| World News  | Sri Lanka's east in shadow of war
BBC News
A year after troops overpowered Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels in Sri Lanka's eastern province and took control of the area, normality has yet to return. The government called the victory the "dawn of the east" and held a nationwide celebration on 19 July 2007, days after the last rebel stronghold fell. It announced a host of development measures, and in May this year provincial elections were held for the first time. A leader of a breakaway group...
photo: AP / Gemunu Amarasinghe
|  | Iran talks set to begin in Geneva
Al Jazeera
A senior Iran diplomat has arrived in Geneva for talks with European negotiators where for the first time a high-level US official will be in attendance. Saeed Jalili will be discussing his country's controversial nuclear programme in the Swiss city with Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief. The Americans are among six world powers offering Tehran a package of incentives to end urainum enrichment. A US delegation, led by William Burns, the...
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
|  | Midnight stampede to 'The Dark Knight' sets record -
Yahoo Daily News
By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer 14 minutes ago LOS ANGELES - Nothing dark about Batman's first night at the box office. "The Dark Knight" lit up cash registers during its midnight debut, stealing away with a record $18.5 million from 3,040 theaters, distributor Warner Bros. said Friday....
photo: AP / Nam Y. Huh
|  | Abdullah urges Anwar to give sample for DNA test
The Star
By V.P. SUJATA PUTRAJAYA: There is no political conspiracy against PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said. Abdullah also guaranteed Anwar's safety in facing investigations into the sodomy allegation and urged him to allow the authorities to take a...
photo: AP Photo /Andy Wong
|  | Guantánamo children
The Guardian
In a submission to the UN in May, the Pentagon said that no more than eight youths, aged 13 to 17 at time of capture, were held at Guantánamo Bay. But a prisoner list released in 2006 in response to US freedom of information act litigation names 21 inmates...
photo: AP / Janet Hamlin, Pool
| Business News  | Maxis plans more content for local market
The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Communications Bhd plans to create more innovative mobile content to seize opportunities in the lucrative local industry, worth about RM300mil annually. Chief executive officer Sandip Das said through the Maxis Developer Programme, a lot of products were developed locally. "We have done much work...
photo: WN/Theresa
|  | Laptops for Prudential's agents
The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd plans for some of its 5,000 wealth planners to be able to conduct all transactions electronically any time and any where over the next three to five years. Chief executive officer Bill Lisle...
photo: AP Photo / Elise Amendola, file
|  | Malaysian palm oil slips
Dawn
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18: Malaysia crude palm oil futures tumbled 2.2 per cent on Friday to a more than two month low, as softer crude oil prices dampened prospects for vegetable oil-based biofuels, which could curtail overall demand further. Palm oil is struggling to hold onto gains of about 11 per cent made so far this year, due to faltering food and...
photo: WN / deniseyong
|  | A frank assessment of property & construction
The Star
ACCORDING to census only 5% of households in the country have a monthly income of RM10,000 or more. You would think the figure was a lot higher judging from the number of property launches over the last 2 years with condos, semis and bungalows selling for over RM1mil. The recent fuel price hike coupled with higher cost of living and inflation may require a sober assessment of the local property and construction sectors. There are about 4 -5...
photo: WN / Guillaume Poulet-Mathis
|  | Fish exports cross $200 million
Dawn
By Aamir Shafaat Khan KARACHI, July 18: The fish export crossed the barrier of $200 million in 2007-08 for the first time in Pakistans history despite losing the European market of $55-60 million after a ban was imposed by the EU in April 2007. According to figures of the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), export of fishery products surged by 12 per cent and nine per cent in terms of value and quantity, respectively, to $212 million (134,657...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
|  | Imports allowed to cut cost of doing business
Dawn
By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 18: The government on Friday allowed import of used vehicles of different brands for industries, public delivery services organisations and used machinery to reduce the cost of doing business. Through the trade policy 2008-09, it has been decided to allow import of used cryogenic containers/cylinders by industrial consumers provided the Department of Explosives gives a prior NOC and the containers/cylinders...
photo: PID
|  | India's gem traders dream big
The Star
THE ambitions of Mumbai's diamond traders are grand, even if their offices are not. They nurse dreams of rivalling Belgium's Antwerp as the world's diamond trading capital while sitting in ageing tower blocks that are about as grimy as a cut diamond is sparkly. Corridors are splattered bloody red with decades' worth of spat-out chewing tobacco. Lift doors must be yanked shut by hand. Toilets must be entered gingerly. Traders' offices, though...
photo: Creative Commons/ Steve Jurvetson
|  | Starbucks to shut 9 Philadelphia-area sites
Philadelphia Daily News
By Maria Panaritis INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Latte-lovers shuddered yesterday to hear Starbucks was closing nine of its 115 caf� in the Philadelphia area among 600 nationwide. But, really, there was no need to panic. Where one Starbucks is going under, it seems, another is just around the corner. And another, and another, and another. Therein lies the problem that got Starbucks into this whole mess. The Seattle company that transformed coffee from a...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
| Entertainment News  | Dark Skin Complex: Let's Get Over It!
