“Some leaders in the media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN and engage in constructive problem-solving,” the host of Lou Dobbs Tonight said just after 7PM Wednesday. “I’m considering a number of options and directions,” the journalist added.

His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011, but the network agreed to release him early.

“Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere,” Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S. said in a statement. “All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom.”

New Jersey State Police were called to Dobbs’ home last month to investigate reports of gunfire. Dobbs has suggested that his family is being targeted because of his unpopular views on illegal immigration and border security.

Dobbs had been with CNN since its launch in 1980 and was the last of the network’s original anchors.

The girl left the dance at approximately 9:30PM and was walking to meet her father for a ride home when a classmate invited her to join a group drinking in the nearby courtyard. The victim had already consumed a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began. Investigators say as many as 15 people, all males, stood around watching the assault, but did not call police or help the victim.

“She was raped, beaten, robbed and dehumanized by several suspects who were obviously OK enough with it to behave that way in each other’s presence,” Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police tells CNN. “What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening and failed to report it.”

“Based on witness statements and suspect statements, and also physical evidence, we know that she was raped by at least four suspects committing multiple sex acts,” Gagan said. “As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated,” he added.

Manuel Ortega, a 19-year-old former student at the school, was arrested soon after he fled the scene and will face charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police say. He is being held on $800,000 bail for investigation of rape, and robbery.

“That’s just wrong,” senior class president Gina Saechao, who helped organize the dance, said on Monday. “What if it was your little sister? What if it was your mom?”

The victim remained hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Ashton Kutcher has taken to his Twitter page to rally support for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore’s San Francisco-based Current TV media venture, who were found guilty of committing a “grave crime” against North Korea and illegally entering the country.

North Korea’s state news agency says the country’s top court has convicted Ling (the sister of former View hostess Lisa Ling) and Lee and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison for their “crimes.”

“This should be a national crisis… We have to demand that something be done. This is our country, it’s our military,” Ashton Tweeted on Monday. “I say it’s special ops time… If we can save that Captain from pirates we can save these journalist [sic].”

The famed prankster took an uncharacterstic serious stance as he suggested using the power of the Internet to get the women out of prison.

“we should find out what the largest social network site in china is and run a campaign to encourage the people there 2 help….Bottom line, China needs to step up!”North Korean guards arrested the reporters near the China-North Korean border on March 17. A cameraman and their local guide escaped. The two were reporting about the trafficking of North Korean women at the time of their arrest. As a result, the two women were sentenced to 12 years of “reform through labor” in a North Korean prison.

On Monday, White House deputy spokesman William Burton released a statement, ensuring the public that President Obama is exploring “all possible channels to secure their release.”

With twenty confirmed cases in the U.S. and the Mexican death toll already at more than 100, what is The Centers for Disease Control doing to contain the spread of swine flu?

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Nadya Suleman, the 33-year-old single mom who added octuplets to her brood of six kids last week, is wasting no time using her newborn babies as one-way tickets to Beverly Hills.

The mother of fourteen has reportedly offered Oprah Winfrey and ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer exclusive interviews on her now infamous fertility for an asking price of $2 million.

Nadya, who family members in Southern California believe is obsessed with children, has also sparked speculation that she is interested in a career in reality TV, following in the footsteps of TLC stars Jon and Kate Gosselin and The Duggars.

Spotted At

The woman who gave birth to octuplets in Whitter, California this week already had six children, according to a new report. But despite still living at home with her parents, the unidentified mama reportedly refused to stop taking fertility treatments or to reduce the number of embryos she was carrying last year, her mother said this week.

The six boys and two girls, born nine weeks premature at the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center on Monday, are only the second octuplets born alive in the United States.

Angela Suleman said the good news is that all the babies, ranging between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces at birth, appear healthy.

“I looked at those babies. They are so tiny and so beautiful,” Suleman told The Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

“What do you suggest she should have done? She refused to have them killed,” Suleman told the Times. “That is a very painful thing.”

Doctors had been expecting only seven babies, but an eighth was born in the Caesarean delivery.

The mother’s other children are 7, 6, 5, 3, and 2-year-old twins, neighbors say.

The nation has become captivated with an amazing story coming out of New York City this evening.

A U.S. Airways plane landed in the Hudson River after a run-in with a flock of geese on Thursday afternoon.

The US Airways Airbus A320 jet with about 150 people on board came down into the freezing water just off Manhattan after a flock of geese ran into one of the vessel’s engines, causing the system to fail and the plane to go down.

Miraculously, everyone on board was rescued without suffering any serious injuries. This could have turned into a real tragedy-damn those geese! We’re so glad everyone’s okay!

Noooooo!! Christmas Day wraps up with a bit of bad news.

Emmy Award-winning dancer-actress Eartha Kitt, a child conceived of rape in a South Carolina cotton field who grew up to become an international “sex kitten,” has died.

Family friend Andrew Freedman tells the Associated Press the entertainment icon died of colon cancer Thursday at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

Mrs. Kitt was 81.

That Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookie might be your last. Already $20 million in debt, Mrs. Fields crumbling cookie empire is planning on filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next month, according to a scoop from Forbes Magazine.

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