American Idol Champ

American Idol Champ Phillip Phillips Admits He "Came Close" to Quitting Show!

 by  TIERNEY BRICKER

5-24-2012

So you just won American Idol, what's your next move? 

For season 11 champion Phillip Phillips, it's surgery to reconstruct his kidney after battling kidney stones throughout the season. But could his impending surgery affect his presence on the Fox hit's summer tour? 

We chatted with Phillip about his recent health problems and how he almost exited the show early to get the procedure done. Plus, the heartthrob opens up about his hometown girlfriend!

MORE: Yes, That Was the Least-Watched American Idol Finale Ever, But...

While Phillip isn't exactly sure where or when he'll be undergoing surgery, he tells us, "It's just my right kidney kind of isn't functioning

Greek Exit Could ...

Greek Exit Could Trigger a Run on European Banks

By Elena Logutenkova, Liam Vaughan, and Gavin Finch on May 24, 2012

European banks have spent the past two years increasing capital buffers, writing down Greek bonds, and using central bank loans to refinance regional operations in southern Europe in anticipation of some cataclysmic event such as a Greek withdrawal from the euro. All that preparation may not do much good. With more than $1.2 trillion in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Irish debt, Europe’s lenders still face deposit flight risk and rising defaults elsewhere. “A Greek exit would be a Pandora’s box,” says Jacques-Pascal Porta of Ofi Gestion Privee, an asset manager in Paris. “It’s a disaster that would leave the door open to other disasters. The euro’s credibility will be weakened, and it would set a precedent: Why couldn’t an exit happen for Spain, for Italy, and even for France?”

Should Greece return to the drachma, its currency probably would suffer an immediate devaluation of as much as 75 percent against the euro, spurring widespread defaults on foreign loans,

Philadelphia Sixers vs. Boston Celtics Game 6

Somehow, 76ers get to a Game 7 against Celtics

By Bob Ford / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Thursday, May 24, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — There was no reason this playoff series was going to get any easier, or any prettier, and neither of those happened Wednesday night in the Wells Fargo Center. What happened was even better as far as the 76ers were concerned, however.

The Sixers played well enough to beat a disjointed Boston Celtics [team stats] team, 82-75, and force a Game 7 in the

Obama energy plan

Obama touts election-year energy plan in Iowa

Published May 24, 2012

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. –  President Obama is returning to Iowa, seeking support for an election-year agenda to encourage renewable energy along with a more immediate prize: the state's up-for-grabs voters. 

Obama was pushing Congress to support clean energy tax incentives, part of his congressional "to-do list" that he contends could help bolster the economy. The president has tried to portray congressional Republicans as obstructing his ideas to create jobs and said Republican challenger Mitt Romney would follow their lead. 

The president was stopping in Iowa on Thursday after attending fundraisers in Colorado

snap Dodgers streak

Diamondbacks hammer Lilly, snap Dodgers streak

May 24, 2012

(Reuters) - The Arizona Diamondbacks hammered Los Angeles starter Ted Lilly for eight runs in an 11-4 rout to spoil his unbeaten start to the season and snap the Dodgers' six-game winning streak.

The 36-year-old Lilly, who entered the night 5-0 for the best start of his career, lasted just 3 1/3 innings as Arizona batters feasted on his pitches in front of their home crowd to avoid being swept in the finale of the three-game series.

The Diamondbacks (20-25) jumped out with five runs in the first three innings, then scored three more in the fourth where Lilly departed trailing 8-1.

"It was one of those nights that I couldn't find a way to get ahead or put guys away," Lilly told

UK recession ...

UK recession deeper than thought

24 May 2012

LONDON - Britain is in a deeper recession than previously thought, official figures showed Thursday, in another downbeat development that will likely heap the pressure on the government and the central bank to do more to boost the flagging economy.

The Office for National Statistics said the British economy contracted by 0.3 percent in both the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, as against the 0.2 percent rates previously reported. The declines mean Britain is back in recession, officially defined as two straight quarters of negative growth.

Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities, said the "really striking element" is that the

Fire on nuclear sub at Maine shipyard

Fire on nuclear sub at Maine shipyard hurts 7

May 24, 2012

The Associated Press

KITTERY, Maine — A fire on a nuclear-powered submarine at a Maine shipyard has injured seven people, including five firefighters, but did not affect the reactor, which was not active.

Crews responded at about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday to the USS Miami SSN 755 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on an island in Kittery, a town near Portsmouth, N.H. It was not clear how many people were aboard the submarine at the time.

Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge, commander of Submarine Group Two, said the fire was out Thursday morning and the shipyard was open as usual. He said the three shipyard firefighters, two civilian firefighters and two crew members received minor injuries and were in good shape.

