THE NEW YORK TIMES

Tony Ortega, who has been the editor-in-chief of the Village Voice since 2007, announced via blog post on Friday that he is stepping down next week. The alt-weekly has seen a number of staff layoffs in the last few years.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Lebanon Friday amid heightened tensions in the Muslim and Arab world as protests spread, some violent, in response to an anti-Islam movie produced in the U.S. The pope's three-day visit is focused on expressing support for Christians throughout the region who increasingly feel threatened amidst the rising influence of Islamists following the Arab Spring.

The government of India, the world's 10th largest economy by gross domestic product, passed wide-ranging laws on Friday expanding foreign investment in the retail, broadcasting and airline sectors, opening its doors to companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) amid slowing growth.

Clearly, there is no debate. Based on the facts, it’s Obama who deserves all of the credit. His actions and policies saved the great State of Ohio from economic calamity.

The Communist Party of Vietnam has vowed to target any blogs and websites that are "anti-party" or "anti-state," but government critics have responded with defiance.

Apple has confirmed that it will start taking online pre-orders of the new iPhone 5 at exactly 12:01 a.m. PT (3:01 a.m. ET) Sept. 14. When it comes to carriers, Sprint and AT&T customers can pre-order the handset at the same time while Verizon will reportedly open its online shop a minute earlier at 12 a.m. PT.

The nation was outraged when NBC's "Today" show chose to air a live interview with Kardashian clan matriarch Kris Jenner Tuesday morning as other networks observed a moment of silence in memory of 9/11. Now the reality star is absolving herself of all blame and is reportedly "furious" at NBC.

Joaquin Phoenix is set to make a career comeback in Paul Thomas Anderson's controversial new film "The Master." The film is believed to be based the rise of Scientology.

An online petition was posted on the website Change.org calling on the filmmakers of a Nina Simone biopic to re-cast Zoe Salanda with an actress of a darker complexion.

Starting March 12, food businesses regulated by the city will not be able to sell many sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces.

The Middle East is looking increasingly unsteady with the attacks in Libya and the protests in Egypt, which may further deter the U.S. from eventually intervening in Syria.

The depiction of the prophet Mohammed in the Western media has long been a sore point among Muslims, who view the artistic expressions as blasphemous and highly offensive. "Innocence of Muslims," the anti-Mohammed film that gained YouTube notoriety and spurred the Benghazi, Libya, attack that killed Ambassador, is hardly the first Western media reference to the prophet to incite religious backlash.

The U.S. government went into a full-throated propaganda offensive Tuesday in an effort to show that the highly controversial 2008 bailouts of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) were profitable.

Far-right Dutch politician and leader of the ultra-conservative Freedom Party (PVV) Geert Wilders formerly established his party in parliament on a platform of Islamophobic anti-immigration, and now seeks to turn nationalist sentiment against the eurozone amid frustrations with debt-laden countries like Greece, Italy and Spain. Poll indicate his party will lose seats this election, but it has defied expectations in the past.

William Wright, now 46, recalls the day eleven years ago when the World Trade Center collapsed on top of him and five of his co-workers.

A congressionally mandated report to assess the feasibility, practicality and affordability of the U.S. missile defense and its efficiency in countering nuclear or conventional missile attacks from Iran or North Korea has found that the nation's defense strategy suffers from major flaws.

Hassan Sheik Mohamud was just elected president of the volatile country of Somalia. With a new constitution and parliament behind him, it's full steam ahead. But can he reverse the country's 21-year curse of failed statehood?

China has more Internet users than any other country in the world has inhabitants. Is that mass of people going to push for greater freedom? Not with government controls as stringent as they are now.

For all of us who grew up with ample access to sports and the arts, it's difficult to see how our school systems have evolved, practically eliminating the character-building program of sports participation.

Bill Moggridge, inventor and designer of the first laptop, died on Sept. 8, 2012. He died from cancer at the age of 69, according to an announcement by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, where he worked as director.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault is seeking Belgian citizenship just as France's Socialist President Hollande sets out to raise taxes on the wealthy, raising fears about a mass exodus of French investors and jobs creators.