 AP - Flip-flopping sentiment about the prospects for U.S. automakers battered stocks again Thursday as hopes rose then fell that lawmakers would soon put together an aid package for the companies. Stocks declined after a brief advance that came on hopes that Washington would agree to help Detroit's Big Three.
 Reuters - Exasperated U.S. lawmakers criticized Federal Reserve and Treasury Department efforts to shore up the faltering economy on Thursday, telling officials that their financial rescue efforts have not reached small businesses or homeowners.
 AP - A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of five Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth in a major blow to the Bush administration's strategy to keep terror suspects locked up without charges.
 Reuters - President George W. Bush will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday to review Middle East peace efforts that the U.S. leader had once hoped would produce an agreement before he left office.
 AP - New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.
 Reuters - The number of American workers on the unemployment rolls surged to the highest in a quarter century and a regional manufacturing gauge slumped as U.S. economic misery intensified.
 AFP - Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil super-tanker demanded a 25 million dollar ransom Thursday amid calls for tougher action to end threats to one of the world's key maritime routes.
 AP - A judge will likely grant Madonna and Guy Ritchie an initial divorce decree on Friday, according to the schedule for London's High Court.
 Reuters - Conservatives who have abandoned the U.S. Episcopal Church by the thousands in recent years are trying to form a separate-but-equal church, a move that could leave two branches of Anglicanism on American soil.
 AP - Jennifer Garner has won a restraining order from a man she says has been stalking her for years. An attorney for Garner appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday morning and won three years of protection for Garner, husband Ben Affleck and their daughter, Violet.
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 Reuters - Columbia is bringing the story of Eugene Allen, a black man who served as a White House butler for 34 years, to the big screen.
 E! Online - After taking the raunch to the big screen, Seth Rogen is bringing porno back where it rightfully belongs?in a late-night time slot on a pay cable channel.
AP - Jennifer Garner has won a restraining order from a man she says has been stalking her for years.
 AP - Actress Winona Ryder was briefly hospitalized after falling ill on a flight to London's Heathrow Airport Wednesday, her publicist said.
 AP - The opening date and Broadway theater have been set for the world premiere of "Impressionism," a play by Michael Jacobs starring Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen.
 Reuters - The makers of teen vampire movie "Twilight" have seen fan excitement reach bloodcurdling levels ahead of the U.S. debut on Friday, but as expectations rise, some industry watchers are wondering if all the hype could be too much of a good thing.
 Reuters - Weekend ticket sales at the North American box office are shaping up as the kind that industry executives dream about.
Reuters - Collene Campbell's son Scott was murdered in 1982. Six years later her brother, off-road racing legend Mickey Thompson, and his wife were gunned down.
 Reuters - Paramount is getting behind the power of the press. The studio has picked up the life rights of Missouri journalist Linda Trest, who helped break open the cover of a drug-busting con man.
Reuters - The Sundance Film Festival, the top destination for U.S. independent filmmakers, on Wednesday unveiled the opening-night movie for its 25th edition in January, the clay animation feature "Mary and Max."
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Reuters - The Associated Press plans to cut up to 10 percent of its workforce in 2009, according to sources at the news service, as it copes with tough financial times and ailing member newspapers.
 E! Online - Lifetime isn't going to just sit and watch Project Runway pass it by.
AP - The country's largest trade publisher, Random House Inc., has frozen the pensions of its current employees and eliminated them for future hires, the latest cutback in an industry hit by declining sales and anticipating, at best, a difficult 2009.
 Fashion Wire Daily - Forget what youÂ’ve heard about Rihanna. "Good Girl Gone Bad" is only one half of her story. She may be a brooding and glamorous fashion plate in her music videos, but in her off hours this Grammy-winning artist partnered up with Gucci to be the face of their new Tattoo Heart accessories collection, which Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini designed as part of their annual campaign to benefit UNICEF, now in its fourth year.
AP - A judge will likely grant Madonna and Guy Ritchie an initial divorce decree on Friday, according to the schedule for London's High Court.
 E! Online - It was down to Analeigh Tipton, McKey Sullivan and Samantha Potter?all lovely, leggy and hungry (to win!), but only one could be crowned America's Next Top Model.
 E! Online - If Pushing Daisies is on probation, it's pushing its luck.
 AP - Friction keeps obstructing "The View."
 AP - As front man and lead singer of Alabama, Randy Owen racked up 42 No. 1 singles and dozens of other hits.
 AP - Ben Affleck is talking to children and aid officials in refugee camps in war-torn eastern Congo in an effort to raise awareness of the conflict that has displaced at least 250,000 people.
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