More bombshell revelations have leaked about the Greg Kelly rape allegations, a source told the Associated Press that a woman became pregnant and had an abortion after being allegedly sexually assaulted by Kelly in October.

After several reports on the relationship between the network and anchor Keith Olbermann, Current TV head Al Gore made several statements today confirming that Olbermann is “fine” at the network and attacking MSNBC for being “all over the lot” politically, while Current was “consistent” in its progressivism.

Vladimir Putin‘s potential return to the Russian presidency is being met with more than a little resistance by many in the nation. The AP reports that Saturday saw protests of thousands in Moscow against United Russia, Putin’s party, and at least fifteen other cities, with protesters chanting in some cities “Putin is a louse” and alleging voter fraud in an election where the former president’s party won about 50% of the vote.

Several weeks after his father, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was captured and killed by rebel forces attempting to leave the nation he governed for more than forty years, his son and heir, Saif al-Islam, was found attempting to flee to Niger yesterday and taken to the northern town of Zintan. Today, video has surfaced of the younger Gaddafi being transported by the airplane, while the interim leader of the country promised a fair trial for crimes against humanity.

The fascination and/or confusion inspired by the Herman Cain campaign’s unusual political ad quickly ushered Cain campaign manager, the inimitable (but you can certainly try, maybe for whatever Halloween party you have this weekend) Mark Block, into the national spotlight. If an interview with the AP from his Atlanta office is anything to go by, the Tea Party leader thinks of himself as an “anti-Rovian” figure working in stark contrast to GOP establishment figurehead Karl Rove.

While 39,000 United States soldiers are likely beyond thrilled that they won’t be planning to spend this New Years Eve in Iraq, the same won’t true for some in the media. Major news outlets that have been covering the war in Iraq since its inception aren’t quite ready to withdraw their own ranks just yet.

Amongst the hoopla surrounding Fox News’ 15th anniversary, Frazier Moore of the Associated Press has done an interview with Roger Ailes. And, while those are always super fun, one comment in particular is already raising some eyebrows. In the article, Ailes combats the idea that the network is biased. His proof; the reason he hired Sarah Palin isn’t her views, it’s that she’s “hot.”

Al-Jazeera announced this morning in a statement that Wadah Khanfar, the network’s director of eight-years, has resigned and is to be replaced by a member of the Qatar royal family. Khanfar has been credited with both revolutionizing the Arab media landscape and extending Al-Jazeera’s reach well beyond that region, and the timing of his departure, not long after the release of an incriminating WikiLeaks cable, begs questions.

There were big parties this weekend in Bunawan in the southern Philippines. Following a three-week hunt for the thing, villagers were relieved to see a 20-foot, one-ton saltwater crocodile hoisted by crane from a creek and tied onto a truck to be taken far, far away. According to the AP, wildlife officials think it might be the biggest crocodile to ever be caught, and more frightening yet, that it might have an even bigger mate still lurking nearby.

A new survey released by the Pew Research Institute today reports that the majority of Muslim Americans are disavowing of religious extremism, view American policies as sincere, and are about as educated and religious as the rest of the American public. And while a majority of Muslim Americans feel singled out by anti-terrorism policies, they are increasingly satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. and within their communities — a sentiment that runs counter among an increasingly dissatisfied broader American public.

This AP Fact Check from over the weekend seemed to have slid under a lot of radars. It’s a quiet item that received little fanfare but cuts straight to the heart of current economic policy and inflamed political rhetoric, specifically the contention that the U.S.’s enormously high debt is due to a weak economy and not “runaway” government spending.

If anyone in the sports world needs a particularly potent prayer before revving it, it’s the men and women of NASCAR, and before a race this weekend, Pastor Joe Nelms of Lebanon, Tennessee delivered. “Thank you for the Dodges and the Toyota,” the pastor began, blessing every mundane detail in the race– from the fuel to the motors to his “smokin’ hot wife” in an invocation for the ages.

It’s a rough economy out there– so rough, that, apparently, it has relegated a group of thieves in Lynn, Massachusetts to steal gallons of used frying oil. This story comes to us from the AP: apparently, police in the town are attempting to find 250 gallon drums suspected to be sold on the black market for use as biofuel.

As investigators attempt to make sense of the tragic events in Norway yesterday that officials now claim left at least 92 dead both in the capital of Oslo and Utoya Island, new details have begun to surface as to the identity of the man behind the shooting, and whether he acted alone. Despite an Islamic fundamentalist group trying to take credit for the attacks, Norweigian officials have apprehended a suspect with an entirely different background: “a right-wing Christian fundamentalist who may have had an issue with Norway’s multi-cultural society.”

