It's Official: Weiner's Running for NYC Mayor

Anthony Weiner—possibly inspired by Mark Sanford's shock comeback —has made it official: He's running for mayor of America's biggest city. The former congressman launched his run for New York City mayor with a video posted on YouTube at midnight, in which he says, "I made some big mistakes and...

Garcia Sorry for Woods 'Fried Chicken' Crack

The Sergio Garcia-Tiger Woods feud sank to a new low last night when the Spaniard used a racial stereotype to have a dig at his rival. When asked at a European Tour awards dinner if he would have Woods round for dinner during the US Open, Garcia said, "We will...

Vatican Denies Pope Performed Exorcism

Pope Francis was merely praying in a video that allegedly shows him performing an exorcism on a Mexican pilgrim, the Vatican says. In the video—broadcast on a TV station owned by the Italian Bishops' Conference—the man convulses and then goes limp after the stern-faced pontiff places his hands...

Senate Panel Clears Immigration Reform

Far-reaching legislation to grant a chance at citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a solid bipartisan vote tonight after supporters somberly sidestepped a controversy over the rights of gay spouses. The 13-5 vote cleared the way for an epic...

Nepal Furious About Phone Call Atop Everest

One more sign that climbing Everest just ain't what it used to be: When a British mountaineer got to the summit over the weekend, he pulled out his smartphone and gave the BBC a video billed as "the world's first live video call ... from the rooftop of the world." Now...

Inventor: I've Cracked Cold Fusion

This is either bombshell, world-changing news or "one of the most elaborate hoaxes in scientific history," reports Mark Gibbs at Forbes . An Italian engineer who claims to have achieved cold fusion—the holy grail of clean energy—says his E-Cat device has been deemed credible by an independent team of...

Freedom Goat Runs for Her Life, Snarls Traffic

It's hard not to root for the goat in this one: One believed to have escaped en route to a slaughterhouse snarled the morning commute along one of the busiest roadways in northern New Jersey today, leading police on a nearly two-hour chase. The small female eluded five Jersey City...

IRS Figure at Center of Scandal Will Take the Fifth

She is probably the IRS official most closely linked to the agency's recent mess, but Lois Lerner plans to reveal nothing when she testifies on Capitol Hill tomorrow, reports Politico . The attorney for Lerner, who oversees the IRS nonprofits division, says his client will invoke the Fifth when she goes...

Cops: We Can't Solve Susan Powell Case

Josh Powell reportedly had an affair just months before his wife disappeared, and his brother may have been "heavily involved" in getting rid of her body, Utah police revealed as they announced they couldn't solve the sensational case. The West Valley City Police Department yesterday opened its books on the...

For $1.2K, Club Will Let You Peep Into Ladies' Bathroom

Be careful if you're a woman at Glasgow's Shimmy Club and find yourself having to use the restroom: It's installed with a two-way mirror, and clubgoers who want a look are charged as much as $1,200 to peep in. After complaints, Scotland's police force launched an investigation into the...

Weather Service: Tornado as Big as It Gets

The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Oklahoma yesterday was a top-of-the-scale EF-5 twister with winds between 200 and 210mph. The agency upgraded the tornado from an EF-4 based on what a damage-assessment team saw on the ground. Less than 1% of US tornadoes are this violent. Yesterday's...

Yankees Venture Into ... Soccer?

The Yankees are extending their reach into the world of soccer. The team will be co-owners of an MLS squad called the New York City Football Club expected to play its first game in 2015, reports the Guardian . The Yanks will own about a quarter of the club, with the...

Fans Shell Out Thousands for Daft Punk Helmets

Want to make a few bucks? Figure out how to duplicate the odd, face-covering, sometimes rainbow-lighted helmets worn by the two members of Daft Punk, suggests the Wall Street Journal . There's apparently quite a demand for replicas of the iconic headgear worn by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, particularly...

Notre Dame Evacuated After Suicide at Altar

Paris' legendary Notre Dame Cathedral was evacuated today, after a man shot himself in front of the altar, police tell France 24 . The incident occurred around 4pm local time, while the tourist attraction was open to the public. Some 1,500 visitors were cleared out after the man put a...

Microsoft Reveals New XBox, Focuses on TV, Not Games

Microsoft unveiled its long-awaited next-generation XBox today, touting more than anything its bevy of advanced entertainment features, calling it an "all-in-one system for games, movies, and entertainment," and announcing an exclusive, live-action Halo TV show produced by Steven Spielberg. Here's what you need to know, drawn from TechCrunch , the Guardian...

