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Happy Earth Day, folks. Enjoy your morning constitutional: Belgium\’s government collapsed Thursday, as Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigns. Nearly all flights in Europe are going ahead, but new ash is limiting Norway and Sweden\’s airports. While no one could have predicted how important the issue would become, before the financial system nearly collapsed, Obama the presidential candidate was warning about problems with financial regulation and the potential for an economic crisis. Tonight\’s U.K. debate is \”make or break,\” says Tory leader David Cameron, while Nick Clegg has been voted best looking of the would-be prime ministers by...

Good morning, folks. Tara\’s not getting married after all, and Leonard\’s not going to act anymore. But we\’re still bringing you your morning constitutional: European airports have reopened, and about 75% of scheduled flights are expected to fly today. In U.S. auto industry news, Chrysler announced that it lost $4B since coming out of bankruptcy almost a year ago, but sees signs of improvement in a profit for the first quarter of 2010 and a positive cash flow. On the other hand, General Motors has repaid $8.1B in loans it received from the U.S. and Canadian governments—five...

Good morning, everybody. Apple wants its phone back. Now, your morning constitutional: A limited number of flights in northern Europe, expected to be around half of normal volume, will go ahead today. While some planes are flying from Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is unlikely any planes will depart from London today. Some science behind the flight bans. Rahm Emmanuel wants to be mayor of Chicago. Despite recent allegations of fraud, earnings for Goldman Sachs rose 91% for the first quarter of 2010 to $3.46B from the same period last year. The U.K. Financial Services Authority has...

Good morning, folks, and happy Patriot\’s Day, a day that celebrates that accidental first engagement of Massachusetts militiamen and British Army regulars at Lexington and then Concord. Also, a marathon and a Red Sox game. Now, your morning constitutional: Due to the Icelandic volcanic ash, only about 30% of scheduled flights in Europe will fly on Monday, as Giovanni Bisignani, the head of the airline industry group the IATA, criticizes the way Europe\’s governments have handled the situation. BBC explores the economic impact of the past week\’s airline grounding. A European Commission has criticized the flight restrictions...

Good morning, everybody. Steven Seagal has…troubles. We have your morning constitutional: President Obama on Thursday night announced new rules ordering hospitals that accept Medicare and Medicaid to grant visitation rights to same-sex partners. The new rules also make it easier for patients to allow their partners to make medical decisions on their behalf. Volcanic ash continues to hold up air transport in Europe for the second day, swamping other modes of transport as travelers seek alternate modes of transportation. Poland is hoping to not have to postpone the funeral for late President Lech Kaczyński, as the ash cloud...

Good morning, folks. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the brains behind South Park and Team America: World Police, are writing a Broadway musical about Mormons. We\’re bringing you your morning constitutional: Ash spewing from an Icelandic volcano has shut down all flights in U.K. It also caused shutdowns in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, and has had a ripple effect of shutdowns and cancellations in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It\’s tax day, so, naturally, the tea partiers are out. The 2010 tax day could the best tax day of your life. And, sure, maybe...

Good morning, everybody. Richard Dawkins may want to arrest the Pope, but here\’s your morning constitutional: Hundreds have been killed by an earthquake in western China on Wednesday. The earthquakes hit China\’s Qinghai province, home mostly to ethnic Tibetans. Another sign the economy is rebounding: Retail sales rose for the third straight month in March by 1.6 percent, a higher rise than economists expected. In the first congressional election since the health care reform bill passed into law, Florida state Sen. Ted Deutch, Democrat, easily beat the Republican, Ed Lynch, who had tried to make the special...

Good morning, everybody. The \”brains\” behind the the Jersey Shore have concocted another legend, only this time: Massholes. Well, then, on to your morning constitutional: The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 11,000 yesterday for the first time since September 2008, a hopeful sign that Wall Street believes that the economy is on the right track. Bloomberg reports that the trade deficit widened in February because Americans are purchasing more imports, another sign that the economy is rebounding. From Slate: How the U.S.  economic recovery will be faster and and stronger than anybody expects. Buoyed by Ukraine\’s decision...

Good morning, everybody. Phil Mickelson won a funny jacket this weekend. Now, your morning constitutional: Much to the consternation of locals, President Obama is hosting a two-day nuclear security summit in downtown D.C. The times notices that Pakistan is conveniently not on the agenda. Tragedy for Poland this weekend, as Polish president Lech Kaczyński and many of the country\’s leaders were killed in a plane crash over Russia. Photos. Josh Marshall at TPM has a story of one of the victims, who had served as a president-in-exile of Poland until 1990. Thailand\’s red-shirt protesters marched in the...

Good morning everybody. In an ultimate injustice, the Jersey Shore \”kids\” have not been welcome at Miami\’s hottest spots. Now, your morning constitutional: Rep. Bart Stupak, mostly responsible for a compromise leading to the passage of the health care reform bill, has announced he will not be seeking re-election. Did President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld cover up the fact that they knew that hundreds of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay were in fact innocent? Lawrence Wilkerson, an aide to then-Secretary Colin Powell, claims that that Cheney and Rumsfeld knew that the majority of the initial...