The tabloid scandal that has struck the core of News International is continuing to claim careers. Following up on former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks‘s arrest earlier today, Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Paul Stephenson has now resigned amidst speculation of widespread corruption. He is the first within the police department to do so.

Last month, it was reported that in anticipation of his August “Restoring Courage” rally in Israel, Glenn Beck would be sitting down before the Israeli Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee, raising many questions as to what he would say and how he would be received. Introduced by an extremely appreciative Knesset Member Danny Danon, Beck explained that his rally was meant to inspire America to learn from Israel, and quoted the Bible to express his solidarity to the nation.

Rupert Murdoch‘s soon-to-be-defunct News of the World made plenty of enemies over the years, and among the quick to dance on its grave, perhaps surprisingly for some Americans, has been British artist George Michael. Michael, who has both been a target of the paper for many years and may have potentially been one of the victims of the widespread hacking scandal, took to Twitter today to call the end of the publication a “fantastic day for Britain.”

Yesterday, the AP published an extensive piece on “John,” the CIA agent they claim to be the single most important person on the mission to find Osama bin Laden. Needless to say, it took little time for someone to attempt to identify the man, and today Gawker published photos from the White House Twitter feed claiming them to be of the man, courtesy of a leak website that traffics in such information. While there is no confirmation as to the man’s identity, someone may have been tossed into al-Qaeda’s cross-hairs today.

There must be something in the water over at Newt Gingrich HQ, because the only news the media has gotten of that campaign in the past few weeks is that more and more senior staffers are quitting. This time around, it’s fundraising director Jody Thomas and consultant Mary Heitman, who trail 16 other advisers who fled simultaneously more than a week ago.

Gov. Chris Christie‘s fiscally austere image took a bit of a hit this week as he decided to use a taxpayer-funded helicopter to go to his son’s baseball game (and use a taxpayer-funded limousine for the rest of the trip). Given that New Jersey isn’t a formidable land mass and the helicopter cost $12.5 million, many in the state– especially those who Christie has demanded have their salaries reduced– were in an uproar, and they seem to have impacted the governor: Christie’s office will now reimburse the state.

The Associated Press has named Liz Sidoti its new political editor with the immediate task of leading the wire service’s coverage of the 2012 elections. Sidoti, who has been the AP’s chief political writer and led coverage of the 2008 campaign, has covered national politics for the AP since 2003. “Liz’s career is steeped in AP’s rich tradition of being first with political news; she’s a ferocious competitor. Even more remarkable is her ability to push and improve the work of those around her,” said Sally Buzbee, the AP’s Washington bureau chief. “She is a model for how journalists can cut through the political noise and fit the pieces together to explain what is happening in politics and why it matters to people beyond the nation’s capital.”

Various politicians and pundits have already weighed in on whether or not the White House should release photographs and video footage of the raid that recently ended in Osama bin Laden’s death, and, now, the Associated Press is adding its own two cents.

Following an earlier FOIA request to see the footage in question, AP senior managing editor Michael Oreskes told The Atlantic Wire that they’d like to be the judge of what constitutes as worthy of sharing with the public:

Whoopsie! The Associated Press had to send out a “mandatory kill” on a juicy story that turned out to be nothing more than a hoax: a bogus news release supposedly send out by General Electric headlined “GE Responds to Public Outcry – Will Donate Entire $3.2 Billion Tax Refund to Help Offset Cuts and Save American Jobs.”

The AP ran with the story, and was then forced to retract it about half an hour later. An AP story on its own mistake said “the fake release, which was emailed to the AP, included a GE logo and a link to a website designed to look like GE’s website. The AP published a 90-word story based on the release. Thirty-five minutes later, AP withdrew the story and advised its customers that the story was a hoax.” Associated Press business editor Hal Ritter explained “the AP did not follow its own standards in this case for verifying the authenticity of a news release.”

The Associated Press is reporting that an unnamed source identified as a network executive has confirmed that Katie Couric will be leaving the anchor chair at CBS Evening News. This comes as unexpected news to dozens of individuals who have not paid close attention to the many recent public and private comments concerning Couric’s future at CBS News that have given every indication that she is preparing to move on.

The Associated Press took a look at statements made by President Barack Obama in his speech last night, tackling, among other issues, the reasons why the U.S. is using military action in Libya and how we have gone about doing so. While the AP did not see any of the President’s statements as being flat [...]