Breckenridge called their efforts heroic, saying the extreme heat and smoke in the contained spaces

Playing the Facebook Blame Game

May 24, 2012

By Serena Saitto, Lee Spears, Joseph Ciolli, and Michael J. Moore

The Facebook (FB) initial public offering—preceded by an epic lawsuit over ownership, an Oscar-nominated movie, a great leap forward for sweatshirts, and the constant feedback of roughly a billion customers—was always going to be more than just a financial event. It was a cultural event, too, a global

Utah authorities step up...

Utah authorities step up search for cabin burglar

2012-05-23 www.usatoday.com

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – With the summer tourist season fast approaching, authorities are stepping up the search for a mountain man considered armed and dangerous who has spent more than five years breaking into dozens of cabins across remote southern Utah, stealing guns and supplies before retreating into the forest.

Investigators believe the suspect is still roaming the mountains around Zion National Park based on recent cabin break-ins where food and clothing were taken, Kane County Sheriff's Detective Dathan Chamberlain, who has been assigned full-time to the case, told The

Colombia prostitution scandal was isolated incident

Secret Service director says Colombia prostitution scandal was isolated incident

Mark Sullivan assures a Senate panel that there's no evidence of a wider culture of reckless partying and that President Obama's safety was not compromised.

By Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau

May 23, 2012

WASHINGTON — The prostitution scandal that has embroiled the Secret Service is not evidence of a wider culture of boozing and paying for sex among those who are trained to take a bullet for the president, the director of the agency told skeptical senators.

The senators challenged Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan to explain how it was possible, without an

Birth Control

Birth Control: New Research Gives Boost to IUD Effectiveness

By SAMANTHA MEANEY, M.D., ABC News Medical Unit

May 23, 2012

Twenty-seven-year-old Julie Vonder Haar of St. Louis describes herself as a smart and responsible person, but like many women, she found it difficult to remember taking her birth control pills while juggling four

'A new feeling about America'

Obama to graduates: 'A new feeling about America'

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press
May 23, 2012
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — President Barack Obama declared Wednesday the world has a "new feeling about America" and more respect for its leadership, weaving re-election themes into a commencement speech to jubilant graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
"We can say with confidence and pride: The United States is stronger, safer and more respected in the world," Obama told more than 1,000 graduates, dressed in their blue dress coats and yellow sashes for a ceremony in the Air Force football stadium.
In characterizing the changes under his watch, Obama used a speech before a military audience to make

Hewlett-Packard to cut 27,000 jobs

HP to cut 27,000 jobs

HP said the job reductions would occur by the end of fiscal 2014. The cuts are expected to save Hewlett-Packard $3 billion to $3.5 billion annually.

By W.J. Hennigan and Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times
May 24, 2012
Hewlett-Packard Co., battered by declining profits and tech rivals with flashier hand-held devices, is slashing 27,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce.

The Silicon Valley tech firm, one of the world's largest computer makers with nearly 325,000 employees, said the job reductions — through layoffs and a voluntary early retirement program — would occur by the end of fiscal 2014. The cuts are expected to save the company $3 billion to $3.5 billion annually.

"Workforce reductions are never easy," Chief Executive Meg Whitman said in a call with analysts.

EU leaders' summit

HIGHLIGHTS-Comments after EU leaders' summit

BRUSSELS | Wed May 23, 2012
May 24 (Reuters) - European leaders discussed ways to revive their economies on Wednesday night, with growth and jobs on the agenda along with the situation in Greece.

Following are comments by EU leaders and officials after the talks ended early on Thursday:

EU LEADERS' STATEMENT ON GREECE:

"We discussed the political and economic situation in Greece. We want Greece to remain in the euro

Europe’s Crisis

Leaders Bicker as Europe’s Crisis Gains New Urgency

By NICHOLAS KULISH and PAUL GEITNER
Published: May 23, 2012

BERLIN — With Greece’s membership in the euro zone teetering, fears of bank insolvency rising and Europe’s leaders bickering about what to do, the euro crisis is once again intensifying and threatening to undermine fragile growth globally.

At a summit meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, regional leaders failed to signal any concrete new steps to stimulate the sputtering regional economy or resolve the competing agendas of President François Hollande of France, who favors stronger steps to spur growth, and his German counterpart, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has opposed aggressive moves to ease the pressure on Europe’s

Ford credit rating boost:

Ford credit rating boost: 'The Blue Oval is back'

By Nathan Bomey, Detroit Free Press 5/23/2012

The Blue Oval belongs to Ford again.

Moody's Investors Service raised Ford's senior unsecured creditrating from Ba2 to Baa3, making it the second ratings agency to restore the automaker's investment-grade debt rating, ending a nearly seven-year period during which Ford paid higher junk bond interest rates.

