Conflicting reports from the high seas: The Associated Press reports a U.S. crew has regained control of its ship after being overrun by pirates, but their captain is still being held hostage in the perilous waters off the coast of Somalia. One pirate who was in the custody of the crew, the first Americans to be seized by pirates off the Horn of Africa, was returned in a botched attempt at a trade for the captain. The container ship, transporting emergency aid to Kenya, was attacked by pirates 345 miles from the nearest military vessel—but an American warship, the USS Bainbridge, and a half-dozen other ships are headed to the scene.

Turns out Obama's message to Iranians last month calling for a new era of U.S.-Iran relations wasn't just lip service: The State Department has announced the Obama administration will "directly" participate in group talks with Iran aimed at ending its nuclear program. The move is Obama's latest shift away from Bush policy. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has welcomed the new diplomatic overtures—with one caveat: "The Iranian people would welcome a hand extended to it if the hand is truly based on honesty," he said, adding "the change should be in action, not words." Since Obama took office, Ahmadinejad has kept his anti-American demagoguery to a minimum.

The Oracle of Omaha’s soothsaying isn’t as credible as it once was—at least according to Moody’s. The credit ratings company cut Berkshire Hathaway from its gold-plated Aaa two levels down to Aa2. (Interestingly, 20 percent of Moody’s is indirectly owned by Berkshire Hathaway, so in a way it is downgrading itself.) Warren Buffett’s company could not escape the economic turmoil, just like everyone else, apparently: “The new thinking seems to be that you can’t have any companies out there with a triple-A rating anymore,” an analyst tells Bloomberg. Nevertheless, Buffett is poised to weather the storm, as his empire of assets is about as diversified as possible—the billionaire owns insurance companies and various businesses that make carpets, homes, jewelry, and plenty more.

And baby makes three: Britain's most senior counterterrorism official has resigned after mistakenly revealing a secret file to the press yesterday, his third major blunder since the end of last year, The Guardian reports. On the way to a meeting, the press photographed Quick holding a stack of files, the clearly visible top one marked "secret" and detailing "an ongoing terror operation." The revelation forced the Brits to rush the arrests of 12 suspects across northwest England. The bungled files were Quick's third gaffe since the end of last year, when he wrongly accused the Tory party of running a smear campaign against him and controversially arrested Tory MP Damien Green for an alleged leak in the Home Office.

Aftershocks from the Rod Blagojevich-Obama Senate seat affair are still rocking Chicago, where Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has just proclaimed his. Jackson—like Obama’s replacement, the embattled Roland Burris—is being investigated for allegedly attempts to buy his way into the U.S. Senate. Jackson addressed the matter for the first time today, saying he’s “done nothing wrong” and is “eager to answer any questions and provide any information...about my actions related to last year’s vacant Senate seat.” The Office of Congressional Ethics has requested documents, emails, and other correspondence from Jackson’s entourage, as well as several people involved in the Blago bungle.

How can a man hope to compete with Bruce Springsteen? A New Jersey businessman’s divorce papers indicate that his wife was “riding into the tunnel of love” with none other than The Boss himself. Supposedly—the report is published in Star magazine, after all—Ann Kelly met the married Springsteen at a Jersey gym and everyone knew the two were “dancing in the dark.” The papers, which probably earned some laughs at the courthouse, state that Kelly “committed adultery with one Bruce Springsteen, who resides in Rumson, N.J., and Colts Neck, N.J., at various times and places too numerous to mention.”

The criticism of the bailout since the whole economic fiasco began is that Wall Street executives get to keep their cozy salaries while American taxpayers foot the bill. Well, why not get everyday citizens more involved in the bailout by having them invest in it? As crazy as it sounds, this is exactly what the White House is considering, according to The New York Times. These investments, similar to mutual funds, would gain value as the banks recovered, allowing people to feel like they are profiting from the bailout, too. Of course, the danger is obvious: If the banks go under, or lose more value and do not recover, investors will be even deeper in the hole.

Since the Obamas moved in, a cultural renaissance of sorts has been taking place in the hallowed halls of the White House. The latest breakthrough: Obama will attend a Seder celebration on Thursday night, the first time a sitting American president has done so. Passover starts on Wednesday, but the celebration is scheduled for the following day so that people may spend the holiday with their families. "I'm really happy to hear about it. It's been an extremely open White House to all faith communities, certainly including ours," one former official from the Clinton administration said. Two prominent advisers, Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod, both of whom are Jewish, are expected to attend.

