This year's French Open has offered many juicy storylines, including an unserene Serena Williams accusing her opponent of cheating, a teenage women's player making sounds like a shrieking siren during volleys, and an appearance by No. 1 seed Dinara Safina in the women's finals on Saturday. But the big story is the ongoing soap opera that is the Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer rivalry. Nadal, who had beaten Federer in the last three Open finals, went down to a stunning fourth-round defeat against 23rd seed Robin Soderling. Now, Soderling will compete for the crown in Sunday's final. And Soderling's opponent? Roger Federer, who beat Juan Martin Del Potro in the semis. Federer has never won the French Open and is just two Grand Slam tournament wins from tying Pete Sampras' record of 13. —JB

Wearing cast-off Victoria Secret wings and little else, Sacha Baron Cohen made a surprise descent from the rafters of the MTV Movie Awards, crash-landing on Eminem and reprising the naked wrestling scene in “Borat.” The rapper then stalked out da house, outraged! ...Actually, not so much. The pre-arranged stunt was an outrageous promo for Cohen's mockumentary “Bruno” (July 10), about a flamboyant Austrian fashionista. Bruno also popped up earlier at a Prop 8 rally in Los Angeles. Guerrilla marketing yes, but you won't see the usual trailers for the comedy: Three years ago, Fox Studios underestimated how wildly popular “Borat” would be, and did little to promote it. Now, Fox's mistake is Universal's strategy, and that studio's banking on millions. As Borat might say to Bruno...High five! —DH

On Thursday in Cairo, President Obama employed his customary even-handed treatment in attempting to bridge the chasm that has opened up between the Muslim world and the U.S. The president quoted the Koran, condemned Israeli settlement expansion, and pointedly omitted the word ""terrorism" in the same address that denounced Holocaust deniers and alluded to American losses on 9/11. The speech provoked varied reactions, to say the least. The American press and many on the left praised it, as did some on the right. Sen. James Inhofe, on the other hand, called it "un-American." Some Arabs were ecstatic, others had a mixed response. The Israelis were muted, and Osama Bin Laden didn't need to hear it to issue his review. But despite hopes for a new beginning, the next day in the Middle East was business as usual. —JB

There seems little doubt that all 228 people on Air France’s Flight 447 lost their lives over the Atlantic, en route from Rio De Janeiro to Paris. The pilot last radioed that he was flying into an enormous electrical storm before the plane disappeared. Time magazine reports that a similar Airbus 330 experienced unexplained, harrowing nosedives, and on Friday, Air France issued a confidential memo that flight-speed sensors will be replaced on medium- and long-haul Airbus jets. The weather factor in the so-called intertropical convergence zone has spurred online searches for “bermuda triangle” and “cumulonimbus clouds.” The mini-sub that explored the Titanic is now seeking the black box which, if found, could yield real clues to the worst crash in Air France history. —DH

Never count your Cinderellas before they hatch. Amateur singer Susan Boyle only came to the world's attention in April, but instant fame has sped up a contrarian cycle: Build someone up, then tear them down for being overexposed. Expectations made Boyle's second-place accomplishment on "Britain's Got Talent" seem like defeat. Then again, these days, being No. 2 gets more attention. Witness Adam Lambert (soon to be a Rolling Stones cover boy) on "American Idol" and Miss California Carrie Prejean, whose soap-pageant drama unfolded after becoming a Miss USA runner-up. After Boyle's quick stint in a celebrity mental-health clinic, she may have unwittingly re-established her winning underdog status. Good luck to her. —VC

Just two weeks after President Obama tried to tamp down the rhetoric over abortion, pro-life activist Scott Roeder, authorities say, shot and killed abortion doctor George Tiller at a Wichita church. Tiller ran one of three clinics in the U.S. that provided abortions to women more than 21 weeks pregnant. Anti-abortion activists had targeted him for years, and he was shot in both arms in 1993. But some on the pro-choice side—such as Keith Olbermann—are blaming the murder in part on a string of broadcast attacks by Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who has used such phrases as "Tiller the killer" in his commentaries. An indignant O'Reilly has responded in kind, prompting a debate over the culpability of those who condemn abortion providers as murderers when someone decides to administer the death penalty on his own. —JB

"What's good for General Motors is good for the country" is a misquote often cited to ridicule the ideology of the free market. Now, however, it happens to be true—literally. After GM emerges from bankruptcy, the U.S. government will take as much as a 72.5% stake, with the United Auto Workers owning another chunk. So what will the American taxpayer be getting for the $50 billion invested in the carmaker? A company with perpetually eroding market share, a severely tarnished reputation, and $90 billion in red ink before the re-organization. Still, the government and GM are optimistic that a shrunken company can turn a profit, others not. What once was an icon of American-style capitalism might remain so, only not in the way GM fans might have hoped. —JB