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Obama urges end to U.S.-Russia strains

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:16:00 +0000

NOVO OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised Russia's most powerful politician, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, as the two leaders met for the first time, saying there was an excellent opportunity to improve U.S.-Russia relations.

Visibly awkward, the two men exchanged pleasantries at the start of a meeting at Putin's forest residence outside Moscow overshadowed by Obama's criticism of Putin last week in a pre-trip interview as a man with one foot stuck in the past.

"I am aware of not only the extraordinary work that you've done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minis-, uh, as president, but in your current role as prime minister," Obama said.

Putin, looking down and mostly avoiding eye contact with Obama, said there had been periods of greyish mood and confrontation in U.S.-Russia relations but added:

"We link hopes for development of our relationship with your name."

Obama's meeting with Putin, a former KGB spy who served as president from 2000-2008 before handing over the top Kremlin job to his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev, follows talks on Monday with Medvedev.

Jackson fans flock to L.A. for memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:14:00 +0000

They poured in to Los Angeles from far-flung places, an army of Michael Jackson fans hoping to collectively mourn their idol in a massive ceremony at the Staples Center downtown Tuesday. Police put up concrete barriers around the center, allowing only fans with tickets to the star-studded event to enter. full story

1.6 million register for 8,750 Jackson memorial tickets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:52:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Some 1.6 million fans registered for a chance at fewer than 9,000 tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service next week, organizers said.

Registration ended at 6 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) Saturday.

The overwhelming response prompted organizers to open the lottery to non-U.S. residents as well, a Jackson family spokesman said.

Those who registered are hoping to be among the 8,750 people randomly selected by computer to receive a pair of tickets to attend the service at the Staples Center on Tuesday.

Winners are to get an e-mail Sunday telling them to contact Ticketmaster for information on how to claim their tickets, said Tim Leiweke, president of AEG Live, which is putting on the event.

Tickets will be handed out Monday at locations away from the Staples Center, he said. Ticketholders will also have wristbands to match their tickets, a precaution against people "trying to take advantage" of the system, he said.

Jackson's family has still not announced the singer's burial arrangements, saying only that it will hold a private ceremony ahead of the massive public memorial service Tuesday.

Journalists staked out several possible burial locations. A long line of television satellite trucks remained parked outside the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Cemetery in case it was chosen by the family, but there has been no word from cemetery officials.

Police set up metal barricades around the front lawn, creating spaces for media and fans. Two state trooper cruisers idled at the Hall of Liberty inside the grounds, which contains a 1,200-seat auditorium.

North Korea test-fires seven missiles

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:46:00 +0000

SEOUL, July 4 - North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, South Korea’s defence ministry said, in an act of defiance towards the United States that further stoked regional tensions already high due to its nuclear test in May.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the missiles test-fired were ”Scud-type”, marking an escalation of recent sabre-rattling by the reclusive North, which has fired several non-ballistic, short-range missile since the May 25 nuclear test.

North Korea is barred by United Nations resolutions from firing ballistic missile such as the Scud. A South Korean Defence Ministry official said more launches could come soon.

It was the biggest barrage of ballistic missiles the North has fired since it launched seven missiles in 2006 around the US July 4 Independence Day holiday, including its longest-range Taepodong-2.

The launches came as the United States has cracked down on firms suspected of helping the North in its trade in arms and missiles, which were subject to UN sanctions imposed after the nuclear test and are a vital source of foreign currency for the cash-short state.

First swine flu death in U.S. confirmed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:45:00 +0000

A 22-month-old Mexican child flown to Texas for treatment has become the first fatality from swine flu in the United States. The child is the first person to die of swine flu outside Mexico where it is blamed for more than 159 deaths and roughly 2,500 illnesses. full story

Apple issues apology for allowing Baby Shaker application onto App Store

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Apple issued a statement Thursday apologizing for allowing the Baby Shaker application onto the App Store.

Baby Shaker was "deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution," Apple statement says.

Just hours before the App Store offers up its 1 billionth download, Apple was forced to acknowledge that perhaps the most notorious iPhone application ever constructed was "deeply offensive" and a "mistake."

Baby Shaker appeared on the App Store Monday, and was pulled Wednesday after a media frenzy grew following the discovery of the application by the founder of a shaken baby syndrome foundation.

Apple's statement follows in its entirety:

"This application was deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store. When we learned of this mistake, the app was removed immediately. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and thank our customers for bringing this to our attention."

The company refused to comment on the process that led to the approval of Baby Shaker as an iPhone application. The day it revealed the software development kit for the iPhone last year, Apple said it planned to review every single iPhone application submitted for inclusion on the App Store, and reject applications that violated certain guidelines for porn, spam, or other offensive content.

Suicide bombers killed 60

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:22:00 +0000

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Suicide bombers killed 60 people near a holy Shiite shrine in Baghdad on Friday and a car bomber left seven people dead in Diyala, according to security and medical officials.

