Morgan Freeman may play the voice of God and Bill Clinton may have rescued American reporters from North Korea... but they couldn't help the United States Soccer Federation's bid committee land the World Cup in 2022. FIFA just announced that the 2018 World Cup will be in Russia and the 2022 World Cup will be in Qatar. The U.S. bid committee was aiming to submit bids for both, but then withdrew from the 2018 process in October to focus on the 2022 bid. more ›

The Qatari diplomat whose smoking attempt in the bathroom of a United flight from D.C. to Denver involved air marshals, an ill-advised joke about lighting his shoes on fire, and F-16 fighter jets escorting the plane on its descent is expected to leave the country by today. Mohammed Al-Madadi, 27, who has diplomatic immunity, was not charged; State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "This is a very serious issue. Any of us who travel on airlines are reminded of this when we take off. In our communications with the Qatari ambassador last night, he fully understood the seriousness of the charges." more ›

A group of investors, headed by Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman--who is the CEO of Boston Properties--have purchased the GM Building and three other Midtown buildings for $3.95 billion. The GM Building alone went for $2.9 billion, which is "the highest price ever paid for an American office tower," per the NY Times. more ›