keep for now

U.S. airline, rail and transit systems in New York and other eastern cities initiated sweeping weekend shutdowns and slowdowns on Saturday as Hurricane Irene bore down on the region.

The city that never sleeps started shutting down at midday on Saturday, with nearly all businesses except a smattering of food and liquor stores closing and public transportation coming to a halt ahead of Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Irene howled ashore in North Carolina on Saturday on a path that triggered evacuations in New York and threatened the densely populated East Coast with flooding and power outages.

Vivian Cheruiyot won gold in the women's 10,000 meters on Saturday as Kenya swept the first four places at the athletics world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Usain Bolt signaled that reports of his vulnerability might be exaggerated when he stormed to the quickest time in the first round of the 100 metres heats at the world championships on Saturday.

Major League Baseball (MLB) met with Alex Rodriguez on Friday as part of its investigation into reports that the New York Yankees slugger took part in high-stakes underground poker games.

Safety fears over the possible impact of Hurricane Irene have forced the National Football League (NFL) and other North American sporting bodies to reschedule or cancel events for this weekend.

Hurricane Irene's impact on New York City remains to be seen, but it's a certainty that Broadway will be dark this weekend, with all Saturday and Sunday performances canceled.

Hurricane Irene sent East Coast shoppers into stores to stock up on essentials this week, instead of the clothes, notebooks and other supplies that retailers were counting on selling as children get ready to go back to school.

Hurricane Irene caused as much as $1.1 billion in insured losses in the Caribbean, catastrophe modeling company AIR Worldwide said on Friday, with more expected to come as the storm heads for the U.S. Northeast.

Hurricane Irene howled ashore in North Carolina with heavy winds, rain and surf on Saturday on a path threatening the densely populated U.S. East Coast with flooding and power outages.

Airlines canceled nearly 8,000 weekend flights as Hurricane Irene swept up the U.S. east coast toward New York, forcing carriers to move planes to safer areas and halting services at the busiest U.S. hub.

Luc Besson's The Lady, inspired by Myanmar pro democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, will open the International Rome Film Festival which runs from October 27 to November 4.

A photograph appearing to show an emaciated Steve Jobs surfaced on celebrity website TMZ, which said the picture was taken on Friday, two days after he resigned as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) CEO.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Thursday described Washington as a seedy place while defending what he said was his manner of speaking plainly.

A convoy of six Mercedes cars have crossed from Libya into Algeria, Egypt's state MENA news agency reported on Saturday, quoting a rebel source.

Hurricane Irene closed in on the east coast on Friday, lashing North Carolina with ferocious winds and triggering emergency steps including unprecedented evacuations and transit shutdowns in New York.

Kids whose moms smoked while pregnant were more likely to end up on medications such as antidepressants, stimulants and drugs for addiction in a new study from Finland that hints at maternal smoking's effect on a baby's developing brain.

It may be difficult to believe that after three decades of rocking hard -- 65 million albums sold and hundreds of packed concerts -- Def Leppard hadn't released a standalone live album until this year.

U.S. airlines have cut at least 1,000 flights and are moving airplanes out of the anticipated path of Hurricane Irene, while airports are taking steps to minimize damage from the storm.

A private detective jailed for illegally intercepting voicemail messages on behalf of a journalist at one of Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids on Friday gave lawyers the names of the people he says ordered him to carry out the phone hacking.

The eastern United States ramped up its alert on Friday ahead of Hurricane Irene and New York City ordered evacuations of vulnerable residents as the broad, menacing storm closed in on the Atlantic coast.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it has restarted the clock on its review of AT&T Inc's (T.N) proposed $39 billion purchase of smaller rival T-Mobile USA.

The race to pick Japan's sixth leader in five years appeared on Friday to be shaping up as a battle between the most popular contender and a rival backed by a party powerbroker, although with five candidates in play, the outcome was hard to call.

The jury in the upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor will not be sequestered, despite a request by defense lawyers who expect the case to be the most publicized in history.

The United States urged 55 million people on its East Coast on Friday to prepare for the onslaught of massive Hurricane Irene, which President Barack Obama warned could be extremely dangerous and costly.

President Barack Obama on Friday warned Americans to take Hurricane Irene seriously and urged them to obey orders to evacuate from the path of what is likely to be an extremely dangerous and costly storm.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economy needed more stimulus to get it moving, putting in a plug for government measures shortly before the White House unveils new proposals to boost job growth.

The struggling U.S. economy expanded even more slowly than previously thought in the second quarter of 2011, but a breakdown of the growth suggested a new recession could be avoided.