling proceeds, Graeber writes. Perhaps, he adds, it's the energy industry that has a right to question why the government 'is moving forward with these requirements in the first place.'
-
Backchannels Are tit-for-tat sectarian killings enough to tilt Iraq back to war?
Bouts of sectarian fighting have worried observers many times over the past few years, but so far the worst has not come to pass.
-
Stocks mixed in slow start to week
Stocks fluctuated between small gains and losses on Wall Street for most of Monday. Small-company stocks are doing well because they are less exposed to recession-plagued Europe than the large international stocks that make up the Dow and the S&P 500 index.
-
Tunisia shuts down medieval city to prevent Salafi demonstrations
Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party began by reaching out to Salafist groups, but after fringe groups became increasingly violent, it changed gears, taking a hardline stance to reining them in.
-
The Unwinding
Is America coming undone? New Yorker writer George Packer describes a slow meltdown.
-
Culture Cafe Dead Sea Scrolls: The Boston exhibit lets visitors see one of the greatest treasures of the modern era
The Dead Sea Scrolls, some of which are currently on display at the Museum of Science in Boston, are the oldest copies of Biblical texts ever found.
-
Oklahoma braces for more tornadoes, as severe storm system lingers (+video)
Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas, and southern Missouri faced a new series of tornadoes, heavy rain, and hail on Monday, as a massive storm system takes longer than usual to move through the nation's midsection.
-
Obama administration targets Fox News reporter in 'chilling' echo of AP probe (+video)
Last week, news broke that the Justice Department obtained records from AP for its investigation into an internal leak. Now, details are emerging about an investigation of a Fox News reporter that some experts say could harm investigative journalism even more.
-
In global fight against cybercrime, Spain becomes a front line
Spanish police stopped two major hacking schemes in the country in recent months, raising alarm among experts about increasing activity in the country. Why is Spain a hacking hub?
-
Progress Watch Latinos head to college at a record rate, now on par with white students
The push to keep Latino students on track for college seems to be paying off. The college enrollment rate for Hispanics is up 20 percent since 2000, narrowing the 'education gap.'
-
Decoder Wire North Korea missile launches: Pyongyang toying with foes? (+video)
That's one explanation for Day 3 of provocation from North Korea, which again fired short-range missiles or rockets into the ocean. So far, the medium-range North Korea missiles that caused a flap in April are nowhere to be seen.
-
Robert Reich How corporations pressure government into tax breaks and subsidies
Google, Amazon, Starbucks, every other major corporation, and every big Wall Street bank, are sheltering as much of their US profits abroad as they can, Reich writes, while telling Washington that lower corporate taxes are necessary in order to keep the US 'competitive.'
-
Iran hangs spies it says worked for US, Israel
Iran hangs spies: Two Iranian men were executed Sunday, convicted of working for the CIA and Israel's Mossad spy agency.
-
Opinion: Obama must hold Myanmar's Thein Sein accountable for human rights violations
When President Obama meets with President Thein Sein of Myanmar (Burma) today, he should emphasize Washington’s commitment to Myanmar’s progress, while stressing the importance of preventing discrimination and violence against ethnic minority Muslims and Christians.
-
Chapter & Verse J.K. Rowling, Hilary Mantel, and other British authors auction off annotated first editions
J.K. Rowling and other authors are selling first-edition copies of their books with annotations, written thoughts on the book, and/or illustrations to benefit the writers' organization English PEN.
-
Chinese premier visits India, talks up trade and trust
Premier Li Keqiang arrived this weekend in New Delhi on his first foreign trip. India has become China's biggest market for infrastructure contracts, but the two countries remain wary neighbors.
-
Opinion: Give the kidnapped Cleveland women their privacy – and identity
Many have asked that the women who were held hostage in Cleveland be given privacy to heal. But compassion should involve more than suspending our curiosity. How we actually define people emerging from traumatic experiences can support their healing and the public’s.
-
Readers Write: The dangers of immigration amnesty; Not all oil companies are alike
Letters to the Editor for the May 20, 2013 weekly print issue: The 1987 amnesty was a massive failure on all counts; the answer is to make interior America inhospitable to illegal immigrants. Certain oil companies have cultures of recklessness – and it's that culture that causes disasters.
-
Why did North Korea launch 6 missiles in 3 days?
The launches may be more an effort to get attention and test weaponry rather than actually provoke the region, following the end of the joint South Korea-US military exercises last month.
-
Oklahoma tornadoes: More forecast for Monday (+video)
Oklahoma tornadoes leave one dead on Sunday. But tornado warnings saved lives in Oklahoma, say officials. The National Weather Service says more tornadoes are forecast for Monday afternoon.
-
6.8 Chile earthquake strikes off the coast
6.8 Chile earthquake: The USGS revised the original report of a 6.8 earthquake down to 6.5. The earthquake struck off Chile Monday morning. No tsunami warning was issued.
-
2 FBI agents killed in hostage rescue training accident (+video)
2 FBI agents killed: The FBI says that two special agents were killed during training aboard a ship on Friday.
-
Why IRS investigation is already Obama's Watergate – and Benghazi, too (+video)
Since Watergate, every two-term president has had a second-term scandal. First-term mistakes and hyperpartisanship make probes – like those into Benghazi and the IRS – almost inevitable.
-
Obama to detail terrorism policy including drone attacks and Guantánamo Bay prison
In a national security speech, President Obama will explain his policies dealing with terrorism, the use of drone aircraft, Al Qaeda, and the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
-
Report reveals inmates suffer high levels of sexual abuse from guards
A new report by the Justice Department found prison inmates in Indianapolis, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Philadelphia suffered a higher-than-average rate of sexual abuse at the hands of guards.
Previous
Become part of the Monitor community