Melanie Jones

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been voted the top beauty icon of 2011, with her sister Pippa Middleton coming in at a close second in a new poll from Superdrug, which asked 3,000 UK women to name the most beautiful and fashionable celebrities of the year.

Harry Potter star Emma Watson's pixie cut beat out Jennifer Aniston's shoulder-length 'do for The Wall Street Journal' Most Influential hairstyle of the year, joining Justin Bieber's signature bowl cut as part of their 2011 fashion roundup. Get details on the pick and see the full list of 2011's top fashion moments here.

The demonstrators, part of a movement called Occupy the Caucuses, were arrested after finding the doors to Paul's headquarters locked against them (watch videos here). Paul's staff, however, reports that it was the landlord who called the police, and the Texas congressman has frequently expressed support for OWS in the past.

Verizon's new LTE wireless service is back up and running, but after four outages since April and three mass shutdowns in December alone, infuriated customers are threatening to jump ship. What's causing the 4G outages, and will Verizon be able to hold on to its image as America's most reliable network come 2012?

BBC is under fire for naming Sweetie the Panda Miss December 2011 in Faces of the Year: The Women, with everyone from Parliament to Twitter users slamming BBC for causing pandagate less than month after it was criticized for ignoring women's achievements. See the full list here, and find out why BBC is defending its decision.

A series of groundbreaking (and head-scratching) bills in states from Florida and Tennessee are set to become law on New Year's Day 2012. Here's everything you need to know, from aids for illegal immigrants and abortion restrictions to Utah's ban on Happy Hour and California's move for LGBT rights, and why you should care.

Source claim the Avatar actress and People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, are an item and the couple were allegedly spotted kissing earlier this month. If Saldana is dating Cooper, however, it will come as quite a blow to ex Keith Britton, who dated the actress for 11 years before their November split. get the details on the hot couple here.

For the first time, Netflix has fallen below Amazon in customer satisfaction, landing with some of the worst companies in a new ForeSee poll with a rating of 79 out of 100. For investors anxious about Netflix stock, however, this survey has a silver lining. Here, find out the five things investors should know about the streaming site's ranking in this new poll.

From Rep. Ron Paul to former Speaker Next Gingrich, nine-year-old Ari Garnick has been making the rounds before the New Hampshire primary asking each GOP candidate one crucial question: if you could be any superhero, who would it be an why? Find their baffling, hilarious and surprising sincere answers here.

The single mom, who was on her way home to her 8-year-old son Elijah when she was struck and killed. In her pocket, Fountain was carrying a list called My Dreams, detailing her hopes for her son's future and how she might give back to her community. As police search for the driver who killed her, friends and family are trying to make that list a reality.

Less than two weeks after giving birth to son Chad Michael, and just short of her 18th birthday, Jenni Lake succumbed to stage three astrocytoma. Lake, who became pregnant halfway through her cancer treatments, stopped chemo and radiation to protect her son, refusing the abortion that would have saved her life. This is her legacy.

A new program called Spire allows users to add Siri to any jailbroken iOS 5 device, from an iPhone 4 to a first generation iPad. But before you start downloading Spire, brought to Apple lovers by iOS cracker Chpwn, take care: without a proxy, this 'legal' hack is only the beginning for Siri on iPhone 4, and could endanger your information's security.

Sinead O'Connor has beaten Kim Kardashian's wedding record, splitting from fourth husband Barry Herridge after only 16 days of wedded bliss. But she does hold the title for the shortest celebrity marriage by far. From Britney Spears and Jason Alexander to stars like Drew Barrymore and Rudolph Valentino, here are the top 13 shortest marriages in Hollywood history.

From stories of Scott Olsen at Occupy Oakland and the riots in Tahrir Square, to a hilarious cache of old photos and LOTR's Eye of Sauron in a glass door's reflection, reddit has broken some of the biggest stories of the year, and given us plenty of hilarity in between. Here, see the top scoring links of 2011 as voted by reddit users.

Michael Plumadore, 39, has confessed to the brutal murder of 9-year-old Fort Wayne, Indiana girl Aliahna Lemmon, missing since Friday. Plumadore, who has given no motive for the killing, said he beat Lemmon with a brick before dismembering her body, keeping her hands, feet and head in his freezer.

