Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil are being allowed to spew into the fouled waters of the Gulf of Mexico while BP engineers prepare to install a new containment system they hope will catch it all in the coming days.
There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation nearly a mile below the water's surface, officials said, and the permanent fix of plugging the well from the bottom remains slated for mid-August.

NEW ORLEANS — The BP oil leak could be completely contained as early as Monday if a new, tighter cap can be fitted over the blown-out well, the government official in charge of the crisis said Friday in some of the most encouraging news to come out of the Gulf in the 2 1/2 months since the disaster struck.

Lebron James arrived in Miami to cheering fans after making his decision to sign with the Heat.
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James said the decision to leave his longtime home at Cleveland, but ultimately decided that he could win more with the team in South Beach

Publicly, the U.S. credits Pakistan with helping kill and capture many al-Qaida and Taliban leaders. Privately, the relationship is often marked by mistrust and double-dealing as Pakistan runs double agents against the CIA and the agency tries to penetrate Pakistan's closely guarded nuclear program.
Spying among friends is old news in the intelligence business, but the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is at the heart of Washington's counterterrorism efforts. Any behind-the-scenes trickery could undermine those efforts as well as the long-standing hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Plans are underway for the biggest Russia-U.S. spy swap since the Cold War. Ten defendants accused of spying for Russia have told a federal judge in New York that they are pleading guilty.
Anna Chapman, one of the spy ring, came to the United States from Britain after marrying an unsuspecting British man. Analysts say it is common practice to place spies in a Western country before moving them to the country that will be the target of their activity.
Chapman posted glamour shots of herself on Facebook. But it's unclear how successful the ring was at delivering secrets Russia.

PHOENIX — On paper, Arizona's controversial new immigration law is not that different from the federal version. But the key difference is this: Arizona wants every illegal immigrant caught and deported.

JOHANNESBURG — The first World Cup in Africa appropriately presents something new: Spain or the Netherlands as a first-time champion.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A judge sentenced Lindsay Lohan on Tuesday to 90 days in jail and an inpatient rehab program after finding the actress had violated the terms of her probation in a 2007 drug case.

MOSCOW — Russia and the United States are working out a spy swap involving Russians recently arrested in the United States and people convicted of spying in Russia, the brother of an imprisoned nuclear researcher said Wednesday.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The handsome art-deco building at 193 Jeppe St. was typical of its apartheid times: full of professionals, mostly white, and an army of blacks pushing brooms and serving tea until night fell and the segregation banished them to their distant townships.
Today it's a rooming house crammed with black tenants, and looks more like a vertical refugee camp