BEIRUT joined THE NATIONAL on "Fake Empire" in Switzerland.

SUFJAN STEVENS stopped by WNYC for a chat and mini-set.

THE CALM BLUE SEA is advance streaming their less-than-calm self-titled debut.

WHISKEYTOWN: Forever Valentine Demos.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH drop "Maniac" as an advance track from Hysterical.

THE  PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART drop "Tomorrow Dies Today" as the flip side to their new single.

DAN PEEK, a founding member of folk rockers America, passed away on Sunday; the cause of death is still unknown.  Peek, who wrote the hit song "Lonely People," left the band in 1977 to pursue a solo career in Christian Rock.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: John Linnell talks to The A.V. Club about the band's recent A.V. Undercover taping, hating hooky songs, and the joys of turning music into objects.

PETE TOWNSHEND disputes Roger Daltrey's claim that The Who's guitarist is virtually deaf, and announces plans to properly tour Quadrophenia for the first time.

THE BBQ SHOW: Mark Sultan gives his side of the split with King Khan and talks solo album(s).

GENE SIMMONS proposes to Shannon Tweed. Only took 28 years.

AMY WINEHOUSE was cremated after a "moving yet humorous" memorial service.

JESSE JAMES & KAT VON D have called off their engagement and broken up.

CAREY MULLIGAN & MARCUS MUMFORD reportedly are getting engaged after just five months together.

SELMA BLAIR and her fashion designer boyfriend, Jason Bleick welcomed a baby boy on Monday.

LAURYN HILL gave birth to a baby boy over the weekend, her sixth child, according to several reports.

LINDSAY LOHAN and the FRENCH HOTEL have officially buried the hatchet on the old feud - and partied together in Malibu this weekend.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY - rocked by a heart-numbing emotional meltdown - turned to Scientology pal John Travolta to help get her life back on track, according to the ever-reliable National Enquirer.

YEMEN: Fighting in the south intensified in recent days as tribesmen in Abyan Province sided with government troops against Islamic militants.

LIBYA: France appears to have persuaded Britain to support a shift in attitude toward Gaddafi, suggesting that he could be allowed to remain in Libya in return for giving up power in a broader deal including a cease-fire.

AFGHANISTAN: The government disputed findings from a scathing US report that said Kabul officials are thwarting US efforts to protect American aid money from being stolen.

IRAN: The power struggle between Iran's leadership is a clash of goals includingAhmadinejad's opposition to the practice of spreading Iranian power abroad by arming Iraqi militias and trading drugs for arms with Afghanistan's Taliban, according to an unnamed Iranian source working in the country's Foreign Ministry.

IRAQ: Arrayed on a table in an air-conditioned room at the Victory Base complex are the killing tools from attacks on American soldiers over the last several months - the detritus of munitions smuggled in from Iran, according to the soldiers here whose job it is to conduct the forensic analysis of evidence collected from the battlefield.

PIT BULL and CHICKS, swimming together...

A RAMPAGING KANGAROO left a 94-year-old Australian woman recovering in the hospital.

CAT blamed in Pennsylvania stabbing incident.

PEI PEI the ORANGUTAN is missing his pregnant mate so much he has started to dig a tunnel in the hope of being reunited with her.