• U.S. unveils new terrorism alerts, scraps colors
• Wildfires spread across Texas
• India successfully launches three satellites into space

• Allied strikes pummel Libya’s air force but do little to stop attacks on civilians
• The view from Over There: Who's doing what in Libya
• Al Jazeera: Libyan rebels have formed interim government

Early each morning, before most Austinites have awakened from slumber, owner Chi-Minh Pham-Dinh can be found tenderly wrapping blankets of butter and pastry dough around pillows of chocolate paste, working to create a time-honored treat called pain au chocolat. more ›

• Indonesia tsunami death toll reaches 272
• Bin Laden blames Niger kidnappings on French policy toward Muslims
• Federal court strikes down key portion of Arizona immigrant voter law

• Pentagon tells recruiters: You must accept gays
• Meanwhile, Obama administration is appealing to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals re: DADT.
• If a $116 billion income tax cut falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does anyone get reelected?

• Chaos, violence grips Thai capital.
• Obama wants $80 billion to upgrade nuclear arms complex.
• France threatens to pull out of EU.

• 'Weeds' this ain't: $6 million pot bust in Travis County.
• France's President Sarkozy vows to lift veil.
• North Korea: "Have fun, or else."

One of the topmost events during the last two years of SXSWi has been the Tocquigny Martini Marketing Mixer. The best reason to go to the event is the amazing sunset views from the 17th floor of the Frost Building. more ›

After nearly a decade of treading water in the USA, Phoenix became full-on rock stars in 2009. Their LP Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix landed on everyone's Top 10 list (including ours), they won a Grammy for "Best Alternative Album", the band drew huge crowds at festivals including ACL, the track "1901" became a huge radio hit, and they brought the house down during a rare club gig at La Zona Rosa in December. more ›

Last month, my young hot domestic partner, Warren, took me to France. Part of the deal was this: he would pay for my plane ticket if I would promise him one thing—I would not attempt to speak Spanish to the natives. To Warren’s chagrin as well as the ongoing disdain and mortification of my son, I am in the habit of attempting Spanish, a language I admittedly don’t really speak, at any opportunity. Warren knew that, given my French is even worse than my Spanish (to the point it is entirely non-existent), I would try to communicate with foreigners with the only foreign language I pretend to understand, and the results would be disastrous. And it went without saying, (or so he thought), that under no circumstances would I utter more than a simple bon jour, au revoir, or merci in actual French. Behind Warren’s back, I acquired an audiobook that promised to teach me all the French I’d need to know to get by on my vacation and that this program would take a mere 57 minutes. A similar claim had been made by another language audiobook I once attempted to get through—this one assuring me that, also in less than an hour, I could master Hebrew. That time around, realizing it takes about 300 syllables to count to ten, and that these syllables involve a sound that results in lots of inadvertent spitting, I quit trying to learn because my interior windshield was so spittle-smeared I could not see enough to safely drive. I had a choice then—learn Hebrew or literally risk die trying. more ›