Week of June 8, 2009
Brazilian searchers
found a large tail
section from an Air
France jet Monday,
one of the biggest
pieces yet recovered
from wreckage that
could help narrow the
search for Flight 447's
black boxes. A U.S.
Navy team is bringing
in high-tech
underwater listening
devices to detect
pings from the data
and voice recorders.
Brazilian and French military ships that have so far recovered 16 bodies and
large amounts of plane wreckage searched amid a sea of floating debris, finding
the tail section with Air France's trademark red and blue stripes. All the wreckage
has been found bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean; the Brazilians don't have the
means of locating underwater debris.
North Korea convicted two American journalists and sentenced them Monday to
12 years of hard labor for crossing into its territory, intensifying the reclusive
nation's confrontation with the United States. The Obama administration said it
would pursue "all possible channels" to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna
Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current
TV media venture.
The Treasury Department has approved 10 of the nation's largest banks to repay
$68 billion in government bailout money. The department on Tuesday said the
banks, which were not named, will be allowed to repay the money they received
from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program created by Congress last
October at the height of the financial crisis. The banks have been eager to get
out of the program to escape government restrictions such as caps on executive
compensation.
Italy's Fiat is the new owner of the bulk of Chrysler's assets, closing a deal
Wednesday that saves the troubled U.S. automaker from liquidation and places a
new company in the hands of Fiat's CEO. The deal clears the way for a new,
leaner Chrysler Group LLC to emerge from bankruptcy protection minus billions
in debt, 789 underperforming dealerships and burdensome labor costs that
nearly sank the storied automaker.
Week of June 8, 2009
An 88-year-old gunman with a violent and virulently anti-Semitic past opened fire
with a rifle inside the crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday,
fatally wounding a security guard before being shot himself by other officers,
authorities said. The assailant was hospitalized in critical condition, leaving
behind a sprawling investigation by federal and local law enforcement and
expressions of shock from the Israeli government and a prominent Muslim
organization.
Iran declared President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the
winner of an election that pitted the
conservative establishment against
candidate with broad backing from
the country's youth. Riot police
attacked opposition supporters,
beating them with clubs and
smashing cars.
A statement from Mousavi posted
on his Web site condemned what
he described as the "manipulation"
of election results. Demonstrators
wearing the trademark green color
of Mir Hossein Mousavi chanted
slogans condemning the results
that gave 62.6 percent of the vote
to Ahmadinejad. Protesters set fire
to tires outside the Interior Ministry
in the most serious unrest in
Tehran in a decade.
North Korea vowed to step up its atomic bomb-making program and threatened
war if its ships are stopped as part of new U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing the
nation for its latest nuclear test. North Korea's Foreign Ministry also
acknowledged for the first time that the country has a uranium enrichment
program, and insisted it will never abandon its nuclear ambitions. Uranium and
plutonium can be used to make atomic bombs.
The number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims fell more than
expected last week and retail sales grew in May for the first time in three months,
fresh evidence that the worst of the recession may have passed.
Week of June 8, 2009
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment
benefits fell last week by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 601,000. That's below
analysts' estimates of 615,000.
Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin said Friday that
“Late Night” host David Letterman “crossed
the line” when he joked about her daughters.
“I would like to see him apologize to young
women across the country” for contributing to
a culture “that says it’s OK to talk about
statutory rape,” Palin told Matt Lauer on
TODAY. “It's not cool; it's not funny.” During
his opening monologue on CBS’ “Late Night”
Monday, Letterman poked fun at Palin’s visit
with her family to a New York Yankees game
this past weekend. “There was one awkward
moment during the seventh inning stretch,”
Letterman said. “Her daughter was knocked
up by Alex Rodriguez.” Letterman also said
the hardest part about the Palins’ trip to New
York was “keeping [former New York Gov.]
Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter.”
U.S. basketball's Los Angeles Lakers beat rivals Orlando Magic, 99-86, to win
the NBA Finals Sunday. The victory secured Los Angeles their 15th title.
Television stations across the United States planned to cut their analog signals
Friday, ending a six-decade era for the technology and likely stranding more than
1 million unprepared homes without TV service. Stations will make the switch at
different hours. The Federal Communications Commission put 4,000 operators
on standby for calls from confused viewers, and set up demonstration centers in
several cities. Volunteer groups and local government agencies were helping
elderly viewers set up digital converter boxes that keep older TVs functioning.
Technology - An Apple Update:
New iPhone 3GS (faster performance, new features) available on June 19th in
the U.S. and seven other countries. Pricing: iPhone 3GS 16GB for $199, and
32GB for $299.
