Canada special forces clash with IS in Iraq

Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian special forces exchanged gunfire with Islamic State fighters in Iraq in recent days, in the first confirmed ground battle between Western troops and IS, a senior officer said Monday.

Rouleau said the melee had taken place in the previous seven days and was "the first time we've taken fire and returned fire" in Iraq, where the extremists have overrun large areas.The Canadians came under mortar and machine gun fire while training Iraqi troops near front lines and shot back in what Canadian special forces commander Brigadier General Michael Rouleau described as self-defense, killing the IS fighters.

"My troops had completed a planning session with senior Iraqi leaders several kilometers behind the front lines," Rouleau told a regular media briefing on the conflict.

"When they moved forward to confirm the planning at the front lines in order to visualize what they had discussed over a map, they came under immediate and effective mortar and machine gun fire."

The general said the Canadians used sniper fire to "neutralize both threats" and there were no Canadian injuries.

The United States has previously reported having launched an unsuccessful hostage-rescue operation against the IS group in neighboring Syria, but Western forces have not officially engaged in ground combat.

A US-led international coalition has been carrying out air raids on IS extremists in Iraq and Syria since last year. Canada is only involved in Iraq operations.

Beastie Boys lawyers: Bills top $1.7M in Monster Energy suit

NEW YORK (AP) — The Beastie Boys want to force the maker of Monster Energy drink to pay nearly $2.4 million in legal fees and costs so the rappers' $1.7 million jury award is not dwarfed by expenses in a copyright violation case, lawyers say.

A Manhattan federal court jury awarded the group most of the $2 million it requested at a June trial, but that was not enough to cover costs that lawyers said were worsened by the actions of the Corona, California-based Monster Energy Co., the musicians' lawyers said in papers filed in Manhattan federal court.

They said more than two years of litigation punctuated by Monster's failure to engage in good-faith negotiations, an eight-day trial and Monster's effort to overturn the verdict ran up the legal bill.

"Monster's tactics significantly increased the costs for Beastie Boys to vindicate their intellectual property rights, such that, absent an award of attorney's fees and costs, plaintiff's success at trial would become a Pyrrhic victory," they wrote in a filing Saturday.

Monster had admitted wrongly using the group's songs in a video that was online for five weeks. But the beverage maker said at trial it should owe no more than $125,000. The company's lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Monday.

The Beastie Boys, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, have turned out four No. 1 albums and sold more than 40 million records as they helped bring hip-hop to the mainstream over the last three decades. In 1986, they topped the charts with their debut, "Licensed to Ill," which include the anthem "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)"

TLC looks to fund final album through Kickstarter campaign

ATLANTA (AP) — Grammy-winning R&B group TLC is depending on fans to fund the release of their

final album through a Kickstarter campaign.

The group, which currently consists of T-Boz and Chilli, launched the campaign on Monday. It's been nearly 13 years since their last album, "3D," which was released seven months after the death of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in 2002.

"We've always been known to do things differently," said T-Boz, who was born Tionne Watkins. "We've always been trailblazers and trendsetters. We've always been outspoken, and this seems like the perfect opportunity."

TLC released back-to-back hits, including "Creep," ''Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs." Their Grammy-winning sophomore album, "CrazySexyCool," sold more than 10 million units. The group once filed for bankruptcy in 1996, despite having two multiplatinum albums.

T-Boz and Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas have already begun the writing phase and production of their fifth album, expecting to release it in May when their tour starts. The group is hoping to collect at least $150,000 through the campaign to fund the recording process from paying for studio time, production, compensating the musicians and promoting the album.

"People may say, 'Hey, you are celebrities. Why can't you just pay for it yourself?'" Chilli said. "But it doesn't work that way. There's a lot that goes into it. We want to bring our fans into the process and see how it's done."

TLC's campaign efforts follow Neil Young, who used Kickstarter to raise $6.2 million through 18,000 supporters last year to fund his digital music project PonoMusic.

