After all the ups and downs, it's hard to tell if BP's new plan is reason for hope or a risky new recipe for disaster. The company may be able to collect all the leaking oil in the Gulf on Monday if plans to install a new containment cap and oil-recovery vessel go according to plan this weekend. Admiral Thad Allen says good weather will allow BP to hook up the oil-recovery vessel Helix Producer to the leaking well this weekend—a move that will allow BP to siphon an additional 25,000 barrels of oil each day, plus provide for the first time empirical data on the flow rate. Also, on Saturday BP should be able to begin switch to a larger containment cap that will allow for a total daily recovery of between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil. And BP is saying that its first relief well should intercept the Deepwater Horizon well in seven to 10 days. The plan, however, is not without risk: During the installation process, oil will gush unrestrained for up to four days.

Does this count as an unexpected victory for Google? After a long standoff, the Chinese government has renewed Google’s operating license. The trouble between the parties began in January, when Google announced it would no longer censor search results on its Chinese website; for awhile, it redirected visitors to Google.cn to its uncensored Hong Kong website, but the Chinese government was not happy with that solution. So Google changed it so that Google.cn took visitors to a landing page that provided a link to the uncensored Hong Kong website—an arrangement that will continue under Google’s new agreement with the Chinese government. “I don't think we gave anything up," a spokeswoman for the company tells CNNMoney.com. "We asked the government to renew our license to make some products that don't require any censorship. We are going to continue to offer uncensored Web search with google.com.hk."

Though it continues to lobby for a moratorium on offshore drilling, the Obama administration apparently has no qualms about pushing ahead in onshore drilling. On Friday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the impending sale of about 1.8 million acres of Alaska’s North Slope for oil and gas exploration, an area that's part of the state’s National Petroleum Reserve. The reserve covers 23 million acres on the North Slope in Alaska—an area about the size of Indiana—and 190 tracts will become available for drilling; bidding starts August 11 in Anchorage. The Bureau of Land Management did set aside the area around Teshekpuk Lake to protect migratory birds, but the fact remains that a chunk of Alaska is now open for drilling business, one of dozens of similar deals in Western states. To some, the environmental considerations are not enough. "They're not going to cut off its heart," Brendan Cumming of the Center for Biological Diversity said of the area, "but they're still cutting off an arm and a leg."

What’s more offensive here, the racism or misogyny? You can finally listen to the Mel Gibson recordings on RadarOnline.com. “If you get raped by a pack of n-----s it will be your fault because you provoked it,” he shouts at ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. “You are provocatively dressed all the time with your fake boobs.” In another comment reflecting his upset over her breast implants, he tells her: “You look like a Vegas whore.” The shocking tape is potentially catastrophic to Gibson's career, especially given that the actor barely weathered a previous firestorm when he issued an anti-semitic tirade after being pulled over drunk driving in 2006. In fact, Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Gibson's agency has already dropped him.

As the debate over marijuana legalization continues on a synethic knock-off is making waves across state legistlatures. The man-made version is called “spice” and it’s becoming increasingly popular—not the least because it doesn’t show up on drug tests, yet gives a marijuana-like high. Its ingredients are not known, and may vary, but it’s generally made by spraying crushed green leaves with man-made chemicals. Its effects, especially long-term, are unknown. In 2009 there were 41 cases of people calling poison control centers with a bad reaction to the drug. That number has mushroomed to 567 in the first half of 2010. Several states have banned the substance, including Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, and others are working on doing the same. A doctor at the Missouri Poison Center, which has received 60 calls this year from spice users said, "I'm concerned we don't know what's in there, or the quantities that are in there. Some people may argue you shouldn't ban something when you don't know what's in it. But when the public health is of concern, I think it's right to act."

Hopefully the cameras will be able to capture all the action through the cigar smoke: Republicans are going to live stream their upcoming meeting to set the party’s agenda with lobbyists—a meeting for which liberals have been hammering them as of late. Earlier this week, it became known that Republicans had invited lobbyists from large trade groups to participate in their America Speaking Out series; the invitation said the meeting would “produce a new policy agenda with a small group of trade association leaders.” A spokesman for America Speaking Out says, “If the DNC wants to listen in about how their polices are hurting private-sector job growth, we’re happy to oblige.”

