Ruth Madoff just reached a deal with prosecutors that will allow the wife of the Ponzi schemer to continue riding New York subways—provided there are no additional fare hikes. Bernie Madoff originally asked prosecutors to allow his wife to keep $70 million in assets, but on Friday she gave up the claim and kept only $2.5 million in cash. Madoff’s wife reached a settlement that will sell off her properties in Palm Beach, Montauk, and Manhattan to shore up money for the victims. The settlement, however, doesn't prevent the SEC or the Madoff trustee from coming after her funds in the future. On Monday, Bernie Madoff will be sentenced in federal court where prosecutors are pushing for 150 years in prison.

Funeral arrangements were being made Saturday for the King of Pop after an initial examination by the coroner’s office failed to determine the cause of death of 50-year-old Jackson. Joseph Jackson, Michael’s father, released a statement saying his son’s death was “one of the darkest moments of our lives.” Rumors are swirling that the family—all gathered at the Jackson family home in Los Angeles—are seeking a second, independent autopsy. Toxicology results are expected to take weeks to be released. “Speculation has centered on Jackson's use of prescription drugs and reports that he was injected with Demerol shortly before he went into cardiac arrest,” reports Reuters.

And the verbal spat continues: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck back at President Obama on Saturday for praising protesters who showed “bravery in the face of brutality.” Ahmadinejad responded to Obama’s comments—which also called the current violence in the region “outrageous” and hailed defeated candidate Mousavi as “[capturing] the imagination” of Iranians—by asking: "Why did he interfere and comment in a way that disregards convention and courtesy?" He went on to say the West would regret its “meddlesome stance.” Meanwhile, defeated candidates Mousavi and Karroubi rejected the offer by the Guardian Council to go over the election results by a special committee, saying the review would not be independent or broad enough. At least 17 people have been killed and 100 injured in the post-election violence.

Can they make her the governor now? Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford who gained a national following when she refused to stand by his side after he admitted an affair, talked to reporters on Friday about her husband, her first interview since his Wednesday news conference. She told the Associated Press that she discovered the governor's infidelity when she came across a letter he had written and demanded he break off the affair. When he asked to see his mistress in Argentina, she refused, telling her interviewer: “It’s one thing to forgive adultery. It’s another to condone it.” She said the governor told her he was on a writing trip last week and that she was devastated to find out he was in Argentina. According to The New York Times, when asked by a reporter whether she was OK she replied: "I have great faith and I have great friends and great family. We have a good Lord in this world, and I know I’m going to be fine. Not only will I survive, I’ll thrive.” Once again refusing to carry water for her estranged husband, Sanford told reporters that the governor's political future was "not a concern" to her. "He’s going to have to worry about that. I’m worried about my family and the character of my children," she said.

Nothing to see here, folks. Authoritarian regimes around the globe are censoring internet reports of Iranian protests out of fear it could antagonize their own repressed citizenry, the Washington Post reports. In China, bloggers and Twitter users have tinted their sites and user profiles green in support of Iranian demonstrators and some observers have noted parallels between the protests and China's own clashes in Tiananmen Square in 1989. "The Iranian people face the same problems as us: news censorship and no freedom to have their own voices," 28-year-old blogger Zhou Shuguang told the Post. China's Communist Party is reportedly trying to echo Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's accusations by portraying unrest in Iran as a Western conspiracy rather than a homegrown movement. In Cuba, President Raul Castro has blocked all news coming out of Iran, though information still is finding its way into the communist country, while Burma also is working to stop Iranian reports from attracting attention.

Michael Jackson may be gone, but his confusing balance sheet will keep creditors busy for years. “It’s all a mess,” one executive involved in sorting out Jackson's finances told the New York Times. “No one really knows what is going on, but these are early days.” Jackson's most notable assets include an estimated $1 billion in publishing rights. At the center of his collection are the rights to the entire Beatles catalog, which he bought in 1985 for $47.5 million, causing a split with his then-friend Paul McCartney. But after wracking up millions in debt, Jackson needed a last-second $24.5 million loan last year just to keep creditors from liquidating his lavish Neverland Ranch in California. “He never kept track of what he was spending," a former adviser, Alvin Malnik, told the Times. "He would indiscriminately charter jets. He would buy paintings for $1.5 million. You couldn’t do that every other week and expect your books to balance.”

In an incredibly close vote—219-212—the House of Representatives passed a climate change bill Friday, despite concerns among the GOP that the country’s economic problems would be worsened by a “national energy tax.” The divisions throughout Congress ran deep: Calif. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican, called the bill a “massive transfer of wealth” from the United States to foreign countries; Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan said that without the bill, the country would stay energy dependent on people who want to “fly planes into our buildings.” Republicans fear the bill will raise the average family’s energy bills by thousands of dollars a year, despite an analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency that said it would equal an annual increase of $80 to $111. The passage marked a huge victory for President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as a “unique historical opportunity” for lawmakers to improve the environment, boost the economy and protect the country’s national security, said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman.