Watch propaganda videos of Dubai produced by its ruler, Sheik Mohammed, and you’ll see advertisements for a bizarre corporate wonderland, a city where everyone is the star in their own version of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. In a fascinating piece, The Independent delves into the seedy underbelly of commercialized oasis and uncovers a city catapulted into the 21st century by an unseen army of slave laborers and run like “a medieval dictatorship.” The emirate, which looks like Las Vegas on steroids, is now dotted with disused cranes, expats are living out of their cars, and the sheik’s insane architectural fantasies—including the billion-dollar Atlantis resort—are leaky and in disrepair. The city, the paper reports, is a microcosm of the excesses and recklessness that got the world to where it is today.

Two years ago, Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon, would have been mocked mercilessly for renting elegant dresses for special occasions. Now that faux pas looks like a savvy way to save cash. The Daily Telegraph applauds Brown for wearing a rented jacket to a G-20 dinner last week that retails for roughly $13,000, and paying only 10 percent of that for the rental. Brown tends to favor high-end designers for big events, so she still “regularly incurs bills running into hundreds of pounds for her outfits.” Not so for her everyday looks, though—she is said to love Marks & Spencer.

Attorney General Eric Holder is wasting no time changing the guard after the high-profile reversal of the prosecution against former Senator Ted Stevens. Holder is expected to name Mary Patrice Brown, a local prosecutor in D.C., to head the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Washington Post reports. "The ethics job is among the most sensitive and secretive within the Justice Department," according to the paper. "Among other issues, the OPR has been examining whether Bush-era lawyers who drafted memos in support of waterboarding and other harsh detainee interrogation tactics followed professional legal standards." Brown will serve as the third leader of the unit, which was started in the wake of Watergate.

Amid a slight U.S.-Iran thaw comes disturbing news out of Tehran: Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American journalist for the BBC and NPR, among other news outlets, has been charged with spying by Iranian authorities. Already in custody for three months in Iran, Saberi is said to be in “relatively good health.” It appears the case is stacked against her: She was caught conducting research after having her press credentials revoked and is being charged as an Iranian because she holds an Iranian passport. The journalist was initially arrested for buying alcohol, which is illegal in Iran. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sent a letter to the Iranians in an effort to resolve Saberi’s situation, along with two other Americans who are thought to be held in the country.

The London police officer shown in newly released video footage pushing an unsuspecting protester to the ground during the G-20 demonstrations has come forward. The victim, Ian Tomlinson, a 47-year-old newspaper salesman on his way home from work, died minutes later of a heart attack. The officer, who reportedly pushed the man with his baton, will be the subject of a full criminal inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. According to the BBC, the video, which will form the basis of the inquiry, was filmed by an American hedge fund manager who happened to be in London during the economic summit earlier this month.

Unlike questions of back taxes, this mini-controversy for the Obama administration promises to be entertaining. Obama recently appointed Kal Penn, star of the beloved Harold & Kumar stoner films, to be associate director of the Office of Public Affairs. According to Steve Bloom, a former editor of High Times Grow America, Penn not only stars in stoner films but also once confided to him that he’s been known to take a toke or two himself. However, Penn, in an interview with The Washington Post, said he doesn’t light up. That should be good for at least two or three news cycles on The O’Reilly Factor.

Every tidbit about Barack Obama's daily routine solidifies his rep as the hippest president ever. Politico reports that his favorite show is Entourage and that he makes time to tune into Sportscenter and check the latest basketball scores. One aide, who watched March Madness aboard Air Force One with Obama after taping his appearance on Jay Leno, observed that the president focuses intently on the game. "When he's watching the game, he's watching the game. We're not talking about work or politics," the aide said. And not only does the First Couple have Direct TV aboard Air Force One, they also have a movie theater in the White House, where they have recently checked out Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler. And what shows does Michelle Obama enjoy? She tends to avoid sports and prefers "comedies and positive shows. Nothing sad or depressing."

Is Bush v. Gore Republican Norm Coleman’s last hope? Bloomberg reports that, in the Minnesota Senate recount, “Coleman’s remaining legal avenues include his claim that election officials violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause by using varying standards to decide the validity of absentee ballots. That contention relies on Bush v. Gore, the 5-4 ruling that sealed the 2000 presidential election for George W. Bush.” Coleman’s case could be troubled by this language, however, from Bush v. Gore: “Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances.”

A few centuries ago, this would have been cause for war. These Days, it just warrants mentioning on the Cheat Sheet: Tony Blair has told the Pope that he’s wrong on homosexuality, and that he should “rethink” his views. Blair, a Roman Catholic himself, told Attitude magazine “We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith.” Blair suggested that the Pope ask himself WWJD: “What people often forget about, for example, Jesus or, indeed, the Prophet Muhammad, is that their whole raison d’être was to change the way that people thought traditionally.”

