American Idol

'American Idol' Results: Who Made the Top Three?

SANDIE ANGULO CHEN ON MAY 11, 2012

American Idol is just two weeks away from crowning a new winner, but to get to that pivotal final round, the reality show had to eliminate one of the final four potential Idols on Thursday night.

During Wednesday night's show, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips, and Jessica Sanchez all impressed the judges with their pitch-perfect performances, while Hollie Cavanagh struggled with her second song -- a cover of Bonnie Raitt's heart-wrenching ballad "I Can't Make You Love Me."

It was not a surprise, then, when host Ryan Seacrest announced that Joshua and Jessica were safe, while Phillip and Hollie had to await their fate in the bottom two.

"In years past we've had a few surprises at this stage in the game," Seacrest said. "Think [Chris] Daughtry, remember that? Or [James] Durbin."

But this year there would be no huge shock. Hollie, who had repeatedly been in the hot seat, was voted off the competition.

As she reprised her take on Miley Cyrus' "The Climb," her friend Joshua cried on the safe couch.

Next week, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez will compete in the semifinals for the right to claim a spot in the decisive final round.

Watch Hollie's final song!

Fugitive Mayes kills himself

Fugitive Mayes kills himself; abducted girls safe

The man accused of two killings in Tennessee is found near New Albany, Miss., and fatally shoots himself as officers close in.

Associated Press

May 11, 2012

GUNTOWN, Miss.— 

As a SWAT team closed in, a fugitive accused of killing a Tennessee mother and daughter before disappearing for nearly two weeks with her two other children killed himself Thursday evening, allowing authorities to safely recover the kidnapped girls, police said.

Biden proves catalyst for Obama on gay marriage

Published May 11, 2012

Associated Press

WASHINGTON –  Sorry, Mr. President.

After nearly single-handedly pushing gay marriage to the forefront of the presidential campaign and inadvertently pressuring President Barack Obama to declare his support for same-sex unions, there was only one thing left for Vice President Joe Biden to do: apologize.

Biden's mea culpa came Wednesday in the Oval Office, shortly before the president sat for a hastily arranged interview in which he told the American people that he now supported gay marriage.

World's Moms ranking

Canada edges up State of the World's Moms ranking

5/10/2012

CTVNews.ca Staff

Canada has moved up a notch this year in Save the Children's 13th State of the World's Mothers report, thanks to improvements in parental leave policies.

Canada is now ranked the 19th best place in the world to be a mother, up one spot from last year's ranking.

The ranking, which compares 165 countries, looks at factors such as:

• mother's health
• women's education
• women's economic status
• child health
• child nutrition

The report says Canada's improvement is mainly due to a recent increase in the number of women members of Parliament, and the inclusion of parental leave along with maternity leave.

The best place to be a mother is Norway, according to the report. Compared to that country, Canada needs to improve in areas of women's education and economic success, as well as parental benefits.

Norway's under-5 mortality rate is also half that of Canada's: 3 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 6 deaths per 1,000 live births here. As well, only 72 per cent of Canadian women use "modern methods" of birth control, compared to 82 per cent of Norwegian women.

Anna Faris and Chris Pratt

Anna Faris and Chris Pratt Expecting First Child

5/10/2012

The timing is right: Anna Faris and Chris Pratt are going to be parents!

The Dictator actress, 35, and her Parks and Recreation star husband, 32, are expecting their first child this fall, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.

After tying the knot in 2009, the couple were open about their dreams of a large family, but admitted the timing was “so hard in this industry.”

Still, The Five Year Engagement actor made it clear he was ready to fall into fatherhood sooner rather than later. “Chris wants a big family,” Faris told PEOPLE.

The actress stars alongside Sacha Baron Cohenin The Dictator, opening May 16, and is currently filming Working Title’s I Give It a Year in London with Rose Byrne and Simon Baker.

Pratt is filming Zero Dark Thirty for director Kathryn Bigelow and will appear with Channing Tatum in Ten Year this September.

– Anya Leon with reporting by Jennifer Garcia

Liberator of ladies’ hair

Liberator of ladies’ hair, Vidal Sassoon, dies at 84

 Thursday, May 10, 2012 Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Vidal Sassoon used his hairstyling shears to free women from beehives and hot rollers and give them wash-and-wear cuts that made him an international name in hair care.

