Queen Bey has another baby on board. Beyoncé Knowles is expecting her second child with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, sources confirmed exclusively to E! News.
The "Countdown" singer had sparked rampant pregnancy rumors after she canceled a performance in Antwerp, Belgium, part of her global "Mrs. Carter World Tour," citing "dehydration and exhaustion."
But rumors were flying a week earlier at the exclusive New York Met Gala, where the 31-year-old songstress wore a custom-made Givenchy dress that was cinched at the waist. - More
Phil Jackson always has been hesitant to compare Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Until now. In his new book, co-written with Hugh Delehanty and entitled "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success," Jackson breaks down what separated Jordan from Bryant, the biggest stars and personalities that he coached during his Hall of Fame career.
Google is set to introduce a subscription music feature to compete against fast-growing streaming services like Spotify, according to several people briefed on its plans.
Google is planning to introduce the new service as early as Wednesday at Google I/O, the company’s annual conference for software developers. - More
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson in South Florida.
The state attorney's office confirmed Thursday that a Broward circuit judge issued a warrant May 7 against Johnson for failing to report to his probation officer.
Johnson received a year of probation last September after pleading no contest to a domestic violence charge involving his former wife, reality TV star Evelyn Lozada. - More
On Wednesday afternoon, I received a text message from David Garrard. His comeback to the NFL, an attempt resurrect his career with the New York Jets, would in essence be over before it started. Garrard told me exclusively, "Having to call it quits. My knee is not holding up.
Continuing to swell after practices. Limiting me in what I can do!!" And instantly, two strong takes popped into the omnipresent thought bubble above my head. - More
Leading international soccer player Mario Balotelli has had enough -- the AC Milan striker has vowed to walk off the pitch next time he is racially abused at a football game.
Balotelli, who was subjected to racist chanting during Sunday's Italian league game against Roma, has told CNN in an exclusive interview that he came close to leaving the field following the abuse at AC Milan's San Siro stadium in a match that finished 0-0. - More
When Mike Wallace left the Pittsburgh Steelers to sign with the Miami Dolphins, he also went from catching passes from a veteran Super Bowl champion to a quarterback entering his second season in the NFL.
But Wallace said Tuesday he believes Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill can be just as good as the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, who has passed for 29,844 yards, 191 touchdowns and has led Pittsburgh to two Super Bowl titles. - More
Iran's wrestling team visited the United States for the first time in a decade and found a virtual home meet.
The fans waving Iranian flags and stomping on the temporary bleachers were treated to a show of dominance by the wrestling power Wednesday in the exhibition at Grand Central Terminal. Iran beat the Americans 6-1.
Music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs will not be appearing in British period TV drama Downtown Abbey, U.S. broadcaster PBS said on Wednesday, despite tweets saying he would be joining the hit show’s upcoming season.
Diddy set social media abuzz on Wednesday after posts on his verified Twitter account said, “MY BIG NEWS: So happy to announce that Im a series regular on DOWNTON ABBEY-my favorite show+i’ll be debuting a sneak peek tonight 12am PST!.” - More
A federal judge has again ordered Wells Fargo to pay $203 million to settle class action litigation accusing it of imposing excessive overdraft fees on checking account customers, reviving an award that had been thrown out last year.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup reinstated on Tuesday a penalty he first imposed in August 2010, saying the fourth-largest U.S. bank violated a California law that protects consumers against fraudulent misrepresentations. - More
Deere & Co. reported higher-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday and forecast a record profit for the full year, but it said it was cautious because of weakness in the construction market.
The company, the world’s largest maker of farm equipment, slashed its forecast for sales to the construction industry, citing concerns about the outlook for U.S. economic growth and other factors. - More
Shakira, get ready to shake your hips and move aside -- Christina Aguilera might be headed back to "The Voice" very soon.
The pop diva, who appeared on the first three seasons of NBC's singing hit, has just signed to return for Season 5 this fall, according to a new report.
The Wrap reports that the "Beautiful" singer willl bring home a $17-million paycheck. - More
“Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie broke the news that she’s engaged to political consultant Mike Feldman on the set of the “Today” show this morning.
“Big news from Savannah!” her co-anchor Matt Lauer tweeted, along with a photograph of Guthrie, 41, flashing her ring. “Congrats to her and fiancé Mike Feldman,” her colleague Al Roker chimed in via Instagram. - More
Mexican shorter-term bond yields declined to record lows on speculation policy makers will further reduce benchmark borrowing costs amid signs of slowing economic growth.
Yields on peso bonds due in December 2014 dropped two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 3.77 percent at 10:22 a.m. in Mexico City, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. - More
Tiger Woods had the last word against Sergio Garcia by winning The Players Championship on Sunday.
Woods ended a weekend of verbal sparring with Garcia by doing what he does best -- closing out tournaments, even if he let this one turn into a tense duel over the final hour at the TPC Sawgrass. - More
Seth Meyers will be the next host of NBC’s “Late Night,” the network announced Sunday.
Mr. Meyers, the longtime head writer on “Saturday Night Live” and host of its “Weekend Update” segment, will succeed Jimmy Fallon, who is moving up one hour to take over NBC’s “Tonight Show.” - More
Radamel Falcao had threatened to spoil Barca’s title party when he struck in the 51st minute, but Alexis Sanchez levelled in the 72nd before David Villa’s miscued shot was diverted into his own net by Gabi eight minutes later.
Barca had to play with 10 men for the last 20 minutes after Lionel Messi was forced to leave the pitch with a recurrence of his hamstring injury after coach Tito Vilanova had already made his three substitutions. - More
After super featherweight Miguel “Barreterito” Beltran came down with a sciatic nerve injury mid way through fight week, his older brother Alberto “Barreterito 1″ Beltran (14-1-1, 8KOs) had to take the reins of last Saturday night’s Zanfer Promotions fight card held in an open air mini bull ring on the ground of the Caliente racetrack in the heart of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Close to two thousand fight fans witnessed Beltran at times struggle but at the end come back to earn a tough draw against hometown Rafael Cobos (12-4-5, 3KOs) in the eight round main event broadcast live by TV Azteca in Mexico. - More
I don't intend to pile on, but Carolina's draft class offers both good news and bad. Let's start with the positives.
The Panthers addressed their greatest need by adding a pair of big-bodied defensive tackles in Utah's Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short out of Purdue. - More
Harry went table-to-table for about an hour at the party.
He asked Franklin, attending with her parents, for a rundown of her medals while he took some ribbing about the shrieking female fans who greeted his arrival in Washington from U.S. Reps. Cory Gardner and Mike Coffman.
The swimming sensation later tweeted about her encounter with the royal well-wisher: 'And the perfect way to end my 18th birthday!?
Meeting Prince Harry! It was a honor meeting him and I had a blast as always.'
At one table on the patio looking out over the rolling hills... - More
Defense department to let Apple devices onto Pentagon network The U.S. Defense Department plans to let its employees use Apple's mobile devices on its military network.
Pentagon employees may soon start using Apple mobile devices, like iPhones and iPads, on the U.S. Defense Department's secure network.
The department expects to clear the devices for use on its network early next week, Bloomberg reported Friday. - More
Kim Kardashian confidently bares her baby bump on the beach, and Randy Jacksons confirms he is leaving American Idol.
Bonnie Fuller has all the latest celebrity news on Good Morning America.
From the most powerful Hollywood moms, to the most famous mom to be – Kim Kardashian – Bonnie Fuller breaks down all the latest celebrity news headlines for the crew of Good Morning America. - More
Vijay Singh filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour on Wednesday, claiming that the Tour subjected him to "public humiliation and ridicule for months" after he admitted to using deer antler spray, which was at the time on the Tour's list of banned substances.
The suit claims that the PGA Tour relied on the prohibited substances list from the World Anti-Doping Agency "without any independent review, analysis or assessment of the substances." - More
English soccer's most successful manager -- Manchester United's Alex Ferguson -- is retiring at the end of the season after more than a quarter of a century at the helm, the club announced Wednesday.
The 71-year-old Scot has managed the English club, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and loved by millions of fans around the world, from Manchester to Manila and Montreal, since 1986. - More
"Downton Abbey's" bringing on a roster of new cast members for its fourth season.
The addictive British series has tapped Gary Carr (TV's "Death in Paradise" and "Bluestone 42") to portray a "charming and charismatic" jazz singer named Jack Ross - "Downton's" first recurring black character. - More
This could be the last story you read about Lindsay Lohan for the next three months if all goes well during her 90-day stay at the Betty Ford Clinic.
Just days before checking into court-ordered rehab last week, the actress spoke extensively to Piers Morgan in an article for London's Daily Mail newspaper, which published it in this Sunday's edition. - More
The fewest Americans in more than five years applied for new unemployment benefits last week, a surprising decline that may reflect seasonal quirks more than a sudden improvement in the jobs market. Initial jobless claims — a rough gauge of layoffs — sank by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000 in the week ended April 27, the Labor Department said Thursday.
That’s the lowest level since January 2008. - More
The Pistons said Thursday night that Jackson will serve as an adviser. "Phil Jackson is a friend and one of the best minds in the business," Pistons owner Tom Gores said.
"We are thrilled to have him as an adviser as we make some very important decisions for this franchise."
The Pistons fired Lawrence Frank after a 29-53 season and 54-94 mark in his two seasons. - More
In an ad titled "It's No Secret," J.C. Penney took to Facebook and YouTube to issue an apology to its customers.
A voice over states, “Some changes you liked, and some you didn't. But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing, to listen to you.”
The three major automakers posted their strongest sales in the month of April since 2007.
Trucks and SUV's lead the surge for Ford General Mothers and Chrysler. Ford Motor Co.'s sales rose 17.9% and both Chrysler and General Motors Co reported an 11% gain for the month.
Chrysler's Ram truck division saw sales rise 49% from a year earlier while GM's twin trucks, the GMC Sierra and the Chevrolet Silverado, were up 23.6%.
Prices of pre-owned homes in the Dallas area rose 7.1 percent in February — a record increase for North Texas in the monthly Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. But Dallas’ prices couldn’t keep up with the nationwide 9.3 percent increase from a year ago.
Home price gains in the Dallas area are less than half what they are in places like Phoenix, San Francisco and even Detroit, according to Case-Shiller. - More
Justin Blackmon will be suspended for the first quarter of the season to a violation of the League's substance abuse policy
The Jacksonville Jaguar's star second round draft pick of 2012 was contrite and open about his personal responsibility in his latest infraction with the league rules.
Event though there's a question about Chad Johnson's future in the NFL there's no question about his ability to be spontaneous and rev-up his 4.5 million twitter fan base. When a homelessman, AKA Porkchop, approached him to buy a beer for him two days ago, Chad Johnson took it a step further and purchased him new clothes, a watch and tweeted the episodes on Twitter.
Pork Chop has been his companion in the clubs and have received accolades from Johnson's followers.
Gays serve along side each other on the battle field.
As of yet it hasn't disrupted morale or unit cohesion. Our military is still the greatest fighting force perhaps in the history of civilization.
So when athletes are on the field, dugout or court where the objective is winning, should sexual preference matter? Apparently it has mattered enough that so many before Jason Collins have kept silent.
This is a monumental occurance because we've made a giant leap forward based on one person's courage. Jeff Seidel is right in his piece 'Gay NBA player's announcement a game-changer for sports', but I would take it a step further and say it's a game changer for advertisers who endorse the macho image in sports, the little kids who look up to athletes at all levels of competition and consumers of sports apparel.
Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep are in talks with Disney's for the revival adaptation of Into the Woods, about a baker and his wife who goes into the woods to find a witch who cursed and left them without the ability to have children.
Streep and Depp have musical experience in their work with Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Streeps lead role in ABBA musical Mamma Mia!
Manti Te'o must wait one more day to find out his future after a tumultuous four months.
The Notre Dame linebacker was not taken in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday.
And so fans — and even people who don't normally care about football — will buzz for another 24 hours about the fake girlfriend hoax and its repercussions on his football career. - More
Australia’s hugely popular mid-year Splendour in the Grass festival today revealed a line-up with something for every indie music fan – a bill that includes Mumford & Sons, Empire of the Sun, Frank Ocean, the National, Of Monsters and Men, TV on the Radio and James Blake. - More
The website and mobile app for Charles Schwab & Co. went offline for more than an hour Tuesday and continued to be unavailable at times on Wednesday because of a denial-of-service attack, according to the company.
"Shortly before the stock market closed today, we experienced an exceptionally high volume of website traffic which we believe was related to a denial-of-service attack," the company said in a statement... - More
As NCIS heads towards its season 10 finale, we're counting down by celebrating some of the best episodes with our favorite characters, like Abby and McGee. But now it's time to take a look at some of our least favorite stories and why they didn't work for the show. - More
Following the draw for the Champions League semifinals, it was well known that April 23 and 24 would be huge dates for the modern development of German football.
Bundesliga powerhouses Bayern Munich and Dortmund were paired with Barcelona and Real Madrid in a true measure of the quality of football in Spain and Germany.
To say that the Bundesliga sides passed their tests on the pitch would be a resounding understatement. Bayern dominated Barcelona for 90 minutes on Tuesday, hammering the Catalan giants by a 4-0 margin.
A new movie set for release in June shows Earth 1,000 years into the future. Will and Jaden Smith star in a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan. - More
Swedish police say they have found drugs on board a tour bus used by Justin Bieber.
Police spokesman Lars Bystrom says a small amount of drugs and a stun gun were found when officers raided the empty bus parked under the Globen concert venue in Stockholm, where Bieber was performing Wednesday. - More
Adding yet another accomplishment to his already impressive career, Ben Affleck is set to receive an honorary doctorate degree from Brown University.
The “Argo” actor/producer will be presented with his honor on May 26 during the prestigious school's 245th Commencement, according to E! News on Wednesday (April 24). - More
Capital One Financial Corp. is paying $3.5 million to settle federal civil charges of underreporting as much as $123 million in losses on auto loans in the months preceding the financial crisis.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that Capital One understated its auto loan losses in financial reports for the second and third quarters of 2007, when they came in higher than the bank expected. - More
Qualcomm today reported record fiscal second-quarter revenue and boosted its forecast for the full year, a direct reflection of its dominant position as a supplier of chips for smartphones and tablets.
However, the San Diego chipmaker also projected weaker-than-anticipated fiscal third-quarter per-share earnings.
Its shares dropped 5 percent to $62.64 in after-hours trading. - More
General Electric is pouring $105m into Pivotal, a skunkworks cloud and big data company spun-out of VMware and EMC.
The investment was announced on Wednesday, several hours before Pivotal held its coming out party first major press conference.
"It's no secret that the cloud and big data are driving dramatic business transformation," Bill Ruh, leader of GE's global software center, said in a canned statement. - More
Ford Motor Co. topped Wall Street’s already optimistic earnings estimate with a 16 percent jump in first-quarter net income of $1.6 billion, or 40 cents per share.
That compared to last year’s 35-cent earnings and a 37-cent consensus estimate for the latest quarter among analysts polled by FactSet. - More
Now this looks like a fun family night in!Mariah Carey posted the most adorable photos on Instagram of her family in matching striped pajamas today.Monroe looked like she... Read More...
MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS) shareholders approved a sweetened deal to merge with Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE)’s T-Mobile USA in a crucial vote that gives the German company a chance to revive its U.S. business.
The transaction will probably be completed by May 1 after today’s ballot cleared the final hurdle for the combination of the country’s fourth- and fifth-largest wireless carriers, Bonn- based Deutsche Telekom said in a statement. - More
James Harrison is bringing a healed body and his old No. 92 with him down the Ohio River. Next goal: Get a Bengals ring to go with all that Steelers bling.
The former Pittsburgh linebacker signed a two-year contract Tuesday, completing the deal he agreed to four days earlier.
He's already got his uniform No. 92 reserved -- defensive end Jamaal Anderson agreed to give it up -- and his plans set. - More
Fantasia was ready to walk away from her music, and her life, not so long ago.
"I was starting to hate what I loved — the label, the industry," said the R&B singer on the eve of her first album in nearly three years, "Side Effects of You."
"I was at a place where I knew what I wanted. And if I couldn't have it, I didn't want to do it anymore." - More
Netflix’s stock shot up 24% in after-hours trading Monday after the Internet film and TV delivery service said it had added 3 million new members, bringing its total number of global subscribers to more than 36 million.
The high-profile original series, "House of Cards," which debuted Feb. 1, generated a halo effect for Netflix, producing enormous media and social-media buzz. - More
A German regulator on Monday fined Google Inc., about $190,000 for illegally recording data from WiFi networks while taking mapping photos for its Street View service.
The regulator complained the amount, limited by law, was too little to dissuade large companies from violating privacy laws. - More
Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested and jailed for a short time in Atlanta early Friday morning, according to an incident report originally obtained by Variety.
Her husband, CAA agent James Toth, was also arrested and jailed.
Toth was spotted by an Atlanta police officer while driving in the wrong lane, and now faces one DUI charge... - More
Al Michaels, the play-by-play voice of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” was arrested late Friday in Santa Monica, Ca., and charged with driving under the influence.
CNN reports Michaels spent about five hours in the Santa Monica City Jail before being released this morning on his own recognizance.
Michaels was “extremely cooperative” the police told CNN.
Michaels is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Municipal Court on June 26. - More
Two years ago, George Soros' son bought a townhouse in Little Italy with a domed basketball court on the roof for $11,999,900. Now he's selling it for $12 million, says Curbed NY.
Wonder what he'll do with that extra $100... - More
General Electric Co. (GE) fell the most since 2011 after a first-quarter slide in its Power & Water business pulled total industrial earnings down 11 percent. Profit at GE’s manufacturing businesses fell to $2.94 billion as sales slid 5.7 percent to $22.7 billion, the company said in a statement.
The decline was led by a 39 percent drop in earnings at the power and water unit, which makes products including gas-powered and wind turbines. - More
The Red Sox held an emotional pre-game ceremony this afternoon at Fenway Park to honor those affected by Monday’s Marathon bombings.
Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and Boston Police commissioner Edward Davis were both in attendance for the occasion and received generous applause from the crowd. - More
Microsoft said on Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein was leaving the company, as it struggles with sharply declining personal computer sales and a lukewarm reception for its new Windows 8 operating system.
Klein, an 11-year Microsoft veteran with 3 1/2 years as CFO, is the latest in a line of top-level executives to leave the company, following Windows head Steven Sinofsky last November. - More
It’s no secret that Jaden Smith and Kylie Jenner have been spending time together.
But in a new interview, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s 14-year-old son says that, despite reports and what people think, he and Kim Kardashian’s 15-year-old half-sister are just “best friends.”
“I was in L.A., we were all hanging out.
Then I went to New York and she came too, and then she came here [to London] and surprised me, so that’s pretty baller,” Smith, 14, gushed to Britain’s Wonderland Magazine. - More
Yahoo has released two new mobile apps, for weather and email, suggesting the company may be on track toward delivering on its promise of offering users a range of new mobile products over the next several months.
The company, formerly one of Silicon Valley’s most esteemed tech players, has been under pressure in recent years to demonstrate its value to users as more people have migrated to mobile devices, social apps and social networks. - More
Rihanna came out of a medical building in Bev Hills Tuesday ... and said she's doing a lot better, but it's done nothing to stop the pregnancy talk.
Rihanna has cancelled 4 concert dates on her Diamonds World Tour ... which kicked off on March 8. Sources connected to the singer told TMZ in early March she was suffering from a throat infection.
Thing is ... it's been more than a month now and there are clearly still issues. - More
After the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 99-95 in overtime to clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak confirmed that head coach Mike D'Antoni will return next season.
"I think under the circumstances, Mike did a great job. We don't anticipate any kind of a change," Kupchak told ESPNLosAngeles.com. - More
With Kobe Bryant sidelined with an Achilles tendon tear, the Lakers (44-37) will need to ride on the back of Dwight Howard to get past the Houston Rockets (45-36) on Wednesday and into the playoffs.
Howard's opportunity to lead the Lakers hits center stage against the Rockets. Houston has one of the better defensive centers in the league in Omer Asik. - More
Bank of America Corp. led the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower today after shortfalls in mortgage banking and trading marred first-quarter earnings and slowed the company’s turnaround.
While net income quadrupled to $2.62 billion, or 20 cents a share, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted 23 cents a share, and revenue dropped 8.4 percent on an adjusted basis to $23.9 billion. - More
Google Drive and Gmail have both experienced service disruptions today.
As of about 6 a.m. PT, Google's Apps Status Dashboard was updated to say that Google was investigating reports of issues with both services and would provide more information shortly. - More
TAIPEI--Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world's largest contract electronics maker, is planning to launch a 70-inch TV in Taiwan in May, in a follow-up effort to penetrate the big-screen TV market.
Pat Summerall, the football player turned legendary play-by-play announcer, died Tuesday.
He was 82. He was best known as a broadcaster for teaming with former NFL coach John Madden for 22 years.
Summerall also worked for years alongside former player Tom Brookshier and became the voice of the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s, calling most of the league's signature games. - More
J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) drew $850 million from its revolving credit facility as new Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman hunts for cash in the wake of his predecessor’s failed overhaul.
A week after replacing Ron Johnson as CEO, Ullman is trying to improve J.C. Penney’s liquidity following the first year in which retailer’s operations consumed cash in decades. - More
Harvey Weinstein and wife Georgina Chapman have a new silver lining:
The power couple has added its first baby boy to their playbook.
Chapman, 37, a co-founder of fashion house Marchesa and a "Project Runway: All Stars" judge, gave birth to the little studio exec last Thursday in New York, Weinstein's rep confirmed to Us Weekly. - More
A Colorado jury has awarded $11.5 million in a lawsuit originally brought against helmet maker Riddell and several high school administrators and football coaches over brain injuries suffered by a teenager in 2008. - More
Japan is in the midst of a high-wire act: It is trying to reawaken its economy while not sparking a currency war.
The country is trying to beat 15 years of deflation -- falling prices that have a chilling effect on economic growth because consumers hold back on spending in the belief that prices will fall. - More
Deftones bassist Chi Cheng, who has been in a semi-conscious state since a 2008 car accident, died early Saturday morning, his family announced.
He was 42.
In a statement posted on the fan site Oneloveforchi.com, Cheng's family writes that the musician was taken to the emergency room where he died at 3 a.m. - More
One of English soccer's showpiece tournaments was marred by violence at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, with Millwall fans fighting among themselves and with security officials.
Police reported 10 arrests.
The disorder revived memories of the London team's struggle with hooliganism in the 1970s. - More
The first attempt burned through tens of millions of dollars and, despite an array of famous figures, was over in three years.
The second try never took hold and ended in disarray after another brief lifespan.
But a dozen years after introducing top-flight women’s soccer to the U.S. pro sports landscape, organizers and investors believe they have finally found the right formula... - More
Lindsay Lohan will not be allowed Adderall during her time in rehab.
The 26-year-old actress has reportedly said she will only enter a court ordered treatment facility if she is allowed to have the prescription drug - used to treat Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - but a source at Seafield Center in Westhampton Beach, New York, where she has chosen to check in to, insists they don't allow it. - More
As Guan Tianlang prepared to hit his second shot into the difficult 17th green at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday, he stepped over his ball, then stepped back, felt the wind and switched his club.
Guan is 14, the youngest player in Masters history, a symbol of Augusta National’s desire to tap into the money and population in his native China and spread the game. - More
Kobe Bryant was in no mood to answer the only question that mattered, and no one — not even a Boston Celtics fan — could blame him.
Yet as the Los Angeles Lakers star stood there in the Staples Center locker room with teary eyes discussing his night of ill fortune, how he heard his Achilles tendon pop... - More
When it comes to service, McDonald’s customers just aren’t lovin’ it.
The burger behemoth is fielding an increasing number of gripes about its employees’ friendliness, professionalism and speed of service, so much so that an executive warned, “service is broken” at a recent internal webcast.
The company told franchisees during a webcast last month that 20 percent of complaints were related to workers’ attitudes, “and it’s increasing,” according to the Wall Street Journal. - More
Twitter's new music site went live this morning. Well, almost.
Users can currently log in with their usual Twitter credentials, but there are no features as of yet. According to AllThingsD, only a select few will get access to the service over the coming days, with Twitter planning a more extensive rollout after that. - More
Mexico’s National Action Party supports a possible constitutional change to open the state- controlled oil industry to more private investment and will work with other parties to pass such legislation, according to the PAN’s top Senator on the energy commission.
The PAN wants to allow private companies to invest in oil and natural gas production and development, an area the nation’s charter now limits to state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, Salvador Vega said. - More
Norwegian kicker Havard Rugland has signed a contract with the Detroit Lions, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com announced on Twitter.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The Lions were one of several NFL teams to take a closer look at the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Rugland, who has been working with former NFL kicker Michael Husted in California and Florida this offseason.
The National Hockey League and its players union launched an initiative today that it hopes will stamp out homophobia from the game.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman tells our Newscast unit that the partnership with You Can Play is intended to send a message that everyone is welcome in the NHL as a player or a fan. - More
Applications for unemployment benefits in the United States fell more than forecast last week, Bloomberg reported.
Jobless claims fell by 42,000 to 346,000 in the week ended April 6, from a revised 388,000, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted a drop to 360,000. - More
"The disregard that is being shown by some - specifically those commenting via social media - for the profound pain that Reeva's family and friends are going through is very troubling," the family of the Paralympian, who is accused of shooting Miss Steenkamp dead on Valentine's Day, said in a statement. - More
Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda are recalling about 3.3 million vehicles worldwide because the passenger-side air bag could deploy with too much force, sending shards of metal into the passenger area, the automakers said Thursday.
Worldwide, the recalls announced in Tokyo include about 1.7 million Toyotas, 1.1 million Hondas, 480,000 Nissans and 20,000 Mazdas. - More
Mark Zuckerberg's entry into politics via an immigration reform group is now official.
As noted by TechCrunch, Zuckerberg has teamed up with a number of high-profile technology executives and venture capitalists to form FWD.us — a group that will work to "promote policies to keep the United States and its citizens competitive in a global economy." - More
OMG did you hear the totally scandalous news that Kate Upton and P. Diddy were seen “sucking face” at a Miami club and are now, like, totally dating?!?!
Well, now they’re all, “OH NO WE DI-ENT!” For realz, first Diddy was all, “Kate Upton? I don’t know no Kate Upton! Who is she…a dry cleaner or something?
I know a Blake Runyun, but I don’t know no Kate Upton!” - More
Some want to say Tiger Woods is back – back to being happy, back to being comfortable in his own swing, back to a stable love life.
Others want to say nothing's changed, that he's still mostly ego, still putting out bold Nike commercials, still probably the same arrogant guy they enjoyed watching fall the first time around. - More
The Australian Rugby Union is quietly confident the lure of an Olympic Games gold medal will keep superstar Israel Folau in the code.
Speculation is rife in rugby league circles that Folau will return to the NRL in 2014 after leaving the game at the end of 2010 before his less-than-successful two-year stint with the AFL club Greater Western Sydney. - More
Bloomberg's Stephanie Ruhle examines the loss incurred by Bill Ackman on his 18 percent stake in J.C. Penney as Ron Johnson was ousted as CEO. Ackman brought Johnson to the company from Apple in 2011. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."...
China’s exports rose less than forecast for the first time in four months, leaving the world’s second-largest economy with weaker global demand to support a recovery than previous figures indicated.
Shipments abroad increased 10 percent from a year earlier, the customs administration said today in Beijing. - More
Brooklyn Nets minority owner Jay-Z has begun the process of selling his stake in the team so that he can become an NBA agent, according to a Yahoo! report.
ESPN's Darren Rovell tweeted that Jay-Z's .067 percent (1/15th of a percent) stake in the Nets is worth approximately $350,000, and he could sell it tomorrow if he wanted to. - More
The comeback attempt of former No. 1 overall pick and famed bust JaMarcus Russell continues to gain legitimacy as teams are interested in bringing him in for private workouts.
Russell cancelled his pro day workout, originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 10, but only because teams would rather he come in for private workouts. - More
The Senate on Monday confirmed Mary Jo White as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, dismissing concerns about her close ties to the Wall Street banks she will now oversee.
White, a former federal prosecutor who spent the last decade defending JPMorgan Chase and other big banks, secured Senate approval by unanimous consent. White is expected to join the agency in the coming days, replacing Elisse B. Walter, who was running the SEC since the departure of Mary L. Schapiro in December. - More
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution For one night anyway, four million and some Atlantans could take a backseat. Rick Pitino owned this town. This has been his week and Monday was his night. The same day the 60-year-old New Yorker was officially announced as a member of the next class into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Pitino etched out some history all his own. - More
Huawei Technologies Co. said it doesn’t pose a U.S. security threat as China’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment defends itself against foreign governments’ concerns that it aids intelligence agencies. - More
Snoop appears, as if by magic, in a puff of his own smoke.
The rapper, actor, gangster and stoner extraordinaire has reinvented himself as a reggae-singing messenger of hope. Snoop Dogg is dead, long live Snoop Lion.
We meet in his management office in Los Angeles, an enormous warehouse dedicated to all things Snoop. - More
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski might require a fourth surgery on his previously broken forearm to help clear up an infection but a decision has not yet been made on that front, a person informed of Gronkowski's status told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about Gronkowski's recovery... - More
Michigan's latest group of young stars is determined to leave its own legacy.
Attacking Syracuse's suffocating zone defense in the first half with 3-pointers, crisp passing and a fearless attitude, the Wolverines advanced to the national championship game with a 61-56 victory over the Orange in the Final Four on Saturday night. - More
Two Republican lawmakers are asking a government agency to look into a recent trip to Cuba by Beyoncé and Jay-Z, suggesting the superstar couple violated restrictions on travel to the communist island.
“Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism... - More
In the back room of Manhattan's Carnegie Deli, Don King picked at a pastrami sandwich with his fingers.
He had just been asked a question about his electric hair and, for the first time in a day filled with radio and television interviews, King paused before he spoke.
