Fourth of July weekend is right there on the horizon, and beach bunnies everywhere are mulling where to drop their towels and umbrellas. Fortunately, they can refer to the Natural Resource Defense Council Testing the Waters report, released today, before making that call.

The music business has undergone drastic changes during the Internet era, but until recently, one thing that hadn't changed was the role of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known to the industry as ASCAP. This performance rights organization has helped songwriters and music publishers get paid when their songs are played in radio broadcasts, on elevators and in clubs for nearly 100 years. But as broadcasting moves online, ASCAP's future may be uncertain.

The first of three U.S. Appeals courts has now weighed in on the constitutionality of law year's health overhaul, and the news couldn't have been much better for backers of the Affordable Care Act.

A group of researchers at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies set out to answer a number of hard questions about the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Broadly, though, they spent a year trying to figure out the cost of war.

What they found was the the United States had spent somewhere around $3.2 to $4 trillion since the wars began 10 years ago. Of that, only $1.3 trillion is from Pentagon war appropriations. They report:

Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death in the developing world.

Several groups looking to change that have been running trials with the drug misoprostol, which can prevent bleeding after birth, to show that the medicine can be safely administered by traditional birth attendants who deliver babies in homes.

Here's the official reaction from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to President Obama's news conference, during which the president said Republicans need to be willing to compromise on taxes just as Democrats need to agree to spending cuts in programs they like if progress is to be made on cutting the federal deficit and long-term debt:

As a child growing up just south of Atlanta, Margaret Mitchell used to sit on the front porch, listening to adults tell stories about the Civil War as they passed still summer nights in Clayton County. Those stories went on to help inspire one of the most famous novels of all time — Gone with the Wind, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

President Obama took questions from reporters Wednesday at his first news conference since March. He called out congressional Republicans for their refusal to consider any revenue increases as part of a budget deal. Mister Obama also took questions regarding his views on same-sex marriage.

President Obama tells Congress to get cracking on the deficit reduction talks — and maybe not take so many vacations. After all, Mister Obama said, his kids do their homework ahead of time, so why can't Congress?

Greece's Parliament approved tough austerity measures Wednesday, prompting more protests and clashes in the streets. For some members of Parliament, the move is politically risky. Robert Siegel speaks with Spyros Kouvelis, a member of Greece's Parliament who voted "yes" to the austerity measures, about the decision — and what it means to those Parliament members whose "yes" vote may have put their political careers on the line.