Reuters - The U.S. economic downturn has had a severe effect on broadcaster NBC's local television stations but the company has not yet seen an advertising slowdown at a national level, its chief executive said.

AP - The legal crusader portrayed by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-winning film "Erin Brockovich" is now working for a Manhattan personal injury law firm that specializes in asbestos cases.

AP - Musicians Will.I.am and Angelique Kidjo, actress Kristin Davis and model Elle Macpherson helped launch a new campaign Thursday to cut global poverty in half by 2015.

AP - Bono battles the AIDS epidemic. Leonardo tries to make the world a greener place, and Martha has a soft spot for animals.

E! Online - Michael Knight is making Jaime Sommers look good.

E! Online - Balthazar Getty, Calista Flockhart and Dave Annable, take a good look at the guy in the photo at left—he just might be your brother from another mother.

E! Online - As the large-onion alliance forms on one side, so self-destructs the other.

AP - Heeeere's Huckabee.

AP - Ellen DeGeneres has recorded a series of phone messages that amount to an urgent wake-up call for women: Help yourself fight breast cancer.

Reuters - The Oxygen network has acquired exclusive cable rerun rights to "America's Next Top Model" from CBS Television Distribution.

Reuters - The father of "Heroes" teen star Hayden Panettiere was charged on Thursday with assaulting his wife at their home in West Hollywood last month.

AP - Prosecutors say they have charged the father of "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere with misdemeanor battery for an incident in which he allegedly hit his wife.

Reuters - The Fox network, which has been aiming to bring back the family-comedy-with-a-twist genre of TV series, is developing "The New McToms," a hybrid multi- and single-camera half-hour executive produced by Salma Hayek.