Not since the ancient Olympiads were held under the gaze of Zeus and his randy band of gods and goddesses have the Games been staged in a locale so thoroughly saturated by a single religion. Consider: Utah’s governor, two senators and three congressmen are Mormons. So are all the state’s Supreme Court justices and 80 percent of the state and federal judiciary, 90 percent of the state legislators and at least 85 percent of the mayors, county commissioners and local school officials....

The tragedy of the Kursk is a parable of modern Russia, a country still grappling with sudden collapse from superpower status, and also with the responsibilities of a more open society. After seven days, Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet Mikhail Motsak declared, in the grim but careful parlance of dying hope, that “it is highly probable that we must fear the worst.” But well before that, the silence from the Kursk was like a vacuum quickly filled by outrage....

At least one senior Justice official still thinks Gore may know more than he’s ever told. Word leaked last week that Robert Conrad, chief of Justice’s Campaign Financing Task Force, had recommended that Attorney General Janet Reno appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Gore lied to investigators about the temple luncheon and his other 1996 fund-raising. Trying to quash speculation about new and possibly damaging evidence, an angry Gore released the transcript of his four-hour session with Conrad and FBI agents last April....

His love of baseball began at the age of 7, when his dad took him to his first Pittsburgh Pirates home game. “It was love at first sight,” Klimchak recalled for an episode of Our American Stories. “It was the green turf, the lights, the sound of the organ, the smells of nachos, peanuts, popcorn, cotton candy—and the smell of cigars and beer—all mixed up into one. And the Jumbotron in center field....

Miami’s punter took a direct snap from the 2-yard line against the Bengals in Week 13, and he made it into the end zone. But the referees called the Dolphins for an illegal formation, negating Haack’s touchdown run. Miami had to settle for a Jason Sanders field goal. MORE: Browns throw Big Man TD to offensive lineman The officials don’t clarify what makes a given formation illegal, but it’s possible one of the players split out wide failed to report as an eligible receiver....

But just as quickly the lawyers at Justice–and their colleagues at the Environmental Protection Agency–got blindsided. A few days later the White House unveiled its National Energy Policy, a call for expanded drilling for oil and gas and new power-plant construction. Tucked away in the fine print was a blunt directive to Ashcroft to review “existing enforcement actions” under the Clean Air Act. White House aides said a study was needed to determine if Justice, under President Clinton, had “radically reinterpreted” the law....

The Cream Team is gathering this week to prepare to haul in the gold. Meanwhile, Atlanta will miss out on a real tournament in a sport where the world’s finest players aren’t all on one team. Think baseball: Japan’s Hideo Nomo pitching to Larry Walker of Canada, Venezuela’s Omar Vizquel sliding into Puerto Rico’s Roberto Alomar at second base, the U.S.A.’s own charming Albert Belle taking out rows of international photographers in the press box....

The message sounded jaunty, but the voyage, as Piccard himself said in an earlier transmission to his ground controllers in Switzerland, was “no picnic.” Like other modern high-altitude balloons, the Orbiter is a hybrid design that uses both helium and hot air for lift. The gondola, 9 feet by 8 feet by 18 feet, is about the size of a small house trailer, but much of that space is occupied by fuel tanks for the craft’s propane burners....

There weren’t many options. Clinton was vulnerable on drugs. He’d slashed funding for the drug czar’s office and had once foolishly remarked on MTV that he would inhale marijuana ““if I could.’’ The president’s drug chief, former New York City police commissioner Lee Brown, was ridiculed inside the administration as an ineffective leader. After Mrs. Reagan’s jolting testimony, the course was clear. Brown was on his way out. Domestic-policy aide Rahm Emanuel gave the president a checklist of four generic types who could fill the slot: another big-city crime-buster, a tough-minded school principal, a big-time prosecutor and a soldier....

Ritalin is the brand name for methylphenidate, a stimulant prescribed to children and some adults with attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Until recently, both the diagnosis and the treatment were fairly uncommon. But in the last five years, as ADHD has become a fashionable diagnosis, Ritalin consumption has risen nearly six-fold, according to the DEA. About 2 million Americans will take the drug this year including more than one in every 30 kids ages 5 to 18....

Canha, who hit .303/.384/.505 for Triple-A New Orleans in 2014, must either stay with the A’s (or a team that the A’s trade him to) all season or be offered back to the Marlins for $25,000. The positions that Canha can play already are pretty crowded – Stephen Vogt can play both spots, while Oakland has Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry part of the picture in left field, and a DH/first base mix that includes Billy Butler, Ike Davis, John Jaso, and Nate Freiman....

The focus on women actually began before the straw poll when early numbers showed Dole losing by up to eight to one. To consolidate her base, she assiduously courted sororities and businesswomen. She softened her stiffly coiffed hair and took to wearing simpler blouses and suits. Her lopsided appeal won’t be enough to win the nomination. But if George W. Bush, a pro-gun man with a frat-boy air, triumphs, her appeal to women could make her an attractive ticketmate....

One design will be chosen by the end of the month. A committee of officials–representing the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (charged with overseeing the plans), the Port Authority (which owns the site) and representatives of the governor’s and mayor’s offices–faces two deeply serious schemes, each with its own inspiring idea to be tested. Libeskind’s plan has jagged towers, a spiky spire and a dramatic void all the way down to bedrock for a memorial site....

The controversy surrounding its semi-fictional memoir-style made it one of the internet’s first viral scandals of the publishing world. But beyond the controversy—and the infamous interview Frey did with Oprah Winfrey in 2005—is a story about a person struggling with addiction and desperately trying to find a way out of it. That’s the story director Sam Taylor-Johnson told in her new film adaption of the memoir, starring and co-written by her husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson....

Carter’s manager told Page Six in a November 18 article that over time, cyberbullying “broke down” the singer. He described the onslaught of virtual hate as a “nightmare.” “It was nonstop,” the manager, Taylor Helgeson, said. “It was so relentless and, yeah, it did a number on him.” Earlier this month, 34-year-old Carter was discovered dead in a bathtub at his home in Lancaster, California, and pill bottles and compressed air cans were said to have been discovered at the scene....

The attorney, Todd J. Hollis, told Pittsburgh television station KDKA that his client, DeVincent Spriggs, wished to apologize after surveillance video of the Sunday morning incident appeared to show that Donald came to Spriggs’ aid as Spriggs was being kicked and punched. “I wanted to make this statement public. And to extend an apology to Aaron for what he’s gone through, but I clearly know this was not him,” Hollis said....