McChrystal Is Removed From Afghan Command  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama removed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as commander of American forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday, and tapped as his replacement the general's boss and the architect of the 2007 surge in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus.

‘Joe Barton was right,’ Joe Barton tweets  —  Hours after getting a respite from House Republicans, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) has cheekily responded to criticism over his “apology to BP” by tweeting a link to an American Spectator article titled “Joe Barton was right.”

Federal Gov't Halts Sand Berm Dredging  —  Nungesser Pleads With President To Allow Work To Continue  —  NEW ORLEANS — The federal government is shutting down the dredging that was being done to create protective sand berms in the Gulf of Mexico.  —  The berms are meant to protect the Louisiana coastline from oil.

Spitzer, Parker to host primetime CNN show  —  CNN announced Wednesday that Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer will host its new 8 p.m. program.  —  Washington (CNN) - Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and 2010 Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Kathleen Parker will co-host …

Vitter Aide Resigns After ABC News Disclosures About Past  —  Drunk Driving, Attack on Girlfriend, Open Warrant Detailed in ABC News Report  —  A trusted aide to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter resigned Wednesday morning after ABC News reported that he had been arrested for attacking his ex-girlfriend …

More Oil Gushing Into Gulf After Problem With Cap  —  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Coast Guard says BP has been forced to remove a cap that was containing some of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.  —  Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says an underwater robot bumped into the venting system.

For immediate release  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the economic recovery is proceeding and that the labor market is improving gradually.  Household spending is increasing but remains constrained by high unemployment …

Health-care reform getting more, not less, popular  —  I got an e-mail from the House minority leader's office this morning linking me to their new report, “Obamacare: Three Months of Broken Promises.”  “Three things are abundantly clear about President Obama's new health care law three months …

First Female Governor Possible in Eight States  —  Numerous Female Candidates Seek Statewide Office  —  As she begins her general election race for South Carolina's top statehouse job, Republican Nikki Haley is part of a group of candidates this year who are simultaneously pursuing another goal …

Graphic Sex Ed Class Under Fire  —  Parents are outraged after young teenagers were instructed on graphic sexual acts during a Planned Parenthood sex education class at the local high school in Shenandoah, Iowa.  —  “It was horribly inappropriate,” Colleen Dostal told Fox News Radio.

Nurse being kissed in iconic wartime picture dies, aged 91  —  Edith Shain was photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt in Times Square in 1945 being kissed by a sailor  —  Edith Shain is kissed by an American sailor while thousands jam Times Square, New York, to celebrate victory over Japan in 1945.

Reports: IAF Landed at Saudi Base, US Troops near Iran Border  —  Follow Israel news on and .  —  The Israeli Air Force recently unloaded military equipment at a Saudi Arabia base, a semi-official Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday, while a large American force has massed in Azerbaijan, which is on the northwest border of Iran.

How Is It That We Have Lost the Argument?  —  Martin Wolf: … That fiscal contraction is expansionary when it is part of a package including substantial real exchange rate depreciation and substantail interest rate reductions by the central banks is something I have believed ever since I first started thinking about these issues.