When New Yorker cartoonist Saul Steinberg was honored in 1974 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the architect Philip Johnson puzzled out loud over how best to describe him.

Although Steinberg was about to receive the gold medal for graphic art, wasn't he also a satirist, a painter, a humorist and an architect? After bemoaning the seeming necessity of putting artists into categories, Johnson concluded by saying, "We cannot pigeonhole Saul Steinberg."

Now Deirdre Bair, the author of well-regarded books about Samuel Beckett, Carl Jung and Simone de Beauvoir, has taken stock of this wildly inventive and original artist in a 600-page volume that marks the first comprehensive biography of Steinberg since he died in 1999 at age 84.

Steinberg was happy to call himself a writer who draws. An architect by training, he delighted in drawing fantastic buildings and cityscapes, including his iconic "View of the World From Ninth Avenue," the New Yorker cover endlessly parodied since it was published in 1976.

Steeped in the Dada, surrealist and cubist art movements of his youth in Romania and later Italy, Steinberg never lost his off-kilter, intentionally childlike and absurdist view of the world. He peopled his imaginary worlds with animated letters, numbers and punctuation marks; with battle-ax women patterned on his domineering mother; and with a profusion of animals and objects that were his own personal totems yet which resonated with a wide swath of the public.

Even as a penniless Jewish refugee awaiting permission to enter the U.S. at the start of World War II, Steinberg found success selling his offbeat cartoons to the New Yorker. Once he was finally settled in New York, nothing could stop his rapid rise to the pinnacle of the art world, not even his hypochondria, anxiety and lifelong depression.

In "Saul Steinberg: A Biography," readers learn that Steinberg was a man of insatiable appetites: for women, books, objects and travel. Bair gets bogged down at times in the details the endless parties and dinners with art world celebrities; the haggling over commissions and negotiations with publishers; his apartment and studio renovations; and the bitter fights with his lovers. But overall she has done an excellent job of trying to answer the question that perplexed even Steinberg's ex-wife and lifelong friend Hedda Sterne when she considered his work: "Where did this come from?"

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Online:

http://www.deirdrebair.com/index.html

The band was protesting President Vladimir Putin's impending third term as the country's president.

Three members of the band were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred earlier this year. Two of them received two-year sentences while the third was given a suspended sentence. Putin's critics described the Pussy Riot trial as a political vendetta.

The Moscow court on Thursday banned the video of their February performance and said it should be removed from all websites.

George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), said on Monday he assigned the mediators to help end a lockout that has been in place since mid-September and resulted in the cancellation of 34 percent of the NHL's regular season schedule.

"I have had separate, informal discussions with the key representatives of the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association during the course of their negotiations for a successor collective bargaining agreement," Cohen said in a statement.

"Due to the extreme sensitivity of these negotiations and consistent with the FMCS's long-standing practice, the agency will refrain from any public comment concerning the future schedule and/or the status of the negotiations until further notice."

Deputy director Scot L. Beckenbaugh, director of mediation services John Sweeney and commissioner Guy Serota were initially assigned to the case, according to the FMCS statement.

Serota has since been removed from the assignment because of an issue involving an allegedly hacked Twitter account that is associated with the commissioner.

"In order to immediately dispel any cloud on the mediation process, and without regard to the merits of the allegations, I have determined to take immediate action, namely to remove Commissioner Serota from this assignment," Cohen said in a separate statement.

While the mediation process is non-binding, which means the NHL and its players do not have to agree to recommendations from mediators, it is hoped fresh ideas might kickstart negotiations that have since reached a stalemate.

The NHL, which last week chopped another two weeks off the regular season schedule along with January's All-Star Weekend, has said the lockout is costing it $18-$20 million a day.

The NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) is considering decertification, according to reports, which would allow individual players to take their fight to the courts.

The three mediators are expected to meet with both sides on Wednesday with the league and players at odds over how to split $3.3 billion in hockey related revenue.

While both sides have agreed in principle to a 50-50 split of hockey related revenue, they remain at odds over how they will reach the target.

Owners are demanding an immediate reduction from the 57 percent players received under the previous agreement while the union would like to see the cuts brought in gradually.

"The NHLPA has agreed to the addition of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to our ongoing negotiations," NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr said in a statement.

"We look forward to their involvement as we continue working to reach an equitable agreement for both the players and the owners."

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Right-hand man Luis Videgaray will take on the Finance Ministry, while Pena Nieto's close political ally Miguel Angel Osorio Chong will oversee a strengthened Interior Ministry that will be responsible for security in the new government.

Their jobs will be to push through economic reforms and restore order in a country where more than 60,000 people have been killed in turf wars between drug gangs and the cartels' clashes with security forces under outgoing President Felipe Calderon. The Cabinet posts do not require ratification by Congress.

Pena Nieto, 46, who becomes president on Saturday, is hoping to win over skeptics about the return of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. The party's reputation was marred by corruption, authoritarianism and frequent allegations of vote-rigging during its 71-year rule from 1929 to 2000.

