News Friction Delivering The Latest News Stories

Protest Over Fraud Opposition Electron In Egypt

Several hundred others marched on a counting station in Cairo. Many protesting about the conduct of Sunday’s Egyptian parliamentary elections, which the opposition claimed were marred by fraud. Continuing through the night the protesters show their anger and frustrations in which has been building as many gather to vote.

The Muslim Brotherhood, an opposition movement, gathered in the thousands outside counting stations in Alexandria. Where several hundred others marched on a counting station in Cairo to make their voices heard.

.
Early indications suggest an overwhelming victory for President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling NDP party.The election campaign itself saw clashes between the opposition and security forces.

.
Interest centres on whether the officially banned Muslim Brotherhood retains its position as the biggest opposition grouping. In 2005, its supporters won about a fifth of the seats, standing as independent candidates. Today the tension builds and many fear the worse as trust in the operation has declined to a minimum.

Leslie Nielsen Dies At The Age of 84

Leslie Nielsen started out as a serious actor who later became a comic star

Nielson died of complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends, his agent, John S. Kelly, said in a statement. Leslie Nielsen, started out as a serious actor who later became a comic star with his career-changing roles in “Airplane!” and the “Naked Gun” comedies. Leslie Nielsen, died Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.

In “Airplane!,” the 1980 send-up of just about every disaster movie plot imaginable, Nielsen as Dr. Rumack was “an essentially serious actor taking essentially preposterous material very straight,” wrote Times Arts Editor Charles Champlin in his review. It was quite a career shift for an actor who seemed perfectly cast as a handsome leading man when he came to Hollywood in the 1950s, already a veteran of live television appearances.

A typically serious early role was as the spaceship commander in “Forbidden Planet, ” the 1956 science-fiction classic. “It’s the reason I was never asked to do ‘Star Trek’ or ‘Twilight Zone’ for TV,” he told the Toronto Star in 2002. “I carried too much baggage with me from that movie.”

Nielsen played Debbie Reynolds’ sweetheart in the 1957 film “Tammy and the Bachelor,” was the Revolutionary War fighter Francis Marion in the Disney TV adventure series “The Swamp Fox” and had roles in such TV series as “The New Breed” and “Bracken’s World.”

The film “Airplane!” changed his career.

Producers-directors-writers Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker hired Nielsen and other veteran actors Robert Stack, Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges, all perfectly cast to spoof their own heroic and very serious images.
“I will be forever grateful to them,” Nielsen told The Times in 1991. “It is just an amazing roll of the dice. I am so lucky to be a representative of their humor.”

Nielsen then was cast in “Police Squad!,” which aimed to do to cop shows what “Airplane!” did to disaster movies.
It lasted all of six episodes on ABC, but Nielsen moved on as Drebin to the 1988 movie “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!,” with George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson and Priscilla Presley among his co-stars. Its success led to two sequels.

“Leslie has the idea to play it maybe not straight but deadly serious,” David Zucker told the L.A. Daily News in 1994. “You can take any one performance and just transfer it from a comedy to a drama. There’s just no difference — that’s what he can do.”

Nielsen was born Feb. 11, 1926, in Regina, Saskatchewan. His father was a Royal Canadian mounted police officer and one of his brothers became a deputy prime minister of Canada.

He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force after graduating from high school and after the service studied at a Toronto radio school operated by Lorne Greene — who would become a TV star with the series “Bonanza”— before moving to New York to start working in television.

Nielsen’s later movies included “All I Want for Christmas” in 1991, “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” in 1995, “Spy Hard” in 1996 and “Mr. Magoo” in 1997.

He also toured with his one-man show on the life of defense lawyer Clarence Darrow.
Nielsen had two daughters and was married three times previously, according to the Associated Press. A complete list of survivors was not available.

