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Ailing Aerosmith Guitarist Eyes Return Next Month

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –
Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford hopes to rejoin his bandmates early next month after a head injury prevented him from playing on their newly launched tour, fellow guitarist Joe Perry said on Sunday.
Whitford, 57, is recovering from surgery for internal bleeding after he apparently banged his head while getting out of his Ferrari about a week before the tour began last Wednesday in St. Louis.
“It built up pressure and gave him this whoopin' headache,” Perry told Reuters. “He's not prone to getting migraines, so knew something was wrong. He went right in, they did what they had to do, and now he's getting better.”
The target date for Whitford's return is July 7, when the band is scheduled to play a show in Raleigh, North Carolina, Perry said. Subbing for him is Bobby Schneck, who has played with Green Day and Weezer.
Rocking out with Aerosmith can be hazardous for your health. Four out of five group members have disclosed major medical problems in the last three years, including Perry who has been plagued by a bad knee ever since he fell off a stage in Dallas 25 years ago.
He underwent knee-replacement surgery in March 2008, but was “devastated” to learn around Christmas that the area had become infected, like a “rotten grapefruit,” he said, and he would need to go through the whole procedure again.
The various ailments and touring obligations mean the band has not released an album of original material since 2001's “Just Push Play.” Perry said the band has recorded about 15 songs for the next disc and hopes to pick up the thread in the studio sometime after the current tour ends in the fall.
The third stop on the tour will be on Tuesday at the Comcast Center in suburban Boston. The band has been playing its classic 1975 album “Toys in the Attic” in its entirety, with the notable exception of the closing track “You See Me Crying.”
Perry said the song is too difficult for vocalist Steven Tyler to sing right now, but Tyler hopes he will be able to do it after a few more shows. At any rate, the band expects to swap out “Toys in the Attic” in about two weeks, and play all the tracks from its 1976 follow-up “Rocks,” Perry said.
(Editing by Philip Barbara)

Electricity Transforms Kabul Living

Electricity transforms Kabul living
By Bilal Sarwary
BBC News, Kabul
Electricity has finally arrived in Kabul, bringing with it some of the small comforts that many in the developed world take for granted.Life at the house of Sayed Abdul Rahim has become, in his words, “easier and more entertaining”. Mr Rahim’s clothes are now ironed regularly, he is able to enjoy daily hot baths, his children no longer have to squint at their homework by candlelight, and his 10-year-old son, Ajmal, never misses his favourite Indian soap operas on television. All of these changes have been brought about by a deal struck earlier this month between the Afghan finance ministry and the government of neighbouring Uzbekistan.
A handful of Kabul’s districts now enjoy 20 hours of electricity every day following a four-year project to build a high-voltage line between the two countries. Afghan officials hope that in the coming years, many more provinces will also get electricity. But progress comes at a price. Nearly one third of Rahim’s salary goes on his electricity bill. “We are very happy that we have electricity all the time but poor families like mine can’t afford to pay 40 (12) a month. They need to bring the prices down,” he said. An official at the finance ministry defended the policy saying that for poor Afghans, electricity cost three cents per kilowatt but for businesses and international organisations it was 20 cents per kilowatt. Sick of warShopkeepers throughout central Kabul have reported a big spike in the sale of electrical products. At Sediq Omar market, known locally as “the electric market”, traders talk about the big rise in in television and DVD sales.
“People buy televisions and DVDs everyday. They are tired of war, corruption and problems, so they want to watch television and movies to escape from these problems,” says shopkeeper Wali. Mohammad Shafiq, 42, is one of Wali’s customer. He works for the Afghan army. Today he has come to buy a television and a DVD player because he too is getting 20 hours of electricity a day. “I couldn’t afford a generator in the past so I didn’t want to have a television and DVD. We either argued in the family or listened to radio or went to bed early. But now we can watch television and movies and have hot baths in the morning,” he says. And it is not just inside the home that Kabulis can see the difference. Night drivers no longer rely solely on their sense of direction and the narrow, yellow beams of their headlights to guide them through the city’s labyrinthine streets. Nowadays the hills surrounding Kabul are speckled with golden orbs from street-lights, gleaming like thousands of small fireflies hovering in the night sky. However, there remains much work to be done. The Afghan government estimates that only 7% of the country has access to electricity. Many Afghans complain that while most of their political leaders can boast of 24 hours of electricity, the majority of villages and valleys still rely on kerosene lamps and firelight. Although Afghanistan has several of its own hydroelectric dams, the output of these dams has been hit hard by a series of droughts.
Afghanistan has a number of hydroelectric dams
But officials at the water and energy ministry are optimistic about the coming months, after a winter of heavy snow and a rainy spring. Some Afghans argue that more rivers should be diverted to feed more hydroelectric dams. But this is politically sensitive. In the past, several neighbouring countries – including Pakistan, Iran, and Uzbekistan – that also rely on the water from these rivers have blocked such initiatives. Despite all this, Afghans like Mr Rahim have had their spirits buoyed. But the destruction of the past three decades also leaves him wary that such luxuries may not last. “I won’t get rid of my Bukhari [wood-fired stove]. We have used it for a long time, and I am not convinced that the electricity will always be able to provide us with heat in the winter. But we are still very thankful because for many many years we were deprived of it in the past.”