With donations starting at $5, supporters will receive an exclusive digital track and communicate with them during their recording process. Higher pledges will include VIP concert tickets, a recorded custom voicemail by T-Boz and Chilli, an in-person fitness class taught by Chilli and wardrobe pieces worn by TLC during their music videos.

Chilli said using Kickstarter would allow them to have more control over the direction of the album.

"We could knock out two birds with one stone," Chilli said. "We can have them involved in our album. Then also, we can have control over everything. That's a perfect combination."

Google to reportedly team with SpaceX to create a global satellite Internet service

Both Google and SpaceX are companies known for taking on huge projects that seem to come out of science fiction. Because of this, it’s all too appropriate that the companies will reportedly team up on a hugely ambitious project that could vastly expand access to the Internet across the world.

 that Google is planning to invest in SpaceX “to support the development of SpaceX satellites that could beam low-cost Internet around the globe to billions who don’t have it.” Google has long been trying to come up with creative ways to spread Internet access across the world, including using weather balloons that would provide a floating hotspot in rural regions that don’t have strong wireline infrastructure.

Of course, the problem with this is that satellite Internet services have traditionally been unable to deliver high-speed services simply because the spectrum used for satellite transmissions isn’t as strong to delivering wireless Internet services as the spectrum used by wireless carriers.

Nadal, Murray cruise at Australian Open as Ivanovic crashes

Melbourne (AFP) - Big guns Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray successfully blasted their way into the Australian Open second round Monday but the Grand Slam dream of Ana Ivanovic was shattered.

It was different story for fifth seed Ivanovic, a former world number one who came into the tournament full of confidence after a stellar 2014 that saw her climb the rankings.Third seed Nadal and sixth seed Murray both enjoyed straight sets wins, with rising stars Simona Halep and Grigor Dimitrov also progressing comfortably on a cool and windy Melbourne day.

She started well against unheralded world number 142 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, easily winning the first set, but went to pieces during the match, eventually crashing 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

"I really struggled to find my rhythm today, I was just a little bit lost," said the stunned Serb, a perennial crowd favourite in Australia where she has family.

Ninth seeded German Angelique Kerber also failed to live up to the hype, eliminated in three sets by Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.

World number three Nadal had no such problems and was in full control against Russian Mikhail Youzhny, showing few signs of the injuries that disrupted his 2014 season

.

Shiite rebels clash with military in Yemen capital

A cease-fire halted intense clashes near the presidential palace in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Monday after Shiite rebels seized control of state-run media in a move that one official called "a step toward a coup."

The fighting, centered on the palace and a military area south of it, marked the biggest challenge yet to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi by the rebels, known as Houthis, who swept down from their northern strongholds last year and captured the capital in September.

The violence has plunged the Arab world's poorest country further into chaos and could complicate U.S. efforts to battle al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate, which claimed responsibility for the attack on a Paris satirical magazine this month and which Washington has long viewed as the global network's most dangerous branch. (AP)

Pope says Catholics do not need to breed 'like rabbits'

Rome (AFP) - Pope Francis has said that good Catholics do not have to breed "like rabbits", defending the Church's stance on artificial contraception and appealing to the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics to practise responsible parenting.

"She said, 'I trust in God.' But God gave us the means to be responsible," the pope said. "Some think, and excuse the term, that to be good Catholics, they must be like rabbits."Speaking to journalists on his flight back from the Philippines, the pope said that he once asked a mother of seven children who was pregnant with her eighth if she wanted to "leave behind seven young orphans".

Francis said creating new life was "part of the sacrament of marriage" and in Manila strongly defended his predecessor Paul VI's outlawing of artificial contraception for Catholics in 1968.

Following the church's teachings did not mean "Christians should have children one after the other", he said.

His comments came at the end of a trip to the Philippines, the Catholic Church's Asian stronghold, which last year passed a family planning law after a 15-year battle by the Church to block state-sanctioned contraception.

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Pope Francis takes part in a mass at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Osservatore Rom …

The law allows the government to begin distributing free contraceptives to millions of poor Filipinos.

It was a rare loss for the Church, which has for centuries been one of the nation's most powerful institutions and continues to count more than 80 percent of the nation's 100 million people as Catholics.

