ASPEN, Colo. (AP) – Charlie Sheen pleaded guilty Monday to assault in a Christmas Day argument with his wife in exchange for the withdrawal of more serious charges.

Sheen, star of “Two and a Half Men” on CBS, was sentenced to 30 days in a rehabilitation center, 30 days of probation and 36 hours of anger management. He has 30 days to report to the Promises Treatment Center in California.

Colorado prosecutors dropped a felony menacing charge and a criminal mischief charge in exchange for Sheen’s plea on a count of misdemeanor assault. The charges stem from a Christmas Day 2009 dispute with Brooke Mueller Sheen.

Sheen was scheduled to plead guilty at a hearing in June, but that hit a snag over terms of a proposed work release program. His attorney, Yale Galanter, had said that a plea agreement called for Sheen to serve 30 days in jail.

Washington (CNN) — The leading suspect in the leaking of thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks had been disciplined at least twice in the previous three years but maintained his security clearance. Pfc. Bradley Manning already was facing military charges for allegedly leaking a 2007 Iraq battle video to the WikiLeaks website and for downloading sensitive documents. Now, according to military sources, he is the lead suspect in the investigation into the leaked documents. But the recent incidents are not his first brushes with problems in the Army. CNN confirmed that during his training to become an intelligence analyst, Manning was reprimanded by commanders at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.”Manning, during advanced individual training, broke the rules and received a non-judicial punishment,” said Tanja Linton, a Fort Huachuca spokeswoman.She would not elaborate on how he broke the rules.Wired.com recently reported that he was punished for uploading videos on YouTube in which he talked about classified buildings at the base and classified materials he saw. Manning did not disclose classified information in the videos, but did discuss the rooms where secure information was held, which was considered a security risk.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The latest form of identity theft doesn’t depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid’s number long before the little one even has a bank account.

Hundreds of online businesses are using computers to find dormant Social Security numbers – usually those assigned to children who don’t use them – then selling those numbers under another name to help people establish phony credit and run up huge debts they will never pay off.

Authorities say the scheme could pose a new threat to the nation’s credit system. Because the numbers exist in a legal gray area, federal investigators have not figured out a way to prosecute the people involved.

Lindsay Lohan was ordered released from a county jail in Lynwood at 1:35 a.m. Monday after serving 13 days for violating probation on a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence.

She was to go directly to a substance abuse treatment center, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Whitmore would not name the treatment facility but said Lohan left in a minivan with multiple individuals. (LA Times)

BELTON — As he sits in the Bell County Jail, accused of the Nov. 5 Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead, Maj. Nidal Hasan continues to receive his monthly U.S. Army paycheck, which based on his rank and experience is probably more than $6,000.

That’s standard procedure for soldiers who are confined before military trial, according to Army officials.But Hasan, charged with a shooting spree that shocked the country, is not a standard defendant. And he’s having a hard time finding a bank to take his money.According to his civilian attorney John Galligan , Bank of America notified Hasan last month that it was closing his account and no area bank so far has agreed to open an account for the Army psychiatrist. Military regulations require soldiers to be paid through direct deposit, making a bank account indispensable.

“I think it’s just another example of the prejudice that he’s been exposed to,” Galligan said. “It’s money that he’s entitled to, that he has a right to.”But Hasan shouldn’t miss a paycheck. Army regulations allow commanders to grant waivers exempting soldiers from the SURE-PAY direct deposit system. Fort Hood officials said that when a soldier has a pay problem, commanders and finance officials help the soldier fix the issue, and Galligan said he is working with Fort Hood officials on finding a solution.(Statesman.com)

Summer school for some Canadian girls means Pole 101.

The class is being offered by B.C.’s Tantra Fitness, one of a small but growing number of pole-dancing studios quietly extending their services to underage girls. The Canadian company, which operates in Vancouver and Langley, has taught students age nine and up in regular classes, and has gone as young as five years old in private lessons.

There’s even talk of introducing a mommy-and-me pole class.

“I just had a baby six months ago and I’m hoping she’ll start to learn pole-dancing as soon as she can,” says Tammy Morris, owner of Tantra Fitness. “Kids love the pole. If anything, it’s hard to get them off it because they’re such naturals.”

Morris, a former exotic dance champion, says she’s worked hard to separate the art of stripping from the art of pole-dancing, with the focus of the latter being fitness and technique. She acknowledges that the activity is steeped in sexual history, but nonetheless, thinks any moral panic around its instruction to young people is misplaced. (CalgaryHerald)

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – The case of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and the massage therapist has been closed.

Former Vice President Al Gore was cleared Friday of allegations he groped and assaulted a masseuse in a luxury Portland hotel room in 2006. A story in a tabloid newspaper led to a monthlong investigation that found no basis for prosecution on claims by Molly Hagerty, who had waited more than two years before giving detectives a statement they initially concluded “did not merit further inquiry.”Gore aides welcomed the news.