Football: Man Utd striker Solskjaer announces retirement
LONDON : Manchester United's Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Tuesday announced his retirement from football.
Solskjaer, 34, is a hero at Old Trafford having scored the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final, after coming on as a substitute.
But the 'Baby-Faced Assassin' has long suffered from knee problems and has played little over the last four years.
Solskjaer told the Man United website: "I would like to thank the manager, the coaching and medical staff and most of all the supporters, who have supported me through my career. They have been fantastic and were a real inspiration to me when I was out injured.
"The support the fans and the staff showed me during that time was the main motivation for me making my comeback. I feel proud to have represented Manchester United for 11 years and have some very special memories."
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson paid tribute to one of his greatest servants during his leadership of the club.
"Ending your playing career is a sad day for anyone, in the case of Ole, he has 11 fantastic years he can look back on," said Ferguson.
"Ole has achieved everything a player could ever wish to achieve. He has been a great servant to the club and has always remained a model professional in his responsibility as a player, in his demeanour and his manners have always been exemplary. Ole will hopefully go on to be a good coach."
United chief executive David Gill also paid tribute to one of the most popular players among the Old Trafford faithful.
"Ole has provided us all with some exceptional memories during his time here at the club," he said.
"Nobody will ever forget his dramatic winner in Barcelona, but much more than that his dedication and professionalism make him one of the great role models in football.
"Ole will be dearly missed as a player, but will go on to serve the club as an ambassador and a valuable coach."
Solskjaer had not appeared in any of United's matches this season.
His last game was the FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea on May 19 when he came on as an extra-time substitute at Wembley.
He has already spent time at United coaching young players as he looks forward to life after his playing career.
Solskjaer joined United from Norwegian side Molde for 1.5 million pounds in 1996 and helped United to seven titles in his time as well as the unprecedented treble in 1999.
He scored 11 goals as the Red Devils reclaimed their Premier League crown last season.
The former Norway international has made 366 appearances for United over the years, scoring 126 goals.
He was appointed a club ambassador last year - a role he is expected to continue and develop - and could well be given a long-term coaching position at the club he has served so loyally over the years.
The retirement of Solskjaer leaves Ferguson with only three recognised strikers - Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Carlos Tevez - the latter being the only one presently fully fit.
There is also Chinese import Dong Fangzhou who has played only one match since joining United more than three years ago and was on the bench on Sunday against Tottenham, although he was unused.
Owen Wilson pleads for privacy after reported suicide bid
LOS ANGELES - Oscar-nominated actor Owen Wilson called for privacy on Monday after being hospitalised in Los Angeles following a reported suicide attempt.
The 38-year-old star of "Wedding Crashers" and "Zoolander" was said to be in a good condition at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where he was transferred on Sunday after paramedics were called to his Santa Monica home.
"I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time," Wilson said in a statement released by his representative to celebrity website TMZ.com.
A spokeswoman at Cedars Sinai said Wilson was in a "good condition."
There was no official word on the reasons for Wilson's hospitalization however reports said the actor had attempted suicide.
Later Monday, sources close to the actor cited by syndicated entertainment television show "Extra" said Wilson had attempted to take his own life.
The source cited by the show said Wilson had been discovered by his brother Luke and that the actor's family and friends were in shock.
Santa Monica police and fire department issued a statement saying that medical aid had been dispatched to Wilson's address in Santa Monica.
The statement said "a person" was taken to local hospital but did not provide any details. Local media reported unidentified police sources confirming that the person treated was Wilson.
Wilson is regarded as one of Hollywood's most bankable actors, having appeared in a string of hit comedies.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for his writing work on "The Royal Tenenbaums" in 2001, in which he also starred with brother Luke Wilson and close friend Ben Stiller.
Wilson has also been romantically linked to "You, Me and Dupree" co-star Kate Hudson although their relationship recently ended.
Wilson is currently working on a new comedy with Stiller, "Tropic Thunder".
Taliban agree to release all South Korean hostages
GHAZNI, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's extremist Taliban said Tuesday they would free 19 kidnapped South Korean aid workers within days, raising hopes for an end to the near six-week hostage crisis.
The militia agreed a deal with South Korean diplomats after Seoul pledged to remove its small military force from Afghanistan by the end of the year as planned and prevent Christian missionary groups from visiting the country.
