Week of May 28, 2009

Attackers hit a busy market and a police checkpoint in northern Pakistan on

Thursday, killing at least 11 people, critically wounding scores of others and

triggering a gunbattle between security forces and suspected militants.

The latest violence in Peshawar, the largest city near the lawless tribal region

near the Afghan border, will further test the central government's resolve to take

on militants whose grip on parts of the country has strengthened this year.

General Motors Corp. says a committee of bondholders has agreed to a

sweetened deal to erase some of the automaker's debt in exchange for company

stock. The company said in a statement Thursday that it offered bondholders 10

percent of the company's stock with warrants to buy up to 15 percent if they

agree to support selling the company's assets to a new company under

bankruptcy court protection.

The tally of newly laid-off Americans requesting jobless benefits fell last week,

the government said Thursday, a sign that companies are cutting fewer workers.

But the number of workers continuing to receive unemployment benefits rose to

6.78 million -- the largest total on records dating back to 1967 and the 17th

straight record week. The figures for continuing claims lag behind initial claims by

one week.

A plainclothes policeman who drew his gun

while chasing someone he had found

rummaging through his car was shot and killed

by a fellow officer who was driving by and saw

the pursuit, the police commissioner said.

Commissioner Raymond Kelly said 25-year-old

Thursday within blocks of the Harlem police

station where he worked.

The economy sank at a 5.7 percent pace as the

brute force of the recession carried over into the

start of the year. However, many analysts

believe activity isn't shrinking nearly as much

now as the downturn flashes signs of letting up.

The Commerce Department's updated reading

on gross domestic product, released Friday,

showed the economy's contraction from January to March was slightly less deep

than the 6.1 percent annualized decline first estimated last month. But the new

Week of May 28, 2009

reading was a tad worse than the 5.5 percent annualized drop economists were

forecasting.

Pakistani troops have retaken the largest town in the Swat Valley from the

Taliban as the army presses its offensive against militants in the country's

northwest, the army spokesman said Saturday.

Government forces had full control of Mingora, though they were still meeting

pockets of resistance from fighters on the outskirts of the town, Maj. Gen. Athar

Abbas said.

business on his first official trip to the United

States, but he'll have an opportunity for fun

before wrapping up his two-day visit to New

York. On Saturday afternoon, the 24-year-old

prince is to participate in a polo match on

Governors Island in New York Harbor, facing

off against Argentine polo player and

heartthrob Nacho Figueras. He began his trip

Friday with a prayerful stop at the site of the

Sept. 11 terror attack. At the World Trade

Center, he spent about 15 minutes quietly

speaking to a half-dozen relatives of 9/11

victims.

Music news - Phil Spector was sentenced to 19

years to life in prison for the murder of actress

Lana Clarkson, who was shot through the

mouth in the music producer’s home six years ago. Spector, 69, looked straight

forward and showed no emotion as Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler

ordered a term of 15 years to life for second-degree murder plus four years for

personal use of a gun.

Karine Ruby, a former Olympic snowboarding champion who had been training

to become a mountain guide, died Friday in a climbing accident on France's Mont

Blanc range, a French police official said. She was 31.

"American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert’s sexual orientation has been a hot

topic with blogs, paparazzi and major magazines ever since he first took the

"Idol" stage earlier this year - and the rocker is fine with the world continuing to

guess about whether or not he is gay. "It's a really, really cool thing," Adam told

People, "to be able to show people that you can be yourself, and you should be

Week of May 28, 2009

proud of yourself, and you should own who you are and what you're about, and

never make apologies for it."

On the day Chris Brown took to YouTube to say he's "not a monster," a

photographer sued the R&B singer, saying Brown's bodyguards beat him as he

tried to take pictures at a gym. Robert Rosen sued Brown and LA Fitness

International, claiming he was assaulted by a bodyguard after snapping pictures

in a gym in Universal City. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for multiple

claims, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress

and negligence. I've always approached this from the place where I don't

compete with other girls," the 19-year-old country singer tells the Associated

Press about pals Cyrus and Selena Gomez. "I don't compete with other people in

the industry. I compete with myself."

back on video-watching fans'

"Radar." The track is the fourth

single from Britney's "Circus,"

following hits "Womanizer,"

"Circus" and "If U Seek Amy."

She revealed the cover art for the

song on her site last week.

Ozzy Osbourne has accused

former Black Sabbath band mate

Tony Iommi of taking over the

heavy metal titans' name and

costing him royalties from

merchandise sales. Osbourne,

who sued the guitarist earlier this

week, issued a statement Friday

imploring him to "do the right

thing.""Tony, I am so sorry it's had to get to this point by me having to take this

action against you," the singer-turned-reality show star said.But, he added,

"we've all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell

merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and

band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright."

Two of Hollywood's most sculpted leading men may be heading to the Great

White Way together.

James Bond star Danile Craig and "Wolverine" leading man Hugh Jackman are

reportedly teaming up on Broadway later this year in a new play. The two are

expected to play two Chicago cops in drama "A Steady Rain."

Week of May 28, 2009

Lindsay Lohan comeback? - as she is cast in a new movie - “The Other Side.”

Her father believes this is the turning point - where her life will turn around for the

better.

daughter, Amanda Brumfield,

was arrested on charges of

child neglect on Friday, after an

infant she was babysitting died.

Brumfield was allegedly

babysitting a 1-year-old in

October when the child died

after falling from a playpen.

Television news - Jay Leno

does his last “Tonight Show” on

Friday night. Celebrities were

largely absent and the self-

effacing comedian said he

wanted to be remembered for

the children born to his staffers

during his 17-year tenure as the

show's second-longest running

host. He even posed with all 68 of them, from babies to teenagers. "That's what

I'd like my legacy to be," Leno said, his voice thickened by emotion. "When these

kids grow up and they go, `Hey, mom and dad, where did you guys meet?',

they're going to say they met on the stage of `The Tonight Show.'"The show also

included jabs at favorite targets, including politicians and his own network. He

noted proudly that he took over the top-rated late-night show from Johnny

Carson and was passing it on with the same No. 1 ranking to Conan O'Brien,

who begins as host Monday. "Which means I get my security deposit back,"

quipped Leno.

Hip TV - Friday night (TVS)

Week of May 28, 2009

Bialik) at 9.

10.

Know Your Enemy - Green Day

The Night - Disturbed

Lifeline - Papa Roach

Sound of Madness - Shinedown

Careless Whisper - Seether

Drowning (Face Down) - Saving

Abel

100 in 55 - Pop Evil

Champagne - Cavo

Death of Me - Red

Scarlet Letters - Mudvane

Top Urban -

Birthday Sex - Jeremih

Knock You - KERI HILSON FEAT.

KANYE WEST & NE-YO

Boyfriend #2 - Pleasure P

Day ‘N Nite - Kid Cudi

Blame It - Jaimie Foxx Fea. T-Pain

Turn My Swag On - SOULJA BOY

TELL'EM

Halle Berry (She's Fine) -

HURRICANE CHRIS FEAT.

SUPERSTARR

Every Girl - Young Money

CIARA FEAT. YOUNG JEEZY - Ever Ever