- 'Responsible parenthood' -

The pope said that his predecessor had foreseen the rise in policies restricting childbirth.

"Paul VI was worried by the growth of neo-Malthusianism" (which advocates restricting the number of children the poor can have) which tried to "put a control on humanity... he was a prophet," he said.

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Pope Francis greets the crowd after celebrating mass at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Ph …

"The key teaching of the Church is responsible parenthood. And how do we get that? By dialogue. There are marriage groups in the Church, experts and pastors," he added.

In 2013, six months after becoming pope, Francis urged the Church to drop its "obsession" with contraception, divorce, gays and abortion, in an interview signalling a dramatic shift in the Vatican's tone.

The Argentine pope has brought a series of fresh perspectives to the notoriously rigid Church since he took over, signalling a strong reformist drive.

He stressed at the time that the Church's official position had not changed, but said that it should "always keep in mind the individual".

Francis' papacy -- he is the first Jesuit pope and the first from South America -- has marked a series of breaks with Vatican tradition.

The pope has become known for his humility and concern for the poor, and has reached out to non-believers and those in other religions. He regularly picks up the phone to call ordinary people who write to him.

His latest comments are not the first this month to attract attention for their candour.

Last week when discussing the deadly attack by Islamist gunmen angered by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, the pope said: "If a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched."

petrol Shortage

'American Sniper' astounds with $105.3M over MLK weekend

NEW YORK (AP) — Clint Eastwood's R-rated Iraq War drama "American Sniper" opened in January like a superhero movie in July, taking in a record $105.3 million over the Martin Luther King Jr. four-day weekend.

The resounding wide-release opening is also tops for the 84-year-old Eastwood, whose previous best weekend was the $29.5 million wide release of 2009's "Gran Torino. And it, in one weekend, gives the Oscar best-picture race something it was lacking: a big ol' box-office hit.The film's unprecedented success obliterated forecasts and set numerous box-office records. It easily surpassed "Avatar" to become the biggest January weekend ever.

"American Sniper, nominated for six Academy Awards, immediately becomes the top grosser of the best-picture nominees. The previous biggest hit was Wes Anderson's "Grand Budapest Hotel," which made $59.1 million in its entire run.

This was actually the third week of release for "American Sniper," which played in just a handful of theaters for two weeks. That slow release pattern helped stoke demand for the film, in which Bradley Cooper stars as Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle.

"It's become a cultural phenomenon," said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. "The movie reached an audience that's very hard to tap into. In both red and blue states, small and large cities, tiny towns — everywhere we went — it broke records."

Going into the weekend, optimistic predictions for "American Sniper" were closer to $50 million, which still would have been an enormous success, particularly considering how little appetite audiences have had for movies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This was maybe the most underestimated film of all time, considering that it did about twice what estimates predicted," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office firm Rentrak. "This just doesn't happen."

But the film was warmly embraced by conservatives, which Fellman said was a "huge" factor. The audience, which was 57 percent male, gave it an A+ CinemaScore. Dergarabedian said "American Sniper" resonated with audiences craving a celebration of valor, courage and patriotism.

"American Sniper," once pegged for release in late 2015, was moved up to qualify for this year's Oscars. After Eastwood's other 2014 release, "Jersey Boys," struggled in its June release, totaling $47 million, "American Sniper" — a $58 million co-production between Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow — was tossed into this year's Christmas mix.

The remarkable success of "American Sniper," which made $89.5 million over the three-day weekend, didn't appear to hurt the business of other releases. The Weinstein Co.'s well-reviewed animated film "Paddington" opened with an estimated $25.2 million over the four-day weekend. The Kevin Hart, Josh Gaad comedy "The Wedding Ringer" debuted with $24.5 million for Sony Pictures.

However, Michael Mann's cyber-thriller "Blackhat," starring Chris Hemsworth, flopped. Made for about $70 million by Legendary Pictures for distributor Universal Pictures, "Blackhat" bombed with just $4.4 million.