33 Year Old Swiss Wins First World Cup Race

Recently turned 33 years old Tobias Gruenenfelder, took his first ever victory for the World Cup Race, beating his Swiss teammate Carlo Janka by seven-hundredths of a second. Tobias Gruenenfelder raced to the finish line in a super-G on the men’s Olympic course in Lake Louise, Alberta. Gruenenfelder finished in an impressive 1 minute 32.31 seconds with Bode Miller following in 12th position, 0.81 seconds behind.

Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden won the World Cup slalom in Aspen, Colo., holding off Maria Riesch of Germany with a strong final run. Pietilae-Holmner finished the two runs in 1:46.19, while Riesch took second. Lindsey Vonn wound up eighth, 1.44 seconds behind Pietilae-Holmner. Vonn, of nearby Vail, took a steadier approach after skiing aggressively Saturday in the giant slalom and veering off the course.

Gruenenfelder completed the 1.49-mile course in 1 minute, 32.31 seconds. “It’s very emotional and I’m very happy,” said Gruenenfelder, who turned 33 on Saturday. “It was a long time for me to wait for the first win. It’s a great feeling.” Austria’s Romed Baumann was third in 1:32.58. Bode Miller was the top American, finishing ….

Cholera Outbreak kills some 1,300 people – 20,100 People Remained Hospitalized

The Cholera outbreak has killed some 1,300 people and nearly 20,100 people remained hospitalized. A Haitian woman who suffers from cholera waits for medical treatmentat at the entrance of a hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Disaster as a tragic and drastic events shock the world during the last week. from Cambodia’s stampede to Haiti’s cholera, and from crushing debt in Europe to artillery firing on the Korean Peninsula.

Tragedy on a bridge in Phnom Penh claimed 351 lives and injured 394 others among some 3 million people celebrating the annual Waters Festival in the Cambodian capital, bringing what should have been a jubilant occasion to a bloody and gloomy end.
While it is impossible to revive the dead, the Cambodian government has pledged a thorough investigation and vowed to forestall similar calamities in the future, a resolute stance that may help comfort the bereaved.

Far away in the Caribbean country of Haiti, which is still struggling in the fallout of a catastrophic earthquake in January, another adversity is devouring an increasingly painful number of innocent lives.

Till Friday, the country’s cholera epidemic, still raging two months after its breakout, has killed over 1,600 people. Further shaking the wounded nation, the rampant disease and related rumors have ignited a series of protests and riots, casting a thick cloud over the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

Despite these challenges, Haitian authorities announced last week that what would be one of the most important elections in the country’s history would take place on Nov. 28 as scheduled. The silver lining fuels the hope that the new government will steer the scarred nation through the current woes.
Adding to the concerns of the international community are the tensions on the Korean Peninsula, in the wake of an exchange of artillery fire between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea on Nov. 23 that left four dead.

In phone conversations with his Russian and Japanese counterparts on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi stressed that safeguarding peace and stability on the divided peninsula serves the common interests of all the parties concerned.

Relevant parties should urge the DPRK and South Korea to exercise calmness and restraint, to carry out dialogues and contacts and not to take moves that might exacerbate the conflict, Yang said.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy Producer Joins Jang Dong-gun

Lord of the Rings Trilogy Producer Barrie M. Osborne Joins Jang Dong-gun at Pacific Media Expo 2010

– PASADENA, CA – Academy Award winning producer Barrie M. Osborne will join actor Jang Dong-gun and director Sngmoo Lee, to talk about their upcoming movie The Warrior’s Way at Pacific Media Expo (PMX) from 2 PM to 5 PM on Sunday, November 14, 2010. This is their only convention appearance during the promotional tour for the movie and includes an actor/director panel, a press conference, and an actor autograph session.

Mr. Osborne is notable for sharing the Academy Award for Best Picture as a producer of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He was also a producer for the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as well as an executive producer of The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves. He comes to Pacific Media Expo courtesy of Relativity Media.

