Talking Shop: Alexandra Patsavas :

You might not recognise her name, but Alexandra Patsavas is one of the most important people in the record industry.
As the music supervisor on hit shows like The OC, Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl, she reaches millions of television viewers every week, and has the power to make or break a band.
The OC, in particular, helped to push The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie and Imogen Heap into the limelight - and established artists like Coldplay and Beck soon started offering exclusive first plays of their material to the show.
Patsavas explains how a typical show comes together - and lets us peek at the "recent tracks" playlist on her iPod.

Spears to remain in father's care :

Britney Spears' father will retain control over the singer's affairs until the end of the year, says a US court.
James Spears was granted control of his daughter's assets in February after she was admitted to a psychiatric ward.
The Los Angeles court also heard that Ms Spears did not want to extend a restraining order against her former manager, Osama "Sam" Lutfi.
James Spears' lawyer said a "private agreement" had been reached with Mr Lutfi, and no court action was needed.
Neither the singer nor her father were in court for Thursday's hearing.

'Terror' school turns out to be moderate madrassa :

KARACHI, Pakistan -- It's an alarming message: Two American boys are held captive in a madrassa, a Pakistani religious school, once visited by Osama bin Laden and with ties to the Taliban.The film, "Karachi Kids," describes threats to artistic freedom of expression from the teaching of conservative Islam. Early copies of the film prompted outrage after the story of the American boys appeared on Fox News, CBS and other news outlets. It also led to demands from Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, for the boys to be returned home.But the independent filmmaker may have confused the madrassa with one with a similar name tied to Islamic extremists.The madrassa the boys attended isn't linked to bin Laden or Muslim radicals; instead, it's one the U.S. State Department says is preferred by Pakistani-Americans for its moderate Islamic teachings and one recently visited by a top U.S. diplomat in Pakistan.

Deadly floods hit Romania, Ukraine :

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, centre, speaks to inhabitants of flooded village Serebriya, western Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2008. Ukraine's Emergency Ministry says storms and floods have killed 22 people, including six children, after four days of storms have flooded more than 20,000 houses and cut electricity in four western regions. More than 8,000 people have been evacuated, and thousands are in serious danger as the water keeps rising Sunday.A woman walks through a flooded street in the village of Siretu, about 300 km (200 miles) north of Bucharest, July 28, 2008. Floods in northeastern Romania have killed four people, and two others are missing.

Potter fairytales to be published :

A collection of fairytales penned by Harry Potter author JK Rowling is to be published to raise money for a children's charity.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which Rowling first mentioned in The Deathly Hallows, will go on sale on 4 December.
A handwritten copy of the book was sold at auction for £1.95m last year.
Rowling wrote and illustrated seven copies of the book, but offered only one for sale. It was thought the book would never be published.

'Father' of Congolese rumba dies :

World music star Papa Wendo, often hailed as the "father" of Congolese rumba music, has died at the age of 82.
The musician was admitted to a clinic in Kinshasa in DR Congo on Monday and died after a long illness.
His music first came to the attention of international audiences in the 1950s with Marie Louise, which some Congolese believed could wake the dead.
Wendo was born Antoine Wendo Kolosoy in the Bandundu region but became an orphan at the age of nine.
His parents' deaths meant he was taken care of by priests - until he found them too strict and left about three years later, Agence France-Press said in an obituary.

Sun and Moon set to put on show :

Skywatchers around the globe can see a total eclipse of the Sun on Friday.

A dark shadow will sweep across the surface of the planet in a broad arc as the Moon passes directly between the Earth and our star.
The eclipse begins in Canada's high Arctic and ends in northern China's Silk Road region.
Parts of northern Russia will go dark for two minutes, 27 seconds from 1021 GMT - but Britain will only experience a partial eclipse around 1016 BST.

X-rays reveal Van Gogh portrait

A new X-ray technique has revealed a previously unknown portrait of a woman by Vincent van Gogh, which was painted over by the artist.
The peasant woman's face was hidden behind the work Patch of Grass, completed by Van Gogh in Paris in 1887.
Scientists Joris Dik and Koen Janssens used high-intensity X-rays from a particle accelerator to scan the painting and reveal the face beneath.

Stomach bug treatment for cancer :

Eradicating a common bug in people with stomach cancer can prevent the disease from recurring, research suggests.
Helicobacter pylori, proved to be the cause of most stomach ulcers, has also been linked with stomach cancer.
In a study of 550 people who had stomach cancer surgery, antibiotics which killed the bug cut the risk of a second cancer developing by two-thirds.
There will now be a trial of 56,000 British people to see if killing the bacterium stops the cancer developing.
H. pylori lives in the stomach, and accounts for up to 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers.

