World News

E. coli linked to beef now reported in 5 states

 ATLANTA - An E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has spawned cases in three other states, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.
New York, Kentucky and Indiana each have one lab-confirmed case of a bacterial infection that matches the 41 previously reported cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Paris Hilton Makes Partying Her Business

Heres a trigger why Paris Hilton never misses out on a nice party she becomes forked out to be there.

The hotel heiress insists such a her party girl image is not particularly her, and so whenever she goes to an event, its when she has got a viable paycheque to be there.

“When properties see me at parties, I am in point of fact taking out put up to be there. There is no these fact as bad publicity,” Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

Paris additionally revealed the current people she wants to get a tattoo, shes continued banned based on information from working at so by boyfriend Benji Madden, who wants her to continue pure.

“He is anticipated to get one of me but he won’t let me get one. He doesn’t similar to tattoos on women. He thinks I check pure,” she said.

Christie Brinkley’s divorce trial beginning in NY

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - Christie Brinkley is at a Long Island, New York, courthouse for the start of her divorce trial from her fourth husband.
Brinkley arrived at state Supreme Court in Central Islip shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday.

She opposed a move by a legal guardian for her children that would have closed the proceedings to the public.

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Police: Female suicide bomber kills 15 in Iraq

 BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber struck near a government compound northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40, police said. Nearly 20 suicide attacks this year have been carried out by women.
The bomber detonated her explosives in front of a heavily guarded area that includes the courthouse, the post office and the governor’s offices in the city of Baqouba, a police officer said.

The 15 killed included seven policemen, the officer said, giving the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

The attack occurred about 1 p.m., a time when large numbers of people were visiting the compound.

A car bomb across the street from the compound killed at least 40 people in April.

The U.S. military has warned that women bombers are being increasingly recruited by al-Qaida in Iraq because they can more easily avoid security searches.

The bomber on Sunday had apparently hidden an explosives belt under a traditional black Islamic robe usually worn by Iraqi women.

One man who was hit by shrapnel in his hand and shoulder said the blast occurred as many people were leaving the compound ahead of the 2 p.m. close of business.

“I was trying to get out of the court when the explosion took place,” the witness said, declining to give his name because of security concerns. “I heard some of the injured people saying they saw a woman wearing a black robe blew herself up.”

Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad and the capital of Diyala province, was an al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold until local tribal leaders joined forces with the Americans to turn against the terror network, helping to curb the violence.

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Are gadget fanatics arrogant jerks?

“But this study tells us that there are characteristics beyond age and gender and income that are also extremely highly correlated with tech consumption,” she added.

The study looked at 20 personality traits or “mindsets” including openness, creativity, self esteem and spontaneity.

Respondents were rated on a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 representing those who demonstrated the least amount of a given mindset and 5 representing those who demonstrated the highest intensity of a mindset.

Those who scored a 5 in leadership were 68 percent more likely to have purchased three or more computers in the past two years, the study found.

Likewise, respondents who rated highly in assertiveness were 62 percent more likely to purchase a new cell phone when the newest model arrived on the market.

Although tech consumers don’t fit a typical demographic mold, the findings weren’t entirely surprising, Welch said.

“If you look at those with qualities of a modern leader, they’re often forward-facing and interested in what’s next,” she said.

“And those who are really assertive are the types to grab life by the horn, so it also makes sense that when they see something they want or like they go straight for it.”

Welch said the results could have implications for technology companies looking to attract a new set of consumers and even potentially impact the way such products are designed.

But the study also found that avid tech consumers were also likely to be low in modesty and may be perceived as conceited or arrogant by others.

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A-Rod homers in 4th straight, Yanks win 6th in row

NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez homered for the fourth straight game and the New York Yankees held off the San Diego Padres 8-5 Wednesday night, setting a season high with their sixth consecutive victory.
Darrell Rasner snapped his four-start losing streak, with plenty of help from the Yankees offense and bullpen. New York beat NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy, chasing him after four innings in his second start since coming off the disabled list.

Johnny Damon had three hits and two RBIs for the Yankees, who have won 11 of 14 to move a season-best six games above .500. Wilson Betemit also had three hits, and Mariano Rivera worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save in 19 chances.

New York goes for its second series sweep in a row Thursday, with Joba Chamberlain on the mound.

Brian Giles and Adrian Gonzalez hit consecutive homers for San Diego in the seventh, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Chase Headley added his first career home run in the eighth, trimming it to 7-5, before Kyle Farnsworth retired pinch-hitter Scott Hairston and Jody Gerut with a runner on second to end the inning.

Rodriguez finished with three hits, two RBIs and a stolen base. He also scored twice and made a nice backhand play at third with two on to end the fourth.

San Diego was not as sharp in the field, committing two more errors while falling to 11-24 on the road. The Padres made five errors in their first 10 innings on defense in this series after entering with a major league-best .990 fielding percentage.

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Raiders expect Javon Walker to be ready for camp

ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Oakland Raiders expect new receiver Javon Walker to be ready for training camp when he recovers from injuries incurred during a robbery in Las Vegas last weekend.
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin finally spoke to Walker by phone on Wednesday morning, more than two days after Walker was discovered unconscious and beaten on a back street near the Las Vegas Strip following a night of partying. Walker was released from a hospital after treatment for a concussion and facial injuries.

“The info that I have is he’s going to be fine,” Kiffin said. “Training camp won’t be an issue. … But until our guys look at him, I don’t want to say (the extent of Walker’s injuries).”

