Postal Service Is Nearing Default as Losses Mount  —  The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month …

Romney Speaks at Tea Party Event, Drawing Sparse Protest  —  Mitt Romney's keynote speech Sunday night at a Tea Party Express rally in Concord, N.H., was perhaps more notable for what did not happen — there were no fiery clashes with Tea Party protesters, or angry hecklers — than for what did …

Sarah Palin runs unannounced in Iowa half-marathon  —  Sarah Palin's short-lived and unannounced run began and ended today in Storm Lake, Iowa.  —  The morning after Palin's speech at a tea party rally in Indianola, Greta Van Susteren of Fox News posted a photo she said was snapped of Palin during the …

The Fatal Distraction  —  Friday brought two numbers that should have everyone in Washington saying, “My God, what have we done?”  —  One of these numbers was zero — the number of jobs created in August.  The other was two — the interest rate on 10-year U.S. bonds, almost as low as this rate has ever gone.

‘This Week’ Transcript: Sen. Jim DeMint  —  AMANPOUR (voice-over): This week, start your engines.  Campaign 2012 shifts into overdrive as Mitt Romney ramps up...  ROMNEY: Career politicians got us into this mess, and they simply don't know how to get us out.  —  AMANPOUR: ... Rick Perry cleans up...

Israelis held in Istanbul airport  —  Passengers arriving in Turkey detained by local police after their passports taken away from them; passenger: Everyone was in shock  —  About 40 Israeli passengers on board a Turkish Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul were held for several hours …

Senior IMF Economist Expects Hard Default For Greece.  Soon.  —  According to a senior IMF economist who wasn't identified, Greece will likely face a “hard default” well before March 2012.  —  It could happen during 2011, and perhaps after the current round of negotiations.

What Democrats can do about Obama  —  From the debt ceiling fiasco to the recent rescheduling of a jobs speech at the behest of Speaker Boehner, it has not been a good summer for President Obama.  Like Chinese water torture, Gallup's daily tracking poll has shown a steady and unrelenting drip of bad news.

STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY  —  Interview With Jim DeMint; Interview With Jim Hoffa; Interview With Sen. Lieberman, Rep. Rogers  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  CANDY CROWLEY, HOST: A jobless Labor …

Libyan papers show UK worked with Gaddafi in rendition operation  —  A secret CIA document shows that British and Libyans worked together to arrange the removal of a terror suspect to Tripoli  —  Evidence that British intelligence agencies mounted their own “rendition” …