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Gulf Oil Spill: Containment And Clean Up

Oil Spill Complicates Energy Bill

The prospects for an energy bill didn't look good at the beginning of the week when Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham pulled out of a tripartisan energy and climate change proposal he had worked on for months. And as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico creeps toward the shore, plans to expand offshore oil drilling — to attract industry support and bring along some Republicans — are increasingly uncertain.

The Federal Debt: How To Lose A Trillion Dollars

According to the Congressional Budget Office, annual debt payments — currently about $200 billion — are set to skyrocket. CBO estimates that interest payments on the federal debt will total $916 billion by the year 2020. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Economy

The Federal Debt: How To Lose A Trillion Dollars

With the federal deficit soaring, annual interest payments on debt will reach $916 billion by the end of the decade. Serious consequences have long seemed like far-off problems, but they are now likely to hit the country with considerable force within the next several years. And although everyone can see the train wreck coming, lawmakers seem powerless to stop it.

Arizona Immigration Law Generates First Challenges

A counter-demonstrator squares off with immigrant rights supporters during a protest outside Wrigley Field before the start of the Cubs game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday in Chicago. Dozens of people demonstrated outside the park calling for a boycott of the series to protest the passage of Arizona's controversial immigration law. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Olson/Getty Images

National

Arizona Immigration Law Generates First Challenges

The first legal suits have been filed against Arizona's tough new immigration law. Latino and other groups say the measure is unconstitutional, and law enforcement officials are taking sides. A Phoenix-area sheriff supports the law, while his counterpart in Tucson's Pima County, near the Mexican border, says enforcing it will drain local resources.

Formerly Banned Muslim Scholar Tours U.S.

Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, pictured here at a conference in France on April 25, is now able to enter the U.S. He tells NPR that when he speaks in the U.S., he's too much of a Muslim and when he speaks in the Muslim world, he's too much of a Westerner. Jean Sebastien Evrard/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Jean Sebastien Evrard/AFP/Getty Images

Middle East

Formerly Banned Muslim Scholar Tours U.S.

In 2004, Muslim academic Tariq Ramadan was banned from the U.S. when the Bush administration invoked the Patriot Act. Now, the ban is lifted and Ramadan is touring the U.S. explaining to American audiences why he calls Islam a Western religion. And he says he sees a lot of hope in Western Muslim communities.