After a YouTube video showed panicked New Yorkers scrambling as a Boeing 747 flew frighteningly close to the lower Manhattan skyline, a former Homeland Security adviser questioned whether the man who approved the flyby should remain in his White House office. Fran Townsend, who advised President George W. Bush for more than three years, labeled the decision as "crass insensitivity" in the wake of 9/11. "I'd call this felony stupidity. This is probably not the right job for ...

A U.S. journalist jailed in Iran for espionage is on a hunger strike, and plans to keep it up until she is freed, her father told CNN on Saturday. Roxana Saberi, 31, was sentenced last week to eight years in prison after a one-day trial that was closed to the public. Her father, Reza Saberi, confirmed the hunger strike, saying she started it on Tuesday. "She was supposed to see her lawyer on Thursday but the lawyer could not get ...

Two senior Indian officials met with the Sri Lankan president Friday in Colombo to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn island nation. Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian foreign secretary and M.K. Narayanan, the national security adviser, met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to A.M.J. Sadiq, a foreign ministry official in Sri Lanka. He did not provide further details. "The Indian message was just short of reading the riot act," a source told CNN. Significant numbers ...

The Sri Lankan offensive against the faltering Tamil Tiger rebel movement has killed or wounded "significant numbers," and thousands are trapped by the fighting, the United Nations said Wednesday. The Sri Lankan army launched an operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in the country's north on Monday, and a deadline for the rebels to surrender passed Tuesday. Government troops say they have rescued 39,000 civilians trapped in the area, but tens of thousands more remain wedged into an ...

To this day, Linda Haywood recalls the shame she once felt for her great-uncle. "I could see from the expression on my mother's face that it pained her to tell me about him," she recalled, "but it wasn't just her. The shame was there for all the members of my family." Haywood's great-uncle, Jack Johnson, shocked the nation in 1908 by becoming the first African-American world heavyweight champion. Yet the boxer was arrested not long afterward for taking a white ...

Farrah Fawcett has been hospitalized in the latest stage of her battle against cancer, a producer working with the actress said Monday. Craig Nevius issued a statement to People magazine and confirmed the statement to CNN. "She recently checked into a Los Angeles hospital," the statement says. It adds, "Farrah is allowing this statement out of appreciation for her fans, who have offered their constant support throughout her fight, as well as out of concern for the countless other cancer ...

Is anyone else besides Michelle Obama leaving the house these days? Because for the last week, you would have thought that Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow and Halle Berry had gone into the Witness Protection Program. During first lady Michelle Obama's whirlwind visit to Europe this past week, her refreshing take on American style has emerged. It is elegant, smart, appropriate and shows the first lady to be comfortable in her own skin. Coverage surrounding the first lady's wardrobe in ...

Queen Elizabeth II has become a YouTube hit after apparently losing her temper with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a photocall for G-20 leaders. The queen joined the G-20 leaders for an official photo to mark the summit. After the photo is taken, Berlusconi can be heard yelling: "Mr Obama," at the U.S. president in an attempt to get his attention. The noise appears to rile the queen who turns in Berlusconi's direction, shrugs her shoulders and says: "What ...

India's Department of Atomic Energy is sending an investigative team to the northern state of Punjab after traces of uranium where found in the hair samples of children and adults with disabilities. The incident involving Brand, the host of the Radio 2 program which aired the calls, and the entertainer Jonathan Ross, who took part, provoked outrage. The two men left a series of crude messages for actor Andrew Sachs, who played Spanish waiter Manuel in the 1970s TV comedy ...

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife, Sarah, wore an outfit from designer Britt Lintner to greet President Obama and his wife, Michelle, while Michelle Obama wore J. Crew, according to spokeswomen for both sides. Both women later changed and wore other designer outfits for the formal pre-G-20 summit dinner at 10 Downing Street, the British prime minister's official residence. Wednesday morning, Sarah Brown wore a one-of-a-kind navy dress with red lining by the American-born Lintner, a spokeswoman for 10 Downing ...