'Fitness pill' being developed :

Scientists are moving closer to developing a pill which could deliver some of the benefits of exercise - even for those who do not move a muscle.
The journal Cell reports US researchers now have two possible pills which appear able to build muscle, increase stamina and even burn fat.
In tests, mice were able to run 44% further - suggesting humans may be able to do the same without prior training.
The concept is controversial because of fears they could be misused in sport.

Thaksin family's gamble fails to pay :

The sight of Pojaman Shinawatra standing uneasily in the dock in Bangkok's main Criminal Court may prove to be a defining moment in the shifting balance of power in Thai politics.
The guilty verdict was not unexpected.
But in sentencing her to three years in prison - and delivering a stern reprimand over her failure to set an example - the judge showed no hesitation in punishing and dressing down a woman still viewed by many Thais as among the most powerful in the country.
In court her husband, Thaksin Shinawatra, looked shell-shocked.
Over the coming months he will also be in court to defend himself against various charges of abusing his power while in office. The prospect of a woman who is not just his wife, but also his most trusted business and political partner, going to jail, must also now be weighing on him.

In pictures: Mexico's women wrestlers :

Schumacher crash stuns car dealer :

A Kent car dealer who was sent flying when a van struck a barrier was shocked to discover the driver was the German ex-Formula 1 ace, Michael Schumacher.
Martin Kingham, 39, said he was closing the security gate at his premises in Lydd on Sunday afternoon when a Fiat van struck the end of it.
The barrier hit his leg "sending him spinning" on to the bonnet of a car.
Police called to the incident said they helped both men to swap details and no further action was needed.
Mr Kingham was unhurt, while only minor damage was caused to Schumacher's van in the collision outside Millfield Motors, just before 1600 BST.

Afghan unrest sparks aid warning :

Aid agencies in Afghanistan have warned they may become unable to operate in parts of the country once seen as safe because of the intensifying conflict.
A statement on behalf of 100 different non-governmental organisations pointed to a 50% increase in insurgent attacks compared to last year.
Aid agencies were increasingly becoming targets, the NGOs said.
This June saw more attacks on aid agencies than in any month since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001.

Nineteen of their staff have been killed so far this year - more than in the whole of last year.

Military's top priority still seeks defeat for al-Qaeda: Robert Gates :

WASHINGTON: The military's top priority is to defeat Al Qaeda and other extremists, but winning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan alone will not achieve that, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says in a new defense policy document.Nor will the use of force alone accomplish the mission, says the 2008 National Defense Strategy released Thursday by the Pentagon. The most important thing the military can do, it said, is prepare friends and allied nations t ... Full Story

70 killed in Swat clashes, curfew imposed :

PESHAWAR: Seventy people have been killed in the ongoing operation in Swat while more forces have been called in on the requisition of the provincial government as the curfew for an indefinite period has been imposed here on Friday. According to sources, 21 citizens were killed and more than 50 injured when mortar shells fell on houses. Those dead also included 5 women and 9 children.Ten Taliban have also been killed in the offensive launched by the security forces while more than 30 houses were damaged.Also, six of a family were killed in Derai Sakai area of Tehsil Kabal when a mortar fell at their house.

UN reauthorizes Darfur peacekeeping :

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council approved another year of peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region in a vote Thursday night that reflected sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president. The United States, though it supports the struggling peacekeeping mission known as UNAMID, abstained from the council's 14-0 vote. The U.S. objected to the council noting in its reauthorizing resolution that the African Union had asked it to freeze the International Criminal Court's prosecution of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

China: Rapid Beijing-Tianjin train link opens on Friday :

BEIJING: The Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway will open tomorrow, as scheduled, a railway official said Wednesday.Tickets for the route linking the capital to the Olympic soccer city, will go on sale today at West Beijing and Beijing railway stations, and from tomorrow at the new Beijing South railway station, from which the new trains will depart, reported the Beijing News.

Tickets to ride the new 350 kph trains will be 69 yuan ($10) for first class and 58 yuan for second class, Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer with the Ministry of Railways, told a press conference at the Beijing International Media Center.While these are 18 yuan and 16 yuan more expensive than those for the existing bullet trains, which reach a top speed of 250 kph, the journey time will be reduced from about an hour to just 30 minutes, he said.