Week of May 22, 2009

Embattled former President Roh Moo-hyun — a reformist shamed by a

corruption scandal that tarnished his image as a "clean" politician — jumped to

his death while hiking in the mountains behind his rural home in South Korea, his

lawyer said. He was 62. Roh was hiking in Bongha village when he threw himself

off a steep cliff around 6:40 a.m. Saturday, lawyer Moon Jae-in told reporters in

the southern city of Busan. He said Roh left a suicide note.

President Barack Obama saluted veterans and urged his countrymen to do the

same this Memorial Day weekend, saying the nation has not always paid them

proper respect.

In his weekly radio and Internet

address, President Obama said

people can honor veterans by

sending a letter or care

package to troops overseas,

volunteering at health clinics or

taking supplies to a homeless

veterans center. He said it

could also mean something as

simple as saying "thank you" to

a veteran walking by on the

street.

Republicans got the edge in the

dispute over President Barack

Obama's planned closing of the

Guantanamo Bay prison. And it

put former Vice President Dick

Cheney on a separate but

almost equal platform with the president of the United States, which is a plus any

time the party out of power can manage it. Their back-to-back speeches on

Thursday gave Cheney "a lot of credibility" and put Obama on the defensive, said

Republican pollster David Winston.

North Korea defied world powers and carried out an underground test Monday of

a nuclear bomb Russian officials said was comparable to those that obliterated

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The incident drew condemnation from Washington to

Beijing and set the communist regime up for a showdown with the United

Nations.

An explosion shattered the windows of a Starbucks coffee shop in New York

City, but no injuries were reported. Police were trying to determine what type of

Week of May 22, 2009

device caused the blast early Monday morning at the intersection of 92nd Street

and Third Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side, New York Police Department

Lt. Mike Wyosokowski said. The explosion occurred at around 3:30 a.m., when

the coffee shop was closed.

Western proposal for it to "freeze" its

nuclear work in return for no new

sanctions and ruled out any talks with

major powers on the issue. The

comments by the conservative president,

who is seeking a second term in a June

12 election, are likely to further disappoint

the U.S. administration of President

Barack Obama, which is seeking to

engage Iran diplomatically.

Nearly 120 people have been killed by a

cyclone that ripped through Bangladesh

and eastern India, officials and local

media said on Tuesday, while millions

remained marooned by floodwaters or living in shelters. The death toll in

Bangladesh rose to at least 89 following recovery of more bodies on Tuesday,

the Daily Star newspaper said in its online edition, while Indian officials said at

least 29 people had died in West Bengal state.

First Hispanic on the court? - President Barack Obama chose federal appeals

judge Sonia Sotomayor as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on

Tuesday, praising her as "an inspiring woman" with both the intellect and

compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.

The 4-year-old daughter of boxer Mike Tyson dies, a day after her neck

apparently got caught in a treadmill cord at her Phoenix home, police said.

Exodus Tyson had been on life support and police have said their investigation

showed her injury on Monday was a "tragic accident." "There are no words to

describe the tragic loss of our beloved Exodus," the family said in a statement.

"We ask you now to please respect our need at this very difficult time for privacy

to grieve and try to help each other heal."

The world's swine flu death toll reached 100 as two more New Yorkers died while

infected with a virus that has sickened more than 12,000 people.

Week of May 22, 2009

The deaths of 83 people in Mexico, 14 in the United States, two in Canada and

one in Costa Rica have now been linked to swine flu. But WHO's flu chief said

the virus hadn't yet reached the level of pandemic and said a global outbreak

designation would change little about how governments are already responding.

Technology -

Facebook announced on Tuesday a $200 million investment from Digital Sky

Technologies, whose social networks are market leaders in Europe. Presuming

Facebook is valued at $10 billion, DST's $200 million comes out to about a 1.96

percent stake, the companies said in a statement. DST would not have a seat on

the board or hold special observer rights, the companies said.

two shady characters on the show were named after them in revenge for a real

estate deal gone bad. Real estate agents Melinda and Scott Tamkin on Friday

sued writer and producer Sarah Goldfinger for defamation and invasion-of-

privacy. They are seeking $6 million in damages, alleging the show hurt their real

estate business.