A cautious look crept over his graying eyes. - More
Actor Wesley Snipes has been released from a federal prison where he was serving a three-year sentence after being convicted on tax charges in February 2010.
The release to a supervised residential location in New York occurred Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons told CNN. - More
Halle Berry's daughter Nahla is going to have a little brother.
E! News has confirmed that the Oscar winner is pregnant with her and fiancé Olivier Martinez's first child, and that she'll be adding a baby boy to her growing brood!
The actress' rep told E! News, "We can confirm that Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez are expecting a child. - More
The U.S. economy will face the brunt of massive federal spending cuts just as growth in private sector jobs is plunging, according to government data released Friday.
Businesses created a paltry 88,000 jobs in March, less than half what Wall Street had expected. The news sent stock markets tumbling by more than 1 percent during morning trading. - More
Maybe you were hoping for something radically new and different from a Facebook phone.
If so, Zuck just broke your heart. But so what.
Facebook never does anything new.
New doesn’t matter in the blue. What matters is this: What Mark Zuckerberg announced today runs software called Facebook Home that makes it easier for people to spend more time with Facebook.
And that’s all he really needed to pull off. - More
Roger Ebert, the longtime critic who popularized film criticism with his "thumbs up, thumbs down" reviews in print and on television, has died, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Thursday. He was 70.
Ebert revealed this week that he suffered a recurrence of the cancer that he had battled in recent years.
After an objection was raised Thursday by FINA, swimming's international governing body, Lance Armstrong has withdrawn from a masters swim meet being held this weekend in Austin, Texas, The Associated Press and other news outlets are reporting.
His decision came shortly after news of his planned participation started to spread, leading to questions about why an athlete who is banned from most international competitions because of doping charges could compete against others in such an event. - More
The collapse of brokerage firm MF Global in October 2011 was another reminder of how fragile the financial system can be. But the firm was under a microscope also because it was led by Jon Corzine, a former New Jersey governor who had also been co-chairman of Goldman Sachs.
And a report filed today by MF Global bankruptcy trustee Louis Freeh emphasizes what many had already concluded: MF Global’s failure was largely due to Corzine’s mismanagement and risky behavior. - More
Hollywood's swatting saga continued Wednesday when an apparent prankster targeted the Los Angeles home of rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Five patrol cars rushed to Diddy's $5-million mansion in Toluca Lake after an unidentified person used a 911 "Internet relay" system to report an assault with a deadly weapon, cops said. - More
The Boca Raton, Fla., prison company that donated $6 million to Florida Atlantic University to change the name of the college's football stadium has withdrawn the gift, the company said Monday.
GEO Group announced that they informed FAU that the gift would be withdrawn and the stadium would no longer be named GEO Group Stadium, calling criticism against the move an "ongoing distraction." - More
FIFA opted for GoalControl on Tuesday as its goal-line technology system for the Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The German camera-based, ball-tracking system was the last of four contenders to win a FIFA contract that starts with the Confederations Cup in June. - More
Major automakers posted strong monthly U.S. car sales last month, helped by growing confidence in the economic recovery, amid strong demand for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Both General Motors and Ford saw a six percent rise in U.S. sales, with GM selling nearly 246,000 vehicles during March. - More
The unemployment rate in the 17-nation Eurozone was a record high of 12% in February as Europe continued to struggle with its debt crisis.
The February rate was the same as January, which was revised up slightly from an initial figure of 11.9%, the region's statistical office, Eurostat, said Tuesday. - More
Turner Broadcasting has extended "Conan" through November 2015, solidifying the network's relationship with late night host Conan O'Brien.
Time Warner-owned Turner scooped up the red-haired O'Brien in 2010 shortly after red-faced NBC executives displaced the comic to shuffle Jay Leno back into his longtime perch at 11:35 p.m. on "The Tonight Show." - More
Louisville guard Kevin Ware was up and walking on crutches Monday morning, and coach Rick Pitino said his player's spirits have been boosted by the outpouring of support from friends and fans.
Ware isn't in any pain after a 2-hour surgery Sunday night to repair a horrifying fracture in his right leg. Doctors reset the bone and inserted a rod, and are monitoring him to make sure there's no infection, Pitino said. - More
The best April Fool's pranks are absurd but also have a kernel of believability at their core just big enough to reel people in.
While the notion that YouTube has been a 8-year-long contest and Google is finally choosing a winner and shutting the site down tonight is pretty hard to swallow on its face, Google did shock many people by announcing the shutdown of Google Reader recently.
Perhaps Larry and Sergey are beginning to go all Howard Hughes on us? - More
When you're the quarterback of the Redskins and you've just led your team to the playoffs in a most-unexpected way as a rookie and then had your season end with a chilling knee injury, there's probably not much that will faze you.
Sharing a conversation with the president might be one of those instances. This, from Robert Griffin III's Twitter account Sunday afternoon. - More
Louisville guard Kevin Ware has a broken right leg after landing awkwardly when he tried to block a shot by Duke guard Tyler Thornton.
Replays showed that Ware's lower right leg appears to snap as he lands from a lengthy leap to contest the shot. A video of the play is attached below (warning, images are graphic). - More
Internet search leader Google is taking another step beyond information retrieval into grocery delivery. The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city. - More
The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index broke a half-decade-old record, another sign of stocks' continuing rally this year.
The S&P 500 added 6.34 points, or 0.41%, to 1,569.19 Thursday, the last trading day of the first quarter. The S&P 500 fell short of its all-time intra-day high of 1,576.09, however. - More
Rising Notre Dame sophomore wide receivers Davonte' Neal and Justin Ferguson have decided to transfer, coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday, meaning the Fighting Irish will have lost their top four signees from a 2012 recruiting class that was ranked No. 9 nationally.
Neal, who was the Irish's primary punt returner last season, was the school's highest-rated prospect from the recruiting class of 2012, receiving five stars from ESPN and ranking as the No. 1 overall athlete in his class. - More
In a bid to expand global commerce, Mexico hopes for a trade deal between the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union that could leverage the economic powers of both unions and consolidate trade deals already in the works.
Mexico currently has a free trade deal with the EU, while Canada and the United States – the other two nations in NAFTA – are currently in talks their own trade deals with Europe. - More
The United States almost pulled out a win against Mexico on Tuesday in a game that ultimately ended in a 0-0 tie and the U.S. getting only its second point in a World Cup qualifier at Azteca Stadium.
The game was ultimately a win for ESPN, which aired the game.
The network drew enough viewers to earn a 1.6 overnight rating... - More
Webb — Miss Alabama USA, model and the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarren — parlayed a brief televised shot during a football game into her own cottage industry of instant fame and commercial gigs.
(Thank you, Brent Musberger). But Amanda, 34, has no plans to capitalize on her re-discovered celebrity, perfectly content at being a stay-at-home mom to her three children, including daughters Aila, 6, and Lilly, 5. Marcum will be 2 next month. - More
Fewer Americans signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes in February as limited inventory and access to credit held back a more robust recovery in housing.
The index of pending home sales fell 0.4 percent to 104.8, the second-highest level since April 2010, after a revised 3.8 percent increase the prior month, the National Association of Realtors reported today in Washington. - More
Housing data released Tuesday was mixed, showing home prices jumped while new home sales dropped, prompting renowned economist Robert Shiller to call the housing recovery positive in the short-term, but not without many headwinds. There might even be a bubble, he said. - More
There's a drama-fueled wind hitting the Real Housewives of Atlanta today, but Kenya Moore isn't twirling away.
After the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart filed for divorce from his reality star wife Porsha Williams, the former Miss USA has spoken out in support of the troubled couple.
Justin Bieber’s temper may have gotten him into trouble again.
The pop superstar is being investigated for battery, according to TMZ.
A neighbor accused the Biebs of battery and police responded by heading over to the “Baby” singer’s home in California to investigate the matter further, TMZ reported. - More
In the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler each made long birdie putts on the par-5 12th hole.
Build a state university in the swamplands of south Florida. Move the athletic program to the highest level in college sports and hire a self-made millionaire basketball coach.
When his team makes the NCAA tournament, say in Year 2 of its eligibility, beat a tradition-rich opponent like a Georgetown.
That is Florida Gulf Coast University's formula for success. - More
PepsiCo is changing the look of its single-serve bottles for the first time in nearly two decades. Set to roll out next month in Chicago, the 16- and 20-ounce bottles feature a slightly wider bottom and swirled grip meant to make it easier to hold. - More
That sound you just heard was Microsoft officially shattering a ceiling within the Windows Store.
According to an unofficial tally by the site MetroStore Scanner, Microsoft has pushed past 50,000 total apps within the Windows Store.
While it's a great number on its face, a deeper dive into developer activity on the Windows Store suggests that the Windows 8 platform still has a little bit of catching up to do. - More
Woods, who has won the tournament a record seven times and is the only two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, made key par saves on the front nine and then stormed into the lead with a birdie on 15 and an eagle on 16 during Saturday's third round.
Woods, who can become world No. 1 for the first time in 29 months with a victory, fired a stellar 6-under-par 66 to reach 11-under-par 205 and leads Rickie Fowler (67), John Huh (71) and Justin Rose (72) by two shots. - More
With BlackBerry about to launch the Z10 at the end of this week — the flagship of its BlackBerry 10 line — this isn't the best time for one of the company's largest customers to bow out.
Especially not when that customer is the U.S. military. But that's about to happen, according to a report from Electronista.
The site has "well-placed sources" inside the Department of Defense's mobile device testing program, currently underway. - More
Hewlett-Packard investors will get the chance to voice dismay over the $8.8 billion writedown of Autonomy when they're asked to re-elect Chairman Ray Lane and other directors at an annual meeting today.
Betty Liu reports on today's "Movers & Shakers" on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."
Linsday Lohan has until May 2 to prove to a Los Angeles County judge that she has enrolled in rehab.
Lohan reported to the Santa Monica Police Department and got her latest mug shot taken Tuesday after a no-contest plea to misdemeanor charges stemming from a crash on Pacific Coast Highway. - More
It looks like Lady Gaga's on the edge of a full recovery.
In an interview published Wednesday, the pop superstar's manager, Vincent Herbert, revealed that a month after her hip operation Gaga is "doing wonderful, doing great."
According to her manager, the hitmaker is "ready to get back to work" finishing up recording her latest album, Artpop, which she began writing during the Born This Way Ball tour. - More
Starbucks, the world's biggest coffee chain, said Tuesday that it bought its first coffee farm, where it will research the leaf rust that is devastating Central American crops as well as harvest its own beans.
Starbucks, known for its coffee shops around the world, has purchased an active farm on roughly 600 acres in Costa Rica... - More
A federal crackdown on the Florida pain pill market will pit Walgreens against the Drug Enforcement Administration in a high-level and multi-front legal battle that comes to a capital courtroom this week.
Represented in part by the former U.S. solicitor general, the nation’s largest retail pharmacy company is challenging the DEA’s effort to stop a major South Florida distribution center from shipping controlled substances like oxycodone, a powerful painkiller. - More
Canadian stocks edged lower Tuesday as Europe's sovereign-debt woes weighed on energy and base-metal mining stocks. Strength in gold shares capped losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite index edged down 7.89 points, or 0.1%, to 12773.87, and declines led advances 822 to 805, preliminary data showed.
The blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 index was steady at 733.64. Trading was lighter than usual, with volume falling to 297.7 million shares from 330.0 million Monday. - More
Builders began work on more houses in February and permits for future construction climbed to the highest level in almost five years, pointing to a sustained rebound that will help power the U.S. expansion.
Housing starts climbed by 0.8 percent last month to a 917,000 annualized pace, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. Permits (NHSPATOT) rose 4.6 percent to a 946,000 rate, the most since June 2008. - More
"Can't stand when people all self righteous when it's convenient it makes them look good. Lmao! But can still talk s--t when convenient 2 FOH,"
"I done kept it real from the start! #RespectTHAT," she also wrote.
Then: "First "Women need to Stick together" now bitches better Bow. Smh. But it's all G! Chicks stay shooting the shit. But when I speak my mind its a prob. #Well #StayMad." "
Bitch you ain't gon need NO more perm kits. The #BeyHive bouta snatch you BALD !!! @KeyshiaCole," tweeted another concerned fan. - More
Selena visited 'The Late Show' with David Letterman on Mar. 18, where the two discussed her relationship status and bonded over the fact that they've both made Justin cry! Funny or way mean?
While in the midst of her promotional tour for Spring Breakers, Selena Gomez paid a visit to CBS' The Late Show on Mar. 18 to have a talk with funnyman David Letterman.
UFC fighter Nick Diaz decided the post-fight press conference after a bout with Georges St-Pierre was the perfect time to tell the world, and U.S. Government, he hasn't paid a cent in taxes his entire life.
Michelle Beadle and Dave Briggs take a serious second to debate if there is deeper meaning behind Diaz’s proclamation, but it might be safe to assume the fighter has taken too many blows to the head. - More
Electronic Arts Inc. said Monday its Chief Executive John Riccitiello is stepping down and that its fourth-quarter results could fall short of expectations.
The videogame company's board has appointed Larry Probst as executive chairman to ensure a smooth transition while the board searches for a permanent CEO. - More
Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has plenty to think about this week as he readies his previously all-conquering side for their crucial upcoming World Cup 2014 qualifiers against Finland in Gijon on Friday, and then France in Paris three days later.
Reigning world champions Spain had been expected to stroll through Group I, but slipped up by drawing 1-1 with France in Madrid last October, a game which featured a missed Cesc Fabregas penalty and a shock injury- time equaliser from Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud. - More
The NFL has agreed to pay $42 million as part of a settlement with a group of retired players who challenged the league over using their names and images without their consent.
The league will use the money to fund a "common good" trust over the next eight years that will help retired players with an array of issues including medical expenses, housing and career transition. - More
After being hospitalized in Los Angeles following a series of seizures last week, rapper Lil Wayne has been visited by several high-profile associates including Nicki Minaj, Drake, Birdman and basketball player Chris Paul.
Birdman tweeted that the rapper “will be home real soon,” and a source close to Wayne told The Times on Friday that he was “recovering.” - More
Nicosia, – President Anastasiades on Sunday urged MPs to vote in favour of the Eurogroup decision to impose a one-off levy on deposits on the island.
Parliament meets on Monday afternoon to discuss the bill, amid conflicting reports on whether the government commands enough votes to push it through the 56 member parliament. - More
Patrice Bernier and Marco Di Vaio scored first-half goals to lead the Montreal Impact to a 2-1 win over Toronto FC on Saturday and maintain its perfect start to the season.
The Impact, who opened with wins in Seattle and Portland to match their total away victories last year, became the first Major League Soccer team to win three games this campaign. - More
Galatasaray striker Didier Drogba was a shock omission on Saturday when Ivory Coast named a 28-man squad for next weekend's World Cup qualifier against Gambia in Abidjan.
The Ivorians listed the players who will be involved in next Saturday's tie in Abidjan on the soccer federation's website (www.fif-ci.com) without giving a reason for the former Chelsea player's absence. - More
Weeks after winning the Academy Award for best director, Life of Pi's Ang Lee has taken on his first TV project.
