Reuters - Economic growth likely slowed in the second quarter as a capital investment drive by businesses was sated by imports and consumer spending tapered off, a government report is expected to show on Friday.
President Obama visits GM and Chrysler auto plants in Detroit on Friday to call attention to the successes -- so far -- of the bailed-out companies. A White House report says the industry has added 55,000 jobs, GM will stay open during its usual two-week summer shutdown and Chrysler added another production shift.
Reuters - The U.S. government has shut indefinitely its consulate in Mexico's most violent drug war city Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, to evaluate security conditions.
Reuters - Mexican soldiers killed drug boss Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel on Thursday, the first major triumph this year for President Felipe Calderon's war against drug cartels but one that is unlikely to end spiraling violence.
AFP - Several hundred activists have marched through central Phoenix as a toned down new Arizona immigration law went into effect, sparking a tense standoff with riot police in which about two dozen people were arrested.
AP - One of the top three leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel died in a gunfight with soldiers Thursday, ending the long run of a mysterious capo considered a founder of the country's massive methamphetamine trade.
AP - A criminal investigation into the leak of tens of thousands of secret Afghanistan war logs could go beyond the military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, and he did not rule out that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be a target.
AP - House investigators accused veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel of 13 violations of congressional ethics standards on Thursday, throwing a cloud over his four-decade political career and raising worries for fellow Democrats about the fall elections.
AP - Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted a video edited in a way that made her appear racist.
AP - Estimates of the number of graves that might be affected by mix-ups at Arlington National Cemetery grew from hundreds to as many as 6,600 on Thursday, as the cemetery's former superintendent blamed his staff and a lack of resources for the scandal that forced his ouster.
AP - The showdown over Arizona's immigration law played out in court and on Phoenix's sun-splashed streets on Thursday, as the state sought to reinstate key parts of the measure and angry protesters chanted that they refused to "live in fear." Dozens were arrested.
AP - A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House on Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts.
The U.S. Embassy said it was closing the consulate pending a security review, but did not elaborate. Ciudad Juarez, across the river from El Paso, Texas, is at the center of Mexico's war on drug gangs.