The move means the automaker can reclaim its iconic Blue Oval logo and billions of dollars' worth of other assets pledged as collateral on $23.4 billion in loans taken out in late 2006. Equally important, Ford (F) will be able to borrow money at lower interest rates because it has a financially solid balance sheet.

• STORY: Autoworkers pushed to limit as many plants max out

"This is a truly great day for everyone at Ford and our extended family because the Blue Oval is

Russian FM accuses Syrian

Russian FM accuses Syrian opposition of undermining peace plan

MOSCOW, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The aim of the Syrian armed opposition is to undermine the peace plan implemented by the U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

"The aim is obvious -- to disrupt the peace plan of Kofi Annan," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

Historic Vote

Egyptians Head to Polls in Historic Vote

By CHARLES LEVINSON and MATT BRADLEY 5/23/2012

CAIRO—Millions of Egyptians voted Wednesday in a historic presidential election that is expected to usher in the country's first freely elected civilian leader after six decades of military-backed dictatorship.

Voters waited in long lines outside polling stations, which opened at 8 a.m. across the country, to cast ballots for Egypt's fifth president since a military coup ousted the king

Hormel profit ...

Hormel profit rises on lower pork, beef costs

Wed May 23, 2012

• Q2 EPS 48 cts vs. Wall Street view 42 cts

* Q2 sales $2.01 billion vs. Wall St view $2.05 billion

* Hormel affirms FY EPS view

May 23 (Reuters) - Hormel Foods Corp posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, boosted by Jennie-O turkey sales and lower pork and beef costs.

The lower pork and beef costs helped boost profits in the company's grocery business, which sells Spam

Wins 'Dancing With The Stars'

Donald Driver Wins 'Dancing With The Stars' Mirror-Ball Trophy

'He's the best celebrity dance partner anyone could ask for,' his pro dance partner Peta Murgatroyd said.

By Kelley L. Carter May 23 2012

Upon hearing his name called as the season 14 winner of ABC's hit show "Dancing With the Stars," Donald Driver stopped, dropped and rolled.

"Amazing! This is awesome!" he said, his fist punching the sky in excitement.

It was a sweet moment, considering that Driver, an NFL star, revealed that he's been a longtime fan of the show

Greece, China anxiety

World markets tumble on Greece, China anxiety

By Aaron Smith @CNNMoneyInvest May 23, 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- World markets plunged Wednesday on renewed anxiety over Greece ahead of a meeting of European leaders, and signs that the Chinese economy is losing steam.

European leaders are gathering in Brussels for an informal dinner Wednesday amid new threats to the troubled euro currency union.

The leaders are expected to discuss ways to boost economic growth and create jobs. This is the first summit for newly elected French PresidentFrancois Hollande, who campaigned on a shift away from austerity cuts in favor of more growth-orientated policies.

BNP Paribas analyst Luigi Speranza said the so-called "growth pact" will focus on infrastructure projects and improved targeting of eurozone funds, but he was pessimistic about the meeting's outcome.

"None of these initiatives, even if swiftly implemented, will be sufficient to significantly change the gloomy growth outlook in the

homes rose 3.4 percent

News Summary: US sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.4 percent in April

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, 2012-05-22

HOME SALES UP: Sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.4 percent in April, providing the latest evidence that the housing market is improving, if slowly.


WIDESPREAD GAINS: Sales rose in every part of the county, pushing activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million units, nearly matching January’s pace, which had been the best in two years.
OUTLOOK: Economists believe an improving job market and cheaper mortgages will provide support for modest gains in home sales this year. But they say sales will remain far below the 6 million rate that indicates a healthy market.

killing of mountain lion in Santa Monica...

Some outraged over killing of mountain lion in Santa Monica

May 22, 2012 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com

Some expressed outrage Tuesday that officers killed a 75-pound mountain lion that had wandered into downtown Santa Monica instead of capturing it and releasing it into the wild.

On POM Wonderful's...

Judge Sours On POM Wonderful's Erectile Dysfunction & Heart Disease Claims

by ALLISON AUBREY 5/22/2012

Pom Wonderful Pomegranate products may be loaded with antioxidants, but there's not sufficient evidence that it can treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of specific conditions such as heart disease or erectile dysfunction according to a ruling handed down by Chief Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell.

The ruling upholds a Federal Trade Commission complaint we reported on before that charged POM Wonderful with violating federal law by making deceptive disease prevention and treatment claims.


According to Judge Chappell's decision, excerpted here, POM Wonderful's violations of federal advertising law were misleading because their claims "pertained to serious diseases and dysfunction of

A Greek Exit Could Make...