Palm Beach Post
When will people of color get over skin color? Some rapper named Young Berg that I never heard of is being blasted all over the 'net for saying he doesn't do "dark butts," referring to dark skinned women whom he considers ugly. This so-called controversy brings to mind a recent incident when I was out with a friend and his associates, a married couple, at a local bar. The woman asked whether she was as dark as the female bartender. I replied that...
photo: WN / Malliga
|  | Amazon uses all its might to wage price war against publisher
The Times
A price war is raging between a powerful online bookseller and a leading publisher, with authors caught in the crossfire and losing vital royalties. Amazon is in conflict with the Hachette Group, Britain's largest publisher, over terms and discounts and is refusing to sell its titles. The online bookseller has imposed extraordinary sanctions against the publisher, whose authors include the bestselling writers Stephen King and James Patterson. It...
photo: AP / Ted S. Warre
|  | Music: Deep Blues clues
Star Tribune
When Chris Johnson put together the inaugural Deep Blues Festival last year, he had no idea that the event would come off like a hardcore blues song. "If you remember last summer, we had a bad drought that lasted like 90 days," the insurance salesman turned fest organizer recalled with a pained laugh. "Somehow, on the days our fest arrived, it turned into a flood." In other words, the Deep Blues Fest's first year did not...
photo: GFDL / fr:Jocelynhade
|  | Lea in Cinderella's glass slippers
The Philippine Star
Just because it's a tale as old as time doesn't mean we should expect the same thing from Cinderella every time it goes on stage. This is what Bobby Garcia, director of the musicale to be staged July 29 to Aug. 24 at CCP main theater, must have had in mind while plotting the cast's moves and the crew's actions. Thus, he allowed the Fairy godmother (played by Charlie Parker) to put a little variation to her much-loved role. This time, the Fairy...
photo: GFDL / Alcarmonita
|  | Celina Jaitley turns fashionista
The Times Of India
The oomphalicious Celina Jaitley who has always been in the spotlight for her plunging necklines is all set for an image makeover. The sexy lady will be seen donning the role of a struggling fashion designer in her upcoming film Money Hai Toh Honey Hai . And here, she will not play a fashionista who is all jazz and bling, but one who is simple. Speaking about the film Celina said,...
photo: AP /
|  | Heather Mills' US house hunt
News24
Los Angeles - Heather Mills is looking for another US home. The former model - who won R364.5m in her divorce settlement from Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney - recently splashed out over R37.5m on a New York apartment and is now hoping to buy a property in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills. However, Heather's search has so far been unsuccessful and she has reportedly been losing her temper with real estate agents who are ignoring her strict...
photo: AP/Matt Dunham
|  | Kirsten Dunst's Long romance
News24
Los Angeles - Kirsten Dunst is reportedly dating Justin Long. Justin, who recently separated from Drew Barrymore, has been seen holding hands with the Spider-Man star. A source told America's OK! magazine: "Justin was holding Kirsten's hand and walking around downtown New York City in the Soho area. They stayed out all night and Kirsten was all over him and kept leaning in to kiss him." However, a friend of Justin claims he and Kirsten have been...
photo: AP /
| Health News  | Watsons and Bantay Kalikasan celebrate environmental wellness
The Daily Tribune
07/19/2008 Beyond addressing the health, wellness and beauty needs of its consumers, Watsons Your Personal Store also cares for the health and beauty of the world that their customers live in. Through its partnership with Bantay Kalikasan, Watsons and its suppliers return the fruits of their products success. The partnership was the first step in Go Green With Watsons, a summer-long program that heralded Watsons dedication to health and...
photo: WN / James
|  | Dangerous dogs and kids don't mix
The Times
Children love parks in the summer: lazy days spent in the paddling pool, on the slide or playing football in the sunshine. But parents are becoming increasingly worried about their children's safety in the playground or village green. The menace? Off-the-lead dangerous dogs. Nothing is guaranteed to clear a park faster than an unrestrained rottweiler or Staffordshire bull terrier. Although their owners may claim that their pets are harmless, to...
photo: WN / Aruna Mirasdar
|  | Vegetables can be pretty, too
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mix them in with flowers to save space, add texture When you think of a dramatically colorful garden, vegetables might not enter your mind. Waves of flowering perennials and annuals create visual excitement in the landscape, but the thought of a tomato plant mixed in with the flowers just doesn’t work. While, indeed, a tomato plant may be a bit too rough around the edges for a flowerbed, many of today’s other vegetable and herb introductions look...