Seeking to build consensus across party lines, Pena Nieto also gave jobs to Calderon's last finance minister Jose Antonio Meade, who switches to the Foreign Ministry, and a former leftist mayor of Mexico City, Rosario Robles, who becomes minister for social development.

Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, who had been chairman of the PRI, was named energy minister.

The PRI has trumpeted its desire to pass legislation aimed at stamping out corruption and creating more transparency, but the main planks to its vision for a stronger economy are plans to expand the tax base and reinvigorate oil monopoly Pemex.

(Additional reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Editing by Simon Gardner and Peter Cooney)

That doesn't mean they're in favor of a ban.

"I'm obviously not happy with the ruling, but I respect the USGA, and especially Mike Davis," Bradley said. "They make the rules, and I'll adjust appropriately. But I'm going to accept the challenge and hopefully do well when they do ban it."

Davis, the USGA executive director, and Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson have scheduled a press conference Wednesday morning to announce their conclusions on the future of long putters. All indications point toward a ban on anchoring the club.

At issue is not the putter itself, but whether it can be anchored to the body, such as the stomach (belly putters) or the chest (long putters).

The long putters have been in vogue for the better part of 25 years, though a recent surge in use got the attention of golf's two governing bodies. Bradley became the first major champion with a belly putter when he won the PGA Championship last year. Simpson won the U.S. Open using a belly putter, and Ernie Els won the British Open with a belly putter, rallying to beat Adam Scott, who uses a long putter he anchors to the top of his chest.

Guan Tianling, the 14-year-old from China, used a belly putter to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur earlier this month to earn a spot in the Masters.

Dawson spoke in July about looking at the anchored putters as a rules issue instead of an equipment issue. If that's the case and it is banned, it would not take effect until 2016 because the Rules of Golf are only updated every four years.

While a change would affect players like the recent major champions, Carl Pettersson and Tim Clark, several others are opposed to putters stuck into the body. They argue it takes away nervous hands and allows for a smoother stroke.

Tiger Woods is opposed to long putters, and he stated his argument clearly on Tuesday.

"I just believe that the art of putting is swinging the club and controlling nerves, and having it as a fixed point as I was saying all year is something that's not in the traditions of the game," Woods said. "We swing all other 13 clubs. I think the putter should be the same. It should be a swinging motion throughout the entire bag."

Woods said his biggest concern was not so much the major champions, but junior players.

"There have been some guys who had had success out there, and obviously everyone always copies what we out here, and that's something that I think for the greater good of the game needs to be adjusted," he said.

Simpson first switched to a belly putter in 2004 to help with consistency. He found one in a pro shop, gave it a try and noticed immediate improvement. But for all the attention on belly putters, he said it was the accuracy with his driver that helped him win the U.S. Open at Olympic Club this year.

"My argument the whole time is to change something that drastic, it needs to be based off facts and not what certain people think the tradition of the game looks like," Simpson said. "But look, I'm not going to be one of those guys that says this is a terrible decision. I'm just saying to make a change this big, show me the facts. And hey, they're the governing body, so we'll see what happens."

Simpson already has been practicing with a conventional putter, preparing for such a ban. He said if there is a ban, he would use the conventional putter at home, and then in pro-am rounds and make the switch when he's comfortable with it.

"I'm just going to take it one step at a time until my comfort level gets better and better," Simpson said. "If I feel ready by Hyundai (the start of the 2013 season), I'll be putting with a short putter. And if I don't feel ready for two years, I'll wait."

Bradley said he would be in no rush to make the change if there is a ban.

Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter were among those who lined up against anchored putters earlier this month in Australia. McDowell said the rule should have been changed years ago, and that using an anchored putter "takes one extraneous movement out of the putting stroke," which he feels is an advantage under pressure.

Poulter, as usual, was more blunt.

"Ban it. End of story," Poulter said.

Steve Stricker, regarded as one of the best putters in golf, has picked up a belly putter to see what the rage was all about. And it concerned him.

"It was pretty scary how fast I picked it up, to tell you the truth," Stricker said. "I went and anchored it just right below my sternum. It was a little different feel for me, but I got pretty consistent pretty quick with it. So I can see that there was an advantage, even though I can't see myself ever doing it."

A group called "Parastoo" Farsi for the swallow bird and a common Iranian girl's name claimed responsibility for posting the names on its website two days ago.

Israel is commonly acknowledged to possess nuclear weapons but has neither confirmed or denied its status. It says Iran is secretly working to make nuclear arms something Tehran denies and describes the Islamic republic as the greatest threat to the Mideast. But Iran and Arab countries say the Jewish state's nuclear capacities pose the greatest menace.

Chastising Israel for its "nuclear arsenal," the hackers urged the experts whose names they published to sign a petition demanding an "open investigation" into Israel's nuclear program.

IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said the agency "deeply regrets this publication of information stolen from an old server." She said the server had been shut down some time ago and agency experts had been working to eliminate any "possible vulnerability" in it even before it was hacked.

The IAEA was doing "everything possible to help ensure that no further information is vulnerable," she said in an email.