Lee will direct the pilot for an FX drama series, Tyrant, about an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle East nation.
Producer Howard Gordon and writer Gideon Raff... - More
Jay-Z is to act as executive producer and release original material on The Great Gatsby soundtrack, it has been confirmed.
A statement released yesterday, via Reuters, reveals that Jay-Z will oversee the official soundtrack to the film adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald novel, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan and is directed by Baz Luhrmann. - More
You'd be forgiven for missing the UEFA Europa League draw—such was the furore over the Champions League version—but here B/R predicts the winner of each "other" quarterfinal.
Former Newcastle and Holland striker Patrick Kluivert drew some pretty interesting ties in Nyon, Switzerland, with two English clubs in particular in for a tough ride.
Like his company’s stock, Tim Cook’s employee approval ratings are down this year, at least according to job hunting and review site Glassdoor.
In 2012 Apple’s Cook was the highest-rated CEO on Glassdoor’s rankings, with his employees giving him a 97 percent job approval rating. In 2013, he didn’t register in the top 10 tech CEOs list, but he did come in at No. 18 in the more general Top 50 Highest-Rated CEOs list with an employee approval rating of 93 percent. - More
The draw for the quarter final of this season's Champions League takes place in Nyon, in Switzerland, on Friday, with the Premier League having no representatives for the first time in 17 years.
The first leg matches will be played on 2 and 3 April, with the return fixtures taking place a week later, on 9 and 10 April. - More
Redbox Instant by Verizon, a movie-streaming site formed by Coinstar and Verizon, ended testing and began commercial service Thursday.
Joining a small but growing group of companies that compete in the nascent streaming business, Redbox Instant is seeking to differentiate itself by mixing streaming with its network of 35,000 kiosks nationwide that offer newly released DVDs. - More
Russian President Vladimir Putin has enlisted Hollywood action man Steven Seagal to help him promote a return to Soviet-era fitness.
The unlikely pair opened a new martial arts center outside Moscow on Wednesday, reports Reuters, to kick off Putin’s attempt to bring back a mass physical training program first introduced in the 1930s under Joseph Stalin. - More
J.P. Morgan, the nation’s largest bank by assets, suffered a double blow on Thursday after it was charged by a Senate committee with misleading regulators and investors over massive credit derivatives losses and saw its plans to return capital to shareholders questioned by the government.
The combination of the Senate’s report on the so-called London Whale trading losses and the Federal Reserve’s skepticism about the bank’s capital planning process suggests the bank and Jamie Dimon — its vocal chief executive — can expect continued scrutiny from government regulators in the months ahead. - More
The actor posted an angry message on the site last night, urging fans to send "dog s***" to private California prep school Viewpoint.
Charlie claims nine-year-old Sam - his daughter with ex-wife Denise Richards - was "bullied out of" the school and then called a "liar" by staff. - More
Bieber rants about 'lies' in Instagram post Justin Bieber has taken to Instagram to unload frustration over what he says are the "countless lies" being circulated about him.
In a passionate post Thursday, Bieber wrote that he's "tired of all the countless lies in the press right now," denying rumors that he's going to rehab.
Bieber railed against those he perceives as against him, writing that "I'm 19 and it must be scary to some people to think that this is just the beginning." - More
If you’re Samsung, then the answer is three; the Korean firm just elevated two of its top execs to the role of co-CEO, with President Boo-keun Yoon and President J.K. Shin joining Vice Chairman Oh-Hyun Kwon.
The new roles are being billed as recognition of the particular inputs the divisions of the two presidents make to Samsung’s business overall. - More
Buick’s first commercial for its 2013 Encore features the small luxury crossover going against some heavy, pre-historic competition.
The 30-second spot, called “Dinosaur,” features a young couple weaving through dinosaurs (representing “the age of the oversized luxury car”) in the newly released Encore.
It ends with a voiceover saying, ''Clearly, the next big thing in luxury is small.'' - More
“I don’t think it’s our job to put an idea to rest. Our job is, first and foremost, to make sure our family is whole. You know, we have small kids; they’re growing every day. But I think we were both pretty straightforward when we said, ‘Our number-one priority is making sure that our family is whole.’ ”
“The stresses and the pressures of this job are so real that when you get a minute,” the First Lady says, “you want to give that extra energy to your fourteen- and eleven-year-old. . . .”
Andy Rubin has stepped down as the executive in charge of Google’s Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, ending a seven-year reign that reshaped the technology industry.
The unexpected change announced Wednesday may raise new questions about Android’s direction as Google duels with Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and a long list of other companies in the increasingly important mobile computing market.
Google is replacing Rubin with Sundar Pichai, an executive in charge of the company’s Chrome Web browser and operating system for lightweight laptop computers. - More
Mexico has announced its 23-man roster for its upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the United States and Honduras on Wednesday.
Highlighting the roster are the usual suspects – goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, forwards Giovani Dos Santos and Javier Hernández, and winger Andrés Guardado, among others.
In-form Real Sociedad forward Carlos Vela, who has been estranged from the national team, was again excluded from the selection. - More
A former model on "The Price Is Right" has had a massive jury award for alleged pregnancy discrimination wiped away, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A California state court judge threw out an $8.5 million jury award for Brandi Cochran Tuesday because a jury didn't receive proper instructions before making its decision. - More
Wide receiver Wes Welker reached an agreeement on a two-year, $12-million deal with the Denver Broncos, the NFL Network reported Wednesday.
Welker, one of the top unrestricted free agents available, had 118 receptions for 1,354 yards and six touchdowns in 2012 with the New England Patriots.
It was his fifth 100-catch season — an NFL record — with the Patriots. - More
Kobe Bryant struggled for the second night in a row, but this time LA wasn’t playing one of the worst teams in the NBA, and Dwight Howard wasn’t getting to the free throw line every minute.
After a 4-for-14 clunker against Orlando, Kobe shot a woeful 11-of-33 against Atlanta, and then suffered a left ankle injury in the final seconds that will keep him out “indefinitely” according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Bryant took a baseline jumper and came down on the ankle of Dahntay Jones, and lay on the court writhing in pain.
The Detroit Lions are vying for running back Reggie Bush's services and hope to nudge the Arizona Cardinals out of the way.
Bush will visit the Lions on Wednesday, according to a person informed of the meeting.
The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because neither the team nor Bush's representatives has confirmed the visit publicly. - More
Hollywood loves an adaptation, and with the success of franchises like “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek,” it’s no wonder they keep going back to the television well.
The latest TV-to-movie adaptation will be “Good Times,” Norman Lear’s groundbreaking, socially-aware comedy.
According to Deadline, Scott Rudin will produce and Phil Johnston (“Wreck-It Ralph”) will write.
“Good Times” was one of the first sitcoms to focus on an African-American, working-class family. James and Florida Evans struggled to get by while raising three kids in a Chicago housing project. - More
Hostess Brands said it will sell its Twinkies and Dolly Madison snack cake businesses to Apollo Global Management a APO and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million.
The sale was agreed on after no other bidders emerged for the iconic brand.
The agreement now only requires a bankruptcy judge’s signature. - More
Google Inc will pay $7 million to 38 states and the District of Columbia to settle an investigation into a controversial incident in which its Street View mapping cars collected passwords and other personal data from home wireless networks between 2008 and 2010.
The deal, details of which were reported last week, ends a nearly three-year investigation. - More
Sure, it seemed like Justin Timberlake threw a light-hearted lyrical jab at Kanye West during his performance of "Suit & Tie" on "Saturday Night Live."
But on the first night of his weeklong stint on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" on Monday, Timberlake sidestepped any talk of a growing feud with the rapper. - More
Tiger Woods had gone more than three years without a World Golf Championship. He had no trouble remembering the drill.
He sat at a table with the blue Gene Sarazen Cup trophy — he has six just like it at home — and signed a stack of flags for posterity and charity after a two-shot win that was never in question during the final two hours on the Blue Monster at Doral. - More
The U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California’s tallest building, will be bought by Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. (OUE) for $367.5 million as the real estate company seeks to expand beyond its base in Singapore. The office property, owned by a unit of MPG Office Trust Inc., was completed in 1989 and has a height of 1,018 feet (310 meters), OUE said today in a statement. - More
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. named Jonathan Lu to succeed founder Jack Ma as chief executive amid growing expectations that the Chinese e-commerce company is gearing up for a potential multibillion-dollar initial public offering.
The company portrayed Mr. Lu as a Mr. Fix It—an experienced manager put in place to run Alibaba's growing operations. - More
Devouring courses that fit his eye, Tiger Woods is starting to look — and play — like the best player in the world again. Don't expect his roll to slow, either, as two more of his favorite tracks are on tap — Bay Hill and Augusta National. - More
Oprah Winfrey, the boss herself, has been named the principal speaker at Harvard University's 362nd Commencement ceremony.
“Oprah’s journey from her grandmother’s Mississippi farm to becoming one of the world’s most admired women is one of the great American success stories,” Harvard President Drew Faust said in a statement.
If you aren't aware of Oprah's accolades, where the hell have you been?
To keep it concise, The Oprah Winfrey Show ran for 25 seasons and drew 40 million weekly viewers in the United States alone. - More
While hosting Saturday Night Live last night for the 5th time, an honor that was given due props during his opening monologue, Justin Timberlake, all the way on his “suit & tie sh*t,” responded to Kanye West‘s highly publicized rant last month during a performance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. - More
"Oz: The Great and Powerful" makes a strong debut on the North American box office this weekend.
The Disney fantasy adventure movie starring James Franco and Mila Kunis becomes one of the only two newcomers which break into the top 10, bowing at No. 1 with the biggest opening of the year so far. - More
If you're waiting on Bernard Hopkins (53-6) to get too old to box, you'll have to wait a little while longer.
Not only did he not look like a 48-year-old taking the IBF light heavyweight title from Tavoris Cloud (24-1) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he looked like he could challenge other top fighters in the 175-pound weight range.
After all, Cloud came into the fight as an undefeated champion with a KO percentage of 76 percent. But as we should already know by now, the numbers don't mean much to B-Hop. - More
China’s industrial output had the weakest start to a year since 2009 and lending and retail sales growth slowed, toughening challenges for a new leadership that wants to narrow the gap between rich and poor.
Production increased 9.9 percent in the first two months and retail sales rose 12.3 percent, government data showed March 9, trailing economists’ estimates. New local-currency loans in February fell to 620 billion yuan ($99.6 billion), the People’s Bank of China said yesterday, lower than the estimates of 27 out of 28 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. - More
Employers added 236,000 jobs in February, far more than analysts had expected, offering some much-needed momentum to the long-sluggish U.S. labor market.
The headline unemployment rate dropped to four-year low of 7.7% last month, down from 7.9% in January. - More
Jim Carrey knows all about creating crazy characters, but he may have topped himself with Steve Gray, the strange Las Vegas street magician he plays in “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.”
Gray, with long straight hair and a bizarre sense of “magic,” mutilates himself with one shocking Can you top this? stunt after another in his rivalry with the city’s most famous and beloved illusionists, Steve Carell’s Burt Wonderstone and his partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). - More
If "Saturday Night Live's" musical guest and host this week Justin Timberlake didn't enjoy his time on the show, he's an even better actor than anyone knows.
Timberlake and his mega-watt smile reprised old roles and added a few new characters to his catalog, including a dancing vegan restaurant mascot and a bailiff on a Maine court show. - More
JCPenney has a lot to lose if its planned Martha Stewart line falls through. Macy's took Stewart and JCPenney to court after she announced a home goods line with the retailer. Macy's says that Stewart's contract with them was exclusive, and a line with JCPenney would hurt sales of her existing products. - More
Citigroup Inc. (C), the third-biggest U.S. bank, asked the Federal Reserve for permission to buy back $1.2 billion of shares without seeking a dividend increase a year after its previous request was rejected.
The planned repurchases would “offset estimated dilution created by annual incentive compensation grants,” the New York- based company said yesterday in a presentation on its website.
The Fed won’t disclose whether it approved the capital plans of the 18 biggest U.S. banks until next week. - More
Hey caffeine addicts: Your morning just got a little easier. Next month, Wrigley will start selling a caffeinated gum with the equivalent of about half a cup of coffee.
Alert Energy Caffeine Gum, Wrigley's effort to tap into the growing market for energy drinks, will be sold in convenience stores and food and drug retailers.
It's not the first caffeinated chewing gum, but it'll be the first with Wrigley's brand and marketing strength behind it. No other caffeine gum has wide distribution. - More
The people have spoken. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, one of the five cohorts of ABC's daytime talk show The View, will not be returning to the couch next season, following hot on the footsteps of fellow cohost Joy Behar, a source tells Us Weekly.
According to the source, the show's resident conservative voice is being ousted after market research revealed that she isn't popular with TV audiences. - More
Job growth surged last month as auto makers, builders and retailers pushed the unemployment rate to a four-year low, defying concerns that budget battles in Washington would harm the economic expansion.
Employment rose 236,000 last month after a revised 119,000 gain in January that was smaller than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. - More
After laying the cornerstone for Heineken's third and largest brewery plant, Johan Doyer, general manager of Heineken Ethiopia , Lilianne Ploumen, Netherland's minister for Foreign Trade & Development Corporation (centre) and Khalid Bomba, chief executive officer of ATA, relaxed with a Heineken beer on Thursday, February 28, 2013.
Ambitious in the Ethiopian beer market, the Dutch brewing giant, Heineken, is building Ethiopia's biggest brewing plant, with the capacity for 1.5 million hecto-litres a year, in Akaki Kaliti District, one kilometre from the Kaliti Correctional Facility. - More
The actress and comedian's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of the current season, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
A panelist alongside creator Barbara Walters from the very beginning, Behar leaves the ABC News vet as the last original member of the daytime show. - More
The Kim Kardashian scare was, luckily, nothing for the pregnant reality star to worry about and her sister Khloe Kardashian wants Kim’s fans to know that she “appreciates their concern and support” and wrote on her blog that “mummy and baby are doing fine and just taking it easy right now.”
32 year-old Kim Kardashian has been busy travelling the world with her partner, rapper Kanye West, despite being pregnant with their first child. - More
The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in February, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. That's much stronger growth than in January, when employers hired a revised 119,000 workers. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dipped to 7.7%, as 12 million workers were counted as unemployed. - More
Aided by some putting tips from Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods made nine birdies on Thursday and grabbed a share of the first-round lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, shooting a 6-under 66 that easily could have been lower.
Top-ranked Rory McIlroy wasn't so fortunate.
The mid-round walk-off behind him, McIlroy stepped back into his other woes Thursday, again showing the poor form that led to his frustration a week ago up the road in Palm Beach Gardens, this time shooting a 1-over 73 that included two late birdies. - More
The project is a venture between Choice Hotels, Concord Hospitality and Roadside Development, the developers of CityMarket at O.