"We're going to do our utmost to free them as soon as possible," said Taliban negotiator Qari Mohammad Bashir, adding that the hostages would likely be released in the three to four days.
Bashir said it would take time to gather the hostages as they were being held in different locations. The Taliban has previously said the captives were split up into small groups and held in three provinces.
The agreement was reached in talks between Taliban leaders and South Korean officials in Ghazni, 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Kabul. Indonesian diplomats and tribal negotiators also played a role.
The news was greeted with scenes of joy in South Korea where the crisis has gripped the nation ever since a group of 23 aid workers was kidnapped while travelling by bus from the capital Kabul to Kandahar on July 19.
"The good news has arrived and the whole nation is now relieved," South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun was quoted by his spokesman as saying.
Family members shed tears and embraced one another as they gathered at a church south of Seoul where a vigil has been maintained throughout the 41-day ordeal. They have experienced shifting emotions as the Taliban killed two of the male hostages and then released two women on August 13.
Their spokesman Cha Sung-Min, almost overcome with emotion at a press conference, expressed sorrow the news could not be shared with the two dead male hostages.
"We feel very sorry for causing so much concern to the people. It is very regrettable that we cannot share this good news with the relatives of the late Pastor Bae Hyung-Kyu and brother Shim Sung-Min," he said.
The previous round of talks ended in deadlock just under two weeks ago, with the Taliban sticking to a demand that some of its men be freed from jail.
But the Afghan government has steadfastly refused to release any prisoners.
The government was criticised in March after it released five Taliban militants in exchange for an Italian journalist but declined to release another prisoner to secure the freedom of his Afghan translator who was later beheaded.
Taliban negotiator Bashir said the militia also wanted all South Korean aid workers to leave Afghanistan by the end of the month, but this demand was not confirmed by other sources.
He said Taliban forces had also agreed not to attack South Korean troops before they leave. Seoul had said it would pull out the troops, mostly engineers and medics, as scheduled by the end of the year.
The South Korean government has already passed a legal amendment making unauthorised travel to Afghanistan punishable by a jail term, and told all Christian and other aid groups to come home from the war-torn nation.
The Taliban, linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda movement, are also holding a German engineer who was kidnapped a day before the South Koreans.
The group has said it wanted 10 jailed Taliban to be freed in exchange for the engineer, who is also said to be sick, and his four Afghan colleagues.
The kidnappings are among a series of incidents blamed on the Taliban, who are waging a bloody insurgency against the Kabul government and its coalition allies that has spiralled in intensity over the past year.
A female German aid worker was kidnapped in broad daylight in the capital earlier this month, but she was later freed in a police raid and authorities said her abduction was a criminal act motivated by money.
SINGAPORE: The figures point to a worrying trend - more men in their 40s and women in their 50s have committed suicide since 2003.
In that year, there were 14 suicides for every 100,000 men in their 40s, according to government figures released yesterday. This increased to 19 per 100,000 last year.
For women, there were eight suicides per 100,000 of those in their 50s in 2003. The figure rose to 13 per 100,000 last year.
According to earlier media reports, 419 people took their lives last year, up from 346 in 2003.
Still, Singapore's overall suicide rate for those between 45 and 54 years old is lower than that of places such as Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland, said Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Nonetheless, the rates reflected a "worrying trend" as each suicide was a "tragic loss" for both the family and community, he said in a written reply to a question posed by Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang.
Dr Balakrishnan also revealed that an Inter-Ministry Working Group on Mental Health, chaired by Ministry of Health permanent secretary Yong Ying-I, had been formed to study ways to improve the mental and emotional resilience of Singaporeans.
"I don't find the rates for those in their 40s and 50s surprising," said Dr Ang Yong Guan, chairman of the Action Group for Mental Illness. "What's paradoxical is the correlation that when the economy does well, the suicide rates go up."
He added: "It could be because people start seeing those around them becoming more successful, so they start to feel affected. This is unlike a recession, where everyone does not do well."
Dr Balakrishnan also noted that each suicide case "is unique" and often accompanied by a combination of problems. "Contributing factors such as personality traits, mental health and socio-cultural environment may also play a role."
To mark Suicide Awareness Week, which is held between Sept 22 and 29, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) is organising two forums that will address issues like how to help someone with suicidal tendencies.
