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Congress orders a taskforce to re-launch the national health care debate. The effort is intended to go around the usual special interests, directly to the American public. While attendees across the country agree that the system is in trouble, consensus on how to fix it remains elusive.

A former White House official has been found guilty of covering up his dealings with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. David Safavian resigned his White House post last year. He was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction of justice.

Wendy's is doing away with its "biggie" and "great biggie" portion names. But that doesn't mean sizes are getting smaller. A medium drink is 32 ounces, and a large tops out at 42 ounces. Nutritionists see this new, larger soft drink as a setback in the battle against obesity.

In a long-running government case, a federal judge rules that cigarette makers engaged in a 50-year conspiracy to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking. Anti-smoking groups are disappointed that permanent education programs aren't part of the ruling but believe the judge's language creates a strong arsenal for individual smokers to sue for damages for their own smoking-related diseases.

A Washington Post reporter has found that the support of Somali women was instrumental in the recent takeover of the country's capital, Mogadishu, by Islamist militias. Host Debbie Elliott talks to the reporter, Craig Timberg.

A huge rockslide has closed a main road leading into Yosemite National Park. Now the town of Mariposa, Calif., a place that bills itself as the gateway to Yosemite, is facing a tough summer and an uncertain future.

Two Marines who have served in Iraq discuss issues of leadership in day-to-day life in Iraq. Lt. Seth Moulton and Maj. Michael Zacchea both have led young and sometimes inexperienced troops into urban warfare -- and have had to make split-second decisions about whether to shoot or to hold fire as insurgents mixed with civilians.

A measles outbreak in Boston is showing how the global economy opens opportunities for one of the world's most contagious viruses. Disease detectives say a computer programmer from India brought the virus to Boston's tallest office tower. The outbreak reveals that millions of Americans in their 30s and 40s are vulnerable to measles, even though they were vaccinated years ago.

North Korea declares that it has a right to carry out long-range missile tests, despite international calls for the communist state to refrain from launching a rocket believed capable of reaching the United States. The statement came as France and the U.N. secretary-general raised the alarm over a potential test.

British writer Christopher Hitchens was once the literary lion of the left. But after Sept. 11, 2001, he surprised many with his robust support for the Bush administration's war on terrorism. It has cost Hitchens friends and allies, and left others wondering how it happened.