David J Fazekas

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and representatives from over 60 countries are meeting in Kabul today. This is the first major international conference in Afghanistan since the 1970s, and the first time Afghanistan is playing host to its major donors. Atop of the agenda: how to hand more responsibility for Afghanistan to the Afghan government. This comes at a crucial period, as American troops are expected to start leaving Afghanistan by next year. 

BP continues damage control on its wounded brand, just as it begins to look like the oil has stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. At the upcoming Kabul Conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and delegates from all over the world will meet to try and figure out ways to hand more responsibility for Afghanistan back to the Afghan government.

We look ahead at the news driving the next seven days.

George Steinbrenner reigned as the owner of the New York Yankees for 38 years. In that time his team won seven World Series Championships, 11 American League pennants, 16 AL-East titles. But Steinbrenner was also suspended from baseball twice, one time for life. In 1990, "The Boss" was banned for life for paying a small-time gambler who was  paid $40,000 to dig up some dirt on hall-of-famer, Dave Winfield. Steinbrenner was reinstated in 1993, and went to win five more championships.

Remember President George W. Bush's tax cuts back in 2001 and 2003, which were met with much hatred by Democrats? Well, those tax cuts are about to expire. However, this is not necessarily good news for Democrats. Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, sees Democrats somewhere in between a rock and a hard place. They can't easily allow taxes to go back up when the economy is still struggling; at the same time, they can't watch the deficit continue to rise if the cuts stay. To make things more complicated, these tax cut decisions need to be made during an election year.

New York Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, passed away yesterday morning at the age of 80. He helmed the Yankee ship for 37-plus years, winning seven World Series Championships. Steinbrenner spent a lot of money on the team in order to win and changed the relationship between teams and their owners. The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin examines Steinbrenner's legacy.

Six current and former New Orleans Police Department officers were indicted yesterday in connection with the Danziger Bridge shooting five years ago, amidst the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The indictment charges that NOPD officers shot at unarmed civilians as they crossed the bridge on September 4, 2005, leaving four people wounded and two dead: 17-year-old James Brissette and Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man who was shot in the back and, allegedly, kicked and stomped while dying, laid out on the ground.

Members of the United States Marine Corps have been shadowing officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in order to learn new methods of policing a city. They hope to take the tactics they learn to Afghanistan and apply them to fighting the Taliban, who are being seen more and more as a drug trafficking mob instead of an insurgency.

One of the oldest written languages in the world is in danger of being forgotten. People in China send text messages more than any other population in the world, and many experts believe that this could lead to its people forgetting how to write Chinese characters. The phenomenon has been called, tibiwangzi: literally (take pen, forget character).

Over the weekend, BP began working to place a new cap on the gushing Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The old cap, estimated to divert 15,000 barrels of oil a day, was removed Saturday, in order to make room for the new one. This has allowed oil from the well to gush unimpeded. If all goes according to plan, the new cap should contain all the oil from the well, an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil a day.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a new law mandating police departments across the state to send rape kits to the Illinois State Police laboratory or an approved lab within 10 business days of acquiring the evidence. Illinois is the first state to pass such a law, which will go in to effect on October 1st. State officials hope that more and faster scrutiny of evidence will increase the number of arrests for such cases, which now stand at only 11 percent: The national average is 22 percent. Similar laws have increased arrests in other cities, including New York and Los Angeles. 

The Netherlands defeated Uruguay in the semifinals yesterday, 3-2, to advance to their third World Cup finals ever, and their first since 1978. For the championship, they'll face the winner of today's match between Germany and Spain. Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin looks ahead to the final World Cup game.

At a Republican fundraiser in Connecticut this weekend, Michael Steele was caught by a handheld camera saying the conflict in Afghanistan is "a war of Obama's choosing." Those words have many Republicans criticizing the RNC chairman, and calling for his resignation, including Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich explains Steele's history of gaffes and whether this one will bring him down.

Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are taking home Wimbledon titles. And in the World Cup, Germany handily beat Argentina 4-0 and moves on to play Spain. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin recaps a big weekend in sports and says that The Netherlands is the team to beat in the World Cup

Scott Turow, legal scholar and author of classics like "Presumed Innocent," and "One L," is well-versed in the culture of Harvard Law, and met Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan while at Harvard. He shares with us his own insights into what kind of justice the former Harvard Law School Dean might make.

Boston University scientists believe they may have uncovered the secret to why some people live to be 100 years old. According to a new report, published in Science by the New England Centenarian Study at Boston Medical Center, scientists may have have pinpointed the gene for long life. Researches found that 40 percent of those who live to be at least 110 shared three genetic signatures. The director of the study, Dr. Thomas Perls, talks to us about the findings and how they may change medicine.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to give a speech on comprehensive immigration reform at the American University School of International Service in Washington, D.C. today. This in the wake of Arizona's controversial immigration law, and the threat of other states passing their own immigration legislation. Valeria Fernandez, a reporter for Feet in Two Worlds — a project of the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School; and Maria Elena Salinas, an anchor at Univision, join us to talk about what they and the hispanic population hope the President will say in his speech.

A St. Louis veterans hospital may have infected thousands of its patients with HIV and hepatitis. The Department of Veterans Affairs mailed letters out to 1,812 veterans, warning them they may potentially be infected, because dental equipment "may not have been cleaned correctly" at the clinic at the John Cochran hospital.

Last month, we spoke with Darell Cannon, one of a number of black men in Chicago who claim they were tortured and coerced into confessions during the 70s and 80s by Chicago Police. For men like Cannon, who spent 24 years in prison after being tortured by former police Lieutenant Jon Burge the men he commanded, justice has finally come.

Former Chicago Police Lieutenant Jon Burge was found guilty yesterday on charges of federal perjury and obstruction of justice. He could now face up to 45 years behind bars, after his sentencing hearing in November. Rob Wildeboer, criminal justice reporter for Chicago Public Radio tells us more about the case and the conviction.

It was a sad weekend for U.S. soccer fans, as they watched the Americans fall to Ghana in the World Cup for the second consecutive time.  Ghana scored the game-winning point in the third minute of extra time, beating the U.S. 2-1. The Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, reflects on Team USA's perfomance and tells us if the 2010 World Cup can be seen as a successful one for the Americans, and looks at whether it raised the profile of U.S. soccer. However, the tournament isn't over, and Ibrahim says that the great matches are still to come.

The week was thrown into uncertainty with the death this morning of Sen. Robert Byrd. The New York Times' Marcus Mabry and The Takeaway's Charles Herman, look at that and the rest of the news coming up in the next seven days.