Source:BBC

Ukraine Struggles With Euro 2012 Ultimatum

Ukraine struggles with Euro 2012 ultimatum
By Gabriel Gatehouse
BBC News, Kiev
Ukraine’s preparations to co-host the European Football Championship in 2012 have fallen badly behind schedule.Uefa, Europe’s football governing body, has given the country until 30 November to show significant improvement, or face losing most of the matches to the co-hosts, Poland. In the eastern city of Donetsk, people are riding high on a tide of football fever.
In May their team, Shakhtar, won the Uefa cup. Thousands came out onto the streets to celebrate and welcome the players home. The crowd seemed oblivious to the brooding presence of a massive bronze Lenin watching over the proceedings – a reminder of Ukraine’s Soviet past. But then Lenin too looked unmoved, almost as if he knew that the party could soon be over. Elusive investorsShakhtar is building a state-of-the-art new stadium in Donetsk, with a capacity of 50,000.
It is due to open at the end of August, and when it does, it will be the most technologically advanced in the country. But the new Donbass Arena may never host a match in Euro 2012. Not because there is anything wrong with the stadium itself, but because the other infrastructure simply is not there – the airports, the highways and the hotels. Alexander Rotov is the president of Gerc, one of Ukraine’s leading construction companies. He has plans to build a new four-star hotel in Donetsk, in time for the competition. He has got the land, he got the planning permission. But he is having trouble financing the project.
The construction of the Donbass Arena is expected to cost some 400m
“We have a letter of support from the government to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EBRD,” he says. “But the EBRD say they will only invest money if there are already Ukrainian investors on board.” And Ukrainian investors are proving hard to find, even though the amount of money is relatively small – 30m (18m). Mr Rotov blames the economic crisis, which has hit Ukraine hard. The country’s banking system is under heavy strain, and even those lenders which are not on the brink of collapse are being very cautious with their funds. And then there are the roads. Crumbling infrastructureThe 19th Century satirist, Nikolai Gogol, once said that Russia was a country of “fools and bad roads”.
The main road to Kiev airport becomes a vast traffic jam twice a day
Gogol was a Ukrainian (though he wrote in Russian) and Ukraine was at that time part of the Russian Empire. The second half of his blunt assessment certainly applies today to many of Ukraine’s highways, which are crumbling and littered with potholes. The country’s transport infrastructure is in need of massive investment before it can cope with bus-loads of European football fans, let alone coaches full of footballers and their Wives-and-Girlfriends (WAGs.) In the capital, Kiev, things only get worse. Twice a day, the main artery from the airport into town turns itself into a vast traffic jam. Like a metaphor for Ukraine’s preparations for the tournament as a whole, it is paralysed by a combination of economic crisis, political instability, and endemic corruption. Political interferenceAndrei Kapustin is an investigative journalist who runs a website dedicated to tracking Ukraine’s preparations for Euro 2012. “As soon as it was announced that Ukraine was due to host the competition,” he says, “local officials reached for their giant calculators to work out how they could get their hands on this money.”
There are vast sums of money involved, and important contracts up for grabs to renovate airports, stadiums and other infrastructure. But with a presidential election due before the end of January, Andrei Kapustin says that politics is getting in the way. “The whole process is far too politicised. Because in Ukraine, all top managers are also political figures and Euro 2012 has become a political battleground.” The Ukrainian authorities agree they are playing for high stakes. “Euro 2012 for Ukrainian people is not only a football event,” Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiukyk says. Mr Vasiunyk is specifically responsible for Ukraine’s preparations to host the competition. “It’s the biggest political and social project in the 18-year history of independent Ukraine,” he adds. “It is one of the very practical steps for integrating Ukraine into the European community.” “If we will prepare to the highest standard, it means that we are equal partners, and Ukraine, as Poland, is a European country.” DelaysWhen Ukraine and Poland’s joint bid to host the competition was declared the winner in Cardiff in 2007, the plan was that matches would be played in four cities in each country.
Progress will have a direct impact on Ukrainian children’s sports facilities
But after their latest assessment in May, UEFA said that so far, only Kiev was on track to host any matches at all. If things stay that way, it will mean more than just a massive embarrassment for the Ukrainian authorities. Kiev’s Olympic stadium is undergoing a programme of expansion and renovation that has been beset by delays and disagreements over planning permission and land ownership. Nearby are two football pitches attached to a football academy, where kids hone their ball-skills. Progress in Ukraine’s preparations for the competition over the next few months will have a direct impact not only on these children’s future sports facilities, but also on the kind of country in which they grow up.

Source:BBC

Son Of Alleged Museum Shooter Expresses Remorse

WASHINGTON – The son of James von Brunn said Sunday that his father, who is accused of killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, had long burdened his family with his white supremacist views and that he wishes his father would have died in the shooting instead.
Von Brunn, 88, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Stephen T. Johns, who was black.
“I cannot express enough how deeply sorry I am it was Mr. Johns, and not my father who lost (his) life,” Erik von Brunn, 32, said in a statement to ABC News. “It was unjustified and unfair that he died, and while my condolences could never begin to offer appeasement, they, along with my remorse is all I have to give.”
Authorities say von Brunn shot the security guard in the chest with a vintage rifle after Johns opened the door for him. Von Brunn was shot in the face by guards and is expected to survive. A hearing is set for Monday in a D.C. federal court for a magistrate judge to hear about von Brunn’s health.
“His views consumed him, and in doing so, not only destroyed his life, but destroyed our family and ruined our lives as well,” Erik von Brunn’s statement said.
The younger von Brunn told The Washington Post in a telephone interview from his mother’s home in Homosassa, Fla., that he had a decent relationship with his father. The elder von Brunn never insisted that his son share his views, although he was disappointed when he did not.
Erik von Brunn, an aspiring teacher and fiction writer who recently graduated from the University of Maryland, declined to say whether he was estranged from his father. Court documents indicate that the elder von Brunn had been living with his son in a condominium in Annapolis, Md.
He said he never imagined that his father would take a life.
“I never had any inclination to think that. The man is 88 years old. I never would have thought he could do this,” he said. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s a shock.”
Von Brunn’s mother, Pat Sadowski, said Sunday that her son was not home and was unavailable for further comment.
A man who answered the phone at Johns’ boyhood home in Temple Hills, Md., where his mother, Jacqueline Carter, still lives, said Erik von Brunn made a “wonderful statement.” The man who said he was a relative and that Carter was not available to comment.
Von Brunn’s statement praised Johns, “who bravely sacrificed his life,” and addressed those who share his father’s views.
“For the extremists who believe my father is a hero: it is imperative that you understand what he did was an act of cowardice,” he said.

Soldiers Capture 25 Gunmen In Northern Mexico

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican army has captured 25 gunmen in northern Mexico who witnesses say disguised themselves as soldiers.
The men were captured at a ranch in the state of Chihuahua, across from Texas, after the army received a complaint, the Defense Department said in a statement Sunday. Soldiers also seized 29 automatic rifles during the Thursday raid in Nicolas Bravo.
Mexico has deployed 45,000 soldiers nationwide to crush Mexico’s drug cartels but corruption among police and other government officials has hindered the crackdown.
In Cancun, soldiers arrested the local leader of the Gulf drug cartel, the army said Sunday. It said Juan Manuel Jurado Zarzoza was arrested Friday and that he was in charge of drug sales, extortion and kidnappings in Cancun.
The department said Friday it had turned over to federal prosecutors 10 midlevel military officers accused of passing information to reputed drug cartel leader Joaquin Guzman.
Also Sunday, authorities in the western state of Michoacan said three federal agents were killed in two separate attacks along a highway.
The agents were on patrol along the Morelia-Salamanca highway late Saturday when gunmen opened fire, the state’s prosecutors office said in a statement.
A witness told police the gunmen were traveling in two SUVs. Investigators recovered more then 500 shell casings from the two crime scenes.
Mexico’s drug violence has claimed more than 10,800 lives since 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched his anti-drug campaign.