When he came on the scene in the 1950s, hair was high and heavy — typically curled, teased, piled and shellacked into place. Then came the 1960s, and Sassoon’s creative cuts, which required little styling and fell into place perfectly every time, fit right in with the fledgling women’s liberation movement.

“His timing was perfect: As women’s hair was liberated, so were their lives,” Allure magazine Editor-in-Chief Linda Wells told The Associated Press in a written statement. “Sassoon was one of the original feminists.”

Sassoon was at his home in Los Angeles with his family when he died Wednesday at age 84, police spokesman Kevin Maiberger said. Maiberger said police were summoned to the home but found that Sassoon had died of natural causes, and authorities wouldn’t investigate further.

His exact cause of death was unclear, but publicist Mark Sejvar said Sassoon had leukemia for several years.

Cisco earnings

Cisco gloomy despite 20% rise in third quarter earnings

From bbc news  5/10/2012

Cisco Systems, the world's largest maker of computer-networking equipment, has reported a 20% boost in third quarter earnings, amid fears of a slowdown in technology spending.

Cisco earned $2.2bn (£1.37bn) between February and April, compared with $1.8bn for the same period last year.

But chief executive John Chambers warned that continuing economic uncertainty was affecting client spending.

Cisco shares fell over 8% on the news.

Customers are waiting longer to close deals and spending less, Mr Chambers warned.

As a result the company forecasts that fourth quarter revenues from May to July will increase by between 2% and 5%, below analysts' forecasts.

Revenue for the February-to-April period was up 7% from a year earlier to $11.6bn.

Mr Chambers said: "We will muddle through this with a little bit of bumps in the road."

Cisco has been undergoing a severe round of cost-cutting over the past year, which is estimated to have shaved $1bn off the company's running costs.

China and Philippines...

China urges Philippines to ensure citizens' safety

By Chris Buckley and Manuel Mogato 5/10/2012

(Reuters) - China on Thursday urged the Philippines to ensure the safety of its citizens ahead of planned anti-Chinese protests, as tensions mount over a territorial standoff in the resource-rich South China Sea.

A protest of about 1,000 people, organized for Friday in Manila by Philippine civil society and political groups, risks worsening strains over the disputed waters, thought to posses abundant oil and gas reserves and fishing stocks.

The two countries are engaged in a more than month-long confrontation that began when Manila sent a warship to check on Chinese fishing boats in the region, and escalated to involve four Chinese maritime

Knicks, Woodson...

Knicks, Woodson could be close to deal

5/10/2012By HOOPSWORLD

Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Now that the offseason is officially here, now that this crazy New York Knicks season of ups and downs, twists and turns (and an unforgettable thing called Linsanty) has finally come to an end, the first order of business is to decide what to do with Mike Woodson.

Multiple reports have indicated that Madison Square Garden is ready to lock up Woodson on a multi-year deal to keep him as head coach. His 18-6 record to finish the season and the endorsement of the team’s stars, mainly Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, are more than enough to cinch it for him.

Woodson denied a report that he already met with Garden chairman James Dolan for

Facebook

Facebook app store launches amid mobile revenue worries

 From bbc news5/10/2012

Facebook has launched its own app store to promote mobile programs that operate using the social network.

The company said the App Center will become the "new, central place to find great apps like Draw Something" and other titles.

Developers will have the ability to charge a fee for apps sold in the store in the near future, Facebook said.

The announcement came as Facebook admitted growth in mobile use could hurt future advertising revenue.

Ahead of its initial public offering, Facebook told potential investors in a statement: "If users increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetisation strategies for our mobile users, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our financial performance and

Futures

Futures briefly tick higher after data

5/10/2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures briefly edged higher on Thursday after data showed new U.S. claims forunemployment benefits dipped last week, allaying some concerns about the slowing economic recovery.

S&P 500 futures rose 8.3 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 45 points and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11.5 points.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Merkel resists calls ...

Merkel resists calls to put growth before reforms

5/10/2012

* Merkel rejects calls for growth stimulus in Europe

* German opposition encouraged by French president-elect

* Domestic pressure on Merkel to ring-fence German savings

By Stephen Brown

BERLIN, May 10 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected calls from her centre-left opponents in Germany and Europe for economic stimulus policies that rely on new debt, warning parliament on Thursday that "growth on credit" would just tip Europe deeper into crisis.

