USA
Cindy Sheehan, who became a prominent antiwar activist after her soldier son was killed in Iraq, said Tuesday she has decided to drop out of the peace movement because she was exhausted emotionally and financially. Sheehan entered the national spotlight when she led a vigil outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch in August 2005.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 ruling that broke along ideological lines, sided Monday with employers, declaring that workers can't reach back years to claim pay discrimination. The case concerned a suit brought by a female Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employee who claimed she was underpaid after 19 years at an Alabama plant. A 1964 law places a 180-day deadline on filing pay complaints.
Despite falling home prices, American consumers became more optimistic, according to Conference Board figures released Tuesday that show the board's index of consumer confidence rose from 106.3 in April to 108.0 this month.
Duke University's men's lacrosse team, in an especially heart-wrenching loss given the year of turbulence it's endured, fell to Johns Hopkins, 12-11, in Monday's NCAA championship game in Baltimore. Three members of last year's Duke team were falsely accused of rape, which led to cancelling the 2006 season. Above, Johns Hopkins's Steven Boyle takes a shot over a Duke defender.
Scientists have discovered 28 new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) during the past year, an international research team told a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu Monday. The discoveries bring to 236 the number of planets found circling other stars.
The two whales who lost their way swimming in California's Sacramento River traveled about 24 miles in 24 hours downriver before beginning to meander near a busy bridge in Benicia, Calif., on Monday. The whales were first spotted May 13 about 90 miles inland.
Nearly 300 schools nationwide are on a waiting list for certification as "green schools" by the US Green Building Council, the Associated Press said Tuesday of the growing movement to make schools more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. So far, 27 schools, which incorporate such features as solar panels and living roofs, are certified.