WalesRussian Wins Singer Of The World

Russian wins Singer of the World
The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 final has been won by Russian soprano Ekaterina Shcherbachenko.Speaking after the result was announced, the 32-year-old said it was the “happiest day” of her life. She beat four other finalists from Japan, Italy, Ukraine and the Czech Republic to win a trophy and 15,000. Shcherbachenko performed in French and Italian in a packed St David’s Hall, before closing in English with Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. The 2,000 Audience Prize, chosen by public telephone vote, was the youngest competitor – 21-year-old Italian tenor Giordano Lucà. In all, 25 competitors were selected from more than 600 original entrants to the competition. The four other finalists were: soprano Eri Nakamura, 31, from Japan; Luca, 21, from Italy; bass Jan Martiník, 26, from the Czech Republic and 30-year-old counter-tenor Yuriy Mynenko, from Ukraine. On Saturday Martinik beat four other finalists, including Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw, 22, from Morriston, Swansea, to win the competition’s 5,000 song prize. This year all the singers are eligible to benefit from a new bursary to help towards the development of their musical careers. A follower of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Annie Sankey, has left the competition a bequest and a new bursary in her name to support singers who take part in the competition has been established. Menna Richards, director of BBC Cymru Wales, said: “The bursaries will help support the studies of competitors, including helping with travel and the purchase of musical scores.”

Source:BBC

Yankees Rough Up Mets Ace Santana In 15-0 Rout

NEW YORK – Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees hammered Johan Santana in the worst start of his career, routing the Mets 15-0 on Sunday for the biggest blowout in Subway Series history.
Jeter went 4 for 4 and the Yankees got two-run homers from Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano in a nine-run fourth inning, chasing Santana early to take two of three in a testy series at Yankee Stadium.
Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez shouted at Yankees reliever Brian Bruney in left field during batting practice and the two were separated by teammates, one day after they exchanged barbs through the media.
Once the first pitch was thrown, the Yankees provided all the fireworks.
They needed only four innings to set a season high for runs in a game, building a huge cushion for A.J. Burnett (5-3). They finished with 17 hits, three by No. 9 batter Francisco Cervelli, and pulled several stars before the seventh.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel wasn’t around at the end, either. He was ejected by plate umpire Jim Wolf for arguing after David Wright took exception to a called third strike in the sixth.
Santana (8-4) didn’t look right all day. The velocity on his fastball was down, around 89-90 mph, and he was touched up for four two-out runs in the second.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner worked a 1-2-3 third against Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Cano — but failed to get another out.
He walked Nick Swisher leading off the fourth and Matsui followed with his 10th home run. Melky Cabrera lashed a line-drive double, Cervelli singled and Jeter made it 7-0 with an RBI single that chased Santana, who walked slowly off the mound and removed his cap before reaching the dugout.
Johnny Damon greeted Brian Stokes with an RBI double and Jeter scored when Alex Rodriguez grounded into a double play.
That closed the book on Santana, who allowed a career-high nine runs and nine hits in three-plus innings — matching his shortest start. His ERA spiked from 2.39 to 3.29.
After giving up four earned runs in his first seven outings this season, the left-hander has yielded 26 runs in his last six.
The last time Santana went only three innings was Sept. 26, 2007, with Minnesota at Detroit, where he was pulled after a long rain delay.
The last time he was lifted so quickly without a weather problem was May 23, 2004, when he went three-plus innings in a 17-7 loss for the Twins against the Chicago White Sox.
Flashing a sharp slider, Burnett allowed only four singles in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked four to rebound from a rough start Tuesday night at Fenway Park, where he was chased in the third inning as Boston began a three-game sweep of the Yankees.
The right-hander pumped his first after escaping a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the third and cruised from there.
Cano doubled twice and drove in three runs. Damon also had three RBIs for the Yankees, who won the series opener 9-8 when Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez’s two-out popup in the ninth inning, allowing two runs to score.
Castillo drew a loud cheer when he caught a first-inning popup.
The injury-riddled Mets have lost four of five.
Swisher, who walked and scored twice in the fourth, knocked the Mets around right from the start.
He ran down Alex Cora’s leadoff drive to deep right and banged into the auxiliary scoreboard, dislodging the “Mets” sign next to their linescore and some blue padding at the bottom of the fence.
Swisher replaced the padding with his spikes — a worker reached through from inside the scoreboard and straightened the “Mets” sign.
NOTES: Yankees C Jorge Posada was rested to give him consecutive days off, including Monday’s off day. … Gary Sheffield was the DH for the Mets again. He plans to have an MRI on his sore right knee soon. … It was Manuel’s third ejection this season.

Idol Auditions Attract Thousands In Mass

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Yes, they were singing in the rain.
Showers and unseasonable cold winds didn’t stop thousands of “American Idol” hopefuls from turning out Sunday for the show’s Season Nine kickoff auditions at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Some showed up around 3 a.m. Sunday to grab their place in a line that eventually grew the length of the stadium and into the parking lot.
Contestants wore high heels, cowboy hats, and sported umbrellas declaring that they were the next big thing. But to move on in the competition, hopefuls had to convince the first round screeners that they were worthy of a call back.
“It would mean the world to me,” said Brittany Edgett, 25, a resident of “four or five towns” in New Hampshire. “I’m just trying to make a better life for me and my daughter and my boyfriend … trying to get a little better in life than what we’ve been dealt so far.”
The kickoff auditions attracted around 7,000 contestants from all over the East Coast, including New England, New York and as far south as North Carolina.
Besides having talent, courage and perhaps a thick skin, auditioners must also be between the ages of 16 and 28 and eligible to work in the United States.
Tiffany “Shorty” Dorsey, 20, of Walpole, Mass., believed she had all that. While waiting in line for more than four hours, the 20-year-old used gel and other chemicals to fashion her hair into a faux mohawk. She promised to sing and dance to “Play That Funky Music” for the judges.
“I’ve got my friends with me. I’m loving it,” Dorsey said.
Others fought to keep up with their planned wardrobe as the rains came. Melody Nardone, 26, of Buffalo, N.Y., called the weather “treacherous” while she struggled to keep her makeup fresh. “My mascara was running,” Nardone said.
Host Ryan Seacrest said the bad weather may have been a plus for contestants since it likely reduced the number of contestants. “If you’re auditioning, you want pouring rain, you want freezing weather,” Seacrest said. “It makes the weak stay home.”
His advice to contestants: Show up, sing well, move on.
Still, Marcela Cruz of Lowell, Mass. said she couldn’t sleep the night before. The 18-year-old University of New Hampshire student nervously stood in line while she practiced her version of the song “Fever.”
“I’m thinking I want to go to sleep,” Cruz said. “(But) I want to sing. I want to go to Hollywood.”
Seacrest said the dramatic end to last season kept the show fresh and viewers should expect more seasons. “There’s always a twist,” he said.
After more than a four-hour wait, performers were herded into the stadium where 14 tents with a panel of judges awaited to evaluate them. Those who make the first cut will be called back later.
Auditions for the popular Fox TV show will be held in six other cities during the next several weeks: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orlando and Denver. The next are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Atlanta.

