Beyonce Knowles may be a talented singer and actress, but in the culinary department, she admits she's far from great. For Thanksgiving she's usually treated to a traditional feast by her mother, Tina, but this year Beyonce wants to learn to cook for her husband, Jay-Z.

"For Thanksgiving my mother usually cooks. It's just like anyone else's Thanksgiving. It's actually my favourite holiday because it's not about anything but giving back, giving thanks for all our blessings. Hopefully I'll try to make some type of pie. I'm not the best cook, but I think I'm ready to try something."

In other words, she's not yet ready to tackle the entire meal, but hey, it's a start at least!

In a statement issued late Thursday evening, Verizon Wireless acknowledged that some of its employees accessed president-elect Barack Obama's cell phone records without authorization.

The statement read:

"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed president-elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account. All employees who have accessed the account -- whether authorized or not -- have been put on immediate leave, with pay."

Verizon also apologized for the security breach:

"We apologize to president-elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day."

Verizon said that Obama's account had been inactive for months, and that no emails or other data was accessed as the phone was a simple flip-phone, not a smartphone.

With reports such as this emerging, it makes sense that Obama won't be permitted to use his BlackBerry in the White House - it's simply not secure enough.

On Thursday experts indicated that Russia is now headed towards a major economic crisis, following news that the price of oil had fallen below $50 a barrel. The collapse of the value of oil is said to have several catastraphoic consequences for Russia, including a severe drop in living standards next year and a possible devaluation of the rouble.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin insisted that the country's economy was still robust. Speaking at a meeting of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party, Putin told delegates in Moscow that Russia would survive the current global financial crisis, which he blamed on the United States.

The Kremlin, however, is aware that any loss of confidence in the Russian economy would also lead to a loss in confidence in Putin and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

Putin said that his administration would do everything possible to prevent a recurrence of Russia's last oil-related financial crash in 1998, however the continually dropping price of oil leaves him few available options. Experts now suggest that Russia's economy is facing profound difficulities, despite two massive stabilization funds accumulated during the booming oil years.

After a defeat at the polls during the November election this year, another payday lender is now forced to close down some of its Ohio stores. Tenneesee-based Check Into Cash said it will close 32 of its 92 Ohio stores within the first two weeks of December.

45 workers will be let go during the closings. The stores' landlords haven't yet been notified, so Check Into Cash isn't yet revealing publicly which stores will close. Employees, however, have been notified.

The remaining 60 Check Into Cash stores in Ohio will operate under the Ohio Small Loan Act. This allows lenders to charge a $15 origination fee on loans up to $500 and $30 for loans above that amount, in addition to annual interest of 28 percent. Check Into Cash President Steve Scoggins said in a statement that they haven't ruled out additional closings.

Check Into Cash's decision to close more than 1/3 of their Ohio stores comes just two weeks after 64% of Ohio voters cast ballots in favor of Issue 5, which supports a law that would cap interest rates payday lenders can charge under current licenses at 28% per year.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and husband Pete Wentz welcomed their son into the world Thursday night. Bronx Mowgli Wentz weighed 7lbs, 11oz, and was 20 1/2" long. A spokesperson for the couple confirmed, stating Äshlee, Pete and baby Bronx are all healthy and happy, and thank everyone for their well wishes!"

Ashlee, 24, and Pete, 29, announced their pregnancy in May, just a few weeks after their Alice in Wonderland-themed wedding. At the time, Ashleyesaid, Ï would love to have a big family one day." Pete added, "A big soccer team or a band."

Wentz has been looking to buddy Joel Madden, father to 9-month old Harlow with girlfriend Nicole Richie, for advice and tips on fatherhood. Harlow and Ritchie both attended Ashlee's Pooh-themed baby shower recently.

As for the baby's middle name - Mowgli - someone's clearly a fan of the Jungle Book.

It's been little more than a month since Madonna and Guy Ritchie revealed publicly that they would be getting divorced, but a judge granted the couple the divorce Friday, officially ending their eight year marriage.

District Judge Caroline Reid pronounced the degree nisi in the uncontested divorce at the family division of the High Court in London. The case was listed as Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S, and was among 17 cases read out by a court clerk.

The judge then asked if anyone wished to show just cause against the decrees or raise the question of costs, and then said "I therefore pronounce the decrees." Neither Madonna nor Ritchie attended the hearing, which they are not required to do by law. The hearing lasted under a minute, and has to be one of the quickest high-profile divorces on record.

Madonna, 50, and Ritchie, 40, married at a Scottish castle in December 2000 in a lavish ceremony, and announced mid-October that they were divorcing. Together they have an eight year old son, Rocco, and a three year old adpoted son, David Banda. Madonna also has a 12 year old daughter, Lourdes, by her former trainer Carlos Leon.

Now that the split is official, will Madonna start stepping out more often with rumored boy toy Alex Rodriguez?

All eyes are on Brady Quinn as the quarterback is dealing with a broker finger that he says happened in the second quarter of the Buffalo Bills game. Quinn plans on playing with the injury on Sunday and a splint will be placed on it when the defense on the field.

Quinn said about the injury today:

“Basically I am sure you guys have heard what Romeo said, I banged up my finger Monday night. I think it was the first quarter. I hit it again later in the second quarter. At this point it is a little sore. I practiced yesterday, (I am) practicing today. We are just doing the best we can to take a little precaution and make sure it’s alright and that’s pretty much it.”

Google has announced that it will scrap its social networking tool Lively.com at the end of the year. The project went live in July and was seen as the search giants answer to the popular Second Life. While users seemed to like the site, there just wasn't enough of them to make the project succeed. Here is what Google said when the announced the decision on their blog:

In July we launched Lively in Google Labs because we wanted users to be able to interact with their friends and express themselves online in new ways. Google has always been supportive of this kind of experimentation because we believe it's the best way to create groundbreaking products that make a difference to people's lives. But we've also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off.

Oddsmakers have made the Cleveland Browns a 3 point favorite when the Houston Texans come play on the shores of Lake Erie. The over/under is the contest is set at 50 points which is the highest total for any NFL game this weekend.

The Texans come to Cleveland with a 3-7 record while the Browns hold a 4-6 mark in the 2008 season. The Browns and Texans have met 5 times with Cleveland hold a 3-2 advantage in the series and a 2-0 mark at home.

Even when things go right for the Cleveland Browns, more things seem to go wrong. Yesterday the team revealed that Kellen Winslow may not be able to play on Sunday when the Houston Texans come to the Stadium and today revealed that quarterback Brady Quinn broke his index finger on his throwing hand on Monday.

The break on Quinn's finger was sustained when he banged it against a helmet of a Buffalo Bills defender and originally was diagnosed with a bruise. After X-Rays, it was revealed that he indeed broke the tip of the finger. Browns head coach Romeo Crennel said that the former standout at Notre Dame can grip the football properly.