A Greek Exit Could Make the Euro Area Stronger

By Jacob Kirkegaard May 22, 2012

A Greek exit from the euro area would inflict heavy damage in Greece and throughout Europe. It could also be one of the best things that ever happened to the currency union.
Greece’s repeat parliamentary election next month will serve as a

Obama dominates global summits, but do U.S. voters care?

Obama dominates global summits, but do U.S. voters care?  

BY LESLEY CLARK
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama dominated the world stage over the weekend, persuading European leaders to embrace growth-stimulating economic policies along with austerity and securing NATO commitments for his exit strategy from Afghanistan.


The administration declared both global confabs a success and analysts said the president got credit for managing the intricacies of

North Korea ...U.S. pressure

North Korea to boost nuclear deterrent after U.S. pressure

By Ju-min Park
SEOUL | Tue May 22, 2012
(Reuters) - North Korea intensified its war of words against the United States on Tuesday, vowing to strengthen its nuclear deterrent after Washington warned Pyongyang of further sanctions if it did not abandon its atomic program.

Last week, world leaders meeting in the United States said North Korea needed to adhere to international norms on nuclear issues and that it would face deeper isolation if it "continues down the path of provocation".

The North's foreign ministry spokesman served notice via the official KCNA news agency on Tuesday that it would "bolster its nuclear deterrent as long as the United States was continuing with its hostile policies" and that it planned "countermeasures" following pressure from Washington.

Under new leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang tried but failed to launch a long range rocket called Unha in

Passenger's suspicious...

Passenger's suspicious claim diverts jet to Maine

By GLENN ADAMS, Associated Press 5/22/2012

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A US Airways jet traveling from Paris to North Carolina was diverted to Maine on Tuesday after a French passenger handed a note to a flight attendant mentioning that she had a surgically implanted device, raising fears of a terror scenario that security officials had warned about.
There is no evidence the plane was ever in danger, officials said. An examination by two doctors aboard the plane found that the passenger, a French citizen born in Cameroon, had no scars or incisions, said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who was briefed by Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole.
The FBI and Homeland Security Department warned airlines last summer that terrorists are considering surgically hiding bombs inside humans to evade airport security.

Mariners chase Darvish early...

Mariners chase Darvish early, beat Rangers

By Geoff Baker / The Seattle Times
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 

SEATTLE — Six walks is usually something the Mariners spend two or three games trying to compile.

And yet, there they were just three-plus innings into Monday night’s clash with Yu Darvish having already piled up a half-dozen freebies. The Mariners took full advantage of the goodwill by one of baseball’s better pitchers and turned an expected mound duel into a 6-1 laugher over the Texas Rangers.

Darvish was forced from the mound just four innings into the game, leaving Felix Hernandez as the last ace standing in front of 18,672 fans at Safeco Field. Hernandez had been blown out of a prior start in Cleveland last week, but had far better command this time in notching seven strikeouts over eight innings of one-run ball for the victory.

Hernandez didn’t allow a run until Mitch Moreland led off the eighth inning with a home run to center. Ian Kinsler then singled to left on Hernandez’s 103rd pitch and his night seemed down to a final batter

Japan debt...negative

Japan debt rating cut by Fitch, outlook negative

TOKYO | Tue May 22, 2012 5:47am EDT

May 22 (Reuters) - Japan's sovereign rating was cut by one notch by Fitch on Tuesday as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.

Fitch lowered Japan's long-term foreign currency rating to A plus from AA. It cut the local currency ratings to A plus from AA minus. Both were cut with a negative outlook.

Fitch warned that further downgrades are possible unless the government takes new fiscal policy

Spain Will...

Spain Will Remain In Recession Next Year, OECD Forecasts

By Angeline Benoit - May 22, 2012

Spain’s economy, the euro area’s fourth largest, won’t recover next year as government and private-sector funding conditions remain tight, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

Gross domestic product will contract 0.8 percent in 2013 after shrinking 1.6 percent this year, the Paris-based OECD said in a report today. That compares with the International Monetary Fund’s forecast for 0.1 percent growth after contracting 1.8 percent this year.

Putin Announces New Russian Cabinet

Familiar Confidants Chosen for Kremlin Posts

By ELLEN BARRY

Published: May 22, 2012

Observers have closely watched this week’s back-to-back staffing announcements for clues to whether the government will push through major political or economic changes in the coming years.

On Monday, Mr. Putin unveiled a new cabinet of ministers, replacing all but a handful of long-serving officials. State-controlled television emphasized the appearance of new faces as a signal that Russian politics is being imbued with fresh energy.

Lakers flexibility limited ...

Options, flexibility limited if Lakers look to retool

By Mike Bresnahan / Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, May 22, 2012

After another crash in the Western Conference semifinals, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t have many future alternatives after their season-ending 106-90 loss Monday in Game 5 against Oklahoma City.