SOS' latest annual report said that more women attempted suicide than men. Chinese women, married and between 20 and 30 years old, appeared to be the most vulnerable. Marital and family relationship problems were the main reasons.
Meanwhile, the Government will pump more resources into mental health promotion and treatment. The Health Promotion Board, with other public agencies and the private sector, is expanding such programmes, said Dr Balakrishnan. - TODAY
posted - ; 12:21 PM
Sands IR: The glitz, the glamour, the swelling cost
SINGAPORE: At US$3.6 billion (S$5.5 billion), it was touted as one of the costliest casino-resorts ever, out-glitzing even the newly-opened Venetian Macao.
Now, the development bill for the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) could swell further - by as much as US$1.44 billion.
A spike in the cost of building materials, sparked by the Indonesian sand ban in January, as well as refinements to development's design, could push up the tab by "20 to 40 per cent", Las Vegas Sands president and CEO William Weidner told the Singapore media visiting Macau on 28 August.
Said Mr Weidner: "My cost people keep on discussing concrete and some of the sand issues that you all face in Singapore. We're struggling, quite frankly, to stay within our budget."
"It's a very, very complicated and sophisticated building... as wonderful as the idea is, now that we try to execute it in concrete and steel, it's a bit of a challenge. But we'll get there. We’re looking for means and methods to construct it more efficiently."
Back in February, when construction on the IR began, the casino operator was hopeful the sand supply issue would be a "temporary glitch" and that the Singapore Government would find a long-term solution.
The Las Vegas-based operator meets regularly with the Republic's authorities. Said Mr Weidner: "There are several issues that still need to be resolved."
Some S$700 million worth of contracts have been awarded. A whopping S$1-billion contract to build the IR's three 50-storey hotel towers - which will go to a multi-national corporation - will be announced soon, revealed Marina Bay Sands' vice-president George Tanasijevich.
The IR is due to open in 2009 and already, talks are ongoing with organisers to host about 20 major events up to 2013, he added.
Sands was the first foreign player to enter Macau's gaming scene in 2004.
The US$265-million Macao Sands got its money back - and more - by raking in US$400 million in revenue within a year.
So, is Las Vegas Sands expecting its latest property - the US$2.4-billion Venetian Macao, touted as the world's second-largest building - to break even within 12 months? More like five years, Sands' billionaire chairman Sheldon Adelson told AFP.
More than 3,000 guests and 1,200 media turned up for Tuesday's star-studded opening of the Venetian Macao, which is modelled - on a larger scale - on Sands' The Venetian in Las Vegas, complete with canals, gondolas and a fake sky.
In addition to more than 850 gaming tables, there are 3,000 luxury suites, a 15,000-seat stadium and 350 shops. The new resort reportedly employs 5 per cent of the territory's workforce of 450,000.
In the crowd was Singapore Tourism Board deputy chairman and chief executive Lim Neo Chian, who described the new resort as "very impressive". He said: "By the time the Marina Bay Sands IR opens in Singapore, Las Vegas Sands will have invaluable experience and insight into the Asian market - enabling them to make Marina Bay Sands, which is very different in design to their two Macau resorts, an even better proposition."
The Venetian Macao is the first casino built on the Cotai Strip, a complex of hotels that will have more than 1 million sq ft of gambling space, 3 million sq ft of retail and almost 20,000 hotel rooms.
With the target being the huge numbers of nouveau riche gamblers who pour daily across the border from mainland China, Mr Weidner announced plans for a Las Vegas Sands ferry service from Macau to Hong Kong and Shenzhen on 28 August. A new terminal is being built near the Macau airport, as are 10 new ferries that will cast off between October and March.
Last year, gaming revenues in Macau totaled US$7.2 billion - overtaking the Las Vegas Strip for the first time.
Banks to set up code of conduct to regulate student credit cards
SINGAPORE: As more banks are offering credit cards that target students, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will encourage the industry to come up with a Code of Conduct to bolster responsible lending practices.
This was revealed by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in a written answer to a question from Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Michael Palmer.
Mr Palmer had raised the issue of students being burdened with insurmountable debts, now that credit instruments are easily available.
Currently, there are credit cards in the market that do not have a minimum income requirement.
But there is usually a credit limit of S$500.
Mr Goh, who is also chairman of the MAS said, card issuers should be responsible when targeting students.
He pointed to some industry practices such as getting parental consent when cards are issued to those under 21.