The Food and Drug Administration has released a report on the popular diabetes drug Avandia showing it to be more dangerous than the manufacturer had claimed. According to the FDA analysis, the research done on the medicine by its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, was “sloppy” and the study was “inappropriate and biased.” In 2007 a study was published stating that Avandia actually raised the risk of heart attacks in users. GlaxoSmithKline countered by releasing data from another study, showing no increased risk of heart problems. But when the FDA did an intensive review of patient records, many were found to have missing data, or no follow-up on high-risk patients. Meanwhile, the American Diabetes Association has recommended that doctors use medications other than Avandia. "We took the position that there's just no rationale for using a drug that might be dangerous,” said an ADA committee chair. “Especially when other options are available."

Police surveyed the extensive damage in downtown Oakland Friday morning after hundreds of people took to the streets Thursday night following a lenient verdict in the case of Johannes Mehserle, a white police officer who shot an unarmed black man, 22-year-old Oscar Grant. The jury found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum four-year prison sentence under California law. Some 800 people, protesting what they believe is a light punishment, spilled into the streets. The largely peaceful protest turned ugly after 8:30 p.m. EST after most demonstrators went home: Looters broke storefront glass, looted merchandise, tagged walls with graffiti, and set trash cans ablaze. According to police, at least 80 were arrested. Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said that around 100 people are to blame for the damage, describing them as “anarchists."

Maybe this is karmic retribution for The Decision? ESPN's having a bad day as Jeremy Green, an analyst for ESPN since 2005 and son of former NFL coach Dennis Green, was arrested in Connecticut for possession of child pornography, possession of narcotics, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He’s currently being held on a $750,000 bond. But wait—there’s more: the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office in Florida says a worker died at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Friday morning when an electrician was installing a stage. “Today we are grieving with his family, friends and coworkers and extend our deepest sympathy to them,” Disney said in a statement. The victim has yet to be identified.

Sunday’s World Cup final seems too close to call, even for the world’s new favorite psychic animals. Paul the Octopus, from Oberhausen, Germany, picked Spain for the second round in a row after predicting it would eliminate his home country in the semi-finals. Paul is now 6-0 for the tournament, having correctly predicated the outcome every German game, including its upset at the hands of Serbia in the group stage. He even drew death threats for picking against Germany in the semi-finals, though Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero has promised the cephalopod state protection. But Mani, a parakeet in Singapore, is siding with the Netherlands in the final. According to his owner, Mani accurately called all four quarter-final outcomes and Spain’s semi-final victory over Germany.

Everyone hide your cell phones: Supermodel Naomi Campbell has agreed to testify at the war-crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor at The Hague. "Naomi Campbell has confirmed she will attend the Charles Taylor trial at The Hague as per the court's request,” her spokeswoman said. Campbell is wanted on the stand to discuss a blood diamond Taylor gave her at a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997. Taylor is on trial for the role he played in Sierra Leone’s civil war, in which e allegedly armed rebels in exchange for illegal diamonds.

Elon Musk has decided to put aside his personal abhorrence of publicizing his personal life in order to tell his side of the story about his divorce from the mother of his five sons, Justine Musk. He writes in The Huffington Post that “the final straw” was an inaccurate comment in a New York Times article, saying that he “ran off with an actress.” According to Musk, who is the founder of PayPal and SpaceX and the chairman of Tesla Motors and SolarCity, he and Justine ended their marriage before either of them began their current relationships, and that there was “no third party involved in the breakup at all.” He also says he sets the record straight on his finances and the details of their marital agreement: They each will own their property, the novels she writes will be hers, and the companies he founded will be his. Fortunately for him, after an incredibly expensive California divorce trial that racked up four million dollars in legal fees, the judge ruled in his favor. There is room for a sequel however, as Justine has appealed the decision.

It doesn’t get much more grisly than this: The girlfriend of Bruno Fernandes, the goalie for Brazil’s most popular soccer club, was chopped up and fed to dogs, according to police. The girlfriend, Eliza Samudio, had said that Fernandes—who is married and has two children by his wife—was the father of her child before she was kidnapped from a hotel in Rio de Janeiro and strangled to death. Ferandes has handed himself into police after a warrant was issued for his arrest, but insists that he is innocent and has a “clear conscience.”