Kiffin said Walker was scheduled to fly to Oakland on Wednesday evening in time to attend the final session of the Raiders’ organized team activities on Thursday, though he obviously won’t suit up with quarterback JaMarcus Russell and his new teammates. Oakland opens training camp July 25 in Napa.

“We are aware that Javon Walker was the victim of a robbery,” Raiders spokesman Mike Taylor said in a statement. “We have been told that he will make a full recovery in the near future and resume his preparation for the 2008 NFL season.”

A Las Vegas police spokesman said a large amount of cash and expensive jewelry were taken from Walker, who was photographed earlier in the fateful evening spraying a nightclub crowd with champagne. His agent, Kennard McGuire, said Walker was “recovering in a private environment” on Wednesday.

Walker signed a six-year, $55 million deal with the Raiders after the Denver Broncos released him in February. The 29-year-old former Packers star has participated in some offseason work with Russell, though Kiffin said two weeks ago that Walker was “a little heavy” for workouts.

Russell has been a high-profile star since high school, and the former No. 1 draft pick is fully aware of the dangers inherent in such a high-profile profession.

“There’s people out there,” Russell said. “Just be careful and watch your surroundings. Watch out, or always carry somebody with you when you go out. Just watch yourself and know that you’re representing a whole bunch of people when you’re out there.”

Details of Walker’s party night still were sketchy, and the Raiders weren’t expected to make Walker available to the media on the final day of workouts, with Thursday scheduled to be closed to reporters.

But Walker knows the dangers of nighttime partying better than most athletes.

On Jan. 1, 2007, a still-unidentified gunman targeted a car carrying Walker and several Broncos teammates in a drive-by shooting outside a downtown Denver nightclub. Darrent Williams, a defensive back, died in Walker’s arms in their rented limousine after an apparent altercation between a handful of athletes and other partygoers.

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`Oz,’ `2001,’ `Vertigo’ among AFI top genre flicks

LOS ANGELES - Snow White, Dorothy Gale, the HAL 9000 computer, Charles Chaplin’s Little Tramp and Marlon Brando’s Godfather share top billing among the American Film Institute’s best genre movies.
Films featuring those characters were among the No. 1 picks Tuesday on the AFI’s top-10 lists of the finest flicks in 10 genres, including mystery, Westerns, sports tales and courtroom dramas.

The winners included “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” for animation; “The Wizard of Oz,” featuring Dorothy and her little dog, for fantasy; “2001: A Space Odyssey,” with HAL the demented computer, for science fiction; Chaplin’s “City Lights” for romantic comedy; and Brando’s “The Godfather” for gangster flicks.

The other No. 1 movies: Westerns, “The Searchers”; sports, “Raging Bull”; courtroom drama, “To Kill a Mockingbird”; epics, “Lawrence of Arabia”; and mysteries, “Vertigo.”

Not surprisingly, Alfred Hitchcock dominated the mystery category. Besides “Vertigo,” he landed three others on that top-10 list: “Rear Window” at No. 3, “North By Northwest” at No. 7 and “Dial M for Murder” at No. 9.

Chaplin’s “City Lights” from 1931, one of only two silent films to make the genre lists, was a surprise, beating such popular modern romances as “Annie Hall” (No. 2), “When Harry Met Sally …” (No. 6) and “Sleepless in Seattle” (No. 10).

“This is why these shows are so important. They keep these films in the cultural conversation,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president. “When `City Lights’ is honored as the No. 1 romantic comedy, millions of people will go back and watch it again.”

The best genre movies were announced in the CBS special “AFI’s 10 Top 10,” the latest in the institute’s annual best-of shows. The winners were chosen by actors, filmmakers, critics and others in Hollywood from ballots that included 50 nominees in each genre.

Past AFI lists have included rankings of the top-100 American films, comedies, love stories, screen stars and movie quotes.

Walt Disney ruled the animation category. Trailing 1937’s “Snow White,” the first feature-length animated film, in the top-five were the Disney tales “Pinocchio,” “Bambi,” “The Lion King” and “Fantasia.”

Two Disney-Pixar computer-animated comedies made the list, “Toy Story” at No. 6 and “Finding Nemo” at No. 10. The only non-Disney cartoon was “Shrek” at No. 8.

Some filmmakers were confined to their best-known specialties, such as Hitchcock in mysteries and “The Searchers” director John Ford in Westerns. Others landed films in several genres.

Steven Spielberg had Nos. 3 and 8 among epics with “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” and No. 3 among sci-fi movies with “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” Besides “2001,” Stanley Kubrick had the No. 4 sci-fi tale with “A Clockwork Orange” and the No. 5 epic with “Spartacus.”

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New tours tracing Lincoln assassination

WASHINGTON - Tourists can get a new look at Abraham Lincoln’s assassination with the help of a crime detective brought back from 1865.
Ford’s Theatre is currently closed for renovations, but it’s offering new scripted walking tours that extend beyond the site where Lincoln was shot. The 1.4-mile tour runs from Ford’s Theatre in downtown Washington to the White House.

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Jail break foiled by air vent

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A woman who attempted to escape from jail in Sydney had to be rescued by police after she became stuck in an air conditioning duct, police said on Thursday.
The 22-year-old woman had just been refused bail by a Sydney court when she attempted the escape, but then spent about an hour stuck in the air vent before she was rescued.

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