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The scars of the Great Recession are showing on the housing market, as experts say the consumer price index numbers to be released Tuesday will show home ownership has declined to 1998 levels. This drop is due not only to people boxed out of the housing market—because of foreclosure, unemployment or trapped in homes worth less than their mortgage—but because many people who could afford to own are opting out. “They’re renting and they’re happy renting because they’re scared to own,” said Douglas Yearley Jr, the chief executive of the building company Toll Brothers. Builders have begun to adapt to the changes, as construction on multiunit houses are up 22 percent this year while construction on single-family homes are down 21 percent.
Doctors in Yemen said 63 people had been killed in anti-government protests on Monday while at least another 800 were injured. Witnesses said police and other armed government forces opened fire on the protesters and also used tear gas and water canons to break up the crowds—and then bulldozed to clear the remaining tents in Taiz, the country’s second-largest city. Human rights activists said they found the bodies of physically handicapped protesters who were trapped in the tents after government forces set fire to them.
In the first time in nearly a decade, the anti-war Democrats and moderates are uniting on war policy, this time by putting pressure on President Obama to come up with a concert plan for Afghanistan. While significant policy-wise, the unity also could also have strong repercussions in the 2012 elections—when President Obama and many Democrats face re-election. All but eight Democrats last week voted for an amendment that demanded that Obama speed up the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and pursue a diplomatic approach with “all interested parties”—including the Taliban. The same amendment last year failed, with 98 percent of Democrats voting against it. Given the absence of any fixed withdrawal target, the White House dismissed last week’s amendment as a non-factor for the president, who has given July 1 as the day to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
The lawyer for 69-year-old former Serb General Ratko Mladic has filed an appeal against his detention—a move that will probably delay his extradition for at least a day. Mladic, whose men notoriously massacred nearly 8,000 Muslim boys and men in a bout of “ethnic cleansing” during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, is believed to have suffered at least two strokes, and his lawyer has asked for a full medical check-up. Serbia’s deputy war crimes prosecutor believes the ex-general is simply trying to delay his extradition to The Hague, where he will be put on trial for war crimes.
In a fitting Memorial Day ceremony, President Obama nominated Gen. Martin Dempsey to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday. Dempsey would replace Adm. Michael Mullen, whose term ends in September. Dempsey has plenty of combat experience, having served as the commander of the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad in 2003, and should the Senate confirm him, he would be in a crucial position as Obama’s senior military adviser overseeing the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as establishing priorities for cutting defense spending. Dempsey was just appointed as the Army chief of staff in April, so it’s been an unusually quick promotion. Obama also named Adm. James Winnefeld, the current head of the U.S. Northern Command, to serve as vice chairman, and Gen. Ray Odierno was nominated to replace Dempsey as the Army's chief of staff.
Gaddafi’s regime took a major hit this weekend, as eight generals defected and fled to Italy. Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed that the generals had arrived, but didn’t give any more information about their identities. Meanwhile, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma arrived in Tripoli Monday for another push at peace talks, meeting personally with Gaddafi and his prime minister.
Fearing an E. coli outbreak, four nations on Monday banned some imported fresh vegetables from Germany and Spain. At least 14 people have died in Germany after eating tainted vegetables, dubbed “killer cucumbers,” which are believed to have come from Spain. Austria, the Czech Republic, and France have removed organic cucumbers from their shelves, while Russia has taken it a step further and announced a ban on cucumbers, tomatoes, and salad produced in Germany and Spain. Spanish officials warned against putting all blame on their exports, saying their “image” had been damaged by this outbreak. Germany’s public health institute has confirmed 329 cases of E. coli, but some reports have put the number closer to 1,200.
U.S. soldiers marked Memorial Day in Iraq and Afghanistan with solemn flag-raising ceremonies, candlelight vigils, and prayer. In Iraq, where about 46,000 soldiers still remain, 100 people gathered at the headquarters of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, holding candles as Black Hawk helicopters swarmed overhead. In Afghanistan, where about 94,000 soldiers are stationed and where 1,400 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of the war there, troops raised flags in honor of the fallen. President Obama is scheduled to give an address on Memorial Day.