Concord Hospitality is an award-winning hotel management and development company managing more than 90 upscale select-service and full-service hotels across 24 states and two Canadian provinces; Roadside Development is a Washington DC-based real estate firm whose current portfolio of projects include over 1.5 million square feet of retail, 1,500 residential units, and over a half million square feet of office space. - More
ET has exclusively learned that Kelly Osbourne has had a seizure while filming her E! show, Fashion Police, and has been rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital.
The seizure, which caused Kelly to fall to the floor, lasted for approximately 30 harrowing seconds.
Melissa and crew members, as well as an EMT who happened to be in the audience, all rushed to Kelly's side to help.
She awoke on the floor, and was shielded by blankets on her way out of the studio to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. - More
It sounds like Chris Brown has some beef with his bodyguard. While in Bermuda earlier today, the 23-year-old singer reportedly got into an altercation with his pal and bodyguard Big Pat aboard their private plane, which had stopped to refuel. - More
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has been spending big bucks to expand its lineup in China, and recent sales results suggest that Chinese consumers are liking what they're seeing:
The Blue Oval's sales through the first two months of 2013 were up 46% over year-ago totals.
That's huge. How huge? It trounced market leader General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)' 7.9% gain over the same two months – itself a good result for a period in which sales at rivals Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:TM) and Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) actually declined. - More
Facebook has redesigned its News Feed to be more engaging for users and more profitable for the company.
Speaking at a media event Thursday at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "What we're trying to do is give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper we can."
The new design is more consistent across the Web, tablets and mobile phones and more visually appealing, thanks to a greater emphasis on images over text. - More
The Chancellor is expected to unveil “new schemes to get credit flowing” on March 20, after the Bank left both interest rates and quantitative easing (QE) unchanged this month.
Measures targeted at small businesses are most likely, said economists.
The Prime Minister fuelled the speculation by hinting at a new round of “monetary activism” in his speech yesterday, saying:
“The Bank of England must support the recovery without putting financial stability at risk.” - More
Facebook is holding a major press event Thursday, which means that Mark Zuckerberg and company are going to make at least one big announcement.
That is expected to be a big change to our news feeds. Sources close to Facebook told TechCrunch on Wednesday that the new News Feed intends to keep us reading and seeing new posts for as long as we continue to scroll down on our homepages. - More
Dell Inc.'s proposed $24.4 billion buyout is attracting interest from at least two rival computer makers and from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has amassed a stake in Dell and is pushing it to pay out a $9 per share special dividend.
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Lenovo Group Ltd. have gained access to information available only to prospective buyers during the so-called go-shop period, Bloomberg reports. - More
Randy Jackson said Tuesday that this season is a "girls' year" on American Idol — but not if the Top 10 guys have anything to say about it.
Taking the stage for their performances on Wednesday's show, the male semifinalists showed that they, too, are a force to be reckoned with.
While the guys' group lacks standouts like Kree Harrison and Candice Glover from the girls, most of the male singers are delivering solid B-worthy performances and can hold their own. - More
The U.S. economy grew at a modest to moderate pace across most of the country amid rising consumer demand for homes and autos, the Federal Reserve said.
“The majority of districts reported modest improvements in labor market conditions, although hiring plans were limited in several districts,” the central bank said in its Beige Book business survey, which is based on reports from the Fed’s 12 regional banks. - More
Snooki loses 42 pounds and shows off her new post-baby figure in US Weekly. Snooki, aka Nicole Polizzi, posed for the latest cover of US Weekly in a leopard print bikini.
The new mom is proud of her slim new figure and reportedly lost 42lbs after giving birth to her son, Lorenzo, in August of last year.
"I lost it for me," she says in an interview for the new issue of US Weekly.
"But I also wanted (fiance) Jionni (LaValle) to know that I can be hot as a mom." - More
Despite a disappointing lack of photographic evidence, The New York Post reported Tuesday that a court officer spotted Los Angeles Clippers star Lamar Odom fast asleep on a courthouse bench during a custody hearing over his two children with ex-girlfriend Liza Morales.
"Excuse me, are you OK?” the officer asked Odom when he found the 6-foot-10 Clippers forward napping on a hard wooden bench outside the room where lawyers were discussing the case. "I need you to sit up," the officer said. - More
Employment in the private sector rose by 198,000 jobs in February, according to payroll giant ADP, fueled by a long-awaited rebound in the construction industry and healthy increases in a broad array of other sectors.
ADP also revised upward Wednesday its January 2013 report of 192,000 jobs by 23,000 jobs, for a total of 215,000 jobs (see ADP Sees 192,000 Private Sector Jobs Added in January). - More
The headaches never stop at the European Central Bank. Last month, President Mario Draghi faced questioning over the rise in the euro, which had climbed swiftly to a 16-month high against the dollar of $1.37 at the start of February, sparking concerns about its impact on growth.
Since then, the euro has fallen back to $1.30, and seems likely to continue downward—but the fears about growth, if anything, have deepened. - More
Yesterday, when Martha Stewart took the stand at the New York State Supreme Court to testify in the bitter legal battle between Macy's and J.C. Penney, she exuded the loose confidence of a domestic doyenne on top of her game.
According to the New York Times and other news reports, the 71-year-old former Chanel model and self-made billionaire got rave reviews by wearing Lanvin, putting on lip gloss during courtroom breaks, referring to herself as "the über-designer" of her eponymous housewares company, and cracking wise about her then-controversial decision to sell her upscale products in Kmart years ago. - More
"Iron Man" may be on the verge of releasing its third installment in theaters, but not everybody's a fan of the franchise.
Terrence Howard, who portrayed Col. James Rhodes in the original 2008 movie -- and at the time was the highest-paid member of the cast -- now says doing the movie ruined his career. - More
Led by Peter Burrows, a veteran tech reporter with more than two decades under his belt, Bloomberg has taken a second crack at the Apple (AAPL) iWatch story that the New York Times and Wall Street Journal broke three weeks ago. - More
The Obama Administration on Monday said cell-phone unlocking should be legalized.
R. David Edelman, White House senior adviser for Internet, Innovation and Piracy, responded to an online petition signed by more than 114,000 people in favor of a consumer right to unlock cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties.
The White House went one step further, with Edelman saying he believes the same principle should also apply to tablets. - More
The giant Monterrey glassmaker Vitro said Monday that it had reached an agreement with bondholders, ending a dispute among powerful financiers that had ricocheted between Mexican and American courts.
Under the agreement, Fintech, which is owned by the Monterrey-born investor David Martinez, will buy the bonds held by a group of hedge funds and pay additional cash to cover legal fees.
In return, Fintech will receive a 13 percent stake in a Vitro subsidiary and a $235 million note issued by the subsidiary. - More
His quarterback is about to be under contract for the next six years, emerging as the highest-paid player in the game.
Joe Flacco, the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player who helped engineer a Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers with three touchdown passes and zero interceptions is set to sign a $120.6 million contract today, a welcome development for Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
And Harbaugh told The Baltimore Sun that his excitement about the deal, which is scheduled to be signed this afternoon, is something for everyone to be pleased about. - More
HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver received a 1.95 million-pound ($2.9 million) bonus for 2012 even after the British lender paid a record fine for breaking anti-money laundering rules.
The award, down from 2.2 million pounds in 2011, reduced Gulliver’s total compensation to 7.4 million pounds, from 8 million pounds a year earlier, HSBC said in its annual report published today.
The London-based bank paid staff 3.7 billion pounds in bonuses for last year, a 7 percent drop from 2011. - More
KOREAN PHONE MAKER Samsung has teased the Galaxy S4 on video ahead of its unveiling in New York next week.
We spotted the first Samsung Unpacked teaser video on Samsung's Youtube channel on Monday, which gives little away about the firm's upcoming flagship smartphone.
Instead, it shows a short story about a pint-sized Samsung fan who is trusted with keeping the Galaxy S4 under wraps, a story that soon turns into a story about the boy being hounded by fellow fandroids who want a sneak peek at Samsung's next top of the line Android handset. - More
China’s stocks fell, led by the biggest slump among developers since 2008, after the Cabinet ordered more measures to cool property prices and after growth in the nation’s services industries slowed.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) slid 2.9 percent, the most since Feb. 21, to 2,292.14 as of the city's 11:30 a.m. break.
The CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) lost 3.8 percent to 2,568.21. China Vanke Co. led a gauge of developers to the biggest tumble since June 2008 after the State Council urged higher down-payments and interest rates for second-home mortgages. - More
It took 120 minutes, but Mexico eventually overwhelmed the USA to win the CONCACAF U-20 title 3-1.
Two early goals set the tone for what looked like it would be a high-scoring match, but after Jesus Corona's opener five minutes in and Benji Joya leveler from the spot five minutes later, the goals dried up. - More
Google Inc. (GOOG) and other news aggregators may continue to show short news items on their Internet sites without being required to pay, German lawmakers decided in a parliamentary vote today in a blow to publishers including Axel Springer AG (SPR) and Bertelsmann SE.
A majority of lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition allowed companies such as Google to display “single words or very small text excerpts” referring to publishers’ websites at no cost.
For content exceeding these limits, publishers retain the exclusive right of use, according to the bill. - More
St George defender Degu Debebe captains both club and country and going into this weekend's Orange CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round return leg against Jamhuri of Zanzibar , he is confident of progressing through.
Degu was speaking to Cafonline.com ahead Sunday's encounter.
Cafonline.com: You scored three goals without main striker Adane Girma that is great isn't it? - More
JOHANNESBURG - In his Olympic year, Oscar Pistorius steadily became an avid firearms collector, joining a gun-collecting club and purchasing a collection of firearms that included a .500 Magnum pistol dubbed by its manufacturer as "the most powerful production revolver in the world" and a civilian version of a military assault rifle.
At the end of 2012, in the first blush of his romance with Reeva Steenkamp, the model he later shot and killed, Pistorius got deeper into his hobby. It was known that Pistorius liked guns but only now, from Associated Press interviews with other collectors, is it becoming clear the extent to which he became a dedicated firearms aficionado in the 12 months before he shot Steenkamp. - More
Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo has a minor groin strain that will cause him to miss his next spring training start and could limit him from playing for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said Saturday that Gallardo tweaked his groin last Tuesday against Seattle.
Gallardo was scheduled to start Sunday against the Cubs and then leave for the WBC, but he will instead throw a bullpen session for the Brewers. - More
USA vs. Mexico 2013 qualified to the CONCACAF U20 soccer Championship Finals last night. United States vs. Mexico will deliver the anticipated futbol U20 finals game that most news analysts expected.
Mexico has been undefeated while USA has delivered an impressive offense and defense during this soccer tournament. - More
One of the more interesting debates before the 2012 NFL season was whether or not the Baltimore Ravens should have locked up quarterback Joe Flacco into a new contract.
Flacco decided against it and played out the season, which worked out tremendous to his benefit.
Now, after a Super Bowl victory and being awarded the game’s MVP award, Flacco has become the highest-paid player in the history of the National Football League. - More
Yesterday, WBTV reported that on February 6, 2013, a Fulton County, Georgia woman filed a paternity suit against NBA legend and Charlotte Bobcats owner, Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
According to the suit, Pamela Smith alleges that MJ fathered her son, Grant Pierce Jay Jordan "Taj" Reynolds. - More
Consumer spending rose marginally in January, despite a sharp drop in incomes, the Commerce Department said Friday. Personal incomes dropped 3.6 percent in the month, with incomes down by $505.5 billion. Discretionary funds, concurrently, dropped by 4 percent or by $491.4 billion, the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said. - More
Federal authorities say platinum-selling rapper Ja Rule is in a New York City jail with a July release date.
The 36-year-old rapper left a state prison in central New York last week after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession and went straight into federal custody in a tax evasion case.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons says he has since moved from an upstate jail to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, which houses prisoners awaiting court dates or having short terms left on their sentences. - More
We'll wait for the squealing to calm down before we continue...
The opening two months of 2013 haven't been ideal for this young artist, who officially split from Selena Gomez to start the year; got embroiled in a pot smoking scandal; feuded with Patrick Carney.
The 26 year old plays a young girl possessed by a powerful demon in the movie, and she had to contort her body into a number of awkward and uncomfortable positions during the shoot to give viewers the idea she was being controlled by a dark spirit.
And Bell, who also writhes around on a bedwhile a religious leader tries to cure her, admits it all really took a toll on her back. - More
Rafael Nadal said his injured knee is improving after beating Argentina's Martin Alund 6-0 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open. The Spaniard, 26, was playing his 10th match on clay since returning from a seven-month injury lay-off. - More
Warriors coach Mark Jackson, a native New Yorker and former Knicks point guard, understands the allure of playing in the hallowed grounds of Madison Square Garden perhaps better than anyone. Jackson's reverence for the arena seems to have rubbed off on Stephen Curry. - More
Steven Spielberg will head the jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, slated for May 15-26, organizers have announced.
In announcing Spielberg's selection, festival President Gilles Jacob said the 66-year-old American director is a "Cannes 'regular'," noting that several of his 27 films, including "Sugarland Express" and "The Color Purple," screened at the festival.
"Sugarland" won the best screenplay award at the festival in 1974. - More
"I don’t think that I would consider myself a feminist. I think that, I certainly believe in equal rights. I believe that women are just as capable, if not more so, in a lot of different dimensions.
But I don’t, I think, have sort of the militant drive and sort of the chip on the shoulder that sometimes comes with that.
And I think it’s too bad, but I do think feminism has become, in many ways, a more negative word.
There are amazing opportunities all over the world for women, and I think that there’s more good that comes out of positive energy around that than negative energy."
Former “Silver Spoons” star Ricky Schroder was allegedly involved in an altercation at an airport on Monday as he argued with a worker about his luggage.
Police were called to Los Angeles International Airport after the actor became embroiled in a heated exchange with a female employee who wouldn’t let Schroder go through a security check with three bags, as the limit is two. - More
The San Francisco 49ers have agreed to trade quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs, league sources confirmed to ESPN.
Kansas City will trade its second-round pick in the 2013 draft -- the second selection (No. 34 overall) in the round -- as well as another conditional mid-round pick in 2014 to acquire Smith from San Francisco, a league source told ESPN. - More
Net profit for 2012 at EADS rose 19% to 1.23bn euros ($1.61bn; £1.06bn). Revenues rose 15% to 56.48bn euros. Revenues at Airbus rose 17% to 38.59bn euros, mostly due to commercial sales.
However, EADS's profit in the fourth quarter fell sharply after taking one-off charges at its helicopter and defence electronics divisions. - More
Amid high security and a palpable buzz, Apple (AAPL) shareholders filed into the company's headquarters Wednesday for their annual meeting, which was expected to produce fireworks after a dramatic plunge in the stock price and calls from a high-profile investor for Apple to share its wealth of cash.
Always a newsworthy event, the run-up to this year's annual shareholder event has caused even more speculation and hubbub, with Apple's share price more than 30 percent below record highs set in July of 2012 and activist investors making waves. - More
Trevor Mbakwe had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help Minnesota take down No. 1 Indiana 77-73 on Tuesday night, the seventh time the top-ranked team in The Associated Press' poll has lost a game this season.
