Xe Services, the mercenary group formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has agreed to pay $42 million in fines for violating US weapon export laws. No big deal though, since the market for mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan is still booming.

Your Dad will likely be thrilled to hear this morning that Paramount plans a Jack Ryan revival starting in 2010, while the rest of us are intrigued to see Sam Raimi recruited as the studio's go-to helmer for the reborn franchise. A glorified genre director if ever there was one, Raimi's stewardship of Sony's $2.5 billion Spider-Man empire reportedly impressed the 'Mount enough to lock him in for the fifth installment of the spy series for a 2010 release.