Longtime Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has resigned. The embattled coach—who had led the university's team for 10 seasons—left this post two months after a scandal that got him and several of his players suspended. In March, Tressel apologized for not telling Ohio State officials about emails he had received regarding improper benefits paid to some of his players. “It is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel said in this resignation note. He’ll be replaced by assistant coach Luke Fickell on an interim basis.
Are the days of “public broadcasting” over? PBS officials have told member stations that the science shows Nature and Nova will have “promotional breaks” during the show rather than airing before and after as they currently do. The plan has been hotly debated among PBS executives. Some PBS officials fear they will lose viewers due to the new model. “One of the biggest things they have to sell is that they are noncommercial,” said lawyer David Oxenford, who represents some public broadcasters. Why the change? PBS currently airs ads at the end of programs, which can run for up to eight minutes—and cause viewers to immediately tune out. But the change may not be so quick: PBS executives are still checking with lawyers to make sure the move is in compliance with FCC guidelines.
Right-wing blogs may still be claiming that Rep. Anthony Weiner posted an explicit photo of himself on Twitter over the weekend, but stef at DailyKos proves that the photograph is almost definitely a fake. The up-close image of a man in boxer briefs appears to have been Photoshopped to look as though it came from Weiner’s yFrog account. The most likely suspect in the whole thing is a conservative activist named Dan Wolfe, who goes by Twitter handle @patriotusa76. Wolfe appears obsessed with Weiner: He has tweeted at him 287 times since April. On May 12, he began tweeting that a Democrat would soon have a scandal like former Rep. Chris Lee, who resigned after posting shirtless photos on Craigslist. Wolfe appears to be the only person to have seen Weiner’s tweet before he claims Weiner must have deleted it. The woman to whom the tweet was directed has also spoken out, saying, “I have never met Congressman Weiner, though I am a fan.”
People really like The Hangover Part II: The film will have grossed $138.1 million over the five-day weekend once Monday wraps up. That’s a record for comedies, as well as the biggest five-day opening gross for an R-rated movie. It led the box office to the most lucrative Memorial Day weekend in film history. Bridesmaids, meanwhile, clocked in at No. 4: Along with The Hangover Part II, the two films bode well for the future of R-rated comedies.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has hired a crack “crisis team,” which includes former CIA spies, New York criminal investigators, and PR specialists. In Washington, he is hiring TD International, a “strategic advisory” run by former CIA officers and diplomats who offer both PR and investigatory services. He is also hiring a private-investigations firm, Guidepost Solutions, in New York, and Euro RSCG, one of France’s top PR firms.
Spurred by the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima plant, Germany’s government has reversed its support of nuclear energy and announced Monday that it will completely phase out the country’s atomic facilities by 2022. Eight old reactors will be shut down immediately, and nine more will be dark within 11 years, Norbert Rottgen, the nation’s environment minister, said, adding that “there will be no clause for revision” of the plan. As recently as March, Germany derived 23 percent of its energy from nuke plants; it will now focus on renewable sources such as solar.
A doctor working to determine rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in Libyan children came across, in her work, another startling statistic: at least 259 women who say they were raped by Muammar Gaddafi’s militiamen. The women who came forward were mothers of the children that Dr. Seham Sergewa was treating; many wrote down their stories in the questionnaire Sergewa distributed, which drew 59,000 responses. "First they tied my husband up," one woman wrote. "Then they raped me in front of my husband and my husband's brother. Then they killed my husband."
Yemeni government forces shot and killed at least 20 people in Taiz Monday, ending a four-month sit-in in one of the first cities to protest President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s authoritarian rule. After the slaughter, government forces bulldozed the square. Meanwhile, Saleh’s air force bombed alleged al Qaeda fighters who took over the city Zinjibar.
