Hsi-Chang Lin

Citigroup has reached a $75 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors about the extent of its holdings in sub-prime mortgage investments. This follows the SEC's investigation into several banking practices during the financial crisis and their record settlement with Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs.

Over 130,000 people have filed for damages due to the Gulf Oil Spill. They include shrimpers, realtors, deckhands, rig workers, restaurant owners and fish distributors from every Gulf State, and seven states beyond. Getting their checks from BP has been difficult. Only a third of the 130,000 claims against BP have been paid out. The rest are stuck in an whirlpool of red tape.

In a 40-page statement of charges, a House investigative panel formally charged Rep. Charles Rangel with 13 ethics violations. Among the charges was the improper solicitation of donations for a New York building bearing Rangel's name. The charges against the lifetime New York Democrat come weeks before midterm elections.

24-year-old Jennifer Keeton was pursuing a master’s degree in education at Georgia’s Augusta State University until the school became aware of her religious opposition to homosexuality. At that point, the school demanded that Ms. Keeton participate in diversity sensitivity training, and suggested that she attend a gay pride parade in order to complete her training. Ms. Keeton has sued the school in federal court for infringing on her civil rights.

The economic numbers that we’re seeing across the country seem to indicate, as Fed Chair Ben Bernanke asserted, that our nation’s economic future is “unusually uncertain.”  The Consumer Confidence index released in July reaffirms a growing pessimism on Main Street, where the decline in confidence is likely due to barely noticeable wage growth and concerns over employment. But that is not the case on Wall Street, where the stock exchange is experiencing an upward trend sparked, in part, by recent earnings reports from some big businesses that have slimmed down their costs through the recession. But what does this disconnect mean to you?  

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) may face the biggest fight of his long political career when he faces a public ethics hearing on Capitol Hill later this afternoon. At the heart of the hearing are allegations that Rangel underreported his rental income on a villa in the Dominican Republic, held multiple rent-stabilized apartments in New York City, and misused congressional stationery to solicit private donations for a City College center that bore his name.

Marquee items pegged around events like Father's Day have been coming too late for shoppers. Across the country, retailers and suppliers are fighting against a lack of cargo space that’s stalling this time-sensitive merchandise and driving up costs for retailers. Fighting for freight space is leading retailers to pay two to three times last year's rates. What does this mean for consumers?

Yesterday, the U.S. Copyright Office declared it perfectly legal for iPhone owners to "jailbreak" their mobile devices. In reviewing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the office said that although it may break Apple's warranty, there was no legal reason why iPhone users shouldn't be able to free their phones from the software restrictions that Apple places on them. The Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Corporation responded that jailbreaking iPhones could lead to "copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects" to the device. The new ruling changes the sense of ownership that technology users have over their products.

As many as two thousand members of Gold Star families – families who lost members while serving our country – convened at Arlington cemetery's “Tomb of the Unknowns” this weekend, to pay tribute to military men and women killed in action. This weekend’s events mark the largest gathering of such families in the country’s history.

For geographic, political and strategic reasons, Pakistan has been a key player in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, new military documents leaked by Wikileaks.org and published by The New York Times have raised the question: just whose side is Pakistan's intelligence agency on?

When Fed Chair Ben Bernanke called the economic outlook "unusually uncertain" on Wednesday, markets reacted by taking a dive. When Bernanke returned to the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, he amended his previous statement and said that the Federal Reserve was open to assisting the economy if necessary. This helped the stock market rally after the previous day's dip.

There have been many game changing revelations in the history of astronomy which have each, in their own way, irrevocably challenged human's place in the world around us. Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world confirmed the spherical nature of the earth, a theory that had existed since at least the Third Century, B.C. The Copernican revolution shattered the geo-centric model of the universe, which said the stars and the sun orbited around the earth.

Something that’s been harder to argue is the astronomical uniqueness of the planet we call home. To this day, the common assumption is that the planet earth fits an exceptional number of random criteria that make it suitable for sustaining life. It’s size, density, makeup and distance from the sun are extremely unique. Harvard University astronomer Dimitar Sasselov is challenging that assumption.

Things are looking up for U.S. automakers. Sales are up, and some companies like Chrysler are projecting that they will end this quarter in the black. This is big news for an industry which required massive government support to avoid bankruptcy less than two years ago. Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau, says that the car companies have been making smart moves. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) shocked advocates of clean energy and climate reform yesterday when he announced that the Senate would not take up legislation intended to reduce carbon emissions. Reid faulted Senate Republicans for blocking attempts at reform, saying that there is just no way to get the 60 votes necessary to pass the bill through the Senate. Conceding to Right, Democratic lawmakers have, for the time being, put off the legislation indefinitely — effectively shelving one of the president's marquee issues.

Warren Evans unexpectedly resigned from his post as Detroit’s chief of police Wednesday. He had held the position for under a year and his rocky tenure will probably be marked by a scandal in which a 7-year-old girl was shot and killed by a police bullet in a home raid. The incident was caught on tape by a reality TV crew which was following Evans for a show called “The Chief” about his job as the city’s top cop. The show painted him as a cowboy-like cop and may also have pushed the mayor to ask for his resignation.

The suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince in January made international headlines and changed the way that Massachusetts schools view and prosecute bullying in schools. What was described by state District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, initially, as a “nearly three-month campaign” of “relentless” and “torturous” bullying, may in fact have been a more nuanced and complicated case with an emotionally disturbed teenager at its center. 

Wall Street powerhouses like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America release their second quarter earnings this week; and those numbers are less than stellar. In fact, Goldman Sachs released it's lowest returns since the financial crisis of 2008.

When the head of the USDA, Tom Vilsak accepted Shirley Sherrod's resignation, he cited the departments "zero tolerance" for discrimination, but now he's reviewing his decision. Is the Obama Administration too quick to dismiss officials if they cross the sometimes blurry race line? Are we as a society too sensitive about race?  

Lester Spence, assistant professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the complexity of race-relations in the United States.

Ahead of today's primary elections, politicians in Georgia tried to overcome voter apathy with increasingly pointed advertisements and anti-incumbent rhetoric.  

By firing all 96 of its full-time employees, the cash-strapped city of Maywood, California is saving money by utilizing a strategy well known to American companies: outsourcing. They town may have had to file for bankruptcy if it hadn't taken this outsourcing approach.