With news of a new mass murder seemingly every few days, experts are trying to puzzle out if there's a connection between the attacks. Eight shootings have claimed 57 lives in just the last month, including 13 killed in a massacre in Binghamton last Friday, and some experts say that stress from the weak economy might be to blame for the recent outbreak of homicides. "The economic pie is shrinking to the point where it looks more like a Pop Tart and some feel all they're getting is the crumbs," one criminologist told The Washington Post. "There's a combination of feeling despair and hopelessness at the same time as a certain degree of anger and blame." Since that Post article was written, yet another attack took place, with four shot and one dead at a Korean Christian retreat in California after a gunman opened fire.

Could your TV attack? National security officials say cyberspies from Russia, China, and other countries have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and are preparing to wreak havoc. Intelligence officials worry the attackers could hijack electrical facilities, nuclear power plants, or financial networks if they choose; water and sewage systems are also at risk. Russia and China have denied any involvement in the hacking, and it is almost impossible to know if the cyberspies are government-sponsored. A little hacking can go a long way: In 2000, an angry employee rigged a water-treatment plant in Australia to release more than 200,000 gallons of sewage into parks and other public places.

You say you want a revolution? The original Beatles albums will finally be joining the 21st century: Apple Corps, the Beatles' company, has partnered with EMI to release much-postponed remasters of the seminal group's original albums on September 9, the same day that the Beatles edition of Rock Band, the musical video game, goes live. The 12 albums the Beatles released in Britain between 1963 to 1970 ("Please Please Me" through "Let It Be" and "Magical Mystery Tour"), will be released in two box sets—one remastered in stereo, the other in mono. Digital sound technology has improved since 1987, when the Beatles' catalogue was turned into CD, and it's expected that the new releases will sound richer and smoother. Fans will have to wait for the Beatles to truly join the internet age, though; a dispute between Apple Corps and EMI has left downloadable versions of the songs in limbo.

With a court decision in Iowa, an overwhelming legislative victory in Vermont, and a successful vote in the Council of the District of Columbia to recognize gay marriages from elsewhere, gay rights groups say that their newfound momentum this week could carry into other states. With courts no longer the only route to achieve same sex marriage rights, activists hope to convince legislatures in left-leaning states like New York, New Jersey, Maine, and New Hampshire, to follow Vermont's lead. And Iowa's surprise decision means that the next state to legalize gay marriage could truly be anywhere, not just on the coasts. Opponents of gay marriage have taken notice as well, with some conceding that the tide may be turning against them. "It's a bad day for the country," the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a group established to fight gay marriage, told The New York Times. "There is a palpable sense that something has changed and people need to get active."

After one final blowout, the college basketball season has ended. Overwhelmingly dominant UConn completed their blistering streak of wins this season with a 76-54 rout over Louisville to capture their sixth national championship. This season, the team won each of their 39 games by double digits, a first in college basketball. Star center Tina Charles posted 25 points and 19 rebounds last night. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma seemed relieved, saying, "This is the first time since the brackets came out I didn't feel like I'm going to get sick, physically sick, thinking about everything that was ahead of us."

Pericles, he ain’t: According to The Guardian, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told a German television station that the victims of the earthquake that killed 260 people in L’Aquila should consider their situation “like a weekend of camping.” He said, “They have medicaments. They have hot food. They have shelter for the night.” The homeless victims endured rain, hail, and near-freezing temperature on Monday and Tuesday. The good news for Berlusconi is that the region will soon be visited by a figure whose gaffes may quickly overshadow his own: The Pope has announced plans to visit as soon as possible.

President Obama's unannounced visit to Baghdad today was a welcome surprise for troops stationed at Camp Victory, where he addressed a crowd of soldiers who cheered, "We love you, Obama." It turned out to be less of a surprise for the media, who had speculated (at least to each other) that Air Force One might make a detour from neighboring Turkey after Obama wrapped up his eight-day European adventure. "We spent a lot of time trying to get Afghanistan right [but] there's still a lot of work to be done here," Obama told the troops gathered. He also saluted them for helping Iraq to "stand on its own as a democratic country... That is an extraordinary achievement, and for that you have the thanks of the American people." The trip also gave Obama the chance to meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in person.

The state of Vermont became the first state today to legislatively approve gay marriage. Governor Jim Douglas vetoed the bill, but the state House and Senate overrode him 100-49 and 23-5 respectively. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa also permit gay marriage, but their approval came from courts.

