A key Senate panel voted Tuesday to extend a contested 2008 provision of foreign intelligence surveillance law that is set to expire at year’s end. The vote is the first step toward what the Obama administration hopes will be a speedy renewal of an expanded authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor the U.S. e-mails and phone calls of overseas targets in an effort to prevent international terrorist attacks on the country. Read full article > >

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Senate panel votes to extend government’s broader surveillance authority

The troubled descendants of Nazi war criminals

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Living with a Nazi name

Two warplanes are scrambled to escort a US Airways transatlantic flight diverted because of a passenger’s suspicious behaviour.

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Security scare diverts US plane

On the blank canvas left behind by last year's tornado, new homes are slowly popping up in Joplin, Missouri. Every few blocks the buzz of power saws and the pop-pop-pop of nail guns from construction crews signal another step toward making the city whole again.

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Joplin ‘on the mend’

North Korea warns that it will bolster its nuclear programme and take unspecified counter-measures unless the US eases diplomatic pressure on it.

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N Korea gives new nuclear warning

Whatever Mark Zuckerberg earned before marrying his college sweetheart is still solely his property afterward.

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Zuckerberg’s Property Status, Post-Marriage

The Ministry of Defence will announce later that it is awarding £350m in contracts to design the next generation of nuclear armed submarines.

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Trident contracts to be unveiled

An Ofsted report criticises maths teaching and warns over early entry to maths GCSE.

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Ofsted criticises maths teaching

Creeping rationing of NHS care is making patients suffer unnecessarily, doctors are warning.

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Patients ‘suffer NHS rationing’

The agreement to give the Afghans the lead role in securing their country next summer begins the end of the United States’s involvement in the war.

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NATO Formally Agrees to Transition on Afghan Security

Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who led the military campaign that ended two decades of civil war, then ran unsuccessfully for president, was freed after nearly two years in prison.

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General Fonseka Is Released From Prison in Sri Lanka

Sir Cliff Richard, Ringo Starr and Dionne Warwick lead the tributes to Bee Gee Robin Gibb, who has died aged 62.

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Stars pay tribute to Robin Gibb

Julian Zelizer says that even impartial observers see that congressional Republicans have taken the partisan wars to extremes

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Zelizer: Blame GOP for gridlock

Ray Isle ( @islewine on Twitter ) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray. Ah, Sauvignon Blanc. It’s zesty, it’s crisp, it’s loaded with citrusy zing, it whets the appetite and it tastes great served cold on a hot day. And, once in a while, it smells like a green pepper exploded in your glass. Those aromas—shading from cut grass to green pepper to jalapeno—come from the presence in the wine of naturally occurring compounds called methoxypyrazines, which tend to be more present in cooler climate and/or underripe Sauvignons. (The specific compound is 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine, an excellent conversation-stopper for your next cocktail party.) Now some people, unsurprisingly, don’t like wines that smell of green peppers, and, honestly, most winemakers don’t like them either. But a certain amount of grassy greenness does give Sauvignon its allure for some folks. In the end, here’s my advice: If you like the peppery intensity that Sauvignon Blanc can have, head toward cooler climate regions, like New Zealand, South Africa’s Cape area and France’s Loire Valley. If you don’t like it, stick to warmer climates—Napa Valley would be a classic example. Oh, and that cat-pee aroma people sometimes find in Sauvignon Blanc? That’s mercapto-4-methyl-4-pentan-2-one. As any self-respecting tomcat will be happy to tell you. A good, not-green-at-all Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Franciscan Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($17) Mellow lemon-citrus and melon notes are the focus here; it’s appealingly crisp but definitely not on the peppery side.   A good, lightly grassy Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc ($13) Mostly from cooler coastal California vineyards, this is very impressive for the price—an ideal balance of zesty grapefruit with very light, freshly cut grass notes.   A good, quite peppery Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Graywacke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($19) Kevin Judd, proprietor of Graywacke, was the winemaker for 25 years at Cloudy Bay, the iconic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc producer. The third vintage from his solo project is terrific: intense passion fruit flavors, and there’s no mistaking that classic New Zealand peppery bite. More from Food & Wine America's Best Bars Best $15-and-Under Wines 15 Rules for Great Wine and Food Pairings Best Steak in the U.S. Memorial Day Party Recipes

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Snap into a Sauvignon Blanc

President Vladimir V. Putin has announced a new Cabinet, warning that it will have to fulfill its duties in a difficult global economic climate.

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Putin Names New Cabinet