Former Sen. Fred Thompson plans return to acting

Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson best known on TV for his role as a gruff district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order," dropped out of the crowded GOP primaries in January after his much-anticipated presidential campaign failed to gain strong support among conservatives. And now he's going back to the small screen after his foray into Republican presidential politics over the last year.

He campaigned heavily for eventual nominee John McCain, and had recently tried to gain support to be in charge of the Republican National Committee. But his former finance chairman, B.C. "Scooter" Clippard, said Thompson told him Wednesday that he was returning to acting and
dropping his RNC bid. "He seriously considered it, but he called and said that it was not in the cards," Clippard said.

Clippard said he did not know which television programs might be interested in Thompson. "He has some wonderful opportunities back in the television market that probably financially far outweigh being chair of the RNC," Clippard said.

Thompson, 66, was a lawyer and character actor before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1993, only to turn his back on politics after his first full term in favor of a full-time acting career in 2002. And while his presidential ambitions didn't pan out, at least Thompson got to play the commander in chief as Ulysses S. Grant in the 2007 TV movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

Thompson began his acting career playing himself in the film "Marie" in 1985, about a high-profile legal case he handled in Tennessee.

Testimony In Murder Trial Begins for Rapper T.I.

Rap star Clifford "T.I." Harris is charged with shooting and killing Philant Johnson, an assistant to T.I. two years ago following a concert appearance in Cincinnati.

He took the stand in a Hamilton County courtroom Friday to testify for the prosecution in the murder trial of 34-year-old Hosea Thomas.

The shooting occurred as T.I. and his entourage were leaving a concert after-party at the Club Ritz. Prosecutors say that T.I. and Johnson were in two vans heading South on Interstate 75, when they were chased by a Jeep Cherokee, when the shooting occurred in May of 2006. T.I.
says his security people tried to keep him away from the fight. Security for the Club Ritz wanted to pull him away, but Harris says he resisted, telling them, "I am straight with you, you should be dealing with what's going on."

"I noticed headlights, you know, trying to get around and get into the lane of oncoming traffic making efforts to pull up along side of us. Basically, me and Ron was having the same conversation that I just told you. 'If a fight brake out, I'm cool. You need to go make sure
everyone else is alright so we can leave. Don't just stand here with me and do nothing.' So Ron and I were having that discussion. And I also noticed headlights and I attempted to bring it to Ron's attention. 'Do you see what's going on around you? Are you looking?' And he said, 'Yeah, I got it, I got it.' He kept talking, kept talking, and before I knew it, shots rang out," the rapper describes.

Three members of T.I.'s entourage were injured during the gun battle between the cars on the interstate. Thomas faces charges of murder and felonious assault, among other charges. T.I. admitted on the stand that he faces federal gun charges in connection with a previous
unrelated incident.

Among the first questions to T.I. was to describe his relationship with Johnson. T.I. says he grew up in Atlanta with Johnson, who he describes as "my oldest living friend." T.I. says Johnson's family and his family knew each other well. Johnson helped arrange personal business for T.I. as well as made touring arrangements for T.I.'s entourage. T.I. also described the fight that broke out at the Club Ritz nightclub in Roselawn before the shooting incident. He told the jury, "At first it started out with 5 to 6 people, then it escalated to 15 to 20 people, then 30."

Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates

In the past two weeks Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates have
seized eight vessels including the huge Saudi supertanker. Several
hundred crew are now in the hands of Somali pirates. The pirates dock
the hijacked ships near the eastern and southern Somali coast and
negotiate for ransom.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said today that the Saudi government
was not and would not negotiate with pirates, but what the ship's
owners did was up to them.

A radical Islamic group in Somalia said today that it would fight the
pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of
crude oil. Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to
speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation,
said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.

The Somali pirates have the support of their communities and rogue
members of the government. Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates
travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships
that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and
communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters,
clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket
launchers and grenades -- weaponry that is readily available
throughout Somalia.

Attempt by Germany to Ban Scientology Dropped

Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding
insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said
Friday. Domestic intelligence services will continue to monitor the
group, officials said.

The German branch of the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology has
been under observation by domestic intelligence services for more than
a decade. Top security officials asked state governments in December
to begin gathering information on whether they had sufficient grounds
to seek a ban.

The Church of Scientology welcomed the ministers' decision to stop
seeking a ban as the "only one possible." "There never was a legal
basis to open such proceedings," said Sabine Weber, a spokeswoman for
Scientology in Germany. Scientology further called on officials to end
the observation, and what it called "the discrimination and the
harassment that go along with it."

Germany has said it considers Scientology to be in conflict with the
principles of the nation's constitution, calling it less a church than
a business that uses coercion to take advantage of vulnerable people.

A report on extremism last charged that Scientology "seeks to limit or
rescind basic and human rights, such as the right to develop one's
personality and the right to be treated equally."

Mukasey checks out of hospital, returns to DOJ

Attorney General Michael Mukasey was given a "clean bill of health"
and went back to work Friday after his harrowing collapse at a
late-night dinner speech.

The 67-year-old Mukasey, accompanied by his wife, Susan, told
reporters and cameras at midday Friday that he felt "excellent" as he
stepped into a van for a ride back to the Justice Department.

Mukasey never transferred his authority to a deputy during the time
when he was rushed to George Washington University Hospital late
Thursday and while there under observation during the night. He passed
a host of tests Friday, he said, including a treadmill stress test, an
MRI and a CT scan.

