Wives

Breakout British boy band One Direction made history Wednesday as its Stateside debut, "Up All Night," bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart after selling more than 176,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That made it the first British group to take the top spot in the United States with its debut release. "Up All Night" is only the second disc of 2012 to unseat the chart-topping run by One Direction's Columbia Records label mate Adele following Bruce Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball.

In one of the wildest days of a tumultuous presidential campaign, one candidate quit, another was stripped of his victory in Iowa and a third was scalded by an ex-wife in a brutal national television interview. By the close of Thursday, however, the contours of the Republican race remained about where they were 24 hours earlier: with a jostling field of contenders vying to emerge as the alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney by scoring a breakthrough in South Carolina. In that way, the upheaval served only to underscore the dynamic of a contest that has been unsettled for months, save for one constant: Romney's good fortune as a series of twists has kept any single opponent from gaining desperately needed traction.

As hopes faded Tuesday for the rescue of 39 workers still missing after an oil rig capsized in a fierce winter storm off the east coast of Russia, the wife of one of the men called the towing of the platform through icy waters a suicide mission. The multi-ton Kolskaya oil and gas drilling platform sank Sunday in the Sea of Okhotsk about 146 miles off Sakhalin Island while being towed to its new destination in Vietnam. Fourteen crew members were rescued and 14 were found dead Sunday, officials said.

When all else fails, try breaking bread together. As the White House and congressional Republicans continue on a seemingly endless loop of political partisanship, Vice President Joe Biden has invited Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House Majority Leader, to dinner this evening. The two seemed to hit it off earlier this year, an odd couple of sorts as they holed up in negotiations on a bipartisan deficit-reduction proposal. But Cantor abruptly bolted from those talks and it became clear compromise was not to be found.

Libya's new leaders declared their nation "liberated" on Sunday, paving the way for elections and a constitution that the revolutionary government says will put the country on a path to its first representative democracy. The long-awaited pronouncement came with a heavy dose of Islamist sentiment, as Mustafa Abdul Jalil, leader of the transitional government, embraced the Muslim code known as Sharia law as a foundation for future legislation. During his more than four decades in power, Moammar Kadafi viewed Islamists as a threat and jailed hundreds of suspected religious militants.

David Dutcher met Sharon on Match.com in late 2008, a few months after separating from his wife. "We had a lot in common," he recalled. Sharon loved four-wheel-drive trucks and sports. They met for coffee, then dinner. Sharon was tall, slender, blond and beautiful. She moaned that she had not had sex in a long time. She told him he had large, strong hands and wondered if that portended other things. She described his kisses as "yummy. " "It felt a lot like Christmas," said Dutcher, 49, a tall, burly engineer with wavy red hair.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday: Controversial evangelical pastor Ted Haggard will trade wives with celebrity Gary Busey on an upcoming episode of "Wife Swap. " ( Los Angeles Times ) After 31 years of making music together, R.E.M. calls it quits. ( Los Angeles Times ) "Bones" star Emily Deschanel welcomes baby boy Henry. ( People ) Meanwhile, sister Zooey Deschanel's sitcom "New Girl" topped the ratings. ( Los Angeles Times ) Arnold Schwarzenegger is writing an "unbelievably true" memoir called "Total Recall.

Among my many contributions to modern life — chocolate pajamas and Non-Virgin Atlantic Airlines — I now offer up the Pro Football Prenup, a legal document that spells out certain behaviors between couples during the upcoming season. Because from what I understand, quite a bit of conflict can occur. Me, I'm mostly a gentle soul. I did once throw a toaster — Pop-Tarts and all — through the television during a Bears-Falcons preseason game. It was, witnesses say, a perfect spiral.

Men who have lost jobs due to the recession may discover their domestic roles are shifting, a study finds. Researchers conducted interviews with 20 unemployed men to see what impact losing their jobs had on their roles as fathers, husbands, partners and providers. While many were devastated by their loss of jobs and income, they found ways to cope and survive, using various strategies. One shift seen by the researchers was the men's attitude toward the work their wives and girlfriends did. Twelve of the men in the study, presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Assn.