Lil Wayne is appearing in a Manhattan courtroom, but DNA science is taking center stage.
A hearing on a DNA profiling technique used in the rapper's 2007 gun-possession case started Wednesday. It concerns a process used for identifying people from tiny amounts of DNA -- including some that prosecutors say ties the Grammy Award-winner to a gun found on his tour bus after a concert.
The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty. He faces at least 31/2 years in prison if convicted. 

Everybody knows Cornel West, the public intellectual, the popular Princeton University Professor and best-selling author who has remained dedicated to the plight of the poor and underprivileged over the course of his illustrious career. Yet few know anything about his private life, or about what has inspired him to remain on such a righteous path and in touch with his roots over the years.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Rihanna is exposing her fans to more than her music with her new single, "Russian Roulette."

Richmond's new professional baseball team could soon be called the Flying Squirrels or the Flatheads or even the Hush Puppies or Rock Hoppers or Rhinos.
But the relocated minor league franchise that once bore the proud, straitlaced name of the Connecticut Defenders will definitely not be called the Hambones.

It's not a good sign when the author of a book is already making apologies in the preface for what you're about to read. That's what we have in the case of "Barack Like Me" by David Alan Grier, a disjointed rise of Obama memoir which might have sounded like a good idea a year ago, but which amounts to little more than the unfocused ramblings by a guy who probably didn't have any reason to sound so giddy about Barack Obama or even about his own life.

Taylor Swift says she is "absolutely walking on a cloud" over her six nominations for the American Music Awards.

A young man punched singer Leona Lewis in the head as she signed autographs and posed for photographs at a book signing session in central London on Wednesday, her spokesman said.

ATLANTA (AP) -- T.I. didn't need to attend the BET Hip-Hop Awards to win two trophies on Saturday.

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The doctor at the center of an investigation into Michael Jackson's death may face arrest and could lose his medical license after missing a hearing to explain late child support payments, the Las Vegas district attorney said Thursday.