USA

During a midyear report to Congress Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the economy was likely to expand at a moderate, lower-than-expected pace the rest of the year, with inflation the "predominant" concern.

The US State Department expressed outrage Tuesday that the Iranian government "would parade" two detained Iranian-American academics "on state-run television" to deliver what appeared to be forced confessions to spying by Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh.

The Food and Drug Administra-tion attempted to fend off criticism before Congress Tuesday about its decision to close and consolidate labs as concerns rise about tainted food imports,

The Army launched a program Wednesday aimed at educating 1 million soldiers during the next 90 days about how to recognize brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. The program also will encourage them to seek treatment.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced his resignation Tuesday. The administration has come in for heavy criticism during his two-year tenure, including charges of shoddy treatment of veterans.

The US immigration service lifted plans to postpone when it would accept green-card applications from thousands of foreign professional workers. Instead of making them wait until fall because of a large visa backlog, it said it would accept applications immediately.

A protest in Iowa City, Iowa, Tuesday, was the latest in national efforts to rail against a sexual assault case in Nebraska, in which the judge banned the use of "rape," "victim," and other key words. Although the judge ordered a mistrial July 12, protesters vowed to continue expressing opposition to gag orders.