Life of Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus prepared for April 3, an average workday, by reading the Bible — a few chapters of Job — and ended it by telling a ribald joke as she walked off camera at Access Hollywood. In between she had a casting session for her next movie, The Last Song, written specially for her by weepie king Nicholas Sparks; was interviewed four times; performed twice; changed outfits twice; and visited the Tonight Show’s make-your-own-sundae bar once. When she left the NBC lot at 6:30 p.m., she still had to do her homework.

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Captain tried to escape pirates, U.S. official says

Richard Phillips, the captain of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, tried to escape from his captors Thursday night by jumping out of the lifeboat where he’s being held, a U.S. official said Friday. Phillips was believed to be trying to swim to the USS Bainbridge, a naval warship that is in communication with the gunmen holding Phillips off Somalia’s coast, the official said.

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Commentary: Goody uses her death to teach us a lesson

Jade Goody’s life and death in the limelight has played out as if it is part of another dimension. While the former Big Brother contestant appeared omnipresent, particularly in Britain, in the weeks leading up to her death from cervical cancer, it is the reflection cast by her demise that is most interesting.

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End of ‘ER’ marks end of era

When the series "ER" airs its finale on Thursday, the event will not only mark the completion of one of NBC’s most successful shows, but it can also be viewed as the end of an era for the network. “What’s so symbolic about ‘ER’ leaving is that that 10 o’clock Thursday night slot started out what I always called the beginning of the second golden age of television with ‘Hill Street Blues’,” said Robert Thompson, a professor and founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

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Map offers hope in fight against malaria

A new map illustrating global malaria risk in unprecedented detail suggests that wiping out the disease in many parts of the world is possible. An international team of researchers published Tuesday what they say is the most comprehensive map ever showing how severe the risks of contracting malaria are in the world.

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