Neil Young's 'dangerous' tour documented :

NEW YORK (AP) -- Not every musician will make a film that features a fan facing him from a concert audience with two arms raised, middle fingers extended -- more than one fan, in fact.

Neil Young was singing protest songs on a "Freedom of Speech" tour with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash at the time. Ignoring that kind of nonverbal speech would contradict the message, wouldn't it?
It was an easy call. Using the nom de plume Bernard Shakey, Young directs "CSNY: Deja Vu," a film that uses the tumult surrounding CSNY's 2006 concert tour as a backdrop for exploring divisions in the country over the Iraq war. It opens in theaters on Friday.
Before the tour, Young had released "Living With War," the blunt anti-war album where he was backed by a full chorus on songs like "Let's Impeach the President." There was little mistaking his intentions; one of the film's funniest moments shows Young almost physically knocked back when a CNN reporter mentioned the song and asked him, "What's that song about?"

Man charged in slaying of pregnant soldier :

(CNN) -- A North Carolina man has been charged with murdering a pregnant Fort Bragg soldier, police said TuesdayFayetteville detectives arrested Edgar Patino, a fellow soldier, at his home in Hope Mills, North Carolina, about 15 miles south of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He is accused of killing Spc. Megan Lynn Touma, 23, found dead on June 21 in a hotel near Fort Bragg.
She was seven-months pregnant at the time of her death, authorities said.
Touma, a five-year veteran of the Army, had served with the U.S. Army Dental Activity Clinic in Bamberg, Germany, and in Fort Drum, New York, before her stint at Fort Bragg.
Two of Touma's friends told CNN that Touma and Patino had been stationed together in Germany and dated in the past.
Touma's friends said Patino proposed to her in Germany before Touma learned, on her return to North Carolina, that Patino was still married.

Day in pictures :

Where are the new movie themes ?

In the not-so-distant past, every summer blockbuster had to have its own chartbusting theme song.
Bryan Adams did everything he did for Robin Hood; Whitney Houston would always love her Bodyguard; Celine Dion's heart, she assured us, would go on, despite the sinking of the Titanic.
But, musicals like Mamma Mia! aside, recent blockbusters have been bereft of big-name ballads. From X-Men to Pirates of the Caribbean, there isn't a power chord in sight.
Most striking of all is the complete absence of rock music in the rebooted Batman franchise.
Hans Zimmer, who co-wrote the soundtrack for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, says his vision of Gotham City has no room for the likes of U2, Prince and R Kelly.
"There was never any doubt that we were going to be songless," says the Oscar-winning composer.
"And, trust me, we were flooded with requests from every band in the world. I actually had to say no to some really interesting people."

Royal screening for Harry Potter :

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince has been chosen for this year's Royal Film Performance.
The sixth Potter instalment will receive its European premiere in front of a yet-to-be announced member of the Royal Family on 17 November.
Actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reprise their roles, while Jim Broadbent joins the cast.
Last year's Royal Film Performance was cancelled amid controversy about the chosen movie, Brick Lane.
Protestors claimed the film, based on Monica Ali's novel, portrayed residents of London's Brick Lane as uneducated.
A royal spokesman said the controversy had been taken into account, but it had also been impossible to find a date for The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to attend a screening.
It marked the first time the annual gala had been scrapped since 1958.

China becomes biggest net nation :

China now has the world's largest net-using population, say official figures. More than 253 million people in the country are now online, according to statistics from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

The figure is higher than the 223 million that the US mustered in June, according to Nielsen Online.

The development is significant because the US has had the largest net-using population since records of how many people were online started to be kept.
"This is the first time the number has drastically surpassed the United States, becoming the world's number one," said a statement from the CNNIC, the nation's official net monitoring body.
The 2008 figure is up 56% in a year, said CNNIC. Analysts expect the total to grow by about 18% per annum and hit 490 million by 2012.
About 95% of those going online connect via high-speed links. Take up of broadband has been boosted by deals offered by China's fixed line phone firms as they fight to win customers away from mobile operators.
China's mobile phone-using population stands at about 500 million people.

Search site aims to rival Google :

Former workers at the web giant Google have launched a rival search engine.
Called Cuil, from the Gaelic for knowledge and hazel, its founders claim it does a better and more comprehensive job of indexing information online.
The technology it uses to index the web can understand the context surrounding each page and the concepts driving search requests, say the founders.
But analysts believe the new search engine, like many others, will struggle to match and defeat Google.

HP, Intel, Yahoo in cloud tie-up :

Chip giant Intel is teaming up with web firm Yahoo and hardware company HP to create virtual research centres for cloud computing.
Cloud computing offers online storage and promises a range of new services for data and devices that are plugged into the cloud.
Initially six data centres will be available for pre-selected researchers to test new applications.
Research firm Gartner has dubbed cloud computing as influential as e-business.

Scrabulous halted on Facebook :

The developers of popular Facebook application Scrabulous suspend the game for some users following legal action.

Scrabble's owners sue Scrabulous

Fans fight for Scrabulous future

73-year-old porn star bedazzles Japan's aged :

Shigeo Tokuda looks like your average retiree, wearing a classy gray suit and distinguished glasses. But there is nothing average about this 73-year-old when he steps in front of the camera. Shigeo Tokuda is a porn star.

Monetary policy to be announced today :

KARACHI: Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Shamshad Akhtar is presenting today the Monetary policy for the next six months.Besides increase in discount rate, increase in the minimum rate of profit on bank accounts and change in procedure of re-finance are expected in the monetary policy.For reviewing the monetary policy, a meeting of the SBP Monetary Board will be held on Wednesday at the State Bank in Karachi in which the new policy will be approved.

