Osama bin Laden mission agreed in secret 10 years ago by US and Pakistan  —  US forces were given permission to conduct unilateral raid inside Pakistan if they knew where Bin Laden was hiding, officials say  —  The US and Pakistan struck a secret deal almost a decade ago permitting …

2012 and the Republican rescue fantasy  —  Chief Political Correspondent Follow Him @ByronYork  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. - Talk to enough people around this key primary state and you'll learn two lessons, over and over again.  One is that there is absolutely, positively no unity among Republicans …

NBC's Three-Hour ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Down 23% … A supersized edition of Donald Trump's competition series Celebrity Apprentice spanned three hours, going head-to-head against the rest of primetime on Sunday.  —  But, NBC's three-hour telecast — which saw Star Jones and LaToya Jackson fired …

Why I Will Not Support Jon Huntsman.  Ever.  [UPDATED]  —  “I cannot tolerate a man serving as our ambassador to our chief strategic adversary in the world plotting, while in that capacity, to run against the President of the United States.”  —  Ambassador Jon Huntsman is gearing up now to run for President of the United States.

Support for Third U.S. Party Dips, but Is Still Majority View  —  Fifty-two percent believe a third political party is needed  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the people that a third party is needed.

John Boehner: Cut ‘trillions’ as debt limit nears  —  NEW YORK — Speaker John Boehner will call on Congress to offset a debt ceiling hike with spending cuts of a greater amount, an ambitious proposal that puts House Republicans on a collision course with Democrats who want much more modest spending restrictions attached to the vote.

Home Market Takes a Tumble  —  Turnaround More Distant After 3% Drop, Steepest Quarterly Decline Since 2008  —  The U.S. housing market's 1Q 2011 decline was the steepest in three years.  Additionally, a Zillow.com survey indicates nearly 30% of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth.

The Hill Poll: Voters see president's ratings bounce vanishing soon  —  Most voters believe the popularity boost President Obama has received following the killing of Osama bin Laden will disappear quickly, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill.  —  Almost three in five likely voters think the …

Gunter Sachs, the playboy who married Brigitte Bardot, kills himself at 78  —  Millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs, the German-born former husband of Brigitte Bardot, has killed himself at the age of 78.  —  He is reported to have shot himself at his home in the Swiss resort of Gstaad.

Navy Authorizes Chaplains to Perform Same-Sex ‘Marriages’ in Naval Chapels  —  (CNSNews.com) - Anticipating the elimination of the military ban on homosexuality, the Office of the Chief of Navy Chaplains has decided that same-sex couples in the Navy will be able to get married in Navy chapels …

Suspect in flight disturbance had Calif. ID  —  SAN FRANCISCO - The passengers sat stunned as they watched a man walk quickly toward the front of American Airlines Flight 1561 as it was descending toward San Francisco.  He was screaming and then began pounding on the cockpit door.

Brooklyn, NY - After Outrage Hasidic Newspaper Issues Statement On Altered White House Photo  —  Brooklyn, NY - Much has been written about a controversial altered photograph of the White House situation room published by Der Tzeitung, a Chareidi newspaper, based out of Brooklyn.

Unspoken Truths  —  Until cancer attacked his vocal cords, the author didn't fully appreciate what was meant by “a writer's voice,” or the essential link between speech and prose.  As a man who loved to talk, he turns to the masters of such conversation, both in history and in his own circle.

South Carolina Taking Light Bulb Ban into Its Own Hands  —  Fed up with the federal government's ban of the traditional incandescent light bulb, state representatives in South Carolina are pushing for the state to produce and use incandescents solely for its state.

The Unwisdom of Elites  —  The past three years have been a disaster for most Western economies.  The United States has mass long-term unemployment for the first time since the 1930s.  Meanwhile, Europe's single currency is coming apart at the seams.  How did it all go so wrong?

Why Success Starts With Failure  —  Tim Harford is a columnist for The Financial Times and the author of “The Undercover Economist.”  He's part of the growing cadre of journalists who try to write about economics in plain English.  His new book, “Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure,” will be published this week.