pardon the interruption

The New York Times profiles Chicago's CeaseFire, a group that tries to prevent revenge gang shootings by using former gang members to interrupt cycles of retaliation. (via metafilter)

The video game Grand Theft Auto IV made over $500 million in its first week of release, surpassing the record previously held by Microsoft's Halo 3 ($400 million).

The Church is going digital: the Vatican announced it will launch a Catholic social networking site similar to Facebook.

Still don't believe Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon are married? People magazine has pics.

The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa, says the death toll in the flooded country, currently estimated at 20,000, may actually be 100,000 or greater.

Busta Rhymes returns to his funny hat-wearing roots in a new video, "Don't Touch Me (Throw Da Water On 'Em)."

There were 1.89 million drug-related arrests in 2006, a rise from the previous year despite an overall drop in crime. Four out of every 10 arrests were for marijuana possession – not selling – according to the F.B.I.