In its fourth weekend of release, the civil rights drama "Selma" took in $11.5 million on the holiday weekend that honors its protagonist, King. The film landed two Oscar nominations on Thursday, including best picture, but the snubbing of its star, David Oyelowo, and director, Ava DuVernay, drew widespread outrage.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "American Sniper," $105.3 million ($6.1 million international).

2. "Paddington," $25.2 million ($4 million international).

3. "The Wedding Ringer," $24.5 million.

4. "Taken 3," $17.4 million ($31.4 million international).

5. "Selma," $11.5 million.

6. "Into the Woods," $8.7 million ($7.3 million international).

7. "The Imitation Game," $8.1 million ($4 million international).

8. "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," $6 million ($6.1 million international).

9. "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," $5.1 million ($17.8 million international).

10. "Unbroken," $5 million ($7.3 million international).

___

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:

1. "Taken 3," $31.4 million.

2. "Seventh Son," $21.7 million.

3. "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," $17.8 million.

4. "Penguins of Madagascar," $16.3 million.

5. "Exodus: Gods and King," $10.9 million.

6. "Miss Granny," $9 million.

7. "The Theory of Everything," $8 million.

8. "Into the Woods," $7.3 million.

9. "Big Hero 6," $7.2 million.

10. "Ode to My father," $7 million.

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

PM calls high-level meeting for LG reforms on Sept 27 :

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has called a high level meeting on September 27 in order to introduce new reforms in the present local government system.

Chief ministers of four provinces, Chairman of National Reconstruction Bureau, representatives of local government, federal and provincial officials will attend the meeting.The meeting will focus to eliminate anomalies and to improve the local government system. Proposals will be sought from all concerned departments in this regard.

Musharraf regime’s accords with US need be made public: NS

LAHORE: Muslim League-N Quaid, Mian Nawaz Sharif has said that the agreements, which were made with the US during Musharraf regime, should be made public.On his arrival from London at the Allama Iqbal International Airport here, talking to the media, Mian Nawaz Sharif said that the US and the Allied Forces attitude towards Pakistan were unacceptable.

He said that the policies should be framed on economic and other issues instead of six/ eight persons huddled in a room for formulating the policy.Nawaz Sharif said that some people were creating instability for their personal interests, which would dent the democracy. Responding to a question, Nawaz Sharif said that he has no intention of running government in association with any Q-League and added that had the alliance with Q-League been possible, it would have been done in the presidential election. Nawaz Sharif said that judges’ restoration in such away was the validation of Pervez Musharraf’s actions. Following the vote of confidence, President Asif Zardari should vent out those sentiments, which his party has already expressed, he said.

Gates backs Afghan border strikes :

LONDON: While U-S Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that Washington would prefer for Pakistan to tackle militants itself, he insisted that U-S forces have the right to strike at militants inside Pakistan.

In an interview with foreign TV, Gates said that militants are the "common enemy" of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the coalition forces. He said his country's goal is to partner with the Pakistanis and enable them to deal with militancy on the border themselves. Asked if Pakistan had authorised air strikes on its soil, he said that the US would take "whatever actions necessary" in self-defence. Washington would prefer for Pakistan to tackle militants itself, he added. Gates, fresh from a visit to Afghanistan, is in London for talks with other Nato ministers. Earlier on Thursday, he said that increasing militant violence there might prompt a change in US strategy, but gave no details. 'Whatever necessary'Speaking to media security correspondent Frank Gardner, Gates welcomed the Pakistani army's "much more aggressive" approach to militants along the border in recent weeks.

Hurricane Ike destroys 49 U.S. oil-producing platforms :

WASHINGTON: At least 49 offshore oil platforms, all with production of fewer than 1,000 barrels a day, were destroyed by Hurricane Ike as it raced across the Gulf of Mexico, and some may not be rebuilt, the Interior Department said Thursday.