Along with the 60 dead, many of whom were Iranian pilgrims, at least 125 others were wounded when two female suicide bombers struck on roads leading to the Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine, one of the holiest in Shiite Islam, the Interior Ministry said.

The Iranians who were killed and wounded were on a pilgrimage to holy sites in Iraq, an Interior Ministry official said.

The bombers hit the Kadhimiya neighborhood of Baghdad, where the shrine is located, on the Muslim day of prayer. Iraqi State TV reported that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, told CNN's "American Morning" on Friday he believes Iraqis won't be "intimidated by the attack" and "they will not let this stand in their way of moving forward." Watch the scene at the hospital as victims of the shrine attacks arrive »

Iraq Officials Say Suspected Al-Qaeda-Linked Chief Nabbed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:41:00 +0000

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security officials said they captured one of the most wanted leaders of the Al Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgency Thursday, an arrest that could deliver a significant blow to an intensified campaign of attacks. Two separate homicide bombings killed at least 54 people.

The officials identified the arrested man as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi who leads the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militant factions that is believed dominated by Al Qaeda in Iraq. However in the past, Iraqi officials have reported al-Baghdadi's arrest or killing, only to later say they were wrong. The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign Al Qaeda fighters.

U.S. officials could not immediately confirm the arrest.

Somali PM: Anti-pirate patrols not working

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Somalia's prime minister tells CNN the international naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden are not solving the problem of piracy in the region. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke called for the U.N. arms embargo on his country to be lifted so the government can fight back against pirates and local militant Islamist groups. full story

IMF sees 1.3% drop in global output

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:35:00 +0000

The global economy will contract sharply this year and recover only sluggishly in 2010, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday as it called on governments to sustain or even increase fiscal stimulus next year.

The IMF said that world output would contract by 1.3 per cent this year and grow by just 1.9 per cent the year after in what it described as a “substantial downward revision” of its January forecasts, when it said the global economy would grow by 0.5 per cent this year and spring back to 3 per cent growth in 2010.

Release of Terror Raid Suspects Embarrassment for U.K. Officials

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:26:00 +0000

LONDON — British police released the last of 12 suspects rounded up in a series of dramatic anti-terror raids earlier this month, failing to charge any of the men, authorities said Wednesday.

The news was an embarrassment for British authorities, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who claimed at the time of their arrests that police had disrupted "a very big terrorist plot" that had been monitored "for some time."

The arrests were rushed in part because a police commissioner inadvertently exposed details of the operation to photographers outside the prime minister's office.

Police had to scramble to catch the suspects before they learned of the raid, forgoing their usual dawn raids for a dramatic series of daytime operations across northern England on April 8.

Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, one of the country's top counterterrorism officers, resigned after he inadvertently exposed details of the operation.

One suspect was forced to the ground by gun-toting officers in front of students at the library of Liverpool John Moores University. Most of the men taken into custody were Pakistanis in Britain on student visas.

Myths about Columbine persist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:22:00 +0000

If you recall that two unpopular teenage boys from the Trench Coat Mafia sought revenge against the jocks by shooting up Columbine High School, you're wrong.

But you're not alone.

Ten years after the massacre in Littleton, Colorado, there's still a collective memory of two Goth-obsessed loners, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who went on a shooting rampage and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher, injured 23 others and then turned their guns on themselves.

Journalist and author Dave Cullen was one of the first to take on what he calls the myths of Columbine. He kept at it for a decade, challenging what the media and law enforcement officials reported.

"Kids had never been attacked in this kind of way until Columbine," he recently told . "I just had to find out what happened to those kids." For More details
Watch Real time Video

Hostages Released From Canadian Jet Hijacked in Jamaica, Gunman Arrested

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:17:00 +0000

A gunman described as "mentally challenged" was arrested following an eight-hour standoff with police after he hijacked a Canadian charter plane on the tarmac near the resort city of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The man reportedly robbed several travelers before setting them free, but continued to hold the crew. At least one shot was fired, but there were no fatalities, officials said.

Officials tell FOX News six crew members aboard CanJet Flight 918, destined for Halifax, Canada, were released shortly before 8 a.m. when police stormed the plane and arrested the man at Sangster International Airport.

He was not harmed.

The gunman, described by Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz as a "mentally challenged youngster," is about 20 years old and Jamaican. He did not detail the man's mental condition but said he was apparently upset over a failed relationship.

"It's a most unfortunate situation, but I can say the passengers are happy to be alive," Vaz said. "This whole experience has been very traumatic for them."

Majority of Infosys non-performers are from Bangalore Center

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Bangalore: The tolerance level of the IT major Infosys seems to be less towards the Bangalore Center than non-Bangalore centers. The 60,000 people who were put through the annual performance appraisal exercise of which 2100 staff were laid off or outplaced, consisted of only 0.4 percent from non-Bangalore centers.