America's house price time bomb :

With the American housing market in its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Bush is expected to sign into law a massive new government intervention designed to slow the slide.

Banks in the US could end up owning ever more houses
The intervention would come as a little known quirk of US law threatens to drive down house prices even faster.
Faced with seemingly never-ending falls in the value of their properties, some American home-owners are taking radical action; they are choosing to walk away from homes and their mortgages.
In May 2006, at the height of the housing boom, Karen Trainer bought a $500,000 apartment in California - with money borrowed from her bank.
By this year, Karen still owed $500,000 on her mortgage, but her apartment was worth $200,000 less.
So she was deep in negative equity and, to make matters worse, the interest rate on her loan was about to increase.
"I thought 'this is crazy'," Ms Trainer says. "It just does not make financial sense."

Iraq's growing female bomber fear :

=Monday's triple suicide attack against Shia pilgrims in Baghdad highlighted what seems to a growing phenomenon - the use by Sunni-based radical Islamist insurgents of women to carry out suicide attacks.
Police said all three of the attackers in the bombings, which claimed the lives of about 25 pilgrims, were women.
Eyewitnesses in the city of Kirkuk - where at least 22 people were reported to have been killed by a suicide bomb attack on a crowd of protesting Kurds - said the attacker there was also a woman.
American military figures indicate that there have been at least 27 suicide bombings carried out by women in Iraq this year, a sharp jump from only eight in 2007.

Latif asks cricketing nations to take part in Champions Trophy :

KARACHI: Former captain of Pakistan cricket team Rashid Latif said that cricket community should support Pakistan in war against terrorism by participating in Champions Trophy because boycott would encourage the extremists.Talking to Geo News correspondent Ateequr Rehman, Rashid Latif said that cricketing nations should play their due role in war against terror by participate in Championship Trophy which would be held in Pakistan. The entire world is in a grip of terrorism and any untoward incident could be happened anywhere in any part of world. Recent blasts occurred in India is an example of this; therefore everyone must play his due role in war against terror, Rashid said.He said that boycott of the tournament or sending B teams would encourage the extremists. Champions Trophy should be organized in Pakistan according to schedule and cricketing countries must participate in it.This step would boost the cricket and discourage the terrorists, he added.

KARACHI: The PTCL employees have ended their strike on acceptance of all their demands :

KARACHI: Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices have been increased once again surging by 3 rupees in Punjab and 5 rupees per kilo in NWFP and Sindh as rising cost of production forces producers to reduce output by another hundred tones.Chairman LPG distributors association, Abdul Hadi Khan told Geo news that producers have decreased their output by 500 tones in a period of just 35 days.Now, daily production stands at 1700 tones which is able to me .... Full Story

PTCL employees end strike on acceptance of demands :

KARACHI: The PTCL employees have ended their strike on acceptance of all their demands.According to sources, salaries of contract and regular employees have been raised by 35 per cent after their successful negotitations.The contract employees have been regularized while they will be given all benefits except pension.This has been decided at the negotiations to form a committee for increase in salaries and this committee will submit ... Full Story

Giant chunks break off Canadian ice shelf :

Giant sheets of ice totaling almost eight square miles broke off an ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic last week and more could follow later this year, scientists said on Tuesday.
Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than the global average in recent decades, a development that experts say is linked to global warming.The ice broke away from the shelf on Ward Hunt Island, an small island just off giant Ellesmere Island in one of the northernmost parts of Canada.It was the largest fracture of its kind since the nearby Ayles ice shelf -- which measured 25 square miles -- broke away in 2005.Scientists had already identified deep cracks in the Ward Hunt shelf, which measures around 155 square miles. The shelf is one of five along Ellesmere Island in the northern Arctic."Because the break-off occurred between two large parallel cracks they're thinking more could go this summer before the freeze sets in".said the scientist
"It underscores the fact that each year we're now crossing new thresholds in environmental change in the High Arctic, and of course our concern in the longer term is that these may signal the onset of serious change at all latitudes, much further to the south, for example," he told Reuters.

World's Skin Cancer Hot Spots :

You probably know by now that making bad decisions when it comes to sun protection can be life threatening. While some people smartly skip the mid-day sun altogether, others work outdoors in tank tops every day or hit the beach with a bottle of baby oil, increasing their chances of developing skin cancer. But it isn't all about daily habits--a portion of the risk has to do with culture and family history. Where we live (a result of latitude and long-term migration patterns), prevailing cultural beliefs (and the associated garb), and common vacationing habits all play a role in our chances of developing ailments related to sun-exposure.

2 Faced Baby Born In India :

A very special girl was born last March in a small suburb of Delhi, India.She was born with 4 eyes, 2 noses, 2 mouths, 2 ears, and 1 dimple on a shared cheek.“I had never seen something like this in my life so naturally I was a little scared when I first saw her,” her father was quoted as saying. The young girl and her mother are both healthy and the family has no intentions of seeking surgery to correct the deformities. “The doctor said everything is normal when she was born. So where’s the need to get medical help?” said the child’s father. “She’s fed through one mouth and sucks her thumb with the other. We use whichever mouth is free to feed her.”

Giant Eye, Hurricane Dolly, More :

Visionary new Tosca set graces the world's biggest floating stage for the 63rd Bregenz Festival of opera on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), which began Wednesday and runs until August 23.Formed by a glacier during the Ice Age, the Bodensee is shared by Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, though its borders are disputed. Austria, for example, sees the lake as undivided and jointly controlled by the three countries, whereas Switzerland contends that borders run through the middle of the lake.