It said in the latest hurricane damage assessment that the platforms altogether accounted for 13,000 barrels of oil and 84million cubic feet of natural gas a day. There are more than 3,800production platforms in the Gulf producing 1.3 million barrels of oil and 7 billion cubic feet of gas each day. Most remain shut down. The report by Interior's Minerals Management Service said the agency was conducting helicopter flyovers of the Gulf waters to investigate unconfirmed reports of oil spills and oil sheens, but that it was too early to issue any definitive findings. “There are no reports of oil impacting the shoreline or affecting birds and wildlife from releases in the Gulf of Mexico federal waters,'' said the agency.

Cricket team coach Lawson, trainer David's leaves extended :

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team coach Geoff Lawson and trainer David Iyre have got their leaves extended as there is no international or domestic cricket presently for the team and now they will come to Pakistan on September 27.

Coach Lawson and trainer Iyre had to return Pakistan today after their leave but as the Pakistan cricket team has no cricket assignment these days they applied for an extension in their leaves that the Pakistan Cricket Board accepted. It is mentioned that this was for the fourth time in the last five months that Lawson have went to Australia. Pakistan is beginning its cricket season on October 4 from the National Twenty20 Championship after when the Pakistan team will leave for Canada to participate in the four-nation InternationalTwenty20 Championship.

Villagers foil militants’ bid to hostage school children in Dir :

PESHAWAR: Showing extreme courage and boldness, the local people of a village in Dir Upper district after exchange of brutal firing, foiled attempt of the armed militants while trying to hostage around 300 students of a school and successfully freed the students after brief hostage.

In the armed shootout between the villagers and the miscreants, two of the militants blew themselves up to avoid arrest while the third one fled from the scene, said police official, DSP Younus Khan. The local villagers of Nehag Darra and the district police upon receiving information about militants’ assault at a school rushed to the site and besieged the entire vicinity to block the ways of their escape. The law enforcers asked the militants to surrender to which they did not pay any heed and instead opened fire upon the villagers and the police. The local people exchanged fire with the militants and as a result the school students were safely freed from the militants custody. The police said that the suicide attackers were three in number and among them two have blown up themselves in bid to avoid arrest while third one escaped from the scene. According to independent sources, around 12 militants’ hostage around 300 students in a school at Nehag Dara in Maskari, far-flung and remote area, in Upper Dir area.

Day in the Picture :

Day in the Picture :

Google climbdown on abortion ads :

Google is to change its policy on adverts about abortion following a legal challenge from a Christian pressure group.
It had refused a Christian Institute advert, saying it did not allow the advertising of websites with "abortion and religion-related content".
The institute threatened to use British equality laws to contest the decision.
But after an out-of-court settlement, Google will now allow religious groups to advertise about abortion.
It means when the word "abortion" is typed into the search engine, internet users will no longer just see adverts with details of abortion clinics and support groups, but could also find links to religious groups which may oppose abortion.

YouTube bans some weapons footage :

YouTube is to ban footage showing weapons being used to intimidate people on its website in the UK.
The new policy was being introduced because of "particular concern" in Britain over the subject, the site's owners, Google, said.
MPs criticised video-sharing websites, including YouTube, in July, saying they should be doing more to vet content.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith welcomed the YouTube ban and called on other internet sites to follow suit.
YouTube said the introduction of the new rule on weapons and intimidation would be the first time the site had made a policy change targeted specifically at the UK.

Merged banks' names cybersquatted :

Internet addresses corresponding to recent bank mergers are already being hoarded and sold online.
In "cybersquatting", likely addresses are bought cheaply in the hope of selling to the businesses involved, or as a medium for advertising.
Domain names for the merged Bank of America/Merrill Lynch as well as for Lloyds TSB/HBOS have been snapped up.
In one case, the domain name has already been listed on eBay, with the site directing visitors to the auction.
As reports of Lehman Brothers' intent to sell itself first surfaced last Friday, cybersquatters had already spotted Barclays, HSBC and Bank of America as potential buyers.
Accordingly, barclayslehman.com, hsbclehman.com, hsbclehmanbrothers.com and bofalehman.com had been acquired.
With the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America this week, cybersquatters registered bankofamericamerrilllynch.com and bofaml.com.