Iran Puts Curbs On Media After Disputed Election

CAIRO – Iranian authorities criticized international media reports and took steps to control the flow of information from independent news sources as anti-government protests raged in the country for a second day Sunday.
The British Broadcasting Co. said that electronic jamming of its news report, which it said began on election day Friday, had worsened by Sunday, causing service disruptions for BBC viewers and listeners in Iran, the Middle East and Europe. It said it had traced the jamming of the satellite signal broadcasting its Farsi-language service to a spot inside Iran.
“It seems to be part of a pattern of behavior by the Iranian authorities to limit the reporting of the aftermath of the disputed election,” said Peter Horrocks, the director of BBC World Service in London.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the media shortly after he claimed victory in the election that critics contend was marked by widespread voter fraud. At a news conference Sunday, he accused international media of launching a “psychological war” against the country.
Street protests broke out in Tehran and were fiercely battled by anti-riot police.
A range of communications have been disrupted inside Iran since election day, including those which could be used to organize protests.
Iran restored cell phone service Sunday that had been down in the capital since Saturday. But Iranians still could not send text messages from their mobile phones, and the government increased its Internet filtering in an apparent attempt to undercut opposition voices. Social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter were also not working.
Iran’s government has not commented on the restrictions but has accused international media of exaggerating the extent of the street protests in Tehran and of trying to destabilize the government.
Iran regulates and monitors the activities of international and independent media operating within its borders, and it closely watches and guides its own internal state media. Many reformist newspapers, magazines and Web sites have emerged in the past decade, but often come under restrictions or are shut down.
International media normally are allowed to work without censorship in Iran, subject to certain rules, such as seeking advance permission to travel to certain locations outside the capital or to interview government officials.
But Iran is more sensitive about news reports or blogs and Internet communications in Farsi, apparently concerned about the effect on its internal political situation.
On Saturday, Iranian officials contacted television journalists for The Associated Press in Iran and warned that the government would enforce an existing law banning provision of news video to the Farsi-language services of the BBC and the Voice of America. Both agencies broadcast to Iranians via satellite in their own language.
AP employees then contacted the BBC and VOA to discuss the order.
“It is the AP practice to comply with local laws regarding media. We are nonetheless determined to continue to provide accurate coverage of events in Iran,” said AP’s Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll.
There were a variety of other clamp-down steps affecting both international and domestic news organizations. For instance, officials telephoned several visiting international journalists with visas to cover the elections and told them that their visas would not be extended after the vote, a courtesy often offered in the past.
Two other international news agencies that operate in Iran, Reuters and Agence France-Press, could not be immediately reached for comment. Neither reported any restrictions on their journalists.
A spokesman for the Swedish network SVT, Geronimo Akerlund, said its reporter, Lena Pettersson, had been asked to “leave Iran as soon as possible because the elections are over.”
Dubai-based news network Al Arabiya said the station’s correspondent in Tehran was given a verbal order from Iranian authorities that its office would be closed for one week, said Executive News Editor Nabil Khatib. No reason was given, but the station was warned several times Saturday that it needed to be careful in reporting “chaos” accurately, he said.
German television network ZDF said Sunday on air that its reporter in Iran and other reporters were being “prevented from doing their jobs in a massive form.” The network said it was unable to show a broadcast feed from the network’s correspondent depicting protests.
Italian state TV RAI said one of its crews was caught in a street clash. An Iranian interpreter was beaten with clubs by riot police and officers confiscated the cameraman’s videotapes, the station said.
Within Iran, state-run newspapers carried no news Sunday about the widespread street clashes the day before. But on Sunday, state TV showed some video footage from the two days of protests.
A newspaper started by the main reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, did not appear on newsstands Sunday. An editor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the paper, called Kalemeh Sabz or the Green Word, never left the printing house because authorities were upset with Mousavi’s statements after the elections.
The paper’s Web site reported that more than 10 million votes in Friday’s election were missing national identification numbers, data which make the votes “untraceable.” It did not say how it knew that information.
At his news conference, Ahmadinejad made light of restrictions on the press and media.
“Don’t worry about freedom in Iran,” he said. “Newspapers come and go and reappear. Don’t worry about it.”

Hangover Gives Murphy A Headache At Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –
The party kept rocking for “The Hangover,” the first big surprise hit at the North American box office this summer, while Eddie Murphy suffered a headache with his second consecutive flop.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, “The Hangover” led the field for a second weekend with ticket sales of $33.4 million across the United States and Canada. The raunchy comedy with a little-known cast becomes the first movie to retain its crown since “Madea Goes to Jail” in February.
The film also took just 10 days to hit the century mark — $105.4 million, to be exact — setting a new record for an R-rated movie. The old mark of 11 days was set last year by “Sex and the City.”
Industry pundits expect “The Hangover” to hit $200 million — not bad for a movie that cost a reported $31 million to make. The action revolves around three guys struggling to remember what happened at a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas the night before. It stars Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms, and was directed by Todd Phillips of “Old School” fame.
The film, from Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. Pictures, easily fended off a pair of new entries boasting some major star power.
Columbia Pictures' remake of the 1974 subway-hijacking thriller “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, opened at No. 3 with $25 million, in line with expectations.
“It's a solid opening for us,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at the Sony Corp unit.
Washington's last major release was “American Gangster,” which opened to $44 million in late 2007. The last time Travolta headlined a drama was in 2004 when “Ladder 49″ opened to $26 million. Comparative data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation.
Murphy, on the other hand, came in at No. 6 this weekend with the Paramount Pictures family comedy “Imagine That,” which tallied just $5.7 million.
“We're really disappointed,” said Don Harris, executive vice-president of distribution at the Viacom Inc unit.
Murphy previously starred in “Meet Dave,” which opened to $5 million last July and finished with $12 million.
Walt Disney Pictures' Pixar cartoon “Up” held at No. 2 with $30.5 million, taking its total to $187.2 million after three weekends. The previous Pixar release, “Wall-E,” had earned $163 million in the same span last summer.
Rounding out the top five were the Ben Stiller comedy hit sequel “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (Fox) which held steady at No. 4 with $9.6 million in its fourth weekend; and the latest Will Ferrell bomb “Land of the Lost” (Universal), which fell two places to No. 5 with $5.6 million in its second weekend. Their respective totals stand at $143.4 million and $35 million.
Walt Disney Pictures is a unit of Walt Disney Co. 20th Century Fox is a unit of News Corp. Universal Pictures is a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal.
In limited release, the feature debut of David Bowie's 38-year-son Duncan Jones, opened strongly. “Moon,” starring Sam Rockwell as an astronaut who confronts a clone of himself while mining lunar helium, earned $145,000 from just eight theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The Sony Pictures Classics release expands across the United States throughout June and July.
At the foreign box office, “Terminator Salvation” was the top pick for a second weekend, earning $46.1 million; the overseas total for the Columbia-distributed apocalypse sequel rose to $165.5 million.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Torres Hat-trick As Spain Thrash New Zealand