The Christmas Day fire that killed Madonna Badger's three children and her parents was fireplace-related, a tragic accident likely caused by the fireplace ashes of the family's Yule log. Badger has been spared many of the details of the horrific fire, including the fact that her father died trying to save one of her daughters.

Companies working to develop a pure hydrocodone drugs have abuse experts and drug control advocates warning that the product will be highly addictive. Drugs like Zohydro, which opponents are already calling the next OxyContin, will be 10 times as strong as Vicodin, and the first time pure hydrocodone will be sold legally in the U.S.

From great shopping deals at Walmart, Lowes and Best Buy to post-holiday savings at stores like JC Penney, Target and CVS, here are some of the best after Christmas sales of 2011, with up to 80 percent off items before the New Year. Check out the best of the post-holiday season here, before the deals end!

Matthew McConaughey proposed to Camila Alves on Christmas Day, tweeting a cute picture of the longtime couple as they kissed by the Christmas tree. But who, exactly, is McCaughey's fiance? Is it true her mother doesn't approve of McConaughey? Here are five things to know about Camila Alves, from the couple's past to Alves' designer label and modeling career.

Seven people aged 18 to 60 have been found shot dead in their apartment in a Texas suburb, likely killed Christmas morning just after opening their holiday gifts. Though police would not reveal the victims' identities or speculate on motive, they did say they believed the shooter was among the dead.

At least 39 people are reported dead in Nigeria after a series of church bombings during holiday services and one suicide bomber attack by Muslim extremists left a horrifying mark on Christmas Day. As world leaders condemn the attacks, Nigerians ask why President Jonathon failed to prevent them, with some youths rioting and setting up burning barricades in the street.

Whether you want to send off a last-last-minute present or get a jump on your post-holiday shopping, here is a complete rundown of what stores are open Christmas Day, Dec. 25. Is Walmart open on Christmas? Can you pick up a prescription at Walgreens Pharmacy? What about stores open on Christmas Eve, like Target and Kmart? Find out here.

The mystery of the Namibian space ball has been solved before the end of 2011, but the answer, sadly, does not lie in UFOs and alien life. Instead, the extraterrestrial object is almost certainly a hydrazine bladder tank... a mystery solved not by NASA, but by a commenter on Gawker. Details and photos here.

As Prince Philip recovers from emergency heart surgery this Christmas, it's unsurprising that Queen's Elizabeth II's 59th annual holiday message is a poignant one of family, strength and community spirit. Read a full text of her Christmas message, watch her video here, and find links to all her Christmas broadcasts since 1952.

As Congress debates the Stop Online Piracy Act and Go Daddy suffers for its early support, many Americans still don't know exactly what SOPA bill is or how it would affect their day-to-day lives. Here, read a complete and easy-to-grasp guide of the controversial bill and why it's so dangerous, from why it's supported to the threat of censorship it poses.

Both Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have been ousted from the primary after failing to collect enough valid signatures to run, and while Perry's campaign has been over for months, the loss of Super Tuesday state Virginia for Gingrich is a devastating blow. Months after he was declared dead-on-arrival, is Gingrich's comeback already over?

NORAD teamed up with Google Earth once again in 2011, tracking Father Christmas' progress around the world as volunteers fielded 100,000 calls. As NORAD reports a record holiday, find out how the Santa Tracker got started, and check out 2011's best Google Earth videos tracking Santa's progress, from the Great Wall and Taj Mahal to Hilo, Hawaii.

Santa Claus is making trips around the world on Christmas Eve, but milk and cookies aren't the only treats he'll snack on along the way... nor is Santa the only name he goes by. From rice pudding for Tomte Claus in Denmark and the fruit cake-like pan de pascua in Chile to carrots (yes, carrots) in France, see what kids leave out and get recipes for Santa's favorite treats worldwide.

Robet De Niro has become a father again at age 68 as he and wife Grace Hightower welcomed daughter Helen via a surrogate mother. De Niro, who had twins via surrogacy with ex Toukie Smith and now has six children from three different women, has a family to rival Pitt-Jolie, but says that his fractionalized family is kept together by keeping the lines of communication open.