Another way to prevent young cardholders from accumulating high debt is the credit limit.
The senior minister added that the minimum annual income for credit card applicants remains at S$30,000, and there are no plans to change this.
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Diamonds more than 4 billion years old -- nearly as old as the Earth itself -- have been discovered in Western Australia, giving scientists vital clues about the early history of our planet.
Found trapped in zircon crystals in the Jack Hills region, the small gems are the oldest identified fragments of the Earth's crust and their existence suggests the Earth may have cooled faster than previously thought, experts said on Wednesday.
The time between the creation of the Earth around 4.5 billion years ago and the formation of the oldest known rocks some 500 million years later is known as the Hadean period -- the "dark ages" of geology.
Many geologists have traditionally thought of it as a time when the surface of the planet was a mass of molten lava. But the discovery of the ancient diamonds, reported in the journal Nature, challenges that view.
Martina Menneken of Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Muenster, Germany, and colleagues said the presence of diamonds -- which are created under intense pressure -- implied there was a relatively thick continental crust as early as 4.25 billion years ago.
This suggests it may have taken only around 200 million years for the Earth's surface to cool enough for water to condense and oceans to form.
"These latest findings indicate that the planet was already cooling and forming a crust much earlier than previously thought," Alexander Nemchin, an expert in geochemistry at Australia's Curtin University of Technology and one of Menneken's co-researchers, said in a statement.
"Jack Hills is the only place on Earth that can give us this kind of information about the formation of the Earth. We're dealing with the oldest material on the planet."
Radioactive dating showed the crystals from Western Australia varied in age from 3.06 billion to 4.25 billion years, making them almost 1 billion years older than the previous oldest-known diamonds.
Martin Van Kranendonk, a senior geologist with the Geological Survey of Western Australia, said unraveling the history of the crystals was a boon for researchers.
"Any information about the very early Earth is fantastic, it's like a Christmas present for geoscientists," he said.
A nine-year-old maths prodigy has won a place at Hong Kong's Baptist University (HKBU) after gaining two grade As and a B in his A-levels. He is the youngest ever student to enrol in a university in Hong Kong.
March Tian Boedihardjo told reporters he struggled to communicate academically with his own age group.
March, an Indonesian-Chinese boy resident in Hong Kong, will start his specially designed five-year course at the university in September.
He told reporters that in his spare time he liked "to read books, but on the weekends I like to go out to play with friends".
"We can play games together but academically, we can't communicate," he added.
He said they played chess, Monopoly and cards.
Asked why he was not going to study in the United Kingdom - where his older brother is at Oxford University - he replied in English: "Because my father does not have sufficient money."
March's father said the university had given him confidence it could cope with the demands of teaching a nine-year-old.
"I will advise parents in Hong Kong there's no need to know the IQ of your children. Just try to do your best to nurture them and give them space to develop," Tony Boedihardjo said.
Franklin Luk, president of HKBU, said the decision to admit the boy was based on his excellent examination results and a "commitment to nurturing gifted students".
Dr Tong Chong-sze, Associate Professor of Mathematics at HKBU has arranged several professors to be March's mentors.
"The very first concern of course is - academically can he handle the mathematics at university. So that was the purpose of the first interview and he did very well. He handled himself very well, one against four professors," said Dr Tong.
LAS VEGAS - Online sharing of videos and music at the heart of today's Internet lifestyle gives hackers dangerous new avenues for attacking computers, security specialists said Thursday.
Malicious code can be hidden in video streamed or downloaded from websites such as YouTube or songs streamed from social-networking websites including MySpace, iSEC researcher David Thiel demonstrated at a Black Hat gathering of computer protection professionals in Las Vegas.
"The potential for attack is pretty severe," Thiel said. "Any MySpace page you go to you can't get it to stop playing music at you. You will probably start seeing malware installs this way just like we see through images."
The kinds of "malware," malicious software, that can be "injected" through video or music files run the gamut from programs meant to simply be annoying to code that takes command of infected machines for "bot armies."
"Stream formats are good for containing exploit code and are quite dangerous because of the widespread use of it with kids online these days," Thiel said.
"It is used so constantly."
Applications vulnerable to hackers include those used for MP3 music files; a speech feature in Microsoft's Xbox Live online video game software, and Internet telephony, according to Thiel.