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick within 11 first-half minutes as Spain thashed New Zealand 5-0 in their opening Confederations Cup Group A match in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Fernando Torres (No.9) is congratulated after his opening goal in the 5-0 rout of New Zealand.
The victory, Spain’s 13th in succession, means the European champions have now extended their unbeaten run to 33 matches, just two short of Brazil’s world record of 35 matches without defeat between 1993 and 1996. Spain took a sixth minute lead when Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas slotted the ball to Torres, who curled his shot home from the edge of the box. Torres doubled his tally eight minutes later when side-footing past goalkeeper Glen Moss after David Villa neatly cut the ball backand he completed his hat- trick in the 17th minute when heading home his 22nd international goal from Joan Capdevila’s cross. With New Zealand beoing exposed at every oppportunity, Spain made it 4-0 in the 24th minute when Fabregas tapped home after more good work from Villarrwal defender Capdevila.
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Kanu – African team can win World Cup
South Africa held by Iraq
The All Whites steadied the ship somewhat after the break, but they could not prevent Real Madrid target Villa adding a fifth three minutes after the restart when he fired home after a horrible mis-kick from defender Andy Boyens. With hosts South Africa drawing 0-0 with Iraq, Spain, who have not lost since November 2006, top Group A with three points. They next meet Iraq in Bloemfontein while New Zealand will look to salvage some pride against South Africa on the same day in Rustenburg. The top two from the group qualify for the semifinals.
Source:CNN

England Victory Eliminates India

ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight, Group E, Lord’s:England 153-8 beat India 150-5 by three runs
By David Ornstein
England kept alive their hopes of reaching the World Twenty20 semi-finals by eliminating holders India in a nail-biting Super Eights encounter.Kevin Pietersen top-scored with a battling 46 off 27 balls as he and Ravi Bopara put on 71 for the second wicket and helped their side post 153-8. England then shone in the field as Graeme Swann (2-28) and Ryan Sidebottom (2-31) put their side on course to win. India were restricted to 150-5 as the hosts claimed a three-run victory. The result puts England level on points with West Indies in Group E, while it means South Africa have now qualified for the semi-finals. England play the West Indies at The Oval on Monday and the winner of that game will join the Proteas in qualifying for the last four. India face South Africa at Trent Bridge on Tuesday but they will be playing for pride alone after seeing their title defence crumble at an electric Lord’s, where their supporters were in the majority and the atmosphere was sensational.

They needed 19 off Sidebottom’s final over to clinch victory but, although Yusuf Pathan smashed a six and skipper Mahendra Dhoni a four, England held their nerve under immense pressure to triumph. India would have noted that England’s comprehensive defeat by South Africa on Thursday came after they batted first and Dhoni’s decision to send the hosts in after winning the toss came as no surprise. It appeared to be a good call when, after just 1.4 overs, Luke Wright attempted to pull a full-pitched ball from RP Singh but succeeded only in top-edging it to a diving Yusuf Pathan scampering backwards from leg slip. England were off to a terrible start but the departure of Wright was perhaps a blessing in disguise because it marked the arrival of Pietersen. The right-hander, nursing a chronic Achilles problem, was quick to signal his intent with a couple of flicked boundaries and he was ably assisted by Bopara, who pulled Ishant Sharma for a massive six to calm any nerves.
Dhoni handed the ball to Yuvraj Singh – a player described by Pietersen as a “pie-thrower” during England’s tour to the sub-continent last winter – but he was carted all over the ground before being pulled out of the attack after just two overs. India would have the last laugh, however, as Harbhajan Singh (3-30) reduced the run-rate with a terrific spell and Ravindra Jadeja (2-26) then sent both men packing. Bopara’s stumps were split after stepping outside leg and missing his shot, while Pietersen was trapped lbw as he tried to slog a second successive ball over midwicket for six. England promoted Dimitri Mascarenhas up to four and the runs began to flow but unfortunately for the Hampshire player he was losing partners with alarming regularity at a crucial point in the innings. Harbhajan was the destroyer-in-chief as Owais Shah holed out to Jadeja at deep mid-wicket, James Foster fell caught and bowled and Swann was bowled.
In between the Shah and Foster wickets captain Paul Collingwood was ousted by Zaheer and, although England took five runs off the penultimate delivery, India would have been the happier of the two sides. But their reply got off to an unconvincing start in the face of some aggressive bowling by the England seamers. James Anderson coaxed Gautam Gambhir into miscuing a pull shot that landed safely and Sidebottom came inches away from bowling Rohit Sharma via an inside edge. Rohit Sharma would not be so fortunate when another inside edge did cannon into his stumps and Sidebottom had his second victim in as many overs when Suresh Raina was snapped up by Wright at deep square leg. England’s disciplined bowling and excellent work in the field kept boundaries to a minimum and ensured India remained some way adrift of the required run-rate. That began to change when, the ball after Mascarenhas had Gambhir caught at short fine-leg, Yuvraj lofted the same bowler over the top for six. But the ineffective Jadeja was magnificently caught by Broad just in front of the long-off boundary and then came the killer blow. Yuvraj famously smashed one Broad over for six maximums during the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and, while still at the crease, he was always going to be dangerous. But England had clearly done their homework on the left-hander this time round and when Foster showed lightning reactions to whip off the bails after Swann had beaten his outside edge, Yuvraj was gone. Dhoni and Pathan were India’s last genuine hope of salvaging victory and they gave it a good go, but they ran out of time and the day belonged to England.

Source:BBC

UK Reports Its First Swine Flu Death

LONDON – A person with underlying health conditions died of swine flu in Scotland on Sunday — the first reported death from the illness outside the Americas, health officials said.
Britain has been harder hit by the virus — known as H1N1_ than elsewhere in Europe. Earlier Sunday, Britain had reported another 61 cases of swine flu, bringing the U.K. total to 1,226 cases.
“Tragic though today’s death is, I would like to emphasize that the vast majority of those who have H1N1 are suffering from relatively mild symptoms, ” Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said. “I would reiterate that the risk to the general public remains low and we can all play our part in slowing the spread of the virus by following simple hygiene procedures.”
Now that swine flu has officially been declared to be a pandemic, or global outbreak, health authorities expect to see more cases and deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization said last week that the virus has not become any more lethal, but is now unstoppable.
So far, swine flu appears to be a relatively mild virus, and most people who get it do not need treatment to get better. About half the people who have died from swine flu have had other health conditions including pregnancy, obesity, diabetes, or asthma.
“The patient had underlying health conditions,” the government statement announcing the death said, without saying what they were.
Scotland’s government said the patient was one of 10 people being treated for the influenza at a hospital. The statement did not identify the patient or the hospital.
It was the first death from the H1N1 strain of influenza reported outside the Americas, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva or the European Centers for Disease Control in Stockholm, which both keep tabs on confirmed cases of swine flu around the world.
The latest WHO report, released on Friday, said 74 countries have reported 29,669 cases of swine flu, including 145 deaths. Fatalities had occurred in eight countries in the Americas: Mexico, the United States, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.
Last week, the WHO declared the flu a pandemic. WHO said it expected further cases — and deaths — to occur as the pandemic plays out over the next few years.
Hugh Pennington, a bacteriologist at Aberdeen University, said the underlying conditions are likely to have been a “significant factor” in the death because it raises the odds the patient will have difficulties.
“It makes it more likely that they will get the serious form of the virus in the first place,” he said. “If your lungs are already only working at half capacity when the virus kicks in and takes half of what is left, you will be left teetering on the edge.”
Pennington said that while the death was unfortunate, it was “quite unremarkable” given the number of reported cases and compared favorably to ordinary seasonal flu.
___
Associated Press Writers Maria Cheng in London and Frank Jordans in Geneva contributed to this story.