Since the election of Socialist Francois Hollande as French president on Sunday, Merkel has come under pressure to relax the austerity measures that, as leader of Europe's biggest economy, she has prescribed

Greek Socialist...

Greek Socialist Makes Last-Ditch Attempt at Government

By: Reuters5/102012

Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos will make a last-ditch attempt to form a government on Thursday and avoid a new election after voters rejected a bailout deal and pushed Greece into a political crisis.

Chances are slim that Venizelos can clinch a deal after both the conservatives and leftists failed to cobble together a coalition in three days of talks following Sunday's election, when voters spurned big parties and their austerity policies.

The deadlock prompted European threats to eject Greece from the euro, while impatient governments withheld part of the latest tranche of rescue funds to be paid to Greece on

Phillies swept by Mets

5/10/2012 BY ROB MAADDI

AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA -- Charlie Manuel ran out of patience, so he gave his players an earful after their latest "ugly" loss.

Ike Davis hit a three-run homer, Andres Torres also connected and the New York Mets beat the Phillies 10-6 Wednesday night to complete their first three-game sweep in Philadelphia in six years.

The Mets rallied to win all three against slumping Philadelphia. They trailed after five innings against Roy Halladay on Monday, after six against Joe Blanton on Tuesday and after six against Cliff Lee in the series finale.

"We have to wake up and play better," Manuel said. "We don't like what we've been doing. If we want to win, and be able to go where we want to go, we better start playing better."

The five-time defending NL East champions are a season-worst four games under .500 at 14-18. The Mets (18-13) are five games above .500 for the first time since July 19, 2010.

mission

Liberty rocket aims for 2015 manned mission

Shane McGlaun 5/10/2012

With the space shuttle fleet retired, there’s a scramble in the United States for the next-generation rocket to take astronauts and cargo into space. There are several private companies hard at work creating rockets such as SpaceX. Another team is working on a rocket called the Liberty that uses parts from the US space shuttle program and Europe’s Ariane rocket.

The company working on Liberty hopes to sell the rockets to NASA to take crewmembers to the ISS and is

NBA's dirtiest player

Hawks owner calls Kevin Garnett the NBA's dirtiest player

By Reid Cherner, USA 5/10/2012

Every player and coach works the officials before, during and after games. Why should owners be different?

Atlanta Hawks co-ownerMichael Gearon Jr., was a guest speaker at the W.E.B. Du Bois Society andD. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports he made a plea for the NBA to even up the fouls in the Boston-Atlanta series.

"...we don't get any calls, which I know everybody always hears. But I'll give you a stat. (Tuesday) night, we are playing this old physical team. They are old. I know what happens when you play basketball, old guys foul. (Kevin) Garnett is the dirtiest guy in the league. We are playing Boston last night and they had two fouls the whole first half. We had five times that and we're athletic."

The two teams play tonight in Boston with the Celtics holding a 3-2 series lead.

Syria says...

Syria says 40 dead in Damascus blasts

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press5/10/2012

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two strong explosions ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, killing more than 40 people and leaving scenes of carnage in the streets in an assault against a center of government power, officials said.

Syria's state-run TV said 170 people were wounded in what one official said may have been the most powerful of a series of blasts that have hit the capital this year.

There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack on a military intelligence headquarters. But an al-Qaida-inspired group has claimed responsibility for several large explosions targeting mostly security facilities since December, raising fears that extremist groups are entering Syria's conflict and exploiting

No survivors

No survivors found after Russian plane crashes in Indonesia

5/10/2012 

By Olivia Rondonuwu

May 10 (Reuters) - A rescue team found no survivors but several bodies on Thursday when it arrived at the wreckage of a Russian plane that crashed into an Indonesian mountain during an exhibition flight with 45 people on board.

Russia's first all-new passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union, a Superjet 100 aircraft, went missing on Wednesday about 40 miles (64 km) south of Jakarta.

Wall Street open

Wall Street slides 1 percent at open

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell sharply at the open on Wednesday as political uncertainty hung over Greece and concerns arose over the frail state of Spanish banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 113.87 points, or 0.88 percent, to 12,818.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 13.77 points, or 1.01 percent, to 1,349.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 32.32 points, or 1.10 percent, to 2,913.95.
5/9/2012

(Reporting By Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)