Andre Hollins added 16 points for the Gophers (19-9, 7-8 Big Ten), who outrebounded Cody Zeller and the Hoosiers by a whopping 44-30 and solidified their slipping NCAA tournament case with an emphatic performance against the Big Ten leaders. - More
Michelle Williams and Jason Segel are back on the market. The Oz the Great and Powerful actress, 32, and the How I Met Your Mother star, 33, quietly ended their romance earlier this month, sources tell Us Weekly.
Though the two seemed happy together as recently as January, when they were photographed on vacation in Cancun with Williams' BFF Busy Philipps, an insider tells Us that their romance couldn't survive the long distance. (Williams lives in New York with daughter Matilda, 7, while Segel is based in Los Angeles, where his CBS sitcom is filmed.) - More
Lindsay Lohan's attorney has suggested to prosecutors that the actress serve as a motivational speaker and perform non-jail activities to resolve her latest criminal case, according to a letter obtained Tuesday.
The letter from lawyer Mark Heller proposed several alternatives for Lohan, who could be sent to jail if a judge determines her actions in a traffic crash violated terms of her probation in a previous theft case. - More
The hammer has come down on Bobby Brown in response to his most recent DUI conviction, and this time, the damage was a little more severe than a slap on the wrist.
The troubled singer has been ordered to spend fifty-five days in jail, attend eighteen months worth of alcohol treatment and check in with a probation officer for the next four years.
The incident in question happened back in October. - More
Japanese brands, led by Lexus, Subaru and Mazda, continue to dominate Consumer Reports' rankings of the best light vehicles on the market, claiming "top pick" honors in seven out of 10 product segments and capturing the top seven spots for overall brand reliability and performance.
The brands that scored best on the magazine's report cards for 2013 were Lexus, with a score of 79 out of 100, followed by Subaru and Mazda, which both scored a 76.
Toyota, Acura, Honda and Scion rounded out the top seven. - More
Adobe today patched new vulnerabilities in Flash Player that hackers are now exploiting in attacks aimed at Firefox users, the company said.
Today's surprise update to Flash Player was the second emergency fix this month, the third overall for February, and the fourth since the start of 2013.
In the accompanying advisory, Adobe confirmed it was patching three vulnerabilities in the popular media player browser plug-in.
Two of the trio, said Adobe, are being used by attackers. - More
Dennis Rodman will be traveling to North Korea with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters. Rodman has been quick to deflect criticism on his Twitter, "I'm not a politician. Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story." But the truth is, just like Google's CEO and Governor Richardson's visit, Rodman can do a great deal to ease tensions between our two nations.
Rodman's resume of many great feats playing in the pros with his share of championships and personal bests can actually be an asset during his talks with officials there. When Bill Clinton went there to get the communist nation to release journalists he paid a visit to the White House upon his return. Now maybe Obama will host the NBA great with some White House Ale to pick his head on diplomacy issues.
Keith Dambrot, the coach at the University of Akron since 2004 and the former coach of Lebron James at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School had some choice words for arguably one of the best basketball players of all time:
"I said he needed to be as coach-able as possible, he needed to get back to the basics. But most of all, he needed to clear his head. I told him to be true to himself.
"I said, 'You're not the golden child anymore; people don't like you. Well who cares, if you can look yourself in the mirror and say you're a good guy.' It was hard for me to see so many people hate him. He made a business decision. LeBron is the most team-oriented player I've coached, and he's such a great person." - More
Mexico registered a moderate current account deficit in 2012, as its first trade surplus in 15 years and transfers from Mexicans working abroad offset deficits in interest payments and services.
The Bank of Mexico said Monday that the country registered a $9.25 billion current account deficit last year, equivalent to 0.8% of gross domestic product.
The deficit was similar to the $9.67 billion deficit in 2011. - More
After months of denying rumors, Janet Jackson has finally confirmed that she has been secretly married to Qatari billionaire, Wissam Al Mana for months. On Monday, Feb. 25, the coupled released a statement to Entertainment Tonight saying,
"The rumors regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private and beautiful ceremony." - More
Tom Brady took a huge step today to ensure he'll retire a Patriot, agreeing to a three-year contract extension that will keep him under center for New England through the 2017 season, when he will be 40 years old.
For the second time in his illustrious career, Brady is doing something players in this day and age simply do not do: As he did in 2005, Brady, a league source told SI.com, is signing a contract with New England that will pay him significantly less money than the market will bear, in large part to help the Patriots stay competitive for the next five seasons. - More
Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won the best supporting actor Oscar on Sunday for his role as a dentist turned bounty hunter in Quentin Tarantino's blood-spattered western "Django Unchained.''
In the first prize of the night, Waltz beat fellow nominees Alan Arkin for ''Argo,'' Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook,'' Philip Seymour Hoffman for "The Master'' and Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln'', AFP reports. - More
“When our shareholders spoke last year about Citi’s compensation structure, we listened,” said Michael O’Neill, Chairman of the Board. “Since last spring, we have stepped up our efforts to solicit feedback from investors to better understand their concerns. As a result of this process, we are introducing a new compensation structure that more strongly connects compensation with performance, emphasizes strong risk management, and is both competitive and in line with regulatory standards,” - More
"You spend a lot of time thinking about what to do when the time comes," Patrick said. "I kept asking up above what was working. You needed a hole, you needed people to help you out. I had a little bit of help today here and there, but I felt like if I was going to dive low, I had a feeling I was going to get freight-trained. ... At the end of the day, it was a solid day."
An investigation encompassing everything from fake NFL game jerseys to counterfeit Super Bowl tickets ended with more than $17 million worth of items seized and 41 people arrested, according to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The federal agency began its probe -- which it dubbed "Operation Red Zone" in reference to the area between the 20-yard line and goal line for a football team's offense -- on September 1, 2012, and wrapped it up on February 6.
ICE special agents, U.S. Postal Inspection Service members and state and local police officers nationwide conducted the investigation, in conjunction with the NFL and other top sports leagues. - More
Manti Te'o noted on Saturday when he talked with an assembled group of media that he met with the Texans and Packers since arriving at the NFL Scouting Combine.
He could have added the Philadelphia Eagles.
Te'o met with the Eagles prior to the weekend, according to multiple league sources.
The Eagles, like the rest of the NFL, were doing their due diligence on a draft prospect that has drawn intense public interest after being entangled in an infamous catfishing scheme following a stellar career at Notre Dame. - More
Several months back, Jermaine Jackson filed a petition to change his name from Jermaine Jackson to Jermaine Jacksun.
Not surprisingly, a lot of observers thought he’d eventually change his mind, but the big day came and went this week and he actually followed through.
So, from this point forward, he will be known as Jermaine Jacksun.
The former member of the Jackson (with an o) Five hasn’t spoken publically about why he felt the moniker alteration was necessary, but he listed “artistic reasons” as the rationale in his paperwork. - More
There's nothing like a rant from Kanye West. The rapper is known to occasionally let off steam during his shows by going off on long freestyles.
While performing in London yesterday (Feb. 23), 'Ye took to the mic for a minute, 10-11 minutes to be exact, to express his dislike for Justin Timberlake's Jay-Z assisted single, "Suit and Tie," the Grammys, the music industry and more. - More
Winning streaks in February don't mean anything when the playoffs arrive.
That's what the rest of the NBA needs to remind itself of.
Otherwise, the Miami Heat's display over the past few weeks would be awfully demoralizing.
The Heat won their 10th straight Saturday night, smashing a banged-up and already rather demoralized Philadelphia 76ers outfit by a 114-90 margin. - More
Hewlett-Packard Co. reported shares increasing as much as 11% after it released better forecasts and quarterly results despite claims from analysts over its continuous problems in the PC market.
The world's number one personal computer maker was able to minimize expenses under the turnaround plan of chief executive Meg Whitman amidst the decreasing sales of PCs and sluggish corporate spending for information technology. - More
Carlos Gutierrez, the vice chairman of its institutional clients group, resigned to become chairman of Republicans for Immigration Reform.
Gutierrez, 59, who led the Commerce Department under President George W. Bush, helped to found the super-political action committee last year.
Born in Havana, Gutierrez joined New York-based Citigroup in December 2010 and worked in a division that includes the lender’s trading, investment-banking and corporate lending operations. - More
The rapper and girlfriend Kim Kardashian are expecting a baby girl, a source close to West confirms to Us Weekly.
The couple, who are due in July, are said to be "over the moon" by the news.
"Kanye always wanted a girl," the friend says.
Yeezy's daughter will undoubtedly be one of the best-dressed infants in the world.
"If anyone knows Kanye, they just know how into fashion he is, and I think he's going to have things specially made," Kim said of her aspiring fashion designer beau in January.
"So I don't think hand-me-downs are going to work." - More
That's right! According to several sources Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have already parted ways, but are waiting until after the release of the final "Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2" DVD to make the announcement.
A source released a statement to Hollywoodlife, "Rob & Kristen were asked to not announce a break-up or any relationship trouble until the DVD has been out for a few weeks and everything has sold. - More
ANAHEIM, Calif. – In an early "Fight of the Night" candidate, Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice traded devastating punches and left the audience standing after 15 minutes.
In the end, it was Bermudez's heart and cardio that helped him prevail. He earned a split decision while winning the fight with scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.
The featherweight bout was part of the preliminary card of Saturday's UFC 157 event at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. - More
Tony Stewart was horrified as he looked in the mirror while taking the checkered flag of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday.
At least 28 fans were injured by flying debris from rookie Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet, which went hurtling airborne into the wall and broke into pieces on the front stretch of Daytona International Speedway.
“That’s the worst image I’ve ever seen in a race in my life,” said a somber Stewart, a three-time Sprint Cup champion and veteran of IndyCar racing as well Track president Joie Chitwood said 14 fans were transported to area hospitals and another 14 were treated at the track’s infield care center. - More
The Demon Deacons has just upset number 2 Miami 80-65 on Saturday with a 6-0 run during the final minute of the half.
Trying to use the momentum Miami came with five ponts of Wake Forest but came up short.
Codi Miller-McIntyre added 15 points and Travis McKie came away with 8.
The ax has finally fallen. The U.K. late Friday saw its triple-A credit rating from Moody's chopped one notch to Aa1.
The news isn't as bad as it might have been: importantly, Moody's has assigned a stable outlook.
But it is a political blow for Chancellor George Osborne and probably means the slide in sterling and rise in gilt yields that is under way will continue.
Moody's key concern is that the U.K.'s dismal growth picture—gross domestic product has essentially flat-lined since 2010—will persist, and thus make harder the task of bringing down the budget deficit and ultimately reversing the rise in public debt. - More
The euro-zone economy is expected to shrink in 2013 for the second consecutive year, European Commission officials said this week, citing uncertainty and adjusting balance sheets, among other factors.
Real gross domestic product is expect to contract 0.3% this year, following a contraction of 0.6% last year. - More
Silicon Valley Business Journal By : Staff Reporting
Nissan Motor Co. has joined several other car companies bringing R&D to Silicon Valley.
The car company opened a research center in Sunnyvale that will employ more than 60 engineers and technicians and focus on "self-driving vehicles and Internet-connected auto technology." - More
Pop superstar Kelly Clarkson is blasting legendary record mogul Clive Davis as a bully with a faulty memory.
The former “American Idol” champ took to the Internet on Tuesday to rebut descriptions of her and recollections the 80-year-old Davis wrote about in his new memoir,
As malls close, big-box stores try to shrink, and the overall prospects of physical retail range from stagnant to apocalyptic, one sector of the market is enjoying an unlikely growth spurt: stores opened by the big technology companies.
Apple has spawned about 400 Apple (APPL) Stores in the last decade, Microsoft (MSFT) is opening new locations, and now—according to tech blog and news reports—Google (GOOG) is developing plans to open showrooms in the U.S. to highlight its devices running the Android and Chrome operating systems. - More
Google is rolling out the red carpet for the Academy Awards with a destination site that promises to help users "get more from the Oscars."
In a partnership with Oscars organizers, the Web giant has created a resource page to keep movie fans engaged and informed in the days leading up to the awards ceremony on Sunday.
While Google has created event-specific sites before, such as its election hub last year, this is the first time it has focused on the Oscars. - More
Google's stock price topped $800 Tuesday for the first time amid renewed confidence in the company's ability to reap higher profits from its dominance of Internet search and prominence in the growing mobile market.
The milestone comes more than five years after Google's shares initially hit $700. Not long after breaking that barrier in October 2007, the economy collapsed into the worst recession since World War II and Google's stock tumbled into a prolonged malaise that eventually led to a change in leadership. - More
A better-than-expected reading of German confidence pushed stock markets firmly into positive territory by Tuesday lunchtime.
The ZEW Institute’s index that measures economic sentiment index in Germany surged to 48.2 in February, ahead of last month’s reading of 31.5 and well ahead of the 35 forecast. - More
In the latest buzz on Buzz Feed staff person Whitney Jefferson brought up some striking similarities with Beyonce and Jay-Z's child's baby photos and Drake the Rapper's baby photo. Coincedentally their are some startling similarities there for sure.
The worlds fastest sprinter Usain Bolt says he's still in a state of shock after learning of Oscar Pistorius legal problems.
The South African sprint runner Pistorius is accused of killing his girlfriend and model Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria gated community in South Africa.
Bolt stated, "this can't be the same guy I've seen and that I know," in an interview with CNN. News of Pistorius has rocked the track and field community.
Oh those poor saps at the Federal Reserve. Let’s have a good laugh at the econo-nerds running the money pumps around the clock, flooding with cheap credit an economic engine that just won’t turn over.
They might not realize that high unemployment is a disease best left to run unchecked, the only known cure being to liquidate labor and capital alike until the forces of chaos are appeased and someone buys the wreckage for a song. - More
The wildcat quarterback is slated to speak at the 11,000-member First Baptist Dallas Church’s April 28 Sunday morning service, according to the church’s website.
While Tebow is known for wearing his religion on his sleeve and his prayerful onfield gestures have been dubbed “Tebowing,” he’s made a practice of not offending his teammates with his faith. - More
Park City’s Ted Ligety lived up to soaring expectations Friday by defending his title in the giant slalom and becoming the first American to win three gold medals at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
No skier at all had done that since the legendary Jean-Claude Killy swept four races in 1968. - More
Condoleezza Rice had a rough go at Pebble Beach. There were many errant golf shots to be played with her partner and 'Bama Fan Jason Bohn.
Unfortunately one of the erratic shots landed on the head of a spectator on the course.
Rice, forever the seasoned diplomat, rushed over to the injured spectator and her daughter to offer a towel to stop the bleeding. After medical assistance arrived Rice was kind enough to give the daughter her contact information to keep her abreast of the recovery efforts.
Microsoft has not pulled any punches in its campaign to smear the top search engine.
They have launched several television ads of the Bing vs Google onscreen comparisons to indicate Bing's search tool produces more relevant content and now we're seeing the Scroogled campaign that characterizes Google Gmail as evading the privacy of unknowing users of it popular web based email.
Will this have any effect on the world's leading search engine? Chances are they won't, but sustained ads over a period of time could have some effect. The ads show Microsoft's desperation at a search engine that has become so ingrained into a browser's quest for information online.
