Calm returns to Ecuador on Friday after police unrest

An Ecuadorian military soldier stands guard outside the Palacio de Carondelet in Quito, capital of Ecuador, Oct. 1, 2010. Order had apparently returned to Ecuador Friday morning after President Rafael Correa returned safely late Thursday to the presidential palace from a police hospital where he was stranded. Security forces on Thursday staged a protest in Quito against a law passed earlier by the National Assembly that cut benefits

Ecuador troops rescue president from rebel cops

Ecuadorean troops firing automatic weapons and concussion grenades rescued President Correa from a hospital where he was trapped most of the day by rebellious police.

Senate confirms Munter as next US Ambassador to Pakistan

The US Senate has confirmed the appointment of Cameron Munter as next US Ambassador to Pakistan.

First Earth-like Planet to Be Announced Next May 2011

If the current rate of progress in the field of hunting exoplanets is any indication, then the world will be presented the first Earth-like extrasolar planet by no later than May 2011, a new analysis shows

First Earth-like exoplanet to be discovered by May 2011 | The Cavalier Daily

Scientists have discovered 450 extrasolar planets to date and recently identified potentially 750 new ones. Samuel Arbesman, a computational biologist at Harvard Medical School, and Gregory Laughlin, astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have plotted data from previously discovered

Star clusters are destroying gigantic exoplanets with their fierce gravity

The logic is simple. Extrasolar planets orbit faraway stars. Star clusters are home to lots and lots of stars. So where better to look for new exoplanets? Unfortunately, astronomers think the extreme gravity of these clusters is ripping exoplanets apart.

How Excited Should We Be About the New “Goldilocks” Exoplanet? | 80beats | Discover Magazine

Astronomers have announced the discovery of a planet with about three times the Earth’s mass orbiting the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 581. That in itself is cool news; a planet like that is very hard to detect.But the amazing thing is that the planet’s distance from the star puts it in the Goldilocks Zone: the region where liquid water could exist on its surface!Gliese 581 is about 20 light years away, and astronomers think the planet in the habitable zone is one of at least six in that star system. The new exoplanet orbits much closer ...

REUTERS - Ireland faces horrendous bank bill, Sep 30, 2010

By Carmel Crimmins

DUBLIN | Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:35pm BST

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland disclosed a "horrendous" worst case price tag of over 50 billion euros (43 billion pounds) on Thursday for bailing out its distressed banks and said it would have to make more drastic budget savings.  

Yahoo News

• And they're out! Congress flees DC to campaign (AP)
• Economy loses speed in spring; more weakness ahead (AP)
• Actor Tony Curtis dies at Las Vegas-area home (AP)
• AIG reaches deal to repay government (AP)
• Rain pounds NC as storm moves up the East Coast (AP)
• Official: Germans, Brits behind Europe terror plot (AP)

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Tony Curtis: Great moments on screen

What better way to remember Tony Curtis (who died last night at the age of 85) than by looking back on some of his best moments on screen? His career spanned six decades and yielded some classic American films — none the least of which is the great Billy Wilder comedy Some Like It Hot. Curtis played a musician who runs from the mob by disguising himself as woman in a traveling all-female band. In the clip below, Curtis and costar Jack Lemmon wobble on high heels and drool over Marilyn Monroe.

Irish bank bailout cost may top 50 billion euros | Reuters

By Padraic Halpin and Andras Gergely
DUBLIN | Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:52pm BST
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland, warning its recession-weary people to prepare for more austerity, revealed on Thursday a mammoth worst-case price tag of over 50 billion euros (43 billion pounds) to clean up its banks.

Contador suspended as doping charges rock cycling | Reuters

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador speaks during a press conference at his hometown of Pinto, near Madrid September 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Sergio Perez
By Ian Ransom
GEELONG, Australia | Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:07pm BST
GEELONG, Australia (Reuters) - Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and the Tour of Spain runner-up were suspended for suspected doping on Thursday in a devastating new double blow to cycling's battered image.

India court splits mosque site between religions | Reuters

A Hindu priest shouts slogans as he celebrates after hearing the first reports of a court ruling in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya September 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Mukesh Gupta
By Alka Pande
LUCKNOW, India | Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:47pm BST
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - An Indian court ruled on Thursday that the site of a demolished mosque would be split between Hindus and Muslims, dousing ...