Friday he just wants respect in the music

industry -- but runner-up Adam Lambert has

stars in his eyes. Allen, 23, an unassuming

college student from Arkansas, was this week

named the winner of the TV singing contest,

defeating the more showy Lambert, who was

the presumed front-runner. "The only thing that

I really want to do is just be respected in the

music industry," Allen told reporters in a

conference call. "And whether that means

selling albums or winning Grammys or people

just liking your music, that's what I really want

to do."

John Fogerty says he can "take a deep breath"

now that he's finished his next album, "John

Fogerty: The Return of the Blue Ridge Rangers," a sequel to the 1973 solo debut

that followed the demise of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

As to when the new set will be released, the rock 'n' roll singer-songwriter said he

doesn't yet know. "We're in talks. Stuff can change," Fogerty told Billboard.com.

"I'm just glad that it's done. I stuck with it quite awhile there, to get it right. I wasn't

going to let it go until it was what I wanted it to be."Like its predecessors, "The

Week of May 22, 2009

Return" is a collection of vintage country and American roots music covers --

along with a new version of one of Fogerty's own songs (he wouldn't specify

which one). He recorded and produced the album with T-Bone Burnett and

Lenny Waronker at Village Recorders in Santa Monica, California.

would stay optimistic when he heads to

prison on a federal weapons conviction.

The 28-year-old rapper, whose real

name is Clifford J. Harris Jr., performed

for a packed audience Sunday night in

Atlanta's Philips Arena less than two

days before he is to begin serving the

sentence of a year and a day. "I'm going

to stand up tall, head up high," he said.

"Thank you for all of your support. He

must report by noon Tuesday to the

Federal Correction Institution at Forrest

City, Ark. He was arrested after

prosecutors said he tried to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers from

undercover federal agents in 2007. T.I., who won a Grammy for "Swagga Like

Us," also performed all his hits from "What You Know" to "Bring 'Em Out" to his

recent chart-topping singles "What Ever You Like" and "Live Your Life." Teenage

rapper Soulja Boy also joined him on stage.

amazing voice has become a global YouTube

sensation, stunned audiences again on Sunday as

she was voted through to the final of "Britain's Got

Talent." Singing "Memory" from the musical

"Cats," the 48-year-old overcame initial nerves to

produce another command performance, her

soaring rendition winning the telephone vote on

the talent show.

George Strait is saluted as the Academy of

Country Music's artist of the decade in an all-star

concert on CBS-TV this week.The show was

taped last month in Las Vegas and features

performances by Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Tony

Keith, Keith urban, Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride,

Brooks & Dunn, and more.Garth Brooks, named artist of the decade for the

Week of May 22, 2009

1990s, presented Strait his award. Strait joins only four other artists who have

received this distinction: Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Alabama and Brooks.

New book by rapper Kayne West.

The Grammy Award winner, known

for his No. 1 albums and outspoken

statements on everything from

racism in America to the banality of

Twitter, is the co-author of "Thank

You And You're Welcome." His

book is 52 pages -- some blank,

others with just a few words -- and

offers his optimistic philosophy on

life. One two-page section reads,

"Life is 5% what happens and 95%

how you react!" Another page

reads "I hate the word hate!" "This

is a collection of thoughts and

theories," West, 31, said in an

interview about his spiral-bound

volume, which was written with J. Sakiya Sandifer.

George Takei and his longtime love, Brad Altman, are still legally wed. So are

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi. Both couples tied the knot during the five-

month window when same-sex marriage was legal in California. But the state

Supreme Court's decision this week to uphold Proposition 8, the gay-marriage

ban approved by voters in November, made legal nuptials impossible going

forward.

only six weeks after his wife filed for

divorce. Gibson confirmed that 39-

year-old Grigorieva is pregnant on

Monday night's airing of NBC's

"Tonight" show with Jay Leno. "This

is true, we're having a child," Gibson

said. The baby will be his eighth.

Hip Sunday night television (TVS) -

Week of May 22, 2009

New TV on DVD releases (TVS):

At the movies -

Night at the Museum: Battle of the

Smithsonian (debut $70 million)

Terminator Salvation

Star Trek

Angels and Demons

Dance Flick

X Men Origins: Wolverine

Obsessed

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

17 Again

Monsters vs. Aliens

The Soloist

Next Day Air

Week of May 22, 2009