"As you may have heard, I collapsed briefly last night at the
conclusion of a speech," the retired federal judge said in a
late-morning e-mail to his departmental staff.

"All tests at the hospital have come back with good results, and I
feel fine," Mukasey's e-mail said. "Thank you for your good wishes and
your good work. It has been and remains an honor to serve with you."

Florida teen kills self on live webcam

Abraham Biggs Jr., 19, was found in the bedroom of his home in
Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Wednesday and an autopsy showed he died of
a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to
treat anxiety and insomnia, the Broward County Medical Examiner's
Office said. He had committed suicide by drug overdose in front of a
webcam streaming live video to the Internet and some viewers may have
egged him on, authorities said on Friday.

"We have ruled it a suicide. Part of the terminal event was recorded
on a website and there was streaming video," said Dr. Steve Cina,
deputy chief medical examiner of Broward County. A police spokesman
said detectives were investigating the case but would not release any
details.

Biggs had written blogs about his intentions and some of the viewers
who were watching the event live may have goaded him on, Cina said.
"There is some indication of that, yes," he said. In a purported
suicide note posted by Miami television station WPLG on its website,
Biggs said: "I hate myself and I hate living." The note said he had
"thought about and attempted suicide many times in the past."

The Miami Herald newspaper said another suicide in Broward County was
broadcast live on the Internet a few years ago. Last year, a
42-year-old man killed himself in front of a webcam in what was
believed to be Britain's first suicide on the Internet. Viewers saw
him climb onto a chair, tie a rope around a ceiling joist and hang
himself.

Who's gonna deal? Madonna and Guy Ritchie

Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce Friday.

Neither appeared at the brief court session in which "Ciccone M L v
Ritchie G S" was one of 17 cases given a preliminary decree. After six
weeks and a day, the divorce can become final.

The decree said the divorce was granted on the basis of Ritchie's
"unreasonable behavior," but did not elaborate.

British news media reported, without identifying the sources of their
information, that the celebrity couple had reached a settlement that
would see the pop superstar keep the majority of her estimated 300
million pound ($445 million) fortune.

Reports in the Evening Standard and the Times of London said the
couple had also reached a deal regarding their two children: Rocco, 8,
and David Banda, 3, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006.

The newspapers said the two boys will split their time between Britain
and the United States, while Lourdes -- Madonna's 12-year-old daughter
from a previous relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon -- will
live with her mother in America.

As far as division of assets, Guy reportedly keeps the couple's
sprawling $20 million English estate, while Madonna gets the $14
million London pad.

Requests for comment from representatives for the couple were not returned.

Madonna and Ritchie, director of "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two
Smoking Barrels," married in December 2000 at Skibo Castle in the
Scottish Highlands.

Palin talks turkey while workers slaughter one in the background

Aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential
nominee, should do a better job picking the locations for her
on-camera interviews. While the GOP vice presidential nominee talked
politics after pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving, the camera caught
workers slaughtering turkeys in the background.

For what it's worth, President Bush is set to pardon a turkey of his
own next week. We don't expect to see any blood and guts during that
event.

GM Execs get criticized then return leased jets

General Motors Corp(GM.N) will return two of its leased corporate jets
amid intense criticism in Washington this week on the luxury travel
arrangements of its chief executive even as the company pleads for
federal aid.

CEO Rick Wagoner was in the capital to testify on the company's dire
financial situation but his testimony was overshadowed by irate
lawmakers who blasted him for flying on a private jet to ask for
public funds and failing to make personal sacrifices in exchange for
federal assistance.

Chief executives from Ford Motor Co, and Chrysler LLC, who were also
there to plead for $25 billion in federal aid, came under fire too for
flying to Washington in private jets. GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said
on Friday GM decided to return the aircraft because of a "really
aggressive cutback in travel." Wilkinson said the decision to return
the leased corporate jets was made before this week's hearings and
that the company in September returned two other of the seven jets it
had at the beginning of the year.

"There is a perception issue," Wilkinson said of Wagoner's travel to
Washington on a private jet. "We need to be very sensitive to that
going forward." He, however, said the company has not decided on what
mode of transportation Wagoner would take if had to travel to
Washington again.

Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are required by their companies to
fly by private aircraft for security reasons, according to company
documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The
policy for Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli is not required to be
disclosed because the company is not publicly traded.

Skeptical lawmakers took to task the three CEOs for their luxurious
travel arrangements at congressional committee hearings. "Couldn't you
have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or
something to get here?" Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat, asked
the executives at a hearing held by the U.S. House Financial Services
Committee. Even Democrats who said they were sympathetic to the
automakers' plight expressed frustration that the executives used
private jets while professing ruthless cost-cutting measures.

A Chrysler spokesman said the automaker also leases or charters jets.
He, however, declined to comment on whether the company was rethinking
the use of private jets for executive travel, saying it was a "private
matter." Ford did not have an immediate comment on its corporate jet
policy. According to Ford's proxy, CEO Mulally's compensation
included $752,203 in 2007 for personal use of company aircraft. About
two years ago, the head of Ford's North American operations, Mark
Fields, gave up use of a corporate jet for personal travel to his home
in Florida after the arrangement came under criticism at a time when
the automaker was losing billions and slashing jobs. He now flies
first class on commercial planes.