Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder after they went searching for an Asian man to rob and ended up choking the life out of their eventual victim, whom they left on the side of the road. After committing a similar robbery a month ago, 16-year-old Corey Azor and 17-year-old Chris Levy were hunting for a new target in Flushing, where the two attend high school (in separate schools). They came upon 49-year-old David Kao, who was dozing off in the driver's seat of an SUV while parked on the street. According to the News, Levy admitted to cops that "he and Azor climbed into the car, put Kao into a choke hold and dragged him into the backseat, where they beat him until he was unconscious." They then took his credit cards and dumped him out a few blocks away. more ›

We have been quite happy with the first week of the BBC’s newest newscast BBC World News America, which airs at 7 p.m. on BBC America, as well as around the world on BBC World. (The half hour BBC newscasts that air on WLIW and NJN at the same time are tape delayed from an hour before.) The newscast is unlike any of the American networks and since it is an hour long unlike the big 3’s nightly broadcasts it has more actual news content, more international reporting, and it is anchored in Washington instead of New York. True PBS’ NewsHour is an hour long, but it is basically headlines at the top with people analyzing the stories of the day, instead of actual on the ground reporting. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck at Richmond Terrace and Federal Place on Staten Island, a water rescue at Chambers St. and River Terrace off Manhattan, and a homicide at Bruner and Barnes Aves. in the Bronx.
• A Connecticut doctor lost his family yesterday after two men broke into his home and held them hostage, while one family member was taken to a nearby bank to withdraw money. After killing the man's wife and two teenage daughters, the suspects set the house on fire before being apprehended at a police road block.The doctor survived a head wound and is in stable condition.
• The Weekly World News, the checkout line eye-catching tabloid that brought us Batboy, is folding in early August. There are rumors in the publishing world that Teen Vogue may follow suit.
• A stripped-down, one act version of the Broadway production Suessical will be playing at the Lucille Lortel Theater on Christopher St. this summer and all tickets are free.
• A puzzling brickwork sybmol built into a wall on Pearl St. in 1832. The building was destroyed, but the section of wall was preserved to keep the mystery alive.
• Curbed looks around the Domino Sugar plant on Brooklyn's waterfront.
• G-Unit member and rapper Tony Yayo rejected an offered plea deal that would have him serve nine months for slapping and punching a 14-year-old on 25th St. this March.
• 22-year-old Derick Phanord was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after police said he confessed to tying his dog to a tree, dousing it with clorox and then gasoline, and then setting the pitbull on fire. Phanord pleaded not guilty, but police say that in his confession, Phanord admitted he left his dog to die because it was "unfriendly."
• ConEd hasn't cornered the market on poor service. Blackouts are happening all over San Francisco today, and the servers for sites Craigslist, Live Journal, VOX are all temporarily offline.

Covering Coverage
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Daljit Dhaliwal is currently the anchor of the PBS international documentary series Wide Angle, which starts its new season on Tuesday (9:00 p.m., WNET 13). A native of London, she got her start with the BBC reporting from Northern Ireland, then moved to ITN where in 1996 she became the anchor for ITN World News for Public Television which was produced for PBS. The newscast raised her profile on this side of the Atlantic and lead to her being named to People's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World list in 1999. more ›

If you were watching WABC 7 last night, you noticed that it suddenly went black - and stayed that way until around 1AM. The studio needed to be evacuated after a smoky fire started near the set of Live with Regis & Kelly at its Columbus Avenue and 66th Street location. According to the NY Times, a "light bulb had set a curtain on fire." Here's what WABC 7 said during their segment about the fire:

The fire broke out on Channel 7's main studio before the 11:00 p.m. Newscast, an electrical malfunction set fire to a large stage. more ›

As the Virginia Tech story broke last Monday, cable news, as always, took the lead with their normal oversaturated speculative coverage transferring the energy and resources normally reserved for non-story stories like the Anna Nicole Smith saga into covering a real story. more ›

A look at some noteworthy televison shows this week: more ›

- The United States has now been in Iraq for over three years. more ›

When the British authorities released photographs of the suspected bombers from Thursday's incident, one could make out that one of the men was wearing a New York t-shirt. Oh boy. Police later found the shirt "discarded in a street in Brixton." The AP report pointed out that NY was a former terror target, but Gothamist suspects that the t-shirt was simply coincidental, as New York may be the world's second home (even if not in 2012), simply a way for people to blend in. But if another suspect were wearing a Madrid t-shirt, along with a Bali one, then we'd rethink it. more ›

And Gothamist would also like to thank the ABC News producers who have ensured that we can start celebrating New Year's now.
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Gothamist is growing like a gummy bear in water- so we've got some announcements to make. First, we'd like your help beta-testing a couple of new Gothamist sections. Gothamist Weather will be written by Leslie Campisi, Carrie Himelfarb, and their crack team of metro meteorologists, and will feature daily weather information, weather gossip, weather fashion, and maybe even a little bit of weather porn. Ask Gothamist will be written by Doug Gordon and Erin O'Brien, and will offer all the unsolicited advice you so desperately do not crave from Gothamist. You know, where to find the best burger, what to do if your boyfriend is too metrosexual, how to get home when the F-train goes out of service. Both pages will be in beta for the next week, and barring any major disasters, should go live the following Monday. Special thanks to Neil Epstein for coding both blogs. more ›

Just when you thought you were tired of Michael Jackson, he becomes interesting again. Admit it – there could not be a more insane mugshot picture; he sort of looks like a comic book villain, like the Joker [as suggested by friend JW]. He's Bad! He's Dangerous! This is a Thriller! He's Off the Wall! And as Gawker notes, all the Michael Jackson jokes were written 10 years ago ("Do You Remember The Time [insert bizarre MJ incident here]?" more ›

From both the "hee-hee" and "ew!" lobes of the brain, Gothamist brings you Lloyd Grove's piece about the mis-captioning on ABC News: more ›