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Aubrey McClendon, a founder and former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, died in a car crash Wednesday at age 56. This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. McClendon was indicted Tuesday and charged with conspiring to rig bids for oil and natural gas leases while leading Chesapeake Energy. The alleged conspiracy took place between December 2007 and March 2012, the indictment said. The companies are accused of deciding who would win the bids, then giving an interest in the leases to the other company. The Justice Department did not say which other company it believes was involved in...

Even before allied forces unleashed a "shock and awe" barrage of cruise missile attacks against Libya on March 19, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was quick to take the credit... Sarkozy's newfound concern for Libyan democracy contrasts sharply from only three years ago, when Sarkozy welcomed Gaddafi with open arms during an extravagant five-day state visit to France. On that occasion in December 2007, Gaddafi breezed into Paris in his Bedouin robes, accompanied by an entourage of 400 servants, five airplanes, a camel and 30 female bodyguards, and then proceeded to pitch his heated tent on the grounds of the palatial...

Halle Berry has said she considers her daughter Nahla, who is at the centre of a bitter custody battle, to be 'black'. Her comment emerged a week after the fight between Berry and her ex boyfriend Gabriel Aubry over the two-year-old turned ugly.

Watch our reports: 'Socialist Left factions in dire straits in Paris' 'Grassroots militants pick Ségolène Royal - again' France's opposition Socialists vote Thursday for a new leader after a fierce contest laid bare deep divisions and threatened to scuttle their chances of building a challenge to President Nicolas Sarkozy. Former presidential candidate Segolene Royal is putting her political survival on the line as she squares off against rivals Martine Aubry, the architect of France's 35-hour work week, and leftist Euro-MP Benoit Hamon. The vote by the party's 233,000 members -- which could head into a runoff on Friday -- comes...

ALBANY, NY--Stop the presses! A “prominent” New York State Democrat has complained that a tax might hurt small business people. Of course, in this case, the small business people are crack dealers.The New York Post reports that: Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry told Spitzer Tax Commissioner Robert Megna during a legislative budget hearing that requiring drug users and dealers to pay state sales tax on their illegal stash is an undue burden since they already face fines and possible forfeiture of property and money."This component adds another financial hardship on people who don't have a lot of money," Aubry said. Currently, New...