Now Jodi Arias Doesn't Want to Die

Pretty much immediately after being convicted of murder , Jodi Arias told a reporter she wanted the death penalty: "The worst outcome for me would be natural life," she said. In the last 12 days she has changed her mind. Arias today made an impassioned, 18-minute plea for her life, telling...

Hey, Tea Party: How Does It Feel to Be Profiled?

Imagine you're an overworked IRS employee, charged with finding, in your massive stack of 501(c)(4) applications, the groups most likely to make electioneering their main focus. Wouldn't it make a little sense to focus on self-proclaimed Tea Party groups? Sure it would. And there's a word for that shortcut, Farhad...

Foster Mom Jailed for Spanking Kid With Spoon

A wooden-spoon spanking is landing a Connecticut foster mom in jail for third-degree assault. Jami Littlefield, 51, will be sentenced to 100 days in prison and two years' probation after she pleaded guilty to hitting a 4-year-old girl with the utensil, the Day reports. The child was "acting out," telling...

Word Choices Show We're Me-Centric, Less Moral

Lexicologists poring over a Google database of books and word usage suggest three general traits of the past half-century, writes David Brooks in the New York Times . Society has become more individualistic (with words and phrases such as "self" and "I come first" on the rise), less moral ("virtue" and...

Forklift Driver Survives Plunge Into Soy Sauce

It's still unclear what caused a warehouse floor to collapse in New Jersey yesterday, ABC 7 notes, but it seems a forklift may have saved its driver's life. As Danny Rodriguez was operating the vehicle, a hole opened below him and he fell—apparently into a mix of cooking oil...

Now Can We Stop Cutting the Weather Service?

The National Weather Service had a warning in effect 16 minutes before yesterday's tragic Oklahoma tornado —but we may not be as prepared next time around, thanks to the sequester's 8.2% cut to the Weather Service, David Sirota writes on Salon . The organization representing weather service employees has warned...

Apple CEO on Tax Shelters: 'I'm Not an Unfair Person'

Tim Cook is on Capitol Hill today to answer criticism that Apple uses overly creative—but legal—accounting practices to avoid paying billions in taxes . The highlights amount to Cook defending the company's practices, while critics such as Carl Levin and John McCain accuse it of shirking its tax duties....

US Paid Fort Hood Suspect $278K Since Shooting

Accused Fort Hood Major shooter Nidal Hasan has collected $278,000 in salary from the military in the years since the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting that took 13 lives. The Defense Department confirms the payments to NBC Dallas/Fort Worth , and explains that it's powerless to stop them: The Military Code...

Double Amputee Summits Everest— Without Prosthetics

Sudarshan Gautam is missing both his arms, but that didn't stop him from achieving his dream: to reach Mount Everest's summit, which he did yesterday, according to his website . The Calgary man, 31, is the first double amputee to climb the mountain with no prosthetic limbs, Sun News reports. Gautam,...

Court: You Don't Get to See bin Laden Death Photos

It doesn't look like the CIA's photos of a dead Osama bin Laden will ever see the light of day. A federal appeals court today ruled that the Obama administration's argument that releasing them would incite riots and anti-US violence makes sense, reports Reuters . A conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch,...

NC Woman Tries to Poison Family Over Cheese: Cops

Today, in really stupid reasons to end up in jail: A North Carolina woman is charged with trying to poison five family members after one of them refused to share some cheese with her. A statement from the Nash County Sheriff's Office said 24-year-old Tiara Drake wanted some of a...

Melissa Joan Hart: Why My Kickstarter Totally Flopped

Melissa Joan Hart's Kickstarter campaign had so many problems, you probably cringed when you read about it . But the actress thinks she's zeroed in on the particular reason she attracted only 315 backers: "We didn’t give [fans] the two things it takes to sell a movie: a poster and a...

Club Drug 'Special K' Could Treat Depression

Doctors use it as an anesthetic and ravers use it to hallucinate, but a new study indicates that ketamine might have another trick up its sleeve: treating depression. A new study found that the drug the kids call "Special K" is effective at treating major depression compared to an active...

Bieber Officially Abandons His Monkey

Justin Bieber is now a man (boy?) without a monkey. After little Mally was seized by German customs authorities in March, Bieber was told he'd have to submit a bunch of paperwork (vaccination and import records) to get the capuchin back. But Friday's midnight deadline came and went, and a...

Oklahoma's Coburn: I Want Offsets to Pay for Tornado Aid

Tom Coburn represents Oklahoma, so you might expect him to call for tornado relief to flow to his state no matter the cost—but you'd be wrong. Instead, the Republican senator is demanding that all aid to his state be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget, a spokesman tells...