Security specialists at Black Hat say the popularity of "user-generated content" considered a defining characteristic of today's Web 2.0 Internet opens users to betrayal and attack online.
"Web 2.0 is a trust model with users controlling the content," said Websense researcher Stephan Chenette.
"You are building this gigantic network of friends. You have to trust that I am who I say I am and that the content is what I say it is. Trust is sometimes taken advantage of."
Malware-tainted video or audio files uploaded to social-networking websites can be rapidly sent to members by automated programs, said SPI Dynamics vice president Erik Peterson.
Last year it was revealed hackers use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to distribute malicious code to thousands of people instantly, Peterson said.
"Some say we are doomed to repeat the past and there is nothing you can do about it" Peterson told AFP. "Don't trust data you get from anyone."
Thiel believes music recording labels and movie studios will use flaws in media files to insert stealth coding that tracks or disables pirated songs, shows or movies.
Media software applications vulnerable to hacking are being used in "smart" mobile telephones as well as cars and home multi-media systems, according to Thiel.
It is imperative computer users educate themselves regarding protecting software and dangers lurking on the Internet, Chenette said.
People should bear in mind that websites in certain countries such as Russia are often lures set up by cyber criminals and that sites offering content such as sex videos frequently hide computer viruses, according to Chenette.
"If I'm going to a gambling website or if I'm going to a porn site it is much more likely to have malicious content on it," Chenette said. "Web 2.0 is something to be very wary of."
Singapore wins international award for water management
SINGAPORE : Singapore has won an international award for its sustainable water management.
The PUB received the prestigious "Stockholm Industry Water Award" in Sweden on Wednesday.
It's being recognised for good policies and innovative engineering solutions.
The Environment & Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, said the latest international recognition for Singapore's water management policies will spur the country to push the boundaries.
Speaking to Channel NewsAsia from Sweden, Dr Yaacob added that having won the award, Singapore hopes to attract the world's best players so that it can set itself as a global hydrohub.
PUB will also partner the World Health Organisation (WHO) to promote safe handling of drinking water around the world.
The Stockholm Industry Water Award is a prestigious prize which recognises innovative corporate development of water and wastewater process technologies.
It also recognises contributions to environmental improvement through advanced production methods.
This Stockholm Industry Water Award win is PUB's second international award for good water management.
Last year, PUB was named the "Water Agency of the Year" by Global Water Intelligence in Dubai.
Singapore's success in turning used water into drinking water has garnered a lot of attention from around the globe.
The island-state has become a model city in managing its water challenges.
But it's not just the big picture. At the individual level, Singaporeans are also encouraged to save water, such as reusing it for other purposes.
In Stockholm, upon receiving the water award, Singapore used NEWater to acknowledge its win.
"With this award, we'll put ourselves on the map in terms of our push to develop into a global hydrohub. I think a lot of other companies and prestigious institutions will recognise PUB as a worthy partner in order to collaborate to find new solutions relating to water and water technologies," said Dr Yaacob.
Said Khoo Teng Chye, chief executive of PUB: "It's a recognition that in Singapore, we have found a sustainable way to solve our water problems, particularly the way in which we have invested in technology and sound policies to create NEWater.
"Our solutions have enabled us to grow an industry, turning a vulnerability into strength... and we're positioned on a world platform to share our solutions with the rest of the world."
To share Singapore's knowledge of water management globally, it has signed a partnership agreement with the WHO.
Under the agreement which will run till 2015, Singapore and WHO will cooperate in areas such as research collaboration, including using Singapore's Marina Reservoir as a test-bedding site to manage urban water resources.
Singapore will also support the international body's response to regional chemical contamination to water supplies.
"The lessons learnt in PUB and in Singapore are very valuable to the world and I think it's good that Singapore is now planning to share its experience with others... by setting up the Singapore Water Week and planning for a technology hub," said Anders Berntell, executive director of Stockholm International Water Institute.
Other areas of collaboration under the agreement - WHO and Singapore will co-organise workshops or training for WHO members states in Asia.
Singapore will also host WHO-based conferences and meetings, sharing experience and knowledge in water reuse and integrated water management.
Singapore experts and government officers will be seconded to WHO, with local water specialists participating in WHO programmes and activities.
Today, Singaporeans have water flowing out of the taps and will continue to do so because of the nation's policy of ensuring its four water sources. These include importing water from Malaysia and also NEWater.