Both Microsoft and Apple are trying to dismantle their own products that make it easier for users to use Google services. Browser settings are now defaulted to block Google from sucking out user info for its Google Advertising and Analytics services. Apple has recently had to squash it own inferior mapping feature. Google is supreme in the search and online advertising realm and this won't change for some time, but Google must recognize competitors like Facebook, Microsoft and Apple's advance.
Chris Brown became a victim of being chased by the paparazzi chase that turned foul. We’re betting that you never thought you would read “Chris Brown” and “victim” in the same sentence, huh? We kid, we kid. (Spoiler alert: No we don’t…) - More
Earlier today, we reported that Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet is now available in the United States and Canada.
Now a few hours later, reports are rolling in showing that the 128GB model is out of stock at many retailers, including Microsoft’s online store in the US.
Staples and Best Buy are also reported as having no 128GB model stock left. - More
With No. 20 Missouri holding a comfortable 22-point cushion against No. 23 Ole Miss with 7:30 remaining in Saturday's Southeastern Conference clash, tempers began to flare.
Surprisingly, an Ole Miss player started a fight, and his name wasn't Marshall Henderson. - More
While many stars have decamped to Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards this weekend, Kanye West and pregnant girlfriend Kim Kardashian have taken their romance to Rio!
The two were spotted snapping pictures and taking in the scene at Corcovado Mountain on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the annual Carnival celebrations officially kicked off on Friday. - More
Frank Ocean performed an abbreviated set Friday night at Levi’s 501 140 Year Anniversary Pre-Grammy Party at the Ace Museum in Los Angeles.
Ocean, who is nominated for six Grammys, including Best New Artist, focused his set mainly on last year’s Channel Orange in a six-song performance that followed a DJ set from M83.
The party, set in a built-out Levi’s art gallery that featured massive abstract sculptural installations, mingled hipster music fans with celebrities like Busy Phillipps, Alan Cummings, Ashley Benson and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. - More
Frank Ocean is set to take a victory lap at this year's Grammys.
He's up for six awards for his album Channel Orange, including best new artist, and he'll be performing as well.
But just a few months ago, Frank Ocean's music wasn't the story — his sexuality was. To review: After a listening party for Channel Orange last July, a BBC journalist pointed out that a few of the love songs referenced a "him" where you might have expected to hear "her."
All of a sudden it seemed the entire Internet was asking one question: Is Frank Ocean gay? - More
Dwight Howard knows how all the attention surrounding his exit from the Orlando Magic created a "Dwightmare" situation for everyone involved and he wants to avoid the negative spotlight with his free agency decision looming in Los Angeles.
"I'm not a crybaby," Howard told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on SportsCenter on Monday. "I didn't try to cry my way out of Orlando. That was never my intention, or not what I did at all.
Apple says a possible change to its corporate charter would not prevent it from issuing preferred shares, directly contradicting the comments made earlier today by hedge fund manager David Einhorn.
Einhorn pushed shareholders to vote down a proposal at the company’s annual meeting this month that he says would prevent future preferred stock.
Einhorn, the activist investor behind Greenlight Capital, has criticized Apple’s capital allocation strategy and says preferred shares would be a sensible step.
Apple retains a massive amount of cash—almost a third of its total market capitalization. - More
After successfully pretending to be Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick, Dennis Dixon could now be getting to reprise the role for which he’s most famous: Dennis Dixon.
According to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com, the Eagles are in contract talks with Dixon. Dixon, a Heisman candidate at Oregon and presumed first-round pick, plunged to round five after tearing an ACL during the 2007 college football season. - More
Kim Kardashian wants her legal battle with Kris Humphries to be over by the time she gives birth to her and Kanye West's child in July. Or, if not entirely over, then she at least wants to be legally single.
The pregnant star's camp filed a motion last month requesting that either a trial date be set as soon as possible or for a judge to grant her a divorce not reliant upon the financial disagreements still pending ... - More
If you’ve ever been to Mexico City, chances are you’ve sat in an old Volkswagen Bug taxi, painted in muted red and gold, stuck in Mexico City’s notorious traffic.
“Here we call them ‘Donkeys,’” says Victoriano Luna, a taxi driver who has been driving a Bug for 32 years.
“A horse can run fast, but it doesn’t endure. A donkey does endure, just like this car.” Volkswagen first came to Mexico in 1967, when it opened a plant in Puebla, a few hours drive from Mexico City. For decades, the Bug was the biggest-selling car in the country. - More
Vijay Singh has unfortunately entered the point of no return as it relates to performance enhancing substances.
He has admitted to using a substance created by S.W.A.T. (Sports with Alternatives to Steroids) called Deer Antler Spray, which contains a banned substance by every major sports league including the PGA Tour. - More
Tiger Woods was so good for so long at Torrey Pines that it didn't matter how bad it looked at the end. In a finish that was fitting for such a long and exasperating week, Woods built an eight-shot lead with five holes to play on Monday until he lost patience with the slow play and started losing shots that only determined the margin of victory. - More
Bill Belichick stormed off the field, after his decisive loss by the Baltimore Ravens, without giving an interview to CBS. A Hall of Fame football star now analyst and a current NFL football star denounced the arrogance and rightfully so. Compare the behavior of Bill Belichick's to that of Peyton Manning's; bringing his family to the Raven's locker room to bid farewell to Ray Lewis.
Terrell Owens competitively screamed give me the ball on the sidelines and received the err of the country for being troublesome in the locker room, while Belichick and Brady exhibit worse behavior and it chalked off as being overly competitive.
The look on Belichick's and Brady's faces was the dazed look of disgust and amazement at the same time; after all they have capitalized off the NFL's rule changes. They even coined a rule after Tom Brady called "The Brady Rule" to denote the NFL's staunch protection of immobile pocket passers.
Compare Brady to the quarter backs before him; those that had to be real athletes, by being elusive in the pocket and making plays with their arms and legs if need be. Brady has received over 300 sacks during his NFL tenure to John Elway and Brett Farve's over 500 sacks virtually the same period of time due to the NFL's alteration of the sport.
One would have to come away thinking the frustration exhibited by Belichick was the result of not only yesterday's shellacking, but an understanding that they no longer have the arsenal to impose their will in big games anymore. Brady has been a field general who has lost a lot of close matchups since "Spygate". Just ask Terrell Suggs.
I wonder what the conversation was like when Chip Kelley came to New England and dissected his Read Option System for Belichick. Belichick have been a great strategist in football. He's had the advantage of being up close and personal with football since childhood. In this long off season, will he think about the advantages of the Read Option System and how it catapulted three rookies to post season play? After all if there was any coach in the league to introduce a successful offensive system in the pros why it wasn't Belichick? Huh?
His offense appeared tired and confused out there playing a one dimensional system without "The Gronk". There was nothing left to give in the fourth quarter. The New England Patriots racked up the score against the best teams in the league this season only to be stunned in the game that counted a lot more.
Sean Payton had to forfeit 5.8 million in pay for the 2013 season for his part as head coach in the bounty scandal to Belichick's mere $500,000, by comparison, in the video-tapping scandal. Some have asked why. Others have alleged Brady and the Patriots are the leagues poster child.
One well-placed San Francisco 49ers source said he "highly, highly doubted" that San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree will be charged in the events that led to an investigation of sexual assault last week. - More
When Facebook introduced its next-generation search product in Menlo Park, Calif., this week, the announcement was no doubt being watched closely in
nearby Mountain View. The data that Google engineers have craved for years -- rich portraits of connections between people, places, and things, all tied to real
identities -- was suddenly searchable on Facebook. - More
One of the most entertaining things about famous people are the before-they-were-(mega)-famous photos. One of the most famous sisters in the world — Khloe Kardashian —
has posted to her blog a shot of herself, Kim and Kourtney from one of their first photo shoots about five years ago, back when they starred on an emerging reality show on E!
and (in one instance) a home sex video. (Can you even remember?) - More
Rihanna and Chris Brown are up to something. The on-again, off-again, probably on-again couple was spotted leaving a L.A.-area recording studio Thursday night.
The session took place in West Hollywood and a Brown rep confirms to E! News that a new Brown/Rih Rih track is in the works. - More
We told you about the controversy behind the Django Unchained Action Figures. Rev. Al Sharpton's Nation Action Network and others condemned the dolls as
racially insensitive due to their portrayal of slaves. - More
I wrote on Thursday night about the startling lack of diversity in this year's NFL head coach and GM hires. Based on the reaction from my Twitter account, a lot of white people were upset and insist we live in a post-racial world. Right. - More
Honda is recalling about 748,000 of its popular sport utility vehicles and minivans because the driver’s side air bag may not deploy properly, the automaker informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. - More
Oregon coach Chip Kelly will be the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, league sources told ESPN. Kelly re-emerged as a candidate recently and an agreement
was just reached Wednesday. The Herd with Colin Cowherd Colin Cowherd reacts to Chris Mortensen's report that Chip Kelly will become the Eagles' new coach.
Will Kelly keep Michael Vick in Philadelphia? More Podcasts » The Eagles had interviewed Kelly early in its search for a replacement for longtime coach Andy Reid,
talking to the coach in Arizona after the Ducks' 35-17 Fiesta Bowl victory over Kansas State. - More
The sell-off in Apple stock continued Tuesday, with shares falling below $500...again. Shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) declined 2.8% to $487.41 in morning trading.
Apple shares drifted below $500 on Monday, following reports the company had cut orders for certain iPhone parts due to weaker-than-expected demand for the latest version
New criminal charges were filed in federal court Friday against southern Utah businessman Jeremy D. Johnson by the Utah US Attorney’s Office. The new allegations accuse
the defendant of bank fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting. - More
Big names took home most of the awards at Wednesday night's People's Choice Awards, televised live on CBS from Los Angeles. "The Hunger Games" proved itself trophy-hungry, taking home six awards. - More
One day after his Notre Dame team got thrashed in the BCS Championship Game, Brian Kelly turned his attention toward a move to the next level. Kelly met with the Philadelphia Eagles about their vacant head-coaching job, according to a person informed of the meeting between the parties. - More
American International Group Inc. decided Wednesday to pass on a shareholder lawsuit that accuses the U.S. government of unfairly burdening the company during its financial-crisis rescue, in a move that could snuff out a brewing controversy for the insurer. - More
Apple Inc. is working on a lower-end iPhone, according to people briefed on the matter, a big shift in corporate strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped. - More
American International Group Inc. (AIG), the insurer that’s weighing whether to join a shareholder suit alleging its 2008 bailout was unconstitutional, would face tough odds in court, a former government watchdog said. - More
While the focus of last week's agreement between the Federal Trade Commission and Google Inc was search, the deal's restrictions on how Google uses its patents could have a broader impact on the technology industry. - More
Record-setting rookie quarterbacks will be on full display when the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins square off in Sunday’s NFC Wild Card matchup at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
The Seahawks (11-5) enter this contest on a five-game winning streak, while the Redskins (10-6) won their final seven games to capture the NFC East division title and first
Avocados flew out of U.S. grocery stores over the holidays, and the Super Bowl shouldn’t be any different. Mexico, by far, will be the largest supplier of avocados
The National Football League is changing. The Aaron Rodgers model of grooming a quarterback by making him stand on the sideline for a couple of seasons
and learn from a veteran is no more. Now, quarterbacks selected early in the draft have to play immediately and play well. Jobs depend on it. - More
When it comes to this year's Oscar race, Samuel L. Jackson seems to be giving the Academy the knowing evil eye. The 64-year-old actor recently admitted he was none
too pleased when he was passed up for an Academy Award more than 15 years ago, all but revealing his intention to win the award this year for his role as house slave
The 25-year old was pulled over on New Year's Eve for speeding at 90 mph (145 kph) in a 65 mph (105kph) area. According to a police spokeswomen, when a deputy went to Ocean's car, there was a smell of marijuana. - More
Star Wars director George Lucas has found his real life princess right here on earth. The 68-year-old entertainment mogul has gotten engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Mellody Hobson, according to the Huffington Post. - More
Arab television network Al-Jazeera said on Wednesday it will buy Current TV, the cable channel founded by Al Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt in 2005, for undisclosed terms. - More
This just in: A man is being verbally assaulted on the streets of Manhattan. And that man is reportedly Matt Lauer.
The 45-year-old co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show is being regularly screamed at by passersby on the streets of Manhattan in the wake of the awkward handling
Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie, “Django Unchained,” about a slave-turned-bounty hunter, doesn’t shy away from violence and language, including 110 uses of the N-word –- something the cast had to come to grips with while filming. - More
Enrique Peña Nieto, sworn in as president of Mexico Dec. 1, told the Financial Times he will not privatize state-controlled oil company Petroleos Mexicanos SA, or Pemex,
but will seek to open up the monopoly to private investment to boost development.
The company is one of the world’s top oil producers, controlling Mexico’s oil reserves, estimated in slightly more than 10 billion barrels as of the end of 2011. - More
Tim Tebow needs a new home. The Jets have no use for him and apparently no intent of letting him play, and the young quarterback deserves a shot to
show what he can do. I'm not even a Tebow supporter. I've ripped him as a quarterback on many occasions. However, it cannot be denied that he got results as a
starting quarterback last year, and there are some teams that could use some of his mythical winning ways. - More
Despite a late October wallop from Superstorm Sandy and Washington’s ongoing pummeling of business and consumer confidence, the U.S. economy isn’t down for the count.
The fiscal cliff, though, could still deliver a knockout punch. - More
Well Despite Karrueche Tran’s best efforts, Thanksgiving Day found Chris Brown partying with Rihanna at Berlin’s Adagio club. According to inside sources, Chris Brown was overjoyed at her visit and grateful for her support. - More
Gamaliel Diaz jabbed his way to a unanimous points' decision win over title-holder Takahiro Aoh in Tokyo to become the new World Boxing Council super featherweight champion on Saturday. - More
Amazon.com Inc has asked a federal judge to throw out Apple Inc’s false advertising claim in a lawsuit challenging the online retailer’s use of the “app store” name.
The claim is part of a March 2011 trademark lawsuit in which Apple, which this year became the world’s largest company ever by market value, accused Amazon of misusing its “App Store”
name to solicit developers for a mobile software download service. - More
The Patriots [team stats] had a chance to put the previous week’s loss behind them and send a message to their AFC Championship Game counterparts, but this time, they couldn’t stave off a Baltimore Ravens comeback. - More
HTC's reveal of its "signature" Windows Phones yesterday had plenty of Ballmer bada-boom, but missed one major factor:
Windows Phone 8 itself. As the iPhone parachutes into the hands of new owners everywhere, we're still not allowed to touch Windows Phone 8.
Just like at the Nokia Lumia launch, at HTC's Windows Phone 8X launch no one other than official demonstrators were allowed to go beyond three screens:
The home screen, the music player, and the camera app. - More
Michael Clarke Duncan, the imposing, bass-voiced actor who earned an Oscar nomination for playing a death row inmate in The Green Mile, died Monday.