Price cut for iPhone 3G: $99 for 8GB model
Week of June 8, 2009
New iPhone 3.0 software available June 17th, with new features. Free for
current iPhone customers (both original iPhone and iPhone 3G models). Cost is
$9.95 for iPod touch customers (both 1G and 2G models).
New "Snow Leopard" operating system will be available for all Intel Macs, past
and present (no PowerPC support). Retainl price is $129, but only $29 for current
Leopard users. Family pack at $49. Available in September.
Music news -
“American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert tells Rolling Stone magazine he’s gay -
the first time he’s said it in public. "I'm proud of my sexuality," continues the
rocker, who was photographed holding hands with interior designer Drake LaBry
earlier this month. "I embrace it. It's just another part of me."
Kris Allen , winner of U.S. TV's top-rated singing
contest "American Idol," has signed a record deal
with producer 19 Recordings, and his debut album
is expected to be released this coming fall through
Jive Records.
"Everyone's been asking me what it's going to
sound like. It will be very similar to what you heard
from me on the show -- definitely in the pop/rock
genre," Allen said in a statement announcing the
deal on Monday. Simon Fuller, executive producer
of "American Idol" and chief executive of 19
Entertainment, said Allen won fans with his soulful
voice, good looks and gracious demeanor, but his
passion for music performing will make him a star.
Before his debut album is released in the fall,
Allen, 23, will perform in the 50-city "American Idol" 2009 Summer Tour, which
kicks off in July.
After less than a year of dating, Miley Cyrus and Justin Gaston have called it
quits. "They have been having trouble for a while," says an insider. "It's been
hard for a long time since Miley has been working so much and traveling a lot."
Passing - Kenny Rankin, pop vocalist and highly regarded musician-songwriter
whose stylings ranged from jazz to pop to the world music influences he picked
up as a child in New York, has died of complications related to lung cancer, his
record company announced Monday. He was 69.
Arista Records says Whitney Houston’s long-awaited album will be released
Sept. 1. Houston hasn't released a CD in seven years.
Week of June 8, 2009
So far, there's no word on a title for the album. The 45-year-old superstar is one
of the best-selling artists of all-time, but in recent years, she's been defined more
by drug problems, marital woes and erratic behavior than by her Grammy-
winning voice.
Mariah Carey’s next album will be called Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel and this
week, she talks about the the album's first single. "The 1st single from my new
album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is called 'Obsessed' and will be at radio
next Tuesday," she Tweeted. "I'm a lil' exc" (the post cuts off before she
continues in another Tweet). "Seriously, this is one of my favorite songs ever. I
love the whole album. I'm completely immersed in it. I can't wait for you to hear
it."
Mike Tyson - former heavyweight boxing champion married girlfriend Lakiha
Spicer in a ceremony at La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel
on Saturday night, according to a spokesperson for the chapel. It’s his third
marriage.
Malawi's highest court ruled that Madanna can adopt a second child -- 3-year-old
Chifundo "Mercy" James -- from the African country."It's the wee hours of
morning in New York, but she is excited at the news," Madonna’s lawyer Alan
Chinula told the Associated Press. "As her lawyer, I am happy that this has
settled this contentious issue."
Miss California USA Carrie Prejean , who
stirred up trouble for herself when she said
gays shouldn't be allowed to marry, got the
word from pageant poobah Donald Trump on
Wednesday: "You're fired." Trump and other
pageant leaders said Prejean was being
sacked not because of the remarks but
because she hadn't been holding up her end
of the agreement she signed when she
entered the pageant. "This was a decision
based solely on contract violations, including
Ms. Prejean's unwillingness to make
appearances on behalf of the Miss California
USA organization," the California pageant's
executive director, Keith Lewis, said in a
statement.
Week of June 8, 2009
Chastity Bono is having a sex change to
become a man. A spokesman for Bono,
born a girl to Sonny and Cher, says he "has
made the courageous decision to honor his
true identity" and began the sex-change
process earlier this year.Publicist Howard
Bragman said Bono is proud of his decision
and hopes "that his choice to transition will
open the hearts and minds of the public
regarding this issue." The 40-year-old
writer, activist and reality-TV star came out
as gay 20 years ago, Bragman said.
Teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus has
announced dates for her first UK tour which
will start in December, as she continues to
build a pop music career in her own right
rather than as her alter-ego Hannah
Montana. Cyrus, 16, who plays a schoolgirl
with a secret identity as rock star Hannah Montana in the hit Disney series and
movie, will perform two nights at London's O2 Arena on December 13 and 14.
She will then travel to Dublin, Birmingham and Manchester for a further six dates.
Cyrus, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, will be supported by Metro
Station, the band of her older brother Chase.