And with Singapore's advanced water process technologies, one can even drink it straight out from the tap.
But the country is not stopping there. It will invest about S$330 million over the next five years to develop the local water industry.
SINGAPORE: The number of babies born in Singapore in the first half of this year rose marginally to 18,488 from 18,294 in the same period last year.
But thanks to foreigners, Singapore's population has grown more than marginally.
Figures released by the National Population Secretariat showed that last year, over 13,209 foreigners were granted Singapore citizenship - 309 more than in 2005.
The number of permanent residents also jumped, from 52,300 in 2005 to 57,300 last year.
And to drive home the message that all Singaporeans share a common identity, a National Citizenship ceremony will be held this Saturday to swear in new citizens like Larry Medina.
The 41-year-old accountant relocated his family from the US to Singapore seven years ago.
And it didn't take long for Larry and his Indonesian wife to decide that their future in Singapore will be brighter than in the US.
Larry said: "Certainly very complex decisions and the things that convinced us were: we expect the economies to continue to boom in Asia and Singapore is the best location to take advantage of that; my wife's family is close by as well, and all the usual things that people say about Singapore - that it's an easy place to live in, from the infrastructure perspective, and good schools for the kids, etc."
But choosing Singapore over US means that Larry has to relinquish his US citizenship, which he did recently and with few regrets.
Larry's wife, who is a Permanent Resident, has also applied for Singapore citizenship and hopes to be granted her pink Identity Card within months.
Their children get to keep their US citizenship till they turn 18 when they have to choose which country to call home.
Erika Medina, 7, is enrolled at a public primary school - Balestier Hill Primary - and lists Chinese lessons as one of her favourite subjects.
Her father is planning to send her 4-year-old brother to a public school too.
Singapore hopes to add about 40,000 citizens and 200,000 permanent residents to its fold over the next five years.
But attracting new migrants is only half the story.
With more immigrants from different cultures and backgrounds, integration of these new citizens becomes all the more vital.
Getting them involved in grassroots activities is one way to help new citizens like Maung Naig Win Kyaw bond with the community.
Maung came to Singapore from Myanmar 16 years ago.
The project engineer had not intended to settle down in Singapore.
But all that changed after he met his wife, who is a Singaporean.
Now, the 44-year-old is so involved in grassroots activities that he has become a close friend to many in his neighbourhood.
He said: "I enjoy helping the elderly people around this area. I feel that when I join the RC, Residents' Committee, I can contribute more for the elderly people....(like) helping them prevent dengue fever. Sometimes they call me to join them for tea, and I enjoy all these. I don't feel any difference between new citizens and local Singaporeans."
Maung and his six-year-old son received their Singapore citizenship last year.
And Maung will be adding another member to the Singapore family - his second child will be born next month.
LOS ANGELES - Jackie Chan's cross-cultural action sequel "Rush Hour 3" swept the North American box-office with 50 million US dollars in tickets sales according to preliminary figures on Sunday.
The third instalment of the martial arts and cop comedy, which co-stars Chris Tucker, wooed weekend audiences with its madcap humor and the action follies of its main characters in Paris.
Despite lacklustre reviews, in its opening weekend "Rush Hour 3" ousted "The Bourne Ultimatum," another third sequel and fast-paced action thriller, from the top spot, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Starring Matt Damon as amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne, the movie's record-breaking opening last week was the highest ever in August for a North American release and came after a wave of glowing reviews.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" took in 33.6 million US dollars in its second weekend, followed by the big-screen adventures of America's most dysfunctional animated family in "The Simpsons Movie," which pulled in 11.1 million dollars.
In fourth place with nine million was "Stardust," a fantasy drama featuring Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes and Peter O'Toole, with nine million.
Disney's "Underdog," a live-action version of the popular animated 1960s television show about a canine superhero, came in fifth with 6.5 million.
Wilting into sixth place was "Hairspray," a makeover of the Broadway musical with John Travolta dancing in high heels as Edna Turnblad, grossing 6.3 million in its sixth week.
Close behind was the Adam Sandler comedy about male firefighters who fake a gay marriage for the insurance benefits, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," which took 5.9 million.
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth film based on J.K. Rowling's boy-wizard Harry Potter, clung to eighth place with 5.4 million.
