Apple today announced that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by users of the more than 315 million iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices worldwide. The 25 billionth app — a free version of “Where’s My Water?” — was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.

Apple today announced that the Fair Labor Association will conduct special voluntary audits of Apple’s final assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, at Apple’s request. “We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. A team of labor rights experts led by FLA president Auret van Heerden began the first inspections Monday morning at the facility in Shenzhen known as Foxconn City.

For the fifth year in a row, Apple has been named the World’s Most Admired Company by Fortune Magazine. Apple also ranks first again in the Innovation category. Noting the “runaway success” of iPhone 4S and iPad 2 and increased sales across the board, the magazine writes: “To say it was another big year for Apple would be a gross understatement.”

$86.40 (-$1.03) (-1.2%) Investor confidence wavered following president and CEO Inge Thulin’s gory public suicide at this morning's annual shareholder meeting.

In this Star Fix Quick Hit, Angelique Clark looks at the media's ongoing efforts to push Shia LaBeouf over the edge into a Charlie Sheen-style breakdown.

According to a study published in the journal Psychological Science, repeating positive affirmations like "I am a lovable person" makes depressed people feel worse.

The Onion looks back at Alabama's first desegregated mass suicide, the historic V.E. Day Speech from FDR's rotting corpse, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad with the gold-plated femur of a Chinaman.

New York Times writer Brian X. Chen reports that Amtrak is replacing its old manual ticketing system with iPhone, noting that the company is among the “growing number of businesses” to use iOS devices to improve operations. Chen reports that the system will allow conductors to keep track of passengers in real time and also provide updates to railway staff, such as if a disabled person is getting on at a particular stop or if equipment fails. Amtrak’s Matt Hardison says, “We’ve made a number of important improvements for both our customers and Amtrak, all in one fell swoop.”

FileMaker, Inc. today announced the release of the FileMaker 12 database software line — including FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Go 12, and FileMaker Server 12 — which offers powerful new ways to create custom database apps for iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, and the web. New professionally designed themes and the ability to customize every detail make it easy to create databases for managing contacts, projects, digital content, and more. All FileMaker 12 products are available starting today.

Report Of Popular Fish's Death Starting To Get Around Tank

National Geographic magazine reports that ski-mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill — a member of its 2012 Everest expedition — will follow the same route Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did in 1953, but with an iPad and iPhone in her backpack. iPad gives O’Neill a journaling device with a solid-state data storage drive usable at altitudes where spinning hard disk drives have been known to fail. And with cell service available even on Everest’s summit, she’ll use an iPhone 4S to stay in touch instead of a cumbersome walkie-talkie.

Saying the New York Police Department seemed to have little regard for constitutional rights, a judge provided possible legal recourse for hundreds of thousands of people.

The same degenerative brain disease found in football players and boxers has been found in veterans exposed to roadside bombs, a finding with potentially profound implications.

Getting Grandma Into Family Reunion T-Shirt A 3-Person Job

Apple today announced it has sold three million new iPad devices since its launch on Friday, March 16. “The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold ― the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

Azithromycin may be risky for adults with heart problems, a new study finds, by possibly causing abnormal, potentially fatal, heart rhythms.

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN—According to alarming reports from international relief agencies operating in Swaziland, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and rebel-held sections of Mali, more than 500,000 people have died so far this month from the ongoing...

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she would discuss stimulus programs to get the Greek economy growing again and that she was committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone.

Bloomberg’s Peter Burrows reports that Apple is making rapid headway selling into corporations — especially financial services and pharmaceutical firms. Burrows writes that Apple’s corporate sales are being driven chiefly by iPad, which “has become a standard business tool.” The article quotes Matt Wallach, co-founder of Veeva Systems, who says: “I’ve seen a lot of devices come and go over the years. Nothing touches the speed of adoption of the iPad.”

LeBron James Only Person In Arena Chanting 'MVP'

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended March 31, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6.0 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”