Week of February 15, 2009

Nuclear-armed submarines from Britain and France collided in the Atlantic

Ocean earlier this month, authorities acknowledged Monday — touching off

new concerns about the safety of the world's deep sea missile fleets. The HMS

Vanguard, the oldest of Britain's current nuclear-armed submarine fleet, and the

French Le Triomphant submarine, which was also carrying nuclear missiles,

both suffered minor damage in the collision. No crew members were reported

injured.

A Chinese woman who freaked out at Hong Kong's international airport after

missing her flight has hit the big time on YouTube after her hysterics were filmed

and uploaded to the video sharing website. The middle-aged woman was seen

charging at a security guard at the departure gate, before screaming

"aieyyahhhhh," at the top of her lungs in a rant that lasts about three minutes.

Racing to reverse the country's economic spiral, President Barack Obama

signed the mammoth stimulus package into law Tuesday and readied a new

$50 billion foreclosure rescue for legions of Americans who are in danger of

losing their homes.

The Securities and Exchange

Commission accused Robert Allen

Stanford, the chief of the Stanford

Financial Group, on Tuesday of

conducting "a massive ongoing fraud" in

the sale of about $8 billion of high-yielding

certificates of deposit held in the firm's

bank in Antigua. Also named in the suit

were two other executives and some

affiliates of the financial group. In the

complaint, filed in Federal District Court in

Dallas, the SEC accused Stanford and

two associates — James Davis, a director

and chief financial officer of Stanford Group and the Antigua-based bank affiliate,

and Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer of both organizations —

with misrepresenting the safety and liquidity of the uninsured CD's

One person is dead and at least 7 injured after overnight thunderstorms swept

Georgia and Alabama with tornadoes, hail and lightening. A spokesman for the

Georgia Emergency Management Agency says the fatality was reported in

Hancock County in east-central Georgia. There were no more details.

Week of February 15, 2009

The White House insisted it's not trying to take over two ailing financial

institutions, even as stocks tumbled again. On Wall Street, talk of nationalization

of Citigroup Inc., and Bank of America Corp., prompted investors to continue to

balk, worried that the government would have to take control and wipe out

shareholders in the process

President Barack Obama will not adopt a policy to tax motorists based on how

many miles they drive instead of how much gasoline they buy, his chief

spokesman said Friday. Press secretary Robert Gibbs commented after

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told The Associated Press that he wants

to consider the idea, which has been proposed in some states but has angered

many drivers.

President Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts

for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt

the economy out of recession. The tax cuts are part of a $787 billion economic

recovery plan passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress over Republican

opposition. The aim is to put more money in the pockets of Americans and

stimulate the economy by increasing consumer spending.

Music news - Chris Brown who was

arrested a week ago in connection

with a domestic violence

investigation, says he is "sorry and

saddened" over what happened. In a

brief statement released through

publicist Michael Sitrick on Sunday,

Brown says he is seeking counseling

from loved ones and family members.

He also says much of what has been

reported of the Feb. 8 incident is

wrong, although he doesn't elaborate.

Brown was booked by Los Angeles

police on Feb. 8 for allegedly making

a criminal threat. He has not been

charged by the district attorney and is

free on $50,000 bail while the case is under investigation. Brown allegedly bit

and hit the Rihanna, "Disturbia" singer last Saturday night, hours after the two

were spotted together at a pre-Grammy party honoring Clive Davis in Beverly

Hills.

Kayne West tells MTV news - “'I’m so secure with my manhood. And that's the

reason why I can go to Paris, why I can have conversations with people who are

Week of February 15, 2009

blatantly gay. 'Cause I used to be scared to talk to a gay person. It's designers

that's scared of people in hip-hop. And in hip hop, there's people — and let's not

even say scared like homophobic — but they're scared of the way people gonna

look at them. If you see a person be like, 'I don't wanna stand next to Marc

Jacobs ’cause I don't want that to bear on me because I'm just so cool.' One of

the reasons why, the perspective I come from with my raps and my songs, the

reason why can't nobody dis me — no gangsta rapper, nobody can really dis me

is ’cause it's so authentic”

After 24 million votes, two male hopefuls and a lone lady were put through to the

Top 12 of "American Idol's" Season 8 on Wednesday night. Favorite Danny

Gokey was the last contestant to be put through on Wednesday night's

broadcast, a surprise to no one but Tatiana Del Toro, who host Ryan Seacrest

pulled down to the front of the stage alongside the spectacled singer as he read

out the verdict.

The Office" star Angela Kinsey has separated from her husband of eight years,

Warren Lieberstein. "Angela and Warren are taking some time apart to figure out

what is best for [daughter] Isabel and for their relationship," Kinsey's rep, Tess

Finkle, told People. "They continue to be friends and spend time together with

their daughter." The couple was wed in June 2000.

A photo that appears to be Rihanna's face with

bruises, scratches and swelling from an attack

allegedly at the hands of boyfriend Chris Brown was

posted Thursday night by the celebrity Web site TMZ.

The close-up image shows a welt above each of the

woman's eyebrows, marks on her cheek and around

her lips, and general swelling. TMZ did not say how it

obtained the photo, when it was taken or by whom.

American Idol alum Clay Aiken and his label, RCA

Records, have parted ways, his rep confirmed to

Usmagazine.com

Aiken's latest album, On My Way Here , sold 159,000

copies in the U.S., according to Billboard. His 2003

debut album, Measure of a Man, sold 2.78 million

copies. Billboard reported on Friday that he left the

label a few months ago.