Brian Part

LONDON Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that he couldn't stand up to Britain's media tycoons while in power, telling an official media ethics inquiry that doing so could have dragged his administration into a political quagmire.Blair's testimony on Monday, briefly interrupted by a heckler who burst into the courtroom to call him a war criminal, shed light on the canny media strategy used to create the 'New Labour' image that repackaged his party as more mainstream and business friendly, bringing it back to power after 18 years in opposition.Blair, who was premier from 1997 to 2007, enjoyed strong press support in his early years, including backing from media mogul Rupert Murdoch's influential newspapers. But he found himself isolated near the end of his decade in power due in large part to his unpopular decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.The greying ex-prime minister said he long had concerns about what he once described as the 'feral beasts' of the media but had to tread carefully where press barons were concerned.'I took a strategic decision to manage these people, not confront them,' he told Lord Justice Brian Leveson, who is leading the inquiry. 'I didn't say that I feared them ... (but) had you decided to confront them, everything would have been pushed to the side. It would have been a huge battle with no guarantee of winning.'Leveson's inquiry was set up following revelations of phone hacking at Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, a scandal which has rocked the British establishment and raised questions about whether top politicians helped shield Murdoch and the media in general from official scrutiny.Blair's time at the top has come under particular scrutiny because of the unlikely and mutually beneficial alliance the media-savvy prime minister forged between his left-wing Labour Party and Murdoch's News Corp. a company whose holdings includ

Diane Tran, the Texas honor student who was jailed last week for missing too much school, will not have to worry about telling future employers or college admissions offices that she has a criminal history. Lanny Moriarty, the judge who ordered the 17-year-old to go to jail after more than ten unexcused school absences, has set aside the contempt of court order he entered last week, according to Tran's lawyer, Brian Wice.'She can now truthfully say that she doesn't have a criminal history,' Wice told The Huffington Post by phone on Wednesday afternoon. He added that he's now going to find a lawyer to expunge the record.Tran, a junior at Willis High School who takes AP and college level courses, works both full and part-time jobs to help support herself and two siblings, according to KHOU-11. She sometimes misses class because she's so tired from work.'She goes from job to job from school,' Devin Hill, one of Tran's classmates, told KHOU-11 last week. 'She stays up until 7:00 in the morning doing her homework.'Her story resonated across the country and throughout the world. Nearly $100,000 in donations have come in from 49 states and 18 countries, according to HelpDianeTran.com, a site established in part by the Louisiana Children's Education Alliance (LCEA), a non-profit that focuses on education reform. 'We read the story and our hearts just broke thinking about what this girl had gone through,' Charlie Davis, the president and founder of the LCEA, told HuffPost. 'At same time we were infurated that she'd become a victim of both the public education system and the judicial system, and we wanted to do something to help her, to show her some support.'Davis stressed that 100 percent of the money donated outside of the credit card processing fees will be donated to Tran, and said that he's hoping to give the money to the high school junior next week.Meanwhile, 240,000 people have

Jimmy asks legendary Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Mike Love about their amazing career. Part 1 of 2

Jimmy asks legendary Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Mike Love about their amazing career. Part 2 of 2

Jimmy asks legendary Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Mike Love about their amazing career. Part 1 of 2

Jimmy asks legendary Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Mike Love about their amazing career. Part 2 of 2

After President Barack Obama decided to go forward with the raid against Osama bin Laden, he and his national security advisors faced days of carrying the heavy secret that, half a world away, Navy SEALs were preparing for the mission. NBC s Brian Williams reports.

Once the Navy SEALs left Afghanistan and headed for Osama bin Laden s compound in Pakistan, the president and his team nervously watched the mission in real time. When the first Blackhawk crash-landed, those in the room say they held their breath. NBC s Brian Williams reports.

As the raid on Osama bin Laden was carried out, the president and his advisors in the Situation Room nervously listened for bin Laden s call name, Geronimo. Once they heard Geronimo KIA, the first confirmation that bin Laden was dead, the mission was still far from over. Brian Williams reports.

The president and his closest advisers revealed to the world that Osama bin Laden was dead. President Obama says that the completion of the mission didn t truly sink in until he met the Navy SEALs behind the bin Laden raid. NBC s Brian Williams reports.