NY TIMES - Tony Curtis, Hollywood Icon, Dies at 85 - Obituary (Obit), Sep 30, 2010

 

Tony Curtis, a classically handsome movie star who earned an Oscar nomination as an escaped convict in Stanley Kramer’s 1958 movie “The Defiant Ones,” but whose public preferred him in comic roles in films like “Some Like It Hot” (1959) and “The Great Race” (1965), died Wednesday of a cardiac arrest in his Las Vegas area home. He was 85.

Tony Curtis dies aged 85 - Telegraph

The actor, who died following a heart attack at his Nevada home on Wednesday, had made more than 140 films over 60 years.

However, he was almost as well known for his colourful private life - during which he married six times and battled an addiction to cocaine and alcohol. 

BBC News - Film star Tony Curtis dies at 85

Key moments from Tony Curtis' film career

Hollywood star Tony Curtis has died of a cardiac arrest at his US home in Nevada aged 85.

Mosque verdict keeps India on security tenterhooks | Reuters

By Bappa Majumdar
AYODHYA, India | Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:00am BST
AYODHYA, India (Reuters) - More than 200,000 police fanned out across India and temporary jails were set up as the government prepared for possible Hindu-Muslim riots over one of the most divisive court cases in the nation's history.

Cook Islands beat Tahiti at OFC Women’s Nations Cup

The Cook Islands beat Tahiti 1-0 at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Young striker Regina Mustonen was the hero for the Cook Islands in the game against Tahiti, an OFC (Oceania football confederation) press release states.
Her spectacular 15th free kick helped coach Jimmy Katoa’s side to win the game.
For the Cook Islands, it was also their first ever win over Tahiti at a senior OFC women’s tournament.

Tahitian public services need to evolve, Tong Sang says

Tahitian public services will face some important changes in the years to come, French Polynesia President Gaston Tong Sang announced.
During a meeting held Tuesday afternoon in Papeete, Tong Sang said some public establishments may soon have to be closed.
This will be the consequences of reforms required by the French government.
French Polynesia faces budget woes and ....

MV 'Otuanga'ofa sails for Tonga

MV 'Otuanga'ofa sails from Tokyo. Photo courtesy ISB Co. Ltd.
TONGA'S new inter island ferry the MV 'Otuanga'ofa left Japan on September 27 on its way to Tonga where it is expected to arrive in Nuku'alofa on October 15.

Tongans give over $839,000 for Christchurch earthquake appeal

TONGA'S Christchurch Earthquake Appeal fund has collected $839,957 pa'anga to date with more cash donations expected to be raised in a second national radiothon appeal to be held on Thursday, September 29 in Nuku'alofa.

Nobles to close last Parliament session today, Tonga

Peoples Voice, Sep 30, 2010

US slaughter intensifies in Afghanistan

The US military claimed responsibility for killing scores of insurgents over the weekend as it unleashed its long-awaited offensive against Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO umbrella organization for the US-led occupation, reported the largest body counts in two eastern regions of the country.

Senior Chinese leaders attend reception to mark National Day

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, addresses a reception in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2010, to mark the 61st anniversary of the founding of New China, which falls on Oct. 1. Jia Qinglin, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, joined 3,500 guests, including representatives of overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, at the reception. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)

Fairies dazzle Fatima Lopes show at Paris Fashion Week

A model presents a creation by Portuguese designer Fatima Lopes as part of her Spring/Summer 2011 women's ready-to-wear fashion collection during Paris Fashion Week September 28, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

S Korea, DPRK agree to hold military talks Thursday

SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's defense ministry said Wednesday the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to hold working-level military talks on Thursday, which will mark the first such talks in nearly two years, local media reported.

China to launch second lunar probe

XICHANG, Sichuan, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China will launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e II, at an appropriate time between Oct. 1 and 3, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in southwest China's Sichuan Province announced Wednesday.

S Korea, DPRK wrap up military talks without progress

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ended Thursday their first working-level military talks in two years without progress, officials in Seoul said.

U.S. House of Representatives passes bill on foreign currency

U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Sander M. Levin (front) speaks to the media after passing the bill in Washington, the United States, Sept. 29, 2010. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the proposed Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, to allow the United States to seek trade sanctions against its trade partners for allegedly manipulating their currency, a new move of the nation's rising trade protectionism. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun)

Two Koreas hold military talks, Seoul seeks apology

A replica of a North Korean Scud-B missile (R) together with a South Korean missile are displayed at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul. The two Koreas began their first military talks for two years Thursday to try to ease tensions heightened by a naval disaster near their disputed sea border, Seoul's defence ministry said.