He was 54. Duncan was being treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after having had a heart attack July 13, said his fiancée, Omarosa Manigault, in a statement released by publicist Joy Fehily. - More
The Hollywood community continues to grieve following Monday's tragic death of Michael Clarke Duncan at 54, and many took to Twitter to express their condolences for the late actor.
As we previously reported, Duncan, who earned an Oscar nomination for his signature role in The Green Mile, died Monday in a Los Angeles hospital, more than six weeks after suffering a July 13 heart attack his rep said he “never fully recovered” from. - More
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) seems to have trouble getting out of its own way when it comes to privacy issues among users in Europe.
Now, a consumer group in Germany is threatening to sue if the social-networking company does not provide a consent form or users who access the App Center on the Web site.
Kim Kardashian has been very busy lately. On top of dating one of the hottest rappers around, the sexy bikini shots just keep on coming!
The curvaceous brunette posted a few new snapshots on her Twitter page this week and we bet her nearly 16 million followers didn't mind one bit.
The first image shows the reality TV star in a gold monokini, bending seductively over some rocks with her mouth open and her long ponytail dripping down her side. "Rock climbing lol" she wrote as the caption to the ultra sexy, not-so-outdoorsy shot. At least she has a sense of humor, right? - More
Hewlett-Packard Co swung to an $US8.9 billion quarterly loss as personal computer sales shrank again and it swallowed a huge write-down linked to its $US13.9 billion purchase of Electronic Data Systems Corp.
The No.1 personal computer maker, which employs more than 300,000 people globally, is undergoing a multi-year restructuring aimed at focusing the sprawling corporation on enterprise services, in the mould of IBM. The plan calls for reducing its employee base by 8 per cent.
Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich stunned the Kenyan challenge to clinch a surprise Olympic gold medal in the marathon on The Mall.
The 23-year-old burst past Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang around the 38-kilometre mark to leave his two rivals trailing and claim only Uganda's second ever Olympic gold in athletics. - More
The Siri personal assistant application was one of the main selling features for Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 4S. And while having a voice-controlled application with an actual personality
is a novel idea, its popularity quickly cooled off. Part of the reason is that the Siri could only be integrated into native applications in the iPhone operating system. Nuance Communications
(Nasdaq: NUAN) – the company behind the voice recognition technology that allows Siri to understand your voice – could change that, though. The company already offers a voice-control app
called Dragon Go!, and it provides useful features that Siri doesn’t offer. Now it’s created new voice-control software that not only understands natural language like Siri can, but it can also be
incorporated into existing mobile applications. - More
“FYI yes Kobe and I are friends, but no we are not together and never have been,” the raven-haired. “Can't guys and girls be just friends..? He's an amazing athlete and I've enjoyed getting to know him and many other great athletes in my Olympic journey.” - More
The worst drought in over 50 years has prompted government economists to slash their forecasts for the nation's corn and soybean production, triggering fears of rising food costs and stirring worries of a global food crisis. - More
It might be hard for folks to focus on the NBA season, but pro basketball just got a whole lot less interesting. Breaking news....there’s a new super team.
The impact will damage the rest of the league. - More
It's Usain Bolt's world and everyone else is living in it. Once again, Bolt blew through the field and took home gold at the Olympics, finishing the 100m finals in a time of 9.63. After questions about whether Bolt was ready -- prompted by Yohan Blake's win at the Jamaican trials -- the world record holder reminded everyone who's the boss. - More
Garrett William Reid was born in Provo, Utah April 13, 1983 and grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He graduated from Harriton High School and Montgomery County Community College.
Garrett was working as a strength & conditioning coach. He found his passion in helping others develop their physique.
To further his career, Garrett had planned to begin studies in sports management in the fall. He was proud of his rank of Eagle Scout. He was the greatest big brother. He was definitely the funniest person to all who knew and loved him. Garrett will be long remembered for his sense of humor, his bold laughter and zest for life. Through his most difficult times his biggest strength was the love and support he received from his family and they from him. He will be truly missed. Garrett is survived by his parents Andrew and Tammy and siblings Britt (Kristen), Crosby, Drew, Spencer and the love of his life, Laura Perkins.
Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed Friday that his desire to become a bodybuilder briefly led to jail time.
Schwarzenegger, 65, said that, at 18 years old, he was serving a mandated year with the army in his native Austria when he snuck out to participate in the Junior Mr. Europe contest in Germany. - More
The Ultimate Fighting Championship finally may have gotten over the hump with Fox.
After taking criticism from fans for its first three live cards on the network, "UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera" was filled with great fights from pillar to post, particularly the all-important four-fight live broadcast on Fox. - More
Los Angeles: Kristen Stewart is not welcome at the premiere of her jilted boyfriend Robert Pattinson’s new film Cosmopolis.
Security has been told to keep the Twilight star away from the red carpet and after-party of Pattinson’s first scheduled public appearance on August 13 at the New York City premiere of Cosmopolis, reported Radar Online.
The couple have fallen apart after Stewart admitted to hooking up with her Snow White and The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders after photos were published of the pair making out. - More
Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won her second straight gold medal in the women's 100-meters Saturday at the London Games, but the host nation of Great Britain wound up stealing the spotlight with three gold medals.
Jessica Ennis was expected to win heptathlon gold for the host nation after building a big lead heading into Saturday evening's final discipline, but Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford's Olympic titles on the men's side were nothing short of shocking. - More
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) posted their earnings report today, which included major losses due to derivatives.
These losses totaled a 9% drop from last year, yet Buffett remains highly optimistic.
Warren Buffet’s company generally backs away from derivatives, but he does have one very large on in the portfolio.
Even though he has repeatedly stated that this position will be profitable over time, it generated nearly $700 million in losses in the last quarter. - More
South Africa won its first ever Olympic gold medal in rowing in the lightweight men's four. Moving up from fourth in the final 500m the South Africans overtook 2010 World Champions Great Britain, 2011 World Champions Australia and 2008 Olympic Champions Denmark to cross the line first.
Great Britain took silver and Denmark bronze - this is the fifth overall Olympic medal won by legendary Dane lightweight sculler Eskild Ebbesen, aged 40. He has won a medal in the lightweight men's four at every Olympic Games since Atlanta in 1996. - More
The 27-year-old, who won the distance double at the Beijing Olympics, surged away from Sally Kipyego and Vivian Cheruiyot after the bell to win by more than five seconds.
Dibaba's time was a season's best of 30 minutes 20.75 seconds with Kipyego taking the silver in 30:26.37 and world champion Cheruiyot four seconds futher back in bronze. - More
Rim Jong Sim won North Korea's third weightlifting gold medal in the London Olympics when she clinched the women's 69-kilogram class Wednesday in a dramatic finish.
Rim lifted a total weight of 261 kilograms but was challenged until the end by Romania's Roxana Cocos, who would have moved into first placed if she hadn't failed with her final lift. - More
The US added 163,000 new jobs in July, ahead of economists' expectations and offering some relief for President Barack Obama as the economy emerges as the key battleground of the 2012 election.
Private companies added 172,000 jobs last month, while governments shed 9,000 positions. Most economists had expected the latest nonfarm payroll figure to be around 95,000. The US added just 64,000 jobs in June. - More
In time for the Olympics, MetroPCS is selling the first phone that can receive local TV signals, potentially lending TV stations some relevance in the age of the smartphone.
MetroPCS Communications Inc., the country's fifth-largest cellphone company, started selling the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G for $459 on Friday.
It has a built-in, extendable antenna that can receive special TV signals, broadcast from regular TV towers for reception by cellphones and other small gadgets. - More
Gymnastics coach Liang Chow didn't quite know what to make of Gabby Douglas when she decided to move halfway across the country 20 months ago to train at his gym.
Her body was scrawny, her skills ragged, but she wanted to compete in the 2012 London Olympics. - More
Outgoing Academy president Tom Sherak had conversations with producer Lorne Michaels and talk-show host Jimmy Fallon about producing and hosting next February's Academy Awards,
but discontinued those conversations when a deal could not be made prior to Tuesday night's Academy presidential election,
according to AMPAS insiders with knowledge of the negotiations. - More
Apple has asked Judge Lucy Koh to impose a significant sanction against Samsung as punishment for what Apple alleges was a deliberate effort to pollute the jury pool.
Apple told the court that Samsung is using “litigation misconduct” as a strategy, and that declaring Apple’s patents valid and infringed would be a suitable remedy,
President Barack Obama on Thursday said stiff NCAA sanctions on Penn State’s football program were "appropriate" in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.
"I have been a big admirer of Penn State football," Obama said.
"Obviously Joe Paterno was a great football coach. But there are some things that are just more important than sports. And making sure our kids are safe is more important than sports." - More
DirecTV Aug. 2 said it lost 56,000 domestic net subscribers in the second quarter, which ended June 30, compared to a gain of 26,000 net subs during the previous-year period.
The El Segundo, Calif.-based No. 1 satellite TV operator, unlike most cable operators, has generated consisted subscriber gains over the past several years due in large part to aggressive marketing and discounted programming bundles. - More
Ryan Lochte deposed Michael Phelps as the Olympic 400 metres individual medley champion as he secured a dominant victory at the Aquatics Centre.
The race was meant to be the first instalment of a showdown between him and Phelps but ultimately Lochte was never threatened and touched in four minutes 05.18 seconds.
Brazil's Thiago Pereira was second with Japanese 17-year-old Kosuke Hagino third, just a year after taking bronze at the World Junior Championships. - More
It has been hyped as the biggest clash of the Olympic swimming program, but it almost didn't eventuate after Michael Phelps came within a fingernail of missing the 400m individual medley final.
The battle between Phelps and fellow American Ryan Lochte almost became the Games first anti-climax when Phelps scraped into the final by just 0.07 seconds. - More
With an abundance of rumours alleging that Kanye West is about to get down on one knee and propose to Kim Kardashian, we decided to question whether the reality TV beauty should make the decision to show her wedding (if she says yes to Kanye that is!) on TV.
We're sure everyone can remember the backlash Kimmy faced when her lavish televised wedding to husband of 72 days, Kris Humphries was slammed for being a publicity stunt. - More
Skype has published a blog post denying that it made changes to its architecture to give police access to users' calls and chats.
Although Skype was loathe to comment earlier in the week when some woolly quotes sparked the speculation, Mark Gillett, corporate VP at Skype, wrote the post to address the issues. - More
Mitt Romney has been rebuked by the US Olympic legend Carl Lewis after the presumptive Republican presidential nominee questioned whether London was fully prepared for the Olympic Games.
As Romney was mocked on US television and by the London mayor, Boris Johnson, in front of a crowd of 60,000 people, Lewis called on him to return home.
Katie Couric unveiled details of her eponymous new daytime talk show Thursday at the TV critics previews.
The show, debuting Sept. 10, will feature a theme song called “This Day,” co-written and performed by Sheryl Crow.
“Katie is somebody I can talk to about the things so many of us juggle,” says Crow, “our children, careers, health, and balancing our personal and professional lives. . . . Plus she is really fun! I think her show will reflect the same kind of heart and energy I try to give my music, so ‘This Day’ was a fun project to work on together, as friends.” - More
Japan ran out shock a 1-0 winner over 10-man Spain in the Olympic Group D fixture at Hampden Park in Glasgow, courtesy of a goal in the 34th minute from Yuki Otsu following some questionable defending from Martin Montoya.
Kensuke Nagai and Hiroshi Kiyotake could have made it a more comfortable win for Takashi Sekizuka's side as both wasted good chances either side of halftime,
but Spain struggled to trouble Shuichi Gonda in the Japan goal, particularly after Inigo Martinez's sending-off at the end of the first half. - More
Motorola Mobility will move its Libertyville headquarters — and 3,000 workers — to downtown Chicago, taking the top four floors and rooftop of the Merchandise Mart and becoming the landmark building’s largest tenant with 600,000 square feet, Motorola Mobility CEO Dennis Woodside and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday.
Greece's world indoor high jump champion Dimitris Chondrokoukis has pulled out of the London Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance, the athlete's father said.
"Dimitris will not take part in the Olympic Games, leaving unfulfilled a dream of a lifetime," his father and coach Kyriakos Chondrokoukis said in a statement.
Having polished off two important contracts over the past two days, the Steelers will report to training camp at Saint Vincent College today trying to nail down one more.
As of Tuesday, they did not have wide receiver Mike Wallace's signature on a contract and until they get it he cannot participate with the rest of his teammates in camp -- or beyond.
The Twilight world is reeling with the revelation that Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson with her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, confirmed in a public apology issued by Stewart today.
Needless to say, people have questions. What was she thinking? What exactly is going on in those car photos? - More
Chad Everett, the classically handsome actor remembered for playing thoracic surgeon Dr. Joe Gannon on the 11969-76 CBS drama Medical Center, died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home, reports the Los Angeles Times.
HSBC Mexico, a unit of London-based HSBC Holdings,
Wednesday paid a $27.5 million fine imposed in November 2011 by local regulators for non-compliance of money laundering prevention controls.
This is the largest fine imposed so far by Mexico's National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) and amounts to 51.5% of HSBC Mexico's 2011 net income. - More
The unpredictable wheel of Jackson family drama continued to spin on Wednesday (July 25) when a judge stripped family matriarch Katherine of her guardianship duties for late King of Pop Michael's three children, handing over the duties to their cousin, TJ Jackson.
After nearly a week of increasingly bizarre public feuding, accusations, confrontations and allegations of kidnapping, TMZ reported that Judge Mitch Beckloff temporarily stripped Katherine of her guardianship over Paris, Prince and Prince Michael II ("Blanket").
NBC says it has topped the $1 billion mark in advertising sales for the Olympic Games beginning this week in London.
The network said Wednesday it is the biggest advertising haul ever for an Olympics and topped the $850 million in ad sales for Beijing in 2008.
There's a lot more room for advertising, since NBC Universal is showing more than 5,000 hours of competition on NBC, its cable affiliates and online. - More
E! News is reporting that Kate Gosselin has signed up for a reality dating show a la The Bachelorette and is shopping the idea around to networks.
She is ready to get back into the dating game, says an unnamed source. She is ready to find love again and to move on from her past.
Mariah Carey, one of the best-selling female recording artists of all time, has joined AMERICAN IDOL as a new judge.
A five-time Grammy Award-winning global superstar with more than 200 million records sold worldwide and more No. 1 songs than any solo artist in history, her 18 Billboard No. 1 singles (17 of which Carey wrote) rival all but The Beatles.
Carey joins the judges' panel when AMERICAN IDOL returns in January 2013 on FOX. - More
Moody's just changed the outlook on three of Europe's strongest AAA countries—Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg—to negative. It affirmed Finland's stable outlook. - More
Cisco Systems is preparing to lay off about 1,300 workers just a few months after the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment warned that growing economic uncertainty is making it tougher to close sales with its customers.
The cuts announced Monday represent about 2 percent of Cisco System Inc.'s payroll of 65,000 workers.
The Dark Knight Rises had some high expectations to live up to, even in a film culture like ours that tries to make every movie into an event.
After the popular and critical success that was “The Dark Knight” (2008), which has since become legendary for its thematic weight and for Heath Ledger’s ultimately tragic portrayal of the Joker, fans have eager awaited the final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. - More
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