The bridge is officially burned: Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert let loose on LeBron in a letter on the Cavaliers website, denouncing the “narcissistic, self-promotional build-up” to his decision to sign with the Miami Heat. He calls LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland a “cowardly betrayal” and guaranteed that the Cavaliers would win a NBA championship before Miami does. In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Gilbert also blamed James for the Cavaliers’ defeat by the Boston Celtics in this year’s playoffs: “He quit,” Gilbert said. “Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4, and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar.”

Lady Gaga Stefani Germanotta is on a roll. First, she amassed over 10 million Facebook fans—becoming the first living person to do so. Then, on the heels of making her headline debut at New York City's Madison Square Garden, fans came out in droves to watch the pop powerhouse perform at Rockefeller Center for the Today Show's Summer Concert Series. More than 18,000 people flooded the Center to hear Gaga play hits "Bad Romance" and "Alejandro," along with "You and I," a new song about her boyfriend Luc Carl, "the most important person I've ever met."

Is something rotten in the state of France? French website Mediapart has accused Prime Minister Nicholas Sarkozy of accepting illegal campaign donations from L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt in 2007. Sarkozy's PR team has denied the accusations, pointing out that the story's source, Bettencourt's former accountant, has partly retracted his testimony, and his aides have lambasted the site. Mediapart continues to stand by its story. Mediapart editor François Bonnet said: "It’s a story that has really galvanized the public...It has everything in it: a great personality and a famous family, and now it has become a state affair.” The scandal is also unique in that the story was not broken by a major French newspaper or traditional media outlet, but by an independent investigative news site, and one that charges subscription fees at that. “Two years ago, everyone looked at us as if we were crazy, saying news on the Web is free,” Bonnet explained. “The written press in France is in a terrible crisis... It doesn’t take risks anymore in terms of journalism.”

Since the federal government announced Tuesday that they are suing to challenge Arizona’s new immigration law, thousands of people across the country have been sending money to help defend the law. Retirees and others have contributed almost $500,000 to the cause—nearly 80 percent of it donated since Tuesday. The breadth and speed of the donations suggest widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s border control. "Arizona needs our help," said a retired California municipal worker. “It's a disgrace what our government is doing." The controversial law is due to go into effect July 29 and is now the subject of six pending federal lawsuits.

Over the last week, the pontificating about which team NBA superstar LeBron James would choose to play for has been ceaseless—especially between fans in Miami and New York. Even President Obama joined the fray, arguing that James should stay in Cleveland. The wait is finally over. “The Decision,” as ESPN’s taken to calling it, is official: James announced tonight from the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, that he’s signed with Miami Heat after considering five other teams—the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Chicago Bulls. The major reason for his decision: “The best opportunity for me to win,” James said. “To win now and the future also.”

At least 45 people were killed and 90 more were wounded in a-suicide bomb attack near an administrator's office in Yakaghund, a village in the Mohmand tribal region of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. According to witnesses, the attacker, on a motorcycle, blew himself up near the office's gate and the blast ripped through a commercial area, destroying shops and cars. Many people were buried under the rubble. The explosion also took down part of a nearby prison's wall, giving prisoners an opening to escape. "It appeared as though the bike lost its balance and was about to fall, and just then there was a huge explosion," a solider on duty in the prison administrator’s office said.

Two new operations could double the amount of oil BP is capturing every day, and President Obama wants them kicked into gear right away. For more than a week, a recovery ship known as the Helix Producer, which can collect up to 25,000 barrels a day, has been sitting on the sidelines due to bad weather and rough seas caused by Hurricane Alex. And for the same reason, BP has been able to place a new, tighter-fitting cap over the blownout well that would stem the flow—though performing the switch could increase the amount of oil released by 15,000 barrels a day for two to three days. In the meantime, work is advancing on a pair of relief wells and Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who is leading the federal response to the spill, is still hoping they can intercept the well by the middle of August.

