US – Sunday, July 5

Assets go into trust for family

Details of Michael Jackson’s will began to emerge Wednesday with all of his multimillion-dollar estate being placed in a family trust, even as plans for his highly anticipated funeral remained sketchy.

Last will of Michael Jackson

I, MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON, a resident of the State of California, declare this to be my last Will, and do hereby revoke all former wills and codicils made by me.

The Beckhams’ island getaway

GOSSIP. According to the Sun, David Beckham is planning a trip to Necker Island, Richard Branson’s private island hideaway, to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary with Victoria Beckham. And the best part? It only costs $51,000 a night to have the whole island to themselves.

The gangster of Hollywood

FEATURE. Johnny Depp doesn’t know what time it is. Though he technically calls an adorable village in France home and owns an island in the Caribbean, the mercurial actor spends so much time working that his internal clock is all out of whack.

Sales pressure seen hurting consumers

Consumer and labor groups demanded Bank of America Corp. and other lenders reform their sales practices so that workers under pressure to meet sales quotas do not saddle customers with costly and unnecessary products.

Consumer Trends

Got smart-phone envy?

You’re in an elevator, on the subway or waiting in a line, and while those around you are tapping away on their BlackBerrys and iPhones, you take out your plain old cell phone and can’t help but feel a little … inadequate. Worry no more. Here are a handful of phones and programs that will help you quash those feelings of cell phone shame.

Updated 11:22, October the 6th, 2008

Botox makes you so much more credible

POLITICAL GOSSIP. Have we already run out of things to say about the candidates? I guess so. Because the New York Post is now speculating that Joe Biden has had plastic surgery. And he maybe went into last week’s debate only after getting some shots of Botox.

They showed some pictures of Biden from 2005 and last week to the unfortunately named plastic surgeon, Dr. Oleh Slupchynskyj, who is absolutely certain Barack Obama’s choice to appeal to working-class middle Americans has had some work done. While such speculation may put off those hard-scrabble Pennsylvanians Biden’s trying to reach, he’s totally locked up the aging socialite vote.

Biden spokesman David Wade refuted the claims, saying, “I don’t know how to say no firmly enough,” but really it’s sad he even had to comment on it at all.