About Pacific Media Expo:

As America’s first major media trade show dedicated primarily to Asian-Pacific popular culture and entertainment, Pacific Media Expo (PMX) is an industry event sponsored by the Pacific Media Association. Pacific Media Expo will be held November 12-14, 2010 at the Pasadena Hilton. The convention will feature honored guests, live performances, panel discussions, autograph sessions, Asian cinema and animation video rooms, and art exhibitions at one of the country’s only exhibit halls dedicated solely to Asian media and pop culture.

ClipClash – Online Music Video Social Game

ClipClash Users Can Now Win iPad, Real Prizes, on the Online Music Video Social Game

Nov 09, 2010 – Since the release of the Beta version at the end of September, ClipClash saw a steady rise in member sign ups. Currently members compete in the Weekly and Monthly Game Rounds, with scoring based on various elements, such as changes in channel playlist value and the amount of channel viewership during the game round. Due to the increased level of registrations and activity from its users, ClipClash will start adding real prizes to certain game rounds.

ClipClash is giving away an iPad to one special ClipClash user. The opportunity to win an iPad is available for future and current members and encourages them to even be more active promoting the platform by offering extra changes if they join in ClipClash chatter on Facebook and Twitter.

“We really wanted a chance to give our active members something amazing, as a sort of thank you for making ClipClash so wonderful, and thought giving away an iPad would be perfect,” said Hilary St Jonn, the Online Marketing/PR Manager.

ClipClash members can now also compete with friends to win prizes such as a $25 iTunes gift card in the Monthly Game Round. The runner ups for the Monthly Game Round and the winners of the Weekly Game Round will still win “Goldies” (the ClipClash virtual currency) so members can continue to trend spot and virtually buy music videos they think will raise in popularity, and in consequence, their channel to the top.

ClipClash looks forward to adding more prizes to the Game Rounds in the coming months, and even adding different game rounds to the platform as more people become involved in the system. “We hope to hear from our members about what prizes they want to see on ClipClash and what other type of game rounds we should have,” explains St Jonn. “We firmly believe that the members should have a strong say in how ClipClash will expand.”
ClipClash is an online video clip / fantasy game platform which lets users create and manage their own video channel while interacting & competing with friends. ClipClash Inc. is a privately owned online video platform founded by seasoned entrepreneurs.

Seventh Annual Ruth’s Reward Winner Announced

Seventh Annual Ruth’s Reward Winner Announced

– LAWRENCEBURG On Sunday, November 7th, Country Cottage Assisted Living honored Glenda Dewberry for representing the spirit of Ruth by caring tirelessly for her late husband, her mother, who recently passed, and continuing to care for her father.  Glenda was honored at the Ruth’s Reward Celebration and Ceremony at Country Cottage on Weakley Creek Road.  The story of Ruth, as told in the Old Testament, describes a woman who perseveres through heartache and tragedy to build a home and take care of her mother-in-law.

“God bless her she didn’t take time to grieve the loss of her husband before having to care for her parents. Now she is living in her mother’s home taking care of her father. It’s so hard on her with all her mother’s things there and trying to console her father. She has given up everything to care for those she loved,” said Teresa Vaughn, Glenda’s friend who nominated her for the award.

Annually, Country Cottage honors someone who tirelessly cares for an older loved one in their life.  ”We want to honor the recipient of Ruth’s Reward, and at the same time pay homage to all those caregivers who improve the lives of their loved ones,” said Lisa Chapman, LPN, Managing Director of Country Cottage.

This year’s selection committee consisted of Wanda Newell, Veteran’s Service Officer Veteran’s Affairs; Ann Morrow, Affiliate Broker Re/Max Pros; Gwynn Ware, Economic Development Coordinator Chamber of Commerce; and Loretta Washburn, Lawrence County Alzheimer’s Community Advisory Board.

Country Cottage is located at 469 Weakley Creek Road in Lawrenceburg.
Country Cottages and Columbia Cottages offer quality assisted living care at an affordable rate to seniors in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee

BP $7billion Oil & Gas Argentina Company

Chief executive Bob Dudley who took over from much-maligned former CEO Tony Hayward on 1 October said “We now have agreements in place that should secure the majority of our divestment target, we will continue to identify further assets that may be strategically more valuable to others than to BP as we complete the programme.”

