Week of August 15, 2009

A suicide car bomb exploded Saturday outside the main gate of NATO's

headquarters five days before Afghanistan's presidential election, killing seven

and wounding 91 in the biggest attack in the Afghan capital in six months.

The bomber evaded several rings of Afghan police and detonated his explosives

on the doorstep of the international military headquarters, an assault possibly

aimed at sending the message that the Taliban can attack anywhere as Afghans

gear up for their second-ever direct presidential election. Militants have warned

Afghans not to vote and have threatened to attack voting sites.

Brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Claudette was bringing heavy rain

to the Florida Panhandle Sunday, likely becoming the first tropical storm to strike

the U.S. mainland this year. Claudette had winds of at least 50 mph, but was not

expected to cause significant flooding or wind damage. Lurking more ominously

was Tropical Storm Bill, which was quickly turning into a powerful storm over

warm waters in the open Atlantic with sustained winds of 65 mph. Ana, a tropical

storm that had also been churning in the Atlantic, had weakened to a depression.

A truck bomb exploded across the street from Iraq's Foreign Ministry near the

Green Zone Wednesday, knocking out concrete slabs and windows and leaving

a mass of charred cars outside as a wave of explosions around Baghdad killed at

least 86 people. It was the deadliest apparently coordinated attack in Iraq so far

this year and marked a major challenge to Iraqi control of Baghdad. A steady

escalation of attacks following the June 30 withdrawal of U.S. troops from urban

areas has heightened fears that government troops are not ready to provide

security.

Authorities say a St. Louis-bound

Southwest Airlines flight was

forced to return to Oakland

International Airport after a male

passenger stripped, hit another

passenger and fought with crew

members. Alameda County

sheriff's deputies say Flight 947

returned Thursday morning after

21-year-old Darius Chappille of

Oakland allegedly exposed

himself to the female passenger

sitting next to him and punched

her in the face.

The release of the only man convicted of blowing up a Pan Am flight in 1988 has

brought high drama and controversy: the jeering mob outside a Scottish prison,

Week of August 15, 2009

the cheering crowd at a Tripoli airport, the furious families of the 270 people who

died in the Lockerbie bombing. Britain on Friday condemned the "upsetting"

scenes of jubilation in Tripoli at the return of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and

considered canceling a royal visit to Libya as a sign of displeasure. President

Barack Obama said the warm welcome in Libya was "highly objectionable."

invented "60 Minutes" and produced

the popular newsmagazine for 36

years, died Wednesday. He was 86.

He died of pancreatic cancer at his

Bridgehampton home, CBS said. His

death came month after that of fellow

CBS legend Walter Cronkite. Hewitt

joined CBS News in television's

infancy in 1948, and produced the

first televised presidential debate

between John F. Kennedy and

Richard Nixon in 1960. He made his

mark in the late 1960s when CBS

agreed to try his idea of a one-hour

broadcast that mixed hard news and feature stories. The television

newsmagazine was born on Sept. 24, 1968, when the "60 Minutes" stopwatch

began ticking.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy has

avoided a meltdown and appears on a slow path to recovery,

but Congress must now deal with enormous amounts of debt

that threaten to erode U.S. purchasing power. In an opinion

column published by the New York Times, Buffett wrote that

he "resoundingly applauds" actions by the Federal Reserve

and the Bush and Obama administrations to pump trillions of

dollars into the financial system. But the "gusher of federal

money" has run up a high level of debt that could fuel inflation,

he said. "The United States economy is now out of the emergency room and

appears to be on a slow path to recovery," Buffett wrote.

There’s a lot of backlash to Obama’s health care program - At a Barney Frank

town hall meeting in Dartmouth, MA, a constituent asks, "Why are you supporting

this Nazi policy?" Frank responds: "On what planet do you spend most of your

time?" He then calls her approach "vile, contemptible nonsense." He closes by

Week of August 15, 2009

saying: "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a

dining room table."

Taliban threats scared voters and dampened turnout in the militant south

Thursday as Afghans voted for president for the second time ever. Insurgents

killed 26 Afghans in scattered attacks, but officials said militants failed to disrupt

the vote. After 10 hours of voting, including a last-minute, one-hour extension,

election workers began to count millions of ballots. Initial results weren't expected

for several days.

diehard conservative, pugilistic debater and

proud owner of the "Prince of Darkness"

moniker, has died after a battle with brain

cancer. His wife of 47 years, Geraldine

Novak, said he died at his home in

Washington, D.C. early Tuesday. He was

78. A household face as co-host of CNN's

"Crossfire," Novak had been a columnist for

the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He

was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July

2008, less than a week after he struck a

pedestrian in downtown Washington with

his Corvette and drove away.

