Far and Wide

Stop with the 'perfect storm' already

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Seriously, when will people stop saying "perfect storm"?

There's nothing stormy about cover-ups, artificial honors or leadership failures. It's just bad government, bad administration.

Still, those are the words used by the Army in censuring Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, who led Army special ops forces after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Army Secretary Pete Geren -- that's him above -- says Kensinger deceived investigators looking into the 2004 friendly-fire death in Afghanistan of the former NFL player Pat Tillman, an Army Ranger.

See the full AP coverage out of Washington.

--Ryan Pearson

News Corp. board approves $5 billion deal to buy Dow Jones

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Just moving this evening on the AP wire: this story from AP business writer Seth Sutel reporting that Rupert Murdoch is closer to his goal of owning Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. after the board of his News Corp. media conglomerate signed off on the $5 billion deal today.

-- Caryn Rousseau

Cute Knut on a diet

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Remember cute little polar bear Knut from Berlin? That's him above on March 23 weighing just 19 pounds.

Turns out Knut's not so little anymore. He's 8 months old and weighs 132 pounds -- and zookeepers are putting him on a diet: No more croissants!

Read more about what Knut's been up to in this AP story and check after the jump for a photo of what Knut looks like now...

-- Caryn Rousseau

War deployments raise risk of abuse for children

Are the children in Army families more vulnerable to abuse?

A new study funded by the Pentagon finds that when fathers are away at war, mothers are three times more likely to have a report of child mistreatment than when fathers are at home.

What does the Army think about the study? Officials say it confirms what they've seen at large military bases for nearly two years: overwhelmed and depressed mothers neglecting their children.

More in the story from AP writer Carla K. Johnson in Chicago.

-- Caryn Rousseau

Not a blockbuster night

Eric Gagne. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)            Mark Teixeira.         (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Lots of moving, no one shaking. Baseball's trade deadline came and went this afternoon, with a flurry of activity that resulted in little for any fan to get too excited -- or upset -- about.

Perhaps the biggest names to move were Texas Rangers reliever Eric Gagne, and his erstwhile teammate, Mark Teixeira. Gagne went to the Boston Red Sox -- who already have a closer in Jonathan Papelbon -- and Teixeira went to the Atlanta Braves.

To see if your team busted a move, check out the list after the jump.
--Josh L. Dickey

Sunshine of your lawmaker

(AP Photo/Ken Lambert)
Straighten up and fly right, congressfolk.

The House passed a bill that aims to shed some sunlight on lawmakers' pet projects and links to lobbyists -- a reaction to recent scandals that sent two lawmakers to prison and left another one facing bribery charges.

To learn about the provisions of the bill -- which passed the House 411 to 8 and is expected to make it through the Senate this week -- read this AP story by Charles Babington.

-- Eric Carvin

Just the right shot: John Roberts

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

For the photographers, it's a little bit like a red-carpet gig. You wait and wait and wait, and finally your moment comes to shoot the target: in this case, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, leaving the Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine, after suffering a seizure.

AP photographer Robert F. Bukaty was on the scene when Roberts finally emerged, giving eager photographers about four seconds to capture the news in an image.

Is it a lot of pressure?  Bukaty describes his assignment today in this audio clip.

-- Hillary Rhodes

Volcane spews ash in the Philippines

Scientists insist no major eruption is imminent, but check out this AP video of the Bulusan volcano spewing ash into the air in the central Philippines.

-- Caryn Rousseau

Be careful what you ask for

After two RM Auto International employees asked for raises, their boss shot them, according to police. In this news story, AP writer Giovanna Dell'orto says car dealership owner Rolandas Milinavicius, who was having financial problems, turned himself in two days after the shootings and confessed to killing Inga Contreras and Martynas Simokaitis, his only two employees. All three are from the eastern European nation of Lithuania but had been living in Atlanta, authorities said.

-- Derrik J. Lang

Reporting Back: the world's lungs

(AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

The Amazon rain forest is often called the "lungs of the world," but environmental issues are quickly raising concerns that the forest may soon need a respirator.

In a podcast coming up on asap later today, AP Deputy International Editor Nicolas B. Tatro speaks with Michael Astor, a reporter from the AP bureau in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, about the current state of the rain forests. In this excerpt they discuss a few of the driving forces behind the changes.

-- Ray Kugler