Police say they will question Michael Jackson’s cardiologist about whether drugs were to blame for the star’s death, after 911 tapes released Friday afternoon revealed the doctor was present at the time of Jackson’s collapse. Dr. Conrad Murray, who briefly disappeared Thursday after the singer was pronounced dead, was hired months ago to treat Jackson ahead of his upcoming tour. Investigators later briefly interviewed Murray and towed a car registered to Murray’s sister near Jackson’s home in the hopes that it may contain medication or other clues. LAPD Officer Robert French stressed that Murray is not the target of a criminal investigation, but said he may provide important information before Jackson’s toxicology results are returned. Jackson’s addiction to prescription drugs has led to suspicions about whether they were to blame for his untimely death.

The Obama administration has drafted an executive order that would give the president the power to detain terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of the decision. The Washington Post reports that the choice to reinstate this authority comes as a result of growing fears that Congress could stall plans to close Guantanamo by President Obama’s January deadline. Most civil liberties groups are against long-term incarceration, arguing that prisoners should either be tried or set free, but one government official said waiting for legislation on Guantanamo “could kill Obama’s plans.” The executive order could give Obama’s opposition reason to accuse him of neglecting the legislative branch of government. If the White House follows through with its decision, the detention center would be at a military facility on U.S. soil and prisoners’ detention would be reviewed annually. U.S. citizens would not be held in the system. Prisoners eligible for indefinite detention would be those whose witnesses could not, for one reason or another, testify against them, making their trial unbalanced.

President Obama's dreams of a bipartisan health bill are becoming increasingly unlikely, as GOP lawmakers say that few, if any Republicans, are likely to vote for the final legislation. While on the surface, the headline "Republicans likely to vote against Obama plan" is hardly a shocker, Democratic lawmakers had hoped that a consensus bill could be agreed upon through negotiation. At issue is the Democrats' demand for a public health insurance plan to compete with private coverage, which Republicans warn will push out current insurance companies. House Minority Leader John Boehner told the New York Times that he did not know any Republicans in the House who would vote for the Democrats' plan. As for the Senate, when asked by The New York Times how many GOP Senators would vote for the legislation if it were put forth today, Sen. Richard Burr said "I think right now, none. Zero.”

In a striking about-face from just a few weeks ago, U.S. intelligence and Army officials now say they are cautiously optimistic about Pakistan's ability to fight its militants. The improved outlook reflects a series of developments, including both the Pakistani military campaign in the country's Swat Valley and shifting political currents that have prompted many Pakistanis to turn against extremist groups and back their government's anti-insurgency efforts. "All of a sudden military operations [against militants] are being imbued with a kind of legitimacy," said a senior U.S. intelligence official. Pakistan's operations in Swat and South Waziristan are already having a significant effect on the amount of arms and violence spilling over the border into Afghanistan."There's a definite impact, and I think it almost can't be overstated," said Col. John Spiszer, the commander for a unit than mans the Afghanistan-Pakistani border.

An artist’s stock traditionally soars posthumously, so it’s no surprise that Michael Jackson has dominated the charts in the past 24 hours. But his sales are still huge: Two hours after his death Thursday afternoon, the Thriller album reached No. 1 on iTunes. As of Friday evening, his CDs were nine of the top 10 most popular albums on the site and a quarter of the top 100 songs are either by Jackson or The Jackson Five. On Amazon, every one of the top 15 albums is Jackson’s. Additionally, items once owned by the King of Pop will be auctioned off, some valued at thousands of dollars. Let’s hope these sales can serve to “make a change” in his massive pile of debt, rumored at $400 million.

Feel like the Republican Party has taken one too many hits lately? So do the founders of “Call Me, G.O.P.,” a site launched this week that aims to rebrand the party. Calling on their advertising background at ad agency Story Worldwide, the founders set out to do a “brand-discovery-expression” exercise (as it’s known in the business) aimed at rebuilding the Republican Party “brand”: They are inviting both Democrats and Republicans to engage in a constructive dialogue, via the site’s blogs and comment, about how the Republican Party should tackle its problems, what steps it should take, and ultimately, “what a brand means and should mean to people.” This isn’t just another conservative vs. liberal bashing forum—one founder is a registered Democrat and another is an unregistered conservative. This is business: It’s about building the best product they can in their eight-week timeline. Though the GOP is not a client of Story Worldwide, and thus is not paying the advertising company for the work, it will be interesting to see where this social experiment leads.