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Attorney General Eric Holder has asked a court to order federal oversight of Texas' voting practices because he says the state discriminated against minority voters during the redistricting process. It's the first in a wave of federal actions to protect voters after a recent Supreme Court ruling threw out part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

In London, the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to an 8-pound, 6-ounce boy who now sits third in line to the throne. The world will likely get its first glimpse of the boy when the duchess leaves hospital, which may be Tuesday.

The Tour de France reaches its conclusion on Sunday. This year, angry competitors said they were sick of riding under the cloud of dopers from the 1990s and 2000s. The current race appears to be dope-free, but one can't be sure about that yet.

Moody's lifted the rating from "negative" to "stable" and affirmed the country's AAA rating. In a statement, it said the U.S. economy has demonstrated resilience in the face of major cuts to government spending. The country is on track to report its lowest annual deficit in five years.

Congress this week has convened its first hearings about the Voting Rights Act since the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of that law last month. The meetings offer some insights into what, if anything, lawmakers will do to restore the stricken section that enables the Justice Department to review in advance changes to state voting laws.

The Russian lawyer for NSA leaker Edward Snowden predicts his client will soon get temporary asylum in Russia. Snowden and his allies say his laptops contain files that could be highly damaging to NSA operations. Security experts say it would be challenging but by no means impossible for Russian (or Chinese) cyber technicians to gain access to the files Snowden has with him, in spite of his promises to safeguard them.

Since the 1930s, the National Labor Relations Board has served as the arbiter for squabbles between management and unions, or workers who wanted to join a union. In recent years, the board itself has become a battleground, but the agency could soon be fully staffed for the first time in a decade.

Stock and bond markets reacted positively to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks on the economy Wednesday morning. Bernanke was on Capitol Hill delivering the Fed's twice yearly update on the economy and Fed policy before the House Financial Services Committee.

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has played 19 seasons. That means he started his baseball career when the youngest players in this year's All-Star game were just toddlers. Rivera plans to retire at the end of this season.

Barbie sales have slumped. But Monster High is doing great. That's another line of dolls from Mattel — imagine even skinnier Barbies that look like they've been designed by Tim Burton. And the Monster High dolls have been a success, spawning hordes of ghoulish imitators.