President Obama’s immigration-enforcement strategy is coming into focus: While the number of criminal cases against illegal immigrants has dropped sharply since he took office, his administration is beginning to crack down instead on people who employ illegal workers. More businesses than ever are facing scrutiny in a break with Bush-era policies, which focused on high-profile factory raids and deportations. As an example, The New York Times points to an April 20 raid on 14 Chuy’s restaurants. Forty-two illegal kitchen workers were detained, but only the restaurant owners and an accountant stood trial in federal court. (Thirteen immigrants were deported on civil charges; one faced unrelated criminal charges; and the rest remained as witnesses or to seek legal status through courts.)
Visiting ravaged Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado killed at least 139 people and damaged about 8,000 buildings a week ago, President Obama declared the disaster “a national tragedy.” Obama toured the scene following a six-day visit to Europe and met with survivors, telling reporters that he heard “harrowing stories” and also some “miraculous ones,” including one about an 85-year-old man who somehow survived the disaster “without a scratch.” The president also urged Joplin residents that federal support will stay in Joplin. “We’re going to be here long after the cameras leave,” he said, while also predicting that rebuilding efforts would be “a tough, long slog.” Obama, who was accompanied on the tour by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), is also scheduled to speak at a memorial service for victims at Missouri Southern State University.
The final mission of the space shuttle Endeavour was a success, and the crew is now on its way back to Earth. The astronauts, led by Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, repaired an air purifier at the International Space Station and installed a $2 billion physics experiment. Mission Control told them to “bask in the glow of a job well done" in their final hours before they set back for the home planet. The shuttle is scheduled to return to Florida on Wednesday.
In the wake of the devastating tornadoes in the central U.S., the International Energy Agency has reported that, despite the recession, greenhouse-gas emissions increased by a record amount last year to the highest carbon output in history. A record 30.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere last year, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels—up 1.6Gt from 2009. The shocking numbers mean that the goal of preventing a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius—which scientists claim is the threshold for potentially “dangerous climate change”—is “a nice Utopia,” according to the IEA. "Such warming would disrupt the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across the planet, leading to widespread mass migration and conflict,” Professor Lord Stern of the London School of Economics told The Guardian. “That is a risk any sane person would seek to drastically reduce."
After witnessing a final-lap crash by 23-year-old rookie J.R. Hildebrand, Britain's Dan Wheldon took advantage and drove away with the 95th edition of the Indianapolis 500. The premier event of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of 200,000 fans. "At that point I knew it was mine," Wheldon said, adding, "I was going to drive that thing like I stole it until I saw the checkered flag." The 32-year-old Wheldon is no stranger to the Indy 500, having won the race in 2005, and finished second in 2009 and 2010. For much of the race, it looked like things would boil down to Scott Dixon, who won Indy in 2008 and led a for race-high 73 laps, and Mr. Ashley Judd, Dario Franchitti, last year’s winner who led for 51. But ultimately it was Wheldon who sped away with the title, followed by Hildebrand in second; Graham Rahal in third; Tony Kanaan in fourth; and Dixon in fifth. Popular racer Danica Patrick, meanwhile, finished in 10th place.
Hours after NATO’s secretary-general declared that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year “reign of terror” was coming to an end, South African President Jacob Zuma flew into Tripoli on Monday to attempt to broker a peace deal with the much-maligned leader. Zuma met with several dignitaries—but not with Gaddafi, who hasn’t been seen since May 11. Meanwhile, Britain has added “bunker-busting” bombs to its arsenal and U.S. officials have considered deploying a small ground force to help unseat Gaddafi. "He is increasingly isolated at home and abroad,” said the NATO secretary-general of Gaddafi. “Even those closest to him are departing, defecting or deserting."
Hackers from “The Lulz Boat,” which goes by @LulzSec on Twitter, hacked into the PBS website Saturday night and posted a fake story claiming the late hip-hop star Tupac Shakur was found alive and well in New Zealand. They also posted the passwords and email addresses of people from other news organizations belonging to PBS. The hackers were angry about the coverage of WikiLeaks in a recent PBS program.
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