Endemol To Discuss Setanta Stake

Endemol to discuss Setanta stake
Dutch media giant Endemol, the maker of hit show Big Brother, is in talks to take a substantial stake in ailing Irish sports broadcaster Setanta.Endemol is believed to be interested in taking a stake of up to 49% in the company, along with other investors. It is not clear how much Endemol would pay for such a stake in a weakened economic climate. Setanta has not met subscriber targets, and has lost some broadcast rights for English Premier League games. On Friday Access Industries, controlled by Russian American Len Blavatnik, tabled a 20m bid for a 51% share in Setanta. He and other investors are now carrying out intense “due diligence” (examination of Setanta’s books) which should be completed by 19 June.
Setanta, which has rights to broadcast English Premier League football as well as the Scottish Premier League and Guinness premiership rugby, suspended taking new subscriptions last Wednesday after a major downturn in the economy led to a shortfall in customers. It only gained one of the six English premiership TV packages from 2010, and has missed payments to both the FA and the Scottish FA. Setanta has 1.3m UK subscribers, which is short of a target of 1.9m at which it is said to break even but ahead of the number achieved by Sky in its first two years in business.

Source:BBC

Husband Wife Both Win Big On Scratch-off Tickets

VILLA RICA, Ga. – One week after Chuck Hill won 5,000 in the Georgia Lottery’s Weekly WinFall drawing, his wife did even better. Karen Hill bought a World Class Millions scratch-off ticket on her way to work at City Chevron in Villa Rica. Her 20 ticket won 1 million.
The couple has two children, ages 6 and 8. They said they would pay off bills with the money.
Hill works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and her husband works in electrical engineering.
___
Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

CIA Chief Believes Cheney Almost Wants US Attacked

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
CIA director Leon Panetta says it's almost as if former vice president Dick Cheney would like to see another attack on the United States to prove he is right in criticizing President Barack Obama for abandoning the “harsh interrogation” of terrorism suspects.
“I think he smells some blood in the water on the national security issue,” Panetta said in an interview published in The New Yorker magazine's June 22 issue.
“It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point.”
Cheney, who was a key advocate in the Bush administration of controversial interrogation methods such as waterboarding, has become as a leading Republican critic of Obama's ban on harsh interrogations and his plan to shut the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In a blistering May 21 speech, Cheney said Obama's reversal of Bush-era policies were “unwise in the extreme” that would make the American people less safe.
Panetta called Cheney's actions “dangerous politics.”
He told The New Yorker he had favored the creation of an independent truth commission to look into the detainee polices of former President George W. Bush. But the idea died in April when Obama decided such a panel could be seen as politically vindictive.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Alan Elsner)

Croatia Claims Worlds Largest Pair Of Jeans

ZAGREB (AFP) –
A pair of jeans the size of six tennis courts, stitched together from thousands donated for charity, should be recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest anywhere, organisers said on Sunday.
“We've made the world's largest pair of jeans!” the Cockta Jeans Fashion project said on its website.
“People were bringing in their old jeans… and sponsors were immediately giving money for humanitarian purposes,” project head Boris Juric told national television.
The denims were put on display in Croatia's capital Zagreb on Saturday after they were assembled from 8,023 unwanted pairs and auctioned off over the last few months.
They have a leg length of 45 metres (148 feet) and a total width of 34 metres and were sewn up in a local factory.
For each pair of donated jeans, the project paid seven kunas (1.30 dollars or 90 euro cents) to a local association providing therapy to disabled people.

Internet Brings Events In Iran To Life

Internet brings events in Iran to life

Advertisement
All over the world people are monitoring unfolding events in Iran via the internet, where an apparently decisive election victory by the ruling party is being challenged on the streets.Although there are signs the Iranian government is trying to cut some communications with the outside world, citizen journalism appears to be thriving on the web. Here is a selection of popular links, many of which have been written from a particular point of view but – when taken together – provide a wide range of perspectives.
IMAGES
As well as the dramatic photographs of protest on the streets of Tehran featured on the BBC’s
, the Iran-based photoblog Tehranlive.org is being updated hourly. Images are also available on Flickr’s general Iran feed, and photographs of election protests in London available
More pictures uploaded from the streets of Tehran are also available on CNN’s user-generated site
One of the widest ranging video hosting sites online,
YouTube
is providing an arena for both personal uploading of video footage and campaigning videos from individuals. Many of those who watch take the time to comment and campaign below the clips. Comments may include flagrant language and impassioned opinion.
persianlover2007
has uploaded what looks like a mobile phone recording taken on June 13 in Vanak Square, Tehran.
arihman46
has uploaded video of disorder in the streets with fires burning in the road, entitled “Revolution in Iran”. This user also has clear images of
protesters
marching in the streets, filmed from above to show the size of the crowd. Both videos were uploaded on June 13. YouTube user
hadih81
posted footage of people protesting early. This video was uploaded June 8.
mbv1364
also has video that looks like mobile phone footage. Filmed from a building above the protests it shows hundreds of people marching in the streets. It was uploaded June 13.
TWITTER
Because it is capable of providing short updates of eyewitness observations, as well as spreading links to news outlets, Twitter has seen fast moving conversations about the Iranian election.
Written in various languages, it has enabled users to pass information among themselves very quickly, whether it has been checked factually or not. A simple way to follow the conversation about Iran on Twitter is to use a search aggregator, or a site that brings together tweets by topic. The latest Tweets on the elections can be retrieved by typing in #iranelection into the Twitter search box. And an aggregator that automatically bundles together the latest Iran tweets can be found
here.
Other similar services that search twitter include
Tweetscan
and
Twitterfall
.
Twittersearch
provides real time updates from Twitter as they come in.
FACEBOOK
This social networking website has long been a place for people to gather around a cause or theme and share their views on events. So far, most Facebook users appear to disagree with the election results, such as
I heart Iran
which is written in Persian and English.
Many Facebook groups protest the vote
Other Facebook members have posted video footage of the protests such as
this.
There is also a campaign to persuade fellow Facebook users to change their personal icons to the colour green to show support for the Iranian opposition. Another site:
“Iran. Where is my vote?”
has short updates from Tehran as well as links to videos and opinion about the election results.
WEBSITES AND BLOGS
The Iranian government-funded
PressTV
website says protests “reportedly got violent” after supporters of presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Moussavi took to the streets. So far however, pictures of the protests themselves have not made their way onto the site.
The Huffington Post has been
live blogging
as the Iran story develops with a useful pull-together of stories and images out of Tehran with updates from wire services and other sources. A similar news blog with all the latest updates, news and comment is being hosted by the
Guardian.
The BBC offers up-to-the-minute coverage of Iran’s election aftermath in
English
and
Persian
Blog aggregation site
Global Voices
offers up what it calls a “global conversation online” and features analysis and images sent from contributors in Tehran. Another blog,
Tehran Bureau
is a well connected blog from expats, experts and academics. Juan Cole on
Informed Consent
has looked at election figures which he says don’t add up. But
Five Thirty Eight
appears to knock down some analysis which supposedly proved the election was rigged. Gary Sick, a US academic and Iran expert,
is blogging
with photographs and links to video. And Andrew Sullivan in the US is
pulling together
material for the Atlantic magazine. For those who want to know what non-English bloggers are saying, the National Iranian American Council is
live blogging and translating
Twitter messages in Farsi.

