Veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh argues in a subscription-only piece in the latest New Yorker that the U.S. intelligence community still is not certain whether Iran has decided to make nuclear weapons.

Hersh notes that the analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency judge that Iran's nuclear program was not primarily directed against Israel, Europe or the United States. Rather, the U.S. military intelligence analysts believe that Iran was seeking nuclear capacity chiefly to deter Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, whom the United States overthrew in 2003. Iran and Iraq had long vied for geopolitical dominance in the region, and fought a brutal war from 1980 to 1988 that killed more than half a million people.

When senior U.S. intelligence officials briefed Congress on the intelligence community's updated 2011 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program in February, they "made clear that U.S. intelligence officials simply did not know whether Iran would become a nuclear state," Hersh writes of the still-classified document. Full Story »

Are the glory days of the archaeologist over? Has everything cool and ancient already been discovered? Nope. Thanks to ever-improving technology, several new findings have electrified the Web.

A robot explorer recently discovered ancient markings at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The robotic device found the markings inside a secret chamber inaccessible to humans--and then proceeded to film the painted hieroglyphics and stone markings, which hadn't been seen by human eyes in 4,500 years, via a small robotic camera that was fit through a tiny hole in a stone wall.

It is too soon to tell what the markings mean, but experts are hoping they may shed some light on why the ancient Egyptians originally built the tunnels.  An article from CNN explains that the tunnel is "one of several mysterious passages leading from the larger king's and queen's chambers."

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Is Mitt Romney trying to woo the teenage girl vote ahead of next year's presidential election?

In a potentially campaign-changing development, the 2012 presidential hopeful admitted to NBC's Jamie Gangel that he happens to be a fan of the "Twilight" series.  The revelation came up during a discussion of books the former Massachusetts governor has read, including George W. Bush's recent memoir. But that's not all, Romney added.

"I like silly stuff, too," Romney volunteered. "I like the 'Twilight' series. That was fun."

Asked if likes vampires, the GOP hopeful replied, "I don't like them personally. I don't know any." But, he added, he read the book because his granddaughter was reading it and enjoyed it.

Romney's admission casts a different light on a photo the former governor tweeted last year of him posing with "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson—in which the Republican looked a bit more thrilled than most politicians would be.

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A new consideration could tip the balance in favor of those U.S. policymakers arguing for decreasing the scope of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan: the cost of the war.

"Money is the new 800-pound gorilla," an unnamed senior Obama administration official told the Washington Post's Rajiv Chandrasekaran. "It shifts the debate from 'Is the strategy working?' to 'Can we afford this?' And when you view it that way, the scope of the mission that we have now is far, far less defensible."

The United States has allocated $113 billion for military operations in Afghanistan in fiscal year 2011, and has requested $107 billion for next year, Chandrasekaran reports. That comes out to approximately $1 million for every U.S. soldier deployed there, he calculates--a much higher figure than had been the case for U.S. troops in Iraq. Escalating war costs in Afghanistan are due to the expense of bringing in fuel and material to the landlocked nation--as well as the cost of having to build military bases there from scratch.

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Instead of simply focusing on her own (presumed) 2012 campaign rollout, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is busy tamping down suggestions from the media that a rivalry is brewing between her and fellow tea-party favorite Sarah Palin.

Bachmann spent a large portion of her ABC "Good Morning America" interview Tuesday avoiding comparison between the two women, who are both well established political brands on the insurgent right wing of the GOP--and who both happen to be photogenic women.

Host George Stephanopoulos asked Bachmann, who appeared via video from the key early primary state of New Hampshire, if there's room for candidacies from both herself and Palin. Stephanopoulos noted that the congresswoman could well resist the comparison, which he said some might interpret as sexist.

"I think that there's enough room for a lot of contenders," Bachmann said, choosing not to mention Palin by name. She said all the GOP candidates will be compared to Barack Obama in 2012.

But what about Palin? Full Story »

Sarah Palin said Monday she still hasn't decided whether she's running for president in 2012.

But her "One Nation" bus tour, which kicked off Sunday in Washington, appears to be a serious test of whether she can run for the White House by skipping what has long been a key requirement for most major political candidates: interaction with the media.

For the past two days, Palin, her family, and a handful of political aides have slowly made their way up the East Coast, stopping at key historical sites along the way. Aside from alerting the media to her campaign-like tour last week, Palin's political operation has offered virtually no details about her schedule, prompting dozens of reporters to literally stalk her hundreds of miles through three states in recent days.

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Keith Olbermann has already lined up a roster of prominent lefty contributors to appear as regular guests on his forthcoming Current TV show when it debuts next month.

Now, as opening night nears, the veteran sports and cable news anchor has announced the talents who will steer the show from behind the cameras, including several who worked with him at his previous network. The Olbermann show will be called "Countdown"--the name of his successful MSNBC franchise--and will debut in the same 8 p.m. time slot that Olbermann occupied when he was at MSNBC.

Heading up the new project's production team will be David Sarosi, who produced Olbermann's infamous "Worst Person in the World" segment. Sarosi has been named executive producer of the nightly news and commentary program.

"Nobody knows what 'Countdown' should be more than Dave Sarosi," said Olbermann in a statement. "He's intimately familiar with every other aspect of the production, and from his start with the show he has had both the vision, and the view of the playing field, critical for an Executive Producer. I'm delighted we'll again be able to work together."

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Ahead of his official campaign kickoff Thursday, Mitt Romney continues to insist he won't apologize for a health care law he passed as governor of Massachusetts.

The former governor tells the Boston Globe he won't back away from the bill, even if it hurts him politically.

"I know this is going to get a lot of conversation,'' he said, "but the health of the people in Massachusetts is more important to me than the health of my political prospects.''

That's a slightly new line from Romney, who has come under fire from his potential 2012 GOP rivals for the similarities between his plan and President Obama's controversial health care law. Both laws require individuals to obtain health care coverage or face fines--a mandate that has prompted plenty of criticism from Romney's likely 2012 rivals and other conservatives.

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Jessie, a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier trapped for seven days under nearly 50 tons of rock has been freed. Her owner, Steve Porter, spent more than $2,000 to rescue the pup.

Jessie and Porter were rabbit hunting near their home in Australia when Jessie darted after a feral cat and became trapped 11 feet underground, beneath two boulders. Initially, Porter, along with his son and two neighbors, tried to pry Jessie free. When that effort was unsuccessful, they called the State Emergency Service--Australia's EMS--to lend a hand.

As rescuers gradually sought to pry Jessie loose, they also sustained her on bits of liver they sent down to her via a length of fencing wire. "It's a miracle, really, when you see the size of the rock and the location and how restricted we were," Porter told the Herald Sun.

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Armed western military advisers, wearing civilian clothes, have been filmed by Al Jazeera working with Libyan rebel forces near the front lines of Misrata.

The Guardian's Julian Borger and Martin Chulov suggest in a report describing the video that the western military advisers may be members of Britain's elite SAS forces. Full Story »