British Petroleum – BP has sold its stake in Argentina-based oil and gas company Pan American Energy to Bridas Corporation for $7.06bn (£4.52bn) in cash. The acquisition of BP’s 60% will give Bridas, which already owns 40% of the business, full control when the deal completes in 2011.

PAE’s net production associated with BP’s interest was about 143 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2009, making the British company a tidy profit of $581.5m. BP will receive a cash deposit of $3.53bn from Bridas by the end of December, and the balance on completion.

It also puts BP firmly on course to hit its $30bn target of asset sales, announced in July, by the end of next year. Today’s deal pushes the total so far to $21bn. April’s oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that left 11 workers dead and a huge oil slick along the American coastline is expected to cost the company at least $40bn.

Vikings Coach Brad Childress Gets The Axe

The Viking poor performance over the past has led to the firing of Brad Childress, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings on Monday.  The writing was on the wall and although no Brad Childress put in a lot of effort to get the vikings to perform, it was all in vein. After the vikings lost to Green Bay Packers the discussion was made to fire the viking coach Brad Childresss due to poor performance.

In a news conference at the Vikings headquarters, team owner Zygi Wilf said, “We just felt that moving forward, this is what the best thing was for the organization.”
The Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, was named interim coach. He said after he was introduced as Childress’ replacement, “There will be a lot of things written about the past. But the one thing I’m hoping that all of our players recognize is that we can only do what we can do going forward. And that means our focus and our attention has to be on the Washington Redskins, period. Anything else is really inconsequential to what we have to achieve as a group. And that’s the one thing I tried to get across to our players.”
Childress, who was in his fifth season with the team, becomes the second coach to get axed even before this NFL season ends. The first one was Wade Phillips of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Vikings will have to come up with an exceptional performance when they play against the Redkins this weekend. The pressure is on for them to perform and Leslie Frazier will continue as the vikings coach.

Models Direct: Modelling At 30 Plus

Models Direct: Modelling At 30 Plus

– When we hear the word ‘model’ many of us still imagine fresh faced, size zero, teens and twenties females in high fashion images, but is this an accurate portrayal of those who are able to get work in the modelling and entertainment industry?

While it is true that certain areas are dominated by younger and slimmer looks there are many models and actors, that we all see every day, who do not fall into either category. You only have to think back to the last advert break you saw on television to remember a decidedly more ‘relatable’ representation, and this is a growing trend while manufacturers and advertisers continue to accept what the public want to see on their screens.

Marketing works when viewers or readers can identify with the images presented to them and while there has always been a place for older and ‘real’ models, recent changes of attitude are openning up the industry to a more diverse range of people. Models Direct are delighted about this trend, having always supported models of all ages, sizes and races. This leading agency is contacted every day by clients such as photographers, advertising agencies and TV production companies looking for the right person to feature in their projects and Models Direct are always happy to oblige with a range of looks for them. These days it is not unusual for the client to specify that they are looking for an over 30 as apposed to a young adult.

“Sometimes a client or art director will want to appeal to a certain demographic, for example in an advertising campaign, so they will ask for an older model,” comments Damian O’Connor, MD of Models Direct. “At other times they are simply trying to portray a mix of people in the photo shoot, both young and old.”

If you are over thirty and thought you may have lost the chance to try modelling it may not be the case! While this is still a competitive industry it is quite possible that you could be the next Models Direct model to have some fun making extra cash and fulfilling a desire to get in front of the camera!

Models Direct is a talent and model agency for female models, male models, teen models, child models and baby models for advertising, fashion, film, TV, promotional and photographic modelling work. We are a Government-regulated Model Employment Agency… not an online showcase, we’re the real thing!

If you think you, or perhaps your partner, child, baby or pet, might be a suitable model for us to put forward for selection to appear in films, TV, fashion, promotions, advertisements and photographic modelling, Modelling can be great fun & rewarding as a hobby.