Employees who have been consistently demonstrating poor performance were counselled out. Less than one percent of our 11,250 employees in Chennai and 11,496 employees in Hyderabad have been impacted. As for the Thiruvananthapuram centre, less than one percent of the 1,800 employees were impacted," Mohandas Pai, member of the board, director, human resources, Infosys Technologies told Business Standard. People who have the potential or the attitude to improve performance are put on a personal development plan. Otherwise, they are 'outplaced' - provided with resources to find a job with another company.

Al Qaeda leaders waterboarded 266 times

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:01:00 +0000

CIA interrogators used waterboarding at least 266 times on two top al Qaeda suspects, according to a Bush-era memo released by the Obama administration. The controversial technique that simulates drowning -- and which President Obama calls torture -- was used on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, pictured above, 183 times in March 2003. full story

Obama Calls for Release of Jailed U.S. Journalist in Iran

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:47:00 +0000

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — President Obama said he's "gravely concerned" about the safety and well-being of jailed U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi and is calling for her release from an Iranian prison.

At the Summit of the Americas, Obama said Sunday that he's working to ensure the safety of Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen. She was sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison on charges of spying for the United States.

"She is an American citizen and I have complete confidence that she was not engaging in any sort of espionage," Obama said. "She is an Iranian American who was interested in the country which her family came from. And it is appropriate for her to be treated as such and to be released." More details...

G8 set to admit failure over hunger target

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:45:00 +0000

The world is “very far from reaching” the United Nations’ goal of halving the proportion of people facing chronic hunger by 2015, the Group of Eight leading nations will admit on Monday after it reviewed what it called “alarming data” on malnourishment. More..

Mandela boost for ANC supporters

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Former South African president Nelson Mandela makes a surprise appearance at the ruling ANC party's final pre-election rally. More..

Bodies Found in Maryland Home

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:16:00 +0000

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a gruesome scene at a Maryland home where the bodies of five people were found Saturday morning.

Authorities were called to the Middletown home after a family member made the discovery at about 9 a.m. Saturday.

Criminal investigators and evidence technicians were at the scene, as well as the medical examiner, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's office. Further details were not immediately available. The sheriff’s office planned to release more information later on Saturday

Hot Bikini Moms: Brooke Burke and Denise Richards

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Mooooooommmmmmmm! Why are you wearing a bikini? You're embarrassing me!

That would be the plaintive wail of most kids in America, but not the children of Denise Richards and Brooke Burke.

The two hot celebrity moms have been out and about in their bikinis in 2009, flaunting their post-baby bodies (Richards has two wee ones, Burke has four) for all to see.

PHOTOS: 15 hottest celebrity bikini moms.

Burke attributes her unstoppable body to nutrition.

“I’ve always been someone who’s had a healthy lifestyle," said the Season 7 champ of 'Dancing With the Stars.' "I think 90 percent of it is what you eat.”

PHOTOS: More hot bikini pics of Brooke Burke.

Meanwhile, Richards has regained the body that made her famous in "Wild Things" thanks to good old fashioned hard work.

The recent "Dancing With the Stars" cast-off says she lost 30 pounds in four months after having her second child by getting up at 5 am every morning and going to the gym.

PHOTOS: More fun pics of Denise Richards.

Nothing fancy about that.

Fabia Cerra Uncut

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Fabia Cerra Uncut

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:37:00 +0000

Positive Signs in the Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Investors Still Cautious Despite Positive Signs in the Economy

Bolstering hopes for the economy, Citigroup and GE posted surprising results and consumer confidence improved. But there also were warnings for the recovery.

Bank Results Improve Even Before Accounting Change
Fannie Mae Exec Chosen to Oversee TARP: White House
Slideshow: 10 States With the Worst Unemployment
Credit Card Crisis Looms: Chadwick
Pirates Boosting Insurance, Business Costs: Munich Re
Strip BofA CEO of Chairman Role, Proxy Advisers Say
Mac Leaves The Also-Rans In The Dust

Breaking News

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:24:00 +0000

President Obama to Speak at Summit of the Americas in Trinidad: Watch Live

Ship's Captain Held by Pirates Returns Home to Vermont, Says He's Not a Hero

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:17:00 +0000

Richard Phillips, the American cargo ship captain who risked his life to save his crew in a standoff with Somali pirates, returned home to Vermont on Friday and said the true heroes were the members of the military who freed him.

Phillips, who was freed Easter Sunday by Navy snipers, landed Friday afternoon in Burlington, Vt., aboard a small blue jet chartered by his employer, the shipping company Maersk.

Embraced by his wife and daughter, Phillips gave a wave as he exited the plane at Burlington International Airport with other family members.

A few minutes later, after spending some time alone with his family, Phillips re-appeared to address reporters covering his arrival.

"I'm not a hero, the military is. Thank them." he said. "They are doing an impossible job. I would not be here without them."

Phillips also thanked his family, his crew, his company and all Americans for their prayers and support during the difficult time.

"We're just seamen, we do the best we can with what we've got," he said.