Jan Brewer Refuses Any More Debates
A page from the Palin playbook: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is refusing to debate her Democratic opponent again after her disastrous performance on Wednesday night in which she stopped speaking, looked downward at the table for several seconds, and...

U.S. Exports Abstinence-Only to China
Who says that America has no exports? Focus on the Family has started an abstinence-only education program in China's Yunnan province-the fruits of a several-year effort to get a foothold in the country. The Yunnan ministry of education agreed to the...

Vivid's Porn Empire Mimics Hollywood
By copying the Hollywood script, porn czar Steven Hirsch's Vivid Entertainment has managed to carve out a giant piece of the porn pie. Vivid, the leader in pornographic videos, pulls in about $100 million a year of an industry that brings in an...

Bob Geldof Plans African Private Equity Venture
After years of raising money for Africa through concerts and charity albums, Bob Geldof is moving into the boardroom. He's trying to capitalize on Africa's resurgent economy by raising $1 billion for a fund called 8 Miles, which will invest in...

Peter Orszag to Write NYT Column
Does this mean he's the new Bono? Former director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag has signed up with The New York Times to write a regular column for the op-ed page. Orszag's first column will appear on Tuesday, September 7 and...

Earl Downgraded to Category One
Hurricane Earl is continuing to lose steam: The storm was downgraded to category one on Friday as it passed through North Carolina and toward New England. Top wind speeds are now near 85 mph. Consequently, several storm watches have been changed:...

Obama to Hold Rare Press Conference
President Obama will hold a press conference on Friday, September 10, the White House announced Thursday. This will be Obama's first major press conference in over a year. The president will discuss the economy during two trips next week, one on Monday...

Blasts Kill 43 at Pakistan Rally
A bomb blast at a rally in the city of Quetta, Pakistan killed 43 people and wounding over 100 on Friday. The attack follows three bombings in Lahore earlier this week, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility. Friday's attack took place at Shi'ite...

Unemployment Rate Rises to 9.6 Percent
The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent a month ago as   54,000 temporary Census job positions came to an end. But the private sector added a net total of 67,000 jobs in the month of August, according to Labor Dept....

Tiger's Housing Prospects
So much for Tiger Woods' Manhattan bachelor pad. As it turns out, the place that Us Weekly claimed Woods was buying for himself earlier this week might not live up to the luxurious standards he is used to. "No way Tiger would live there," one real...

Activists Lash Out at Prince Harry
Prince Harry is getting walloped in the tabloids yet again, this time accused of animal cruelty. The polo-playing chap allegedly cut his horse with one of his spurs during a July match at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, and continued to...

God Not Necessary for Universe's Creation
In his first major work in over a decade, physicist Stephen Hawking argues that the creation of the universe did not require the existence of God. Contrary to what Isaac Newton believed, our universe's unique properties mean that it is quite possible...

A Successor in North Korea?
To the experts following North Korean politics, the country's upcoming Worker's Party gathering looks like déjà vu. It is eerily reminiscent of the gathering 30 years ago that saw Kim Jong Il come to power and speculation is swirling that...

Little Progress on Peace Talks' First Day
Aside from setting a schedule for the reopened peace talks, Israeli and Palestinian leaders ended the first day without much progress. The stakes are high when they meet again Sept. 16: Israel's partial moratorium on new settlements in the West Bank is...

Young Voters Abandoning Obama
American youth's crush on Obama is cooling. Though many young people are still passionate about liberal social issues, a weak job market and faltering economy has led many to lose confidence in the Democratic Party. According to a new Pew survey,...

Hurricane Earl Approaches North Carolina
Hurricane Earl has arrived. The Category 2 storm blustered toward North Carolina Thursday night, battering the coast with thick rain and blasts of wind. Thousands in the Outer Banks have already evacuated-while in other East Coast towns, from Long...

Feds Arrest Six in Record Human-Trafficking Bust
The Justice Department accused six people Thursday of luring 400 laborers from Thailand to the United States-and then forcing them to work. The bust is spelled out in a federal indictment, which the FBI calls the largest human-trafficking case charged...

AZ Gov. Brewer Botches Debate Opener
Here's one way not to start a political debate: silence. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Arizona Governor Jan Brewer did during a televised debate on Wednesday night. "We have, uh, did what was right for Arizona," Brewer said after much fidgeting....

BP: No More Offshore Drilling, No More Funds
Oh, the irony: BP claims that if Congress passes legislation barring the oil giant from getting new offshore-drilling permits, it may not have enough money to pay for the damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A ban would also stunt the...

Report: Jennifer Lopez Close to Idol Deal
Is Jennifer Lopez one step closer to becoming the new judge on the block? While it's been rumored for weeks that she's been in talks to sign on for American Idol's tenth season, sources tell TMZ that a deal is now imminent. And contrary to earlier...

Two-Thirds of NYers Want Mosque to Move
Is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg losing out to the Newt Gingriches and Sarah Palins? A New York Times poll finds two-thirds of New York City residents say that the Park51 Muslim community center should be moved to a location further from ground...

Coast Guard: No Oil Sheen in Gulf
Well this is welcome news: The Coast Guard has reversed an earlier report and now says that there is no oil sheen spreading from a platform that caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard now says it is unable to confirm the sheen and its...

Court: 'Ladies Night' Not Sexist
It's good to see that this gigantic waste of everyone's time is over: The Second Court of Appeals has thrown out the lawsuit of a self-proclaimed anti-feminist who argued that "Ladies Night" promotions at bars and nightclubs are illegal. "The guys are...

First Day of Peace Talks Wraps Up
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton got down to business in Washington, D.C. on Thursday and inaugurated peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Emphasizing leadership and patience, Clinton's effort appeared to pay off: Israeli Prime...

Discovery Gunman Was Human Trafficker
Discovery Channel gunman James Lee may have called immigrants "disgusting filth" in his list of demands of the network, but he didn't apparently always feel that way: He was once arrested and imprisoned for smuggling illegal immigrants into the country...

FBI Agent Says Amanda Knox is Innocent
FBI Special Agent Steve Moore, who once claimed that Amanda Knox was guilty of murdering her British roommate, now says there's no doubt she's innocent. "When Amanda Knox gets out, if she needs a roommate, I'll send my daughter over," Moore told Good...

Harvey Keitel to The Office?
Could Harvey Keitel replace Steve Carell when he leaves The Office? Executive Producer Paul Lieberstein sure hopes so: "He's probably the only guy who can do it, and he's doing TV now," he tells E! Online. He's already written a backstory for Keitel's...

Letterman Blackmailer Released
We take it he'll be watching Leno: Robert "Joe" Halderman, the man who was jailed  for blackmailing David Letterman, was released on Thursday after four months in jail. He was originally sentenced to six months in Rikers Island, but was released...

Burger King Sold for $4 Billion
Burger King is selling itself to 3G Capital for $4 billion, taking itself private for the second time in eight years. 3G sees Burger King as a turnaround opportunity; the fast food chain has been struggling in the weakened economy, and could be hurt by...

Barak: Israel Willing to Split Jerusalem
We'll believe it when we hear it from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak tells Haaretz that his government is willing to split Jerusalem, a reversal for a regime that had previously insisted...