Court rules for white firefighters over promotions  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years in Prison for Ponzi Scheme  —  A federal judge sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison on Monday for operating a huge Ponzi scheme that devastated thousands of people, calling his crimes “extraordinarily evil.”  —  In pronouncing the sentence …

Betraying the Planet  —  So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill.  In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.  —  But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill …

Obama Picks Camp David Church — Not a D.C. Congregation  —  For the past five months, White House aides and friends of the Obamas have been quietly visiting local churches and vetting the sermons of prospective first ministers in a search for a new — and uncontroversial — church home.

Morning Fix: A New Republican Leader?  —  Dispirited Republicans looking for national leaders amid a wash of scandals that have dominated national news over the last fortnight got a bit of good news on Sunday with an inspired performance on “Meet the Press” by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R).

Iran confirms election result  —  Iran's top electoral body, the Guardian Council, has confirmed the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential election after a partial recount.  —  News of the decision, which comes after a series of protests by the opposition against what it says was a rigged ballot …

Quote For The Day  —  “No democracy has been nearer the fire and survived than was Britain in that long winter [of 1940].  And one reason for survival was that the nation did not betray the things in which it believed.  After Italy entered the war, one of the few murder cases to reach the Law Lords on appeal was decided.

Chambliss blocks regulatory pick over animal lawsuits  —  Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) has blocked President Obama's candidate for regulation czar, Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, because Sunstein has argued that animals should have the right to sue humans in court.

Paper Avalanche Buries Plan to Stem Foreclosures  —  LOS ANGELES — Somewhere on earth, there must be a more difficult task than this: persuading American mortgage companies to lower payments for homeowners who can no longer afford their loans.  But as Karina Montenegro struggles to accomplish …

The Way We Love Now  —  It's been a good month for reckless romance in America.  The nation's most famous reality-television father, Jon Gosselin of “Jon and Kate Plus Eight,” threw over his marriage for a fling with a 23-year-old schoolteacher.  Not one but two prominent conservative politicians torpedoed …

Honduras Defends Its Democracy  —  Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Hugo Chávez's coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation's constitution.

A what-man?  —  When the Sony Walkman was launched, 30 years ago this week, is started a revolution in portable music.  But how does it compare with its digital successors?  The Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell to swap his iPod for a Walkman for a week.  —  My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day.

Israel Said to Be Open to Settlement Freeze  —  JERUSALEM — Israel would be open to a complete freeze of settlement building in the West Bank for three to six months as part of a broad Middle East peace endeavor that included a Palestinian agreement to negotiate an end to the conflict …

HORRIFIC Video Captures Basij Thugs Shooting At Protesters From Rooftop  —  Busted!  Regime thugs shoot down at democracy protesters on the street from a rooftop in Tehran.  —  This is one of those videos that you will not forget.  What kind of regime fires on its own people peacefully demonstrating for freedom?

Obama is choosing to be weak  —  As he promised last year, Barack Obama has brought climate change and healthcare reform to the centre of the nation's attention.  As well as evangelising, he is pressing Congress to act.  Last week the House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey cap …

Wonkette Goes After Trig Palin Again  —  It really is hard to understand why some adults feel the need to make fun of Trig Palin, a one-year old who has Down Syndrome.  Politics alone cannot explain it.  If you don't like Sarah Palin, fine, but why go after Trig?

Rudy weighing N.Y. governor run  —  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Monday that he is considering running for governor in 2010.  —  Appearing on CNN's “American Morning,” Giuliani insisted that “I don't know if I am or if I'm not” running for governor.

Keeping News of Kidnapping Off Wikipedia  —  For seven months, The New York Times managed to keep out of the news the fact that one of its reporters, David Rohde, had been kidnapped by the Taliban.  —  But that was pretty straightforward compared with keeping it off Wikipedia.

PREVENTIVE DETENTION, BY OTHER MEANS.  —  There was a huge newsdump last week, with The Washington Post reporting that President Obama intends to circumvent Congress and reassert indefinite detention authority by executive order.  At the same time, the Brookings Institution released a paper …

The Supreme Court Gets Ready To Turn on the Corporate Fundraising Spigot  —  The case about the anti-Hillary ad got pushed back till September—and got bigger.  —  If Republicans were wondering how their 2012 presidential candidate is going to compete against President Obama's $600 million …

Gays, lesbians rally in Fort Worth over bar raid  —  Police say 7 arrested for public intoxication; one man remains hospitalized with brain injury incurred during incident  —  FORT WORTH — About 18 hours after officers with the Fort Worth Police Department and agents with the Texas Alcoholic …

REBUKING ALITO.  —  Responding to Justice Alito's allegation that the City's decision to throw out the test was based on the political calculations of New Haven's mayor in order to avoid a backlash among New Haven's black voters, Justice Ginsburg writes: … More on this later.