Jul 2, 8:02 AM (ET) By JASON STRAZIUSO

NAWA, Afghanistan (AP) – Thousands of U.S. Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan on Thursday in the first major operation under President Barack Obama’s strategy to stabilize the country.

The offensive was launched shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday local time (4:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, 2030 GMT Wednesday) in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and the world’s largest opium poppy-producing area. The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested region before the nation’s Aug. 20 presidential election.

It came as U.S. military announced that one of its soldiers was captured by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday. The missing soldier was not involved in the Helmand operation.

AP By JUDY LIN, Associated Press Writer Judy Lin, Associated Press Writer – 56 mins ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Legislators in more than a half-dozen states, their revenues evaporating in the recession, frantically worked to stave off government shutdowns and devastating service cuts. California failed to meet a midnight deadline and now may need to issue IOUs instead of paying bills.

Across the country, lawmakers are feeling the heat as their legislatures began the new fiscal year without a budget in place.

In Illinois, the sputtering drive to come up with a state budget broke down completely Tuesday, leaving the state without any plan for paying its employees or delivering government services. The session ended without any firm plans to return or even for Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders to resume negotiations.

AP By SAMANTHA HENRY, Associated Press Writer Samantha Henry, Associated Press Writer

FAIRVIEW, N.J. – For five years, immigrant day laborer Leo Chamale wired money twice a month from New Jersey to his family in Guatemala. Recently, he stepped up to the money transfer window for a different purpose — to ask that his family send some of his savings back to him.

“I hadn’t worked for five months, and I was two months behind on rent, so I had them send $1,500,” the 21-year-old Chamale said in Spanish. “My mother said, `That’s a lot of money!’”

Jun 29, 2:20 PM (ET) By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

Jun 29, 9:23 AM (ET) By SARA LEPRO

NEW YORK (AP) – Investors are looking to start a holiday-shortened week on a positive note.

U.S. stock futures are slightly higher in early trading Monday, amid mixed moves in overseas markets. Stocks in Asia were lower, while European markets advanced.

Investors were pleased by data showing that European business and consumer confidence rose for a third straight month. Still, the European Commission took a cautious stance, saying the economic rebound in Europe is relatively subdued.

That report echoes the wary outlook in the U.S. As the second quarter comes to a close, investors are at a crossroads. After running up the market more than 30 percent in three months on a litany of “less bad” economic data, investors have become skeptical of the economy’s recovery in recent weeks, desiring more concrete signs of growth.

Jun 28, 2:51 PM (ET) By STEPHEN BERNARD

NEW YORK (AP) – Markets have replaced big gains with little change.

Stocks entered a period of relative calm in recent weeks as a powerful spring rally born of optimism about the economy’s revival began to sputter. With the second quarter wrapping up Tuesday and earnings reports looming next month, there appears to be little coming up in this holiday-shortened week that could exert a strong pull on the market one way or another.

Earnings reports and profit outlooks are sure to dictate market movements in the coming weeks. Some watchers are already worrying that poor news from those reports, which start rolling out in early July, could weigh down a market that had been buoyed by hopeful signs on the economy.

Jun 27, 7:53 AM (ET) By JIM HEINTZ

EDITOR’S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

Iran’s hardline president lashed out anew at the United States and President Barack Obama on Saturday, accusing him of interference and suggesting that Washington’s stance on Iran’s postelection turmoil could imperil Obama’s aim of improving relations.

“We are surprised at Mr. Obama,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in remarks to judiciary officials broadcast on state television. “Didn’t he say that he was after change? Why did he interfere?”

Jun 27, 7:55 AM (ET) By WILL LESTER

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans concerned about the Obama administration’s big spending on economic stimulus, energy and health care are asking, “Where are the jobs?”

“The president and Democrats in Congress claim this spending binge is necessary to put Americans back to work,” House Republican leader John Boehner said Saturday in the Republican radio and Internet address. “They promised unemployment would not rise above 8 percent if their trillion-dollar stimulus was passed.

“But our nation has lost nearly 3 million jobs this year. Unemployment has soared above 9 percent. And now the president admits that unemployment will soon reach double digits.