It’s restitution time: Peter Madoff, Bernie’s younger brother, could be forced to pay back the Ponzi schemer’s victims. The New York Post reports Peter is being investigated by the bankruptcy trustee liquidating Bernie’s securities firm, for which he was chief compliance officer. The investigation will focus on funds transferred from the firm to Peter as a possible site of compensation for his brother’s financial fraud victims. But there might not be enough to go around—a lawyer for the trustee overseeing the restitution warned a law student who is suing Peter for the $480,000 he invested and lost with him that the trustee could go after the law student’s potential winnings and use it to pay off the victims instead. What a family.

Is he back? Fidel Castro may no longer formally rule Cuba, but he’s just met with U.S. lawmakers for the first time since he fell ill. The longtime dictator, who handed the reins of power over to brother Raul at the end of in July 2006, talked with three members of the Congressional Black Caucus—Rep. Barbara Lee, Democrat of California, and two other unidentified lawmakers—in Havana before they left the island after a five-day trip meant to improve communication between the U.S. and Cuba. A spokesman at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana confirmed the meeting.

Chloé and Florent Lemaçon quit their white-collar jobs in France last year to fix up an old boat and sail away from consumer culture with their 3-year-old son, Colin. Unfortunately, the Lemaçons set their sights on Zanzibar, an archipelago off the coast of Somalia, where gun-wielding pirates attacked 15 crews last month alone. French officials are furious the family, who were snatched by pirates over the weekend, did not heed their warnings, but Lemaçon’s father, Francis, said the couple was told only to stay away from commercial shipping routes. “They are confirmed sailors and definitely not irresponsible,” he said. “They followed the advice they were given.” The family will probably be held for ransom, but the French government might try to wrest them free by force, as it has done in past pirate kidnappings. “We simply want to show Colin that we don’t need all that (Christmas catalogues, magic cereals, Spider-Man) to be happy,” Florent Lemaçon wrote of the trip.

Will this be the Red Revolution? Thousands of Moldovan protesters ransacked the country’s Parliament building in Chisinau and stormed the offices of President Vladimir Voronin on Tuesday over what they say are rigged elections. The estimated 10,000 protesters are outraged over legislative election results, which they say Voronin’s Communist Party faked. The elections are crucial in the tiny, poverty-stricken country, as lawmakers choose the president: Voronin has already served the legal maximum of two terms but Sunday’s results keep his party in power. The demonstrators broke through police barriers, pelted the Parliament’s windows with rocks and concrete, set furniture on fire, and threw computers out of windows, before riot police regained control of the building.

More sad news out of Italy: Two days after a deadly earthquake, a 5.5 magnitude aftershock has ripped through already damaged towns, killing another person. Rescuers, searching by lamplight for a second night after the quake that has killed at least 235, are desperately searching for more survivors, after a 20-year-old woman was found in the wreckage of a four-story building 42 hours after the quake. “A rescue like this is worth six months’ work,” said a fireman at the scene. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who so far has refused aid from Barack Obama and other world leaders, said about 7,000 rescuers would continue searching for another 48 hours after the country’s worst earthquake in 30 years. More than 150 people have been found alive under rubble so far, while more than 1,000 have been injured and about 20,000 left homeless.

Will it ever end? Life insurance companies will join banks and the auto industry as the third group to receive a bailout, the Wall Street Journal reports. Insurers that own federally chartered banks will be eligible for a piece of the Troubled Asset Relief program's remaining $130 billion, although it's unclear how much the industry will receive as a whole. The investment portions of life insurance policies are what's caused the problems: many insurers made aggressive promises to consumers who purchased variable-annuities and guaranteed minimum returns and many insurers backed their policies with portfolios that included residential mortgage and commercial real estate assets. If large numbers of Americans redeemed their policies, life insurance companies would face a cash crunch and could cause markets to tumble by selling off holdings to cover their losses.

He could just be doing a quickstep to avoid legislation, but the current CEO of Goldman Sachs is now loudly backing executive compensation limits. Lloyd Blankfein, who earned $43 million last year, called for a "renewal of common sense" and that the government should institute pay standards to "discourage selfish behavior, including excessive risk-taking." Some of his proposals include doling out compensation in stock rather than cash, making it mandatory for employees to hold their shares for longer periods, and having firms "claw back" previously paid bonuses if the actions of employees lead to losses. The Los Angeles Times reports that median pay at financial companies plunged 38.3 percent this year because of the lack of bonuses. Meanwhile, the Senate has stalled on two bills regarding executive compensation that were passed by the House.