Airline travelers scooped up JetBlue

Airways'all-you-can-travel passes in record

time, forcing the airline to stop selling them ahead of schedule. JetBlue, which

began offering a one-month unlimited-travel pass last week, ended the sale early

because the passes sold out before the promotion was set to expire, the airline

said this morning.

Britney Spears appeared on "Late Show" on Tuesday to deliver a Top Ten list of

ways the country would be different if she were president.

"Free pie for everybody," Spears declared. For No. 10 on the list, Spears said

she'd be "the first president since Nixon to wear eye shadow." The pop star

appeared eager to show off her buff new body. She delivered the list in a bikini.

A New York art gallery has sold an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson, but

won't reveal the purchase price or the buyer.The Vered Gallery in East Hampton

sold the 30-by-26-inch painting showing a smiling Jackson in a red jacket from

his 1980s "Thriller" days to a buyer who requested anonymity. The auction,

Week of August 15, 2009

which closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, was conducted online, by phone and at the

gallery. The seller is a private collector.

Joe Jonas - One of the Jonas Brothers, will be a guest judge on “American Idol”

this season.

Talk show host

television expert Dr.

frequent guest on

Winfrey's show, sued

more than 50

businesses saying

they had falsely

claimed the pair

endorsed various

beauty products and

dietary supplements.

Winfrey's companies

Harpo Inc. and OW

Licensing Co. and Oz

and his company Zo

Co. sued the little-known firms located throughout America in a federal lawsuit in

New York seeking to stop the "unauthorized and unlawful use" of their names,

pictures, voices and trademarks. "These defendants are willfully capitalizing on

plaintiffs' valuable reputation and intellectual property rights to lure consumers

into ordering their infringing products on the false premise that they have been

tested or recommended by Ms Winfrey and/or Dr Oz when they have not," the

lawsuit said.

The body of slain model Jasmine Fiore was so mangled, it had to be identified by

the serial numbers on her breast implants.Fiore's fingers and teeth were removed

to "hinder law enforcement's ability to identify her." After she was strangled, her

body was stuffed into a suitcase and discarded in a dumpster in Buena Park,

Calif. over the weekend. Her ex-husband, VH1 reality star Ryan Jenkins, was

Thursday and is believed to be on the run in Canada. Jenkins wed Fiore in Las

Vegas in March, but their marriage was annulled in May after a "big blowout,"

according to Fiore's mom, Lisa.

Lee Ann Rhimes was questioned by LAPD officers Thursday night for a

misdemeanor hit and run, a spokeswoman for the police department.The

accident happened "between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m. in the West Los Angeles area,

where the incident occurred," says Officer Norma Eisenman.

Week of August 15, 2009

Sports -

Brett Favre signs with the Minnesota Vikings.

Top movies -

District 9

GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra

Time Traveler’s Wife

G-Force

Julie & Julia

The Goods: Live Hard and Sell Well

Ponyo

The Ugly Truth

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood

Prince

Funny People

(500) Days of Summer

Bandslam

The Hangover

Hot hits this week

Fallin’ For You - Colbie Caillat

Paparazi - Lady GaGa

Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus

Be On You - Flo Rida

Straight Through My Heart -

Backstreet Boys

Funhouse - Pink

I Wanna - All American Rejects

Down f/Lil Wayne - Jay Sean

Midnight Romeo - Push Play

Top Country -

Consider Me Gone - Reba

I Still Like Bologna - Alan Jackson

Honky Tonk Stomp - Brooks & Dunn

Toes - Zac Brown Band

Need You Know - Lady Antebellum

Today - Gary Allan

I Just Call You Mine - Martha McBride

White Lie - Miranda Lambert

Week of August 15, 2009

Hot Alternative -

I Will Not Bow - Breaking Benjamin

Check My Brain - Alice in Chains

Uprising - Muse

Crawl Back In - Dead By Sunrise

Crying Lightning - Arctic Monkeys

Fireflies - Owl City

I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go… U2

I Want You To - Weezer

Never Forget You - Noisettes

Hot Urban -

Regret f/Ludacris - LaToya

Sweat It Out - The Dream

Body - Marques Houston

Digital Girl f/The Dream - Jaime

Foxx

Changed Man - Chris Brown

LOL Smiley Face f/Gucci Mane -

Trey Songz