photo: WN / Denise Yong
|  | Drought response plan gets OK, sent to Easley
The Charlotte Observer
By WHITNEY WOODWARD Associated Press Writer RALEIGH, N.C. -- House lawmakers answered Gov. Mike Easley's call to give state officials more power to respond to drought by approving a hard-pressed compromise in the session's final hours Friday. "We've got to do this, we need to do it now, and quite frankly, we should have done it in 2001 when we had the first drought," Rep. Pryor Gibson, D-Anson, told his chamber before the 68-36 vote. The plan now...
photo: creative commons /
|  | Breast-Fed Babies Have Fewer GI Infections
Healthfinder
But they're more likely to be iron-deficient, study finds. By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter this article to news version (SOURCES: Noreen Willows, Ph.D., assistant professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Ruth Lawrence, M.D., chair, section on breast-feeding, American Academy of Pediatrics, and professor of pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, N.Y.; August 2008, The...
photo: WN / Sweet Radoc
|  | Tomato scare ending; fears linger for many people
Fresno Bee
WASHINGTON (AP) The tomato scare may be over, but it has taken a toll - it's cost the industry an estimated $100 million and left millions of people with a new wariness about the safety of everyday foods. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll finds that nearly half of consumers have changed their eating and buying habits in the past six months because they're afraid they could get sick by eating contaminated food. They also overwhelmingly support...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
|  | Instant Communication Changes Customs
Voa News
High tech gadgets such as cell phones are bringing profound change to developing nations, and not just economic progress. Text messaging, the Internet and other innovations are having wide ranging social repercussions, from exposing human rights abuses by repressive governments to breaking traditional taboos governing courtship and other human relationships. VOA's Bill Rodgers has more in this final report from our series on how technology is...
photo: creative commons
|  | Some 4M kids malnourished -- FNRI
Journal Online
AS families across the globe tighten their belts to deal with the food crisis and rising prices, many fear that progress made in fighting malnutrition in children may slow down. Based on a recent study by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI-DOST) -- the government body that studies the country's malnutrition status -- an estimated 3.7 million Filipino children under five years old and 2.4 million below 10 are currently underweight....
photo: WN / Yolanda
| Politics News  | Gordon Brown meeting with unions still shrouded in secrecy
The Daily Telegraph
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 11:45PM BST 18/07/2008 Gordon Brown has rejected Labour moves to lift the secrecy over a key conference next week where union leaders will present ministers with a shopping list of 130 demands for changes in Government policy. The National Policy Forum will see trade union leaders seek promises of a return to secondary picketing and a move to increase tax rates for high earners. Members of...
photo: AP Photo Martin Cleaver,Pool
|  | Costello was Coalition's best chance
Sydney Morning Herald
The Coalition's best chance of winning the last federal election was to switch to Peter Costello in 2006, according to previously undisclosed research commissioned by ALP headquarters. The secret ALP polling of swinging voters found that while voters took issue with Mr Costello's perceived personality traits, others found him more "in touch" and "reasonable" than John Howard, News Ltd reports. The research...
photo: Apphoto
|  | John McCain, Conan O'Brien agree that age jokes are getting old, look for new punch lines
Star Tribune
NEW YORK - How old is John McCain? So old, the jokes about it are getting old. So at a taping Friday night of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the host asked the Republican presidential candidate for some new material. "We all agree on a take on you, which is your seniority," O'Brien said, as McCain, 71, pretended to fall asleep in his chair. Speaking for all late night comedians, O'Brien said, "we're tired of this...
photo: AP / Pat Sullivan
|  | World powers test Iran's will to end nuclear row
Canada Dot Com
GENEVA (Reuters) - Major world powers will sound out Iran's readiness to negotiate an end to the long dispute over its nuclear program on Saturday. The unprecedented participation of a senior U.S. official in the one-day meeting in Geneva, together with Iranian comments playing down the likelihood of an attack by the United States and Israel, have raised hopes of progress. Signs of easing tension have helped knocked the price of oil off recent...
photo: AP/ISNA, Rouhollah Vahdati
|  | PM: Reduce reliance on fossil fuels
The Star
PUTRAJAYA: The Government is always willing to help Malaysians find new alternatives to reduce fuel consumption, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He said this was the Governments way of helping the people spend less on fuel daily. Currently...
photo: AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara
|  | Critics ready to pounce on slips as Obama prepares for world tour
The Independent
As Barack Obama jets around Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan next week, his every utterance will be closely monitored back in Chicago, ground zero for his administration in waiting. A single misstep, an off-the-cuff foreign policy initiative or even a mispronounced name will be pounced on by his Republican rival, John McCain, as evidence that he is a naÏf in the one area that a president has most say over - US foreign...
photo: AP / Jae C. Hong
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