Source:BBC

Disputed Iranian Ballot Complicates US Diplomacy

WASHINGTON – The re-election of Iran’s hard-line president amid charges of ballot fraud has put the Obama administration in a tougher spot as it tries to draw theocratic Tehran into nuclear diplomacy without appearing to accept suppression of dissent.
Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that efforts to engage Tehran, with the central goal of stopping it from getting nuclear weapons, will continue. But the disputed election outcome and the official crackdown on opposition protests appears to be a major setback, at least in the short run, for the new U.S. administration, which has made engagement with Iran one of its signature foreign policies.
Obama already is under renewed political pressure at home to stiffen U.S. policy.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, said Sunday the Iranian rulers had stolen the election and made a mockery of democracy. He urged Obama to “protest” and to speak out in defense of silenced Iranian demonstrators, but he offered no concrete steps to strengthen the U.S. case.
Biden made clear that the administration, while uncertain of the implications of the announced electoral victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his reformist opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has no intention of abandoning its Iran policy. Obama has put Iran at the center of his policy of extending an open hand to adversaries; the Iranians so far have responded mainly with silence.
The administration is trying to understand whether Friday’s vote accurately reflected Iranians’ response to Obama’s effort to end the nearly 30-year diplomatic estrangement from the Islamic Republic, Biden said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“That’s the question,” Biden said, adding: “Is this the result of the Iranian people’s wishes? The hope is that the Iranian people, all their votes have been counted, they’ve been counted fairly. But look, we just don’t know enough” since the voting.
While Ahmadinejad insisted the results showing his landslide victory were fair and legitimate, Biden simple said, “You know I have doubts.”
For the time being, Biden said, the U.S. accepts the election’s announced outcome, although questions about its legitimacy were raised by many other governments.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said his country is “very worried” about the situation in Iran and he criticized the Iranian authorities’ “somewhat brutal reaction” to the street protests in Tehran.
German’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said the “course of the election in Iran raises many questions.” He called on Iranian authorities to explain what happened.
Two important U.S. allies — Afghanistan and Pakistan, both neighbors of Iran — offered official congratulations to Ahmadinejad for his re-election. Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, told him the victory was “an acknowledgment of your outstanding services.”
Ahmadinejad dismissed the street protests — the worst unrest in a decade in Tehran — as “not important.” He said Friday’s vote was “real and free” and insisted the results showing his landslide victory were fair and legitimate.
The election was widely seen as an important event, but it held out little prospect of bringing substantial change in Iranian foreign policy.
The president is Iran’s political face to the world, but the clerics and their military wing known as the Revolutionary Guard are the real masters of the country’s destiny. They dictate every important policy and decide who is allowed to run for elected office.
“We should be very careful about overreacting to the Iranian election,” said Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has been a close observer of the Iranian scene for decades.
He said he believes Obama’s advisers know the limits of change in Tehran as long as the country is ruled by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his supporting case of theocrats.
“They realize that it is the supreme leader and those around him who shape any movement in terms of U.S.-Iranian relations,” Cordesman said. “This was going to be true regardless of who was elected as Iranian president. I don’t think anyone expected that in an election where four candidates were allowed to run — who all had to conform to the control of the supreme leader — the outcome was going to produce dramatic changes in Iran’s nuclear posture or its relations with other states in the region.”
Among the complexities with Iran is its ties to Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of U.S. and allied troops are fighting a resilient insurgency and pouring enormous effort into helping establish a stable government. The U.S. has doubts about Iran’s assertions of wanting to play a helpful role there, accusing Tehran of supplying arms and other military capabilities to Taliban fighters.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters on Friday in Belgium that Iran is playing a “double game” in Afghanistan — professing good intentions while quietly undermining security.
Gates’s press secretary, Geoff Morrell, said in a telephone interview Sunday that Gates was told by U.S. commanders as recently as last week of a “pretty consistent flow” of improvised explosive devices and other Iranian weaponry into Afghanistan, although he said it has been relatively modest in numbers.
Iran also is a critical factor in a range of other issues of central importance to the United States, including international terrorism, energy security, the campaign to stabilize Iraq and the push for a wider Arab-Israeli peace.
Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Sunday that this probably means Obama will continue his outreach policy.
“Once the dust settles the United States will eventually have no choice but to talk to Tehran, but it will likely be a cold, hard-nosed dialogue rather than friendly greetings,” Sadjadpour said.

Hangover Gives Murphy A Headache At Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –
The party kept rocking for “The Hangover,” the first big surprise hit at the North American box office this summer, while Eddie Murphy suffered a headache with his second consecutive flop.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, “The Hangover” led the field for a second weekend with ticket sales of $33.4 million across the United States and Canada. The raunchy comedy with a little-known cast becomes the first movie to retain its crown since “Madea Goes to Jail” in February.
The film also took just 10 days to hit the century mark — $105.4 million, to be exact — setting a new record for an R-rated movie. The old mark of 11 days was set last year by “Sex and the City.”
Industry pundits expect “The Hangover” to hit $200 million — not bad for a movie that cost a reported $31 million to make. The action revolves around three guys struggling to remember what happened at a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas the night before. It stars Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms, and was directed by Todd Phillips of “Old School” fame.
The film, from Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. Pictures, easily fended off a pair of new entries boasting some major star power.
Columbia Pictures' remake of the 1974 subway-hijacking thriller “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, opened at No. 3 with $25 million, in line with expectations.
“It's a solid opening for us,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at the Sony Corp unit.
Washington's last major release was “American Gangster,” which opened to $44 million in late 2007. The last time Travolta headlined a drama was in 2004 when “Ladder 49″ opened to $26 million. Comparative data are not adjusted for ticket-price inflation.
Murphy, on the other hand, came in at No. 6 this weekend with the Paramount Pictures family comedy “Imagine That,” which tallied just $5.7 million.
“We're really disappointed,” said Don Harris, executive vice-president of distribution at the Viacom Inc unit.
Murphy previously starred in “Meet Dave,” which opened to $5 million last July and finished with $12 million.
Walt Disney Pictures' Pixar cartoon “Up” held at No. 2 with $30.5 million, taking its total to $187.2 million after three weekends. The previous Pixar release, “Wall-E,” had earned $163 million in the same span last summer.
Rounding out the top five were the Ben Stiller comedy hit sequel “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (Fox) which held steady at No. 4 with $9.6 million in its fourth weekend; and the latest Will Ferrell bomb “Land of the Lost” (Universal), which fell two places to No. 5 with $5.6 million in its second weekend. Their respective totals stand at $143.4 million and $35 million.
Walt Disney Pictures is a unit of Walt Disney Co. 20th Century Fox is a unit of News Corp. Universal Pictures is a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal.
In limited release, the feature debut of David Bowie's 38-year-son Duncan Jones, opened strongly. “Moon,” starring Sam Rockwell as an astronaut who confronts a clone of himself while mining lunar helium, earned $145,000 from just eight theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The Sony Pictures Classics release expands across the United States throughout June and July.
At the foreign box office, “Terminator Salvation” was the top pick for a second weekend, earning $46.1 million; the overseas total for the Columbia-distributed apocalypse sequel rose to $165.5 million.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Eric Walsh)

