‘Idol’ finalists dish on singing, strategy and sexuality

"American Idol" viewers had a clear choice when it came down to the final decision: the low-key but sincere Kris Allen or the flamboyant and powerful Adam Lambert. The vote went for Allen, and Lambert told Ryan Seacrest on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that the outcome didn’t surprise him. There are no hard feelings, though

Share

‘Emma’ is top name for newborn girls in U.S.

Maybe it was the baby in "Friends." Or perhaps it was a thirst for comforting words that sound like "mama." Whatever the cause, the name “Emma” has climbed to the top of the cultural heap, transplanting the powerhouse “Emily” as the most popular name for baby girls in America. The Social Security Administration released its annual list of most popular baby names Friday, ahead of the Mother’s Day weekend. Topping the boys list for 2008 is the heavyweight “Jacob,” which has been the number one male moniker for 10 years

Share

Sessions Could Make Obama’s Supreme Court Fight Tougher

Political junkies who weren’t thrilled at the prospect of a relatively staid confirmation process for President Barack Obama’s as yet unnamed Supreme Court nominee can rest easy. This week Senate Republicans named perennial bomb thrower Jeff Sessions, 62, of Alabama to be the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, promising to bring at least a few sparks to a confirmation process that — if Minnesota’s Al Franken is seated — was bound to be relatively easy. While Sessions alone can’t change the basic legislative math that promises whomever Obama picks to replace retiring Justice David Souter a fairly easy path to confirmation, he can certainly liven up the proceedings

Share

Pandemic equals economic pain

While the swine flu raises public-health alarms globally, the prognosis for the world economy is not good if the outbreaks mutate into a pandemic. If there’s a pandemic on the level of the 1918 “Spanish” flu, a 2008 World Bank analysis says, it would cost the world economy $3.1 trillion and drop the world’s gross domestic product by 4.8 percent in the first year of infection. A pandemic like the less severe 1957 “Asian” flu would reduce global GDP by 2 percent, The World Bank concluded, while a pandemic like the most recent 1968 “Hong Kong” flu would cut world economic output by just under 1 percent

Share

Baghdad Bombings: Is Iraq Unraveling Again?

At least five bomb attacks in Iraq in the past 48 hours have left some 140 people dead, wounded dozens more and raised fears that the country may be returning to the sectarian violence from which it has only just emerged. On Thursday three bombs in central Baghdad and areas northeast of the capital killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 100

Share