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Panetta: From Washington Insider to CIA Outsider

For Leon Panetta, the CIA’s presumptive new boss, the hard part is yet to come. A confirmation hearing by the Senate Intelligence Committee was hardly the trial-by-fire that some had predicted for President Barack Obama’s nominee, and since he has been unanimously confirmed by the panel, his ratification by the full Senate is expected to be uncomplicated. But Panetta must now take charge of an agency battered by years of controversy and scandal, ranging from failure to anticipate the 9/11 attacks and faulty intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs to the torture of terrorism suspects and, most recently, allegations of rape by the agency’s Algeria station chief.

Israel’s Angry Elections

One by one, in reverse order, the leaders of Israel’s top three political parties appeared on television the night of the Feb. 10 elections and declared victory

After Israel’s Election, Palestinians Weigh a New Intifadeh

Israel’s election and the Gaza conflict have revealed the scale of the challenge facing U.S. President Barack Obama in jump-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts

Stimulus Deal Shows Reach and Limits of Obama’s Power

Moving at lightning speed and, even more unexpectedly, ahead of their President’s Day deadline, House and Senate negotiators agreed on the details of a $789 billion stimulus package barely 30 hours after Senate passed their version. In the process, they handed President Barack Obama his first major legislative victory, though the deliberations that led up to its passage highlighted the enormous challenges Obama will face in more complicated endeavors like healthcare, entitlement and energy reform

Salma Hayek, Breast-Feeding and One Very Public Service

If anyone on the planet could convince men that breast-feeding moms can have a sex life, it would be Salma Hayek. The beautifully busty actress, on a trip to Sierra Leone to support a tetanus-vaccination project, nursed a starving baby she encountered while being filmed by ABC News.

Why Lincoln still matters

Two hundred years after his birth in a log cabin in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln continues to fascinate.

Father of missing girl vows no revenge if child returned

The father of a missing 5-year-old Florida girl made a renewed plea Thursday for the return of his daughter. “If you have my daughter and you’re watching this, drop her off somewhere safe,” Roland Cummings said of his daughter Haleigh. “I’m not out for revenge, I’m not out for nothing else.

In-flight food: Heaven or hell on a tray?

The "crime scene cookies", "baaji custard" and "sponge shafts" depicted in Oliver Beale’s letter of complaint to Virgin Atlantic struck a chord worldwide. The missive he sent to Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson about a meal he received on board a Virgin flight from Mumbai to London in December spread across the web and email with a vengeance. Not only was this a complaint letter par excellence, but it hit upon one of the most emotive subjects of long-haul air travel: the in-flight meal

Arrests made after tainted medicine kills 84 children

Twelve people were arrested in connection with a tainted teething medicine that killed at least 84 children in Nigeria, authorities said Thursday. The medicine was found to contain a solvent typically found in antifreeze and brake fluid, authorities said

Thai PM admits boat people pushed out to sea

Thailand’s prime minister suspects there were "some instances" in which Thai authorities pushed Myanmar’s Rohingya boat people out to sea, a frank admittance of a practice drawing worldwide condemnation. In an exclusive interview with CNN Thursday, Abhisit Vejjajiva said he could not pinpoint who in the government approved the practice, but said he was working on rectifying the problem.