Somewhere in his two-and-a-half hour epic, James Cameron is sure that you will enjoy the eight extra minutes of unseen footage with more action and new creatures. They will be included when Avatar returns to movie theaters on Aug. 27, rebranded as Avatar: Special Edition. The film, which became the top earner in Hollywood history when it was released last winter, will only be screened in Digital 3D or Imax 3D. The move was apparently in response to popular demand. "Audiences repeatedly told me they wanted more of Pandora and wished they could have stayed there longer," Cameron said in a statement. "So we're making that possible."

Delegates of the Presbyterian Church were stunned on Thursday when Church leaders declined to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, just hours after approving ordaining noncelibate gays and lesbians in a 373-323 vote. The proposal, which would change the definition of marriage from a union between a "man and a woman" to a commitment between "two people," was shelved and is to be subjected to two years of further study. The decisions were announced at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. Cindy Bolbach, the assembly's moderator said that Church delegates were not yet ready to decide on redefining marriage and that they "want to continue to talk about it." The denomination's gay ordination policy must still be approved by the majority of the church's 173 local "presbyteries," within the next year.

He's giving up on TV, but he won't give up on love (at least not again). Talk-show legend Larry King and his seventh wife Shawn Southwick, will not in fact divorce. Both submitted petitions to withdraw divorce papers they filed in April. "A lot of new things are happening to us and we are happy to be together as a family with our children," King said in a statement. In June, Southwick tried to kill herself by overdosing on prescription medication. The couple has been married since 1997 and has two sons.

More back and forth on offshore drilling: A U.S. Court of Appeals has rejected President Obama’s request to overturn a ruling that lifted a temporary moratorium on deepwater drilling. The White House has requested a six-month suspension of drilling while investigting the Deepwater Horizon explosion and to allow time to put together new safety regulations. An appeals court in New Orleans rejected the request Thursday, which will likely set off a new set of moratorium regulations by the Interior Department. Oil-drilling companies have criticized the suspension, arguing that it is bad for the local economy.

The LeBron James fallout continues: Buzz Bissinger—who cowrote LeBron’s autobiography, Shooting Stars—says the star has lost his humility—and, worse, his place in NBA royalty. “It is now absurd to put in the same class as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan,” Bissinger writes. In choosing Miami, James chose “a team where he will no longer have the pressure of the last shot … he now has the perfect out in Dwayne Wade.” James “will play a different role than league-leading scorer” and “If he wins in Miami, and he shuld, it won’t be his championship. It will be Dwayne Wade’s. There will forever be a silent asterisk attached to his name.”

This will most definitely be music to Democrats ears: West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) told Politico that it is "highly likely" he will pursue the seat previously held by the late Sen. Robert Byrd and plans to declare his exact intentions Monday in Charleston. The only obstacles, Manchin said, are "procedural." His comments come just a day after Darrell McGraw, the West Virginia attorney general, said that state law allowed a special election to replace Byrd in November. This is good news for Democrats, who have been nervous about when the election would be held since Byrd's death last month. Manchin, a popular candidate, may prompt top state Republicans to not even consider the contest.

Brits are apparently glued to their televisions: A man suspected of being British fugitive Raoul Moat—accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, and a police officer—is cornered and negotiating with police officers, riveting Britain in a way similar to O.J. Simpson’s car chase years ago. Police have instructed people in the town of Rothbury to “go home and lock the door.” One eyewitness says, “There was a man down by the river with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun pointing at his own neck.” But not everyone thinks the live-broadcasting is a good thing. Charlie Brooker, a UK TV critic, took to his Twitter feed to criticize the BBC's coverage, writing, "This is really quite deeply unpleasant."

The 10 Russian spies are gone, after two weeks of Cold-War-novel intrigue and a decade of covert operations in the United States. Late on Thursday night, they were sent packing on a plane back to the motherland—all 10 spy suspects pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday afternoon—and landed in Vienna around 5:15 a.m. EST after an overnight flight from New York’s LaGuardia airport. Using a gangway connected to another aircraft, they were shepherded onto a flight to Russia, where they are expected to arrive by Friday afternoon. Now, four prisoners, convicted of espionage in Russia, will be heading in the other direction after high-level negotiations led by CIA Director Leon Panetta and an order signed by President Dmitry Medvedev. Russian officials reportedly agreed immediately to the deal, one of the largest prisoner trades since the end of the Cold War.