First UK Swine Flu Patient Death

First UK swine flu patient death
A patient with swine flu has died in hospital, a Scottish government spokesman has confirmed.The patient had underlying health conditions and was one of 10 people who were being treated in hospital in the greater Glasgow area. This is the first death in the UK of someone with swine flu since the outbreak began. The swine flu virus has infected almost 500 people in Scotland alone – with 35 new cases being confirmed on Sunday. A statement issued by the Scottish Government said: “With regret, we can confirm that one of the patients who had been in hospital, and had been confirmed as suffering from the H1N1 virus, has died today. “The patient had underlying health conditions.” The statement added that, at the family’s request, no further details will be released. The UK government outlined measures it has taken to combat the outbreak earlier this week. Ministers urged people not to alter their normal behaviour and follow hand hygiene guidelines.

Source:BBC

Splashdown SC Man Jumps Off Bridge To Meet Friend

COLUMBIA, S.C. – When drivers on a stretch of South Carolina interstate saw someone jump off a bridge, they called 911, fearing they were watching a suicide. Instead, multiple media outlets reported Thursday that the callers were just watching Lyle Silkwood jump from the Interstate 26 bridge into the Saluda River near Columbia to meet a passing friend in a boat after his truck ran out of gas.
Firefighters, paramedics and rescue boats searched the river for more than an hour.
Authorities finally figured out what was going on when they ran the license tag on the truck and called Silkwood’s home. He answered and told them what happened.
Authorities said they spoke to Silkwood about the incident and he was able to get some gas and drive off in his truck.

Mousavi Seeks To Overturn Iran Election Result

TEHRAN (Reuters) –
Defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi demanded on Sunday that Iran's presidential election be annulled and urged more protests, while tens of thousands of people hailed the victory of the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mousavi's supporters again took to the streets after violence on Saturday, clashing with police in protests that have underscored political rifts exposed by Friday's disputed vote.
In a statement on his website, Mousavi said he had formally asked the Guardian Council, a legislative body, to cancel the election result.
“I urge you, Iranian nation, to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way,” he added.
Mousavi's supporters handed out leaflets calling for a rally in Tehran on Monday afternoon. After dusk some took to the rooftops across the city calling out “Allah Akbar” (God is great), an echo of tactics by protesters in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The unrest that has rocked Tehran and other cities since results were declared on Saturday is the sharpest expression of discontent against the Islamic Republic's leadership for years.
The election result has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world's fifth biggest oil exporter to curb its nuclear program. U.S. President Barack Obama had urged Iran's leadership “to unclench its fist” for a new start in ties.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden cast doubt on the election result but said Washington was reserving its position for now.
“It sure looks like the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated, that there's some real doubt,” he told NBC's “Meet the Press” when asked if Ahmadinejad had won the vote.
SEA OF FLAGS
Ahmadinejad appeared amid a sea of red, white and green Iranian flags waved by partisans thronging Tehran's Vali-e Asr square, some perched on rooftops or cars, to applaud the victory he achieved with a surprising 63 percent of the vote.
“Some … say the vote is disrupted, there has been a fraud. Where are the irregularities in the election?” he said in a speech that the crowd punctuated with roars of approval.
“Some people want democracy only for their own sake. Some want elections, freedom, a sound election. They recognize it only as long as the result favors them,” he declared.
Tarverdi Chegine, a 35-year-old government employee, told Reuters: “We have a very brave president. I love him.”
He said anti-Ahmadinejad protesters were not true Iranians. “They belong to the West. They belong to Bush. We are anti-Bush.”
After the rally, witnesses said Ahmadinejad and Mousavi supporters clashed on a main Tehran street. A Reuters reporter saw fires and broken glass on the street, people throwing stones, and riot police on motorbikes. One policeman was beating people on the pavement with a rubber truncheon.
About 2,000 students at Tehran University, some with Mousavi posters, others covering their faces with bandanas, chanted anti-government slogans and taunted riot police across the road outside. Some threw stones at police when they chased protesters who had tried to gather outside the university gates.
Abdul Reza, 26, standing behind the gates and watching as police charged the crowd outside, said: “Mousavi is the real president of Iran. Ahmadinejad did not win the election.”
Speaking at a news conference Ahmadinejad described the election as “clean and healthy” and dismissed complaints by defeated candidates as sour grapes.
He consigned Iran's nuclear dispute to the past, signaling no nuclear policy change in his second term, and warned that any country that attacked his own would regret it. “Who dares to attack Iran? Who even dares to think about it?” he asked.
Iran's refusal to halt nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies, has sparked talk of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes on its nuclear sites.
FRENCH CONCERN
France signaled its concern over what was happening in Iran, which Henri Guaino, a top adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy, said “is clearly not good news for anyone, neither for the Iranians nor for peace and stability in the world.”
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said repression of opponents was closing off dialogue. “Brutality and never-ending military development will not bring any solutions,” he said.
Police have detained over 100 reformers, including a brother of former President Mohammad Khatami, a leading reformer said. A police official denied Khatami's brother had been arrested.
Interior Ministry officials have rejected accusations of election fraud and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's top authority, has called on Iranians to back their president.
A senior Western diplomat in Tehran said he believed the authorities would soon subdue the street unrest, but said Ahmadinejad's re-election battle had exposed a polarizing power struggle between radicals and moderate conservatives which could affect the Islamic Republic's long-term stability.
“There is turbulence in the whole system,” he added.
A spokesman for Mousavi said his newspaper, Kalameh-ye Sabz, and its website had been shut down. Mobile telephone text services have also been interrupted in Tehran for several days, and the British Broadcasting Corporation said Iran was using “heavy electronic jamming” to interrupt its widely watched BBC Persian television service.
(Writing by Alistair Lyon and Dominic Evans; Editing by Jon Boyle)