Romantic comedy "No Reservations," starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as a perfectionist chef who falls for colleague Aaron Eckhart, took 3.9 million.
"Daddy Day Camp," a comedy about a run-down summer camp starring Cuba Gooding Jr., rounded out the top 10 with 3.5 million US dollars in its opening weekend.
Watching Apple launch its new iMac is akin to the season’s latest runway fashion show featuring the latest sartorial trends.
The first iMac was iconic. It’s all-in-one, Internet-friendly design marked the resurgence of Apple in the consumer space and ushered in a new phase in computer design.
So, what’s in style this season? Aluminium and glass.
The revamped iMac retains the all-in-one form factor with largely the same aesthetics as its most recent predecessor. But it drops the glossy white and candy-like exterior for a matte aluminium finish and a screen that’s framed in black and laced with a glossy sheen of glass. It reeks of influences from the iPhone, with the glass-covered screen that hints at possible multi-touchscreen capabilities in future models.
With screen sizes of 20 and 24 inches, it’s made from a single sheet of aluminium, with no visible seams or screws, save for a slot at the bottom that provides access for memory upgrades.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that the new machines are built from the ground up for recyclability. The company had previously drawn the ire of environmental groups for lagging behind in environmental efforts.
The new iMac runs on Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors ranging in speeds from 2.0GHz to 2.8GHz. All models now feature a more powerful graphics card — the ATI Radeon HD — as opposed to the earlier bread-and-butter graphics chips.
It offers features usually reserved for Apple’s higher-end series of computers: fast Firewire 800 ports, memory capacities of up to 4GB and storage expansion at up to 1TB. It also includes new keyboards, also made out of aluminium, in designs that borrow heavily from the keyboards of Apple’s Macbook laptops.
Available in Singapore later this month, prices for its basic configuration start at S$2,048. A similarly-configured Dell desktop computer running Windows Vista Premium with double the memory and slightly more storage costs S$1,850. The computer-maker also introduced slight upgrades to its wireless routers and Mac mini line of compact computers.
Apple also refreshed its iLife and iWork software suites. Its iLife '08 package lets consumers organise photos, make their own movies, music and websites. It’s priced at S$148 but bundled for free with new Apple computers.
iWork '08, Apple’s version of basic productivity functions, includes Numbers — a new spreadsheet application, which completes the productivity suite. The suite also has word processing and presentation features. Its competition, Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac, has been postponed until next January.
iWork is also compatible with the new file formats that were introduced in the latest version of Microsoft Office on the Windows platform. iWork '08 goes for S$148. By comparison, the current standard edition of Microsoft Office for Mac costs S$763.
Subscribers to Apple’s .Mac online service (S$188 annual subscription fee) will enjoy an online storage increase from 1GB to 10GB and a new web gallery feature that lets the 1.7 million subscribers post and share movies and photos.
Apple’s next big event is the delayed release of Leopard, the next version of its Mac OS X operating system, due in October.
Celebrity justice as Brad Pitt reports for jury duty
LOS ANGELES - Potential jurors in a Los Angeles court were forced to do a double-take on Thursday when their court-room duties were enlivened by a jolt of star power in the shape of Brad Pitt.
The Hollywood heart-throb reported for jury duty in Los Angeles, his publicist confirmed to AFP, before eventually being discharged after the case he was due to hear ended in a plea-deal.
The TMZ.com celebrity news website said Pitt had been ordered by justice officials to serve on a jury or else be held in contempt of court after being granted a string of delay orders.
Pitt's representatives denied the claim however, saying the actor had gone through the normal legal channels to seek an extension before he eventually reported for duty early Thursday.
TMZ said the "Seven" and "Troy" star mingled with other members of the jury pool before being discharged when the defendant in his pleaded 'no contest' to driving under the influence charges.
PM Lee calls on Singaporeans to make country a special home
SINGAPORE: In his National Day Message to the nation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has called on Singaporeans to work together to transform the country and make it a special home for everyone.
He said in ten years' time, it would be a new Singapore with its own unique identity and a can-do and never-say-die spirit of the Lion City.
Mr Lee also brought good news about the economy in his televised message, recorded at the top floor of the new National Library Building.
Economic growth in the first half of this year was 7.6 percent, higher than expected, and for the whole year, growth forecast has been raised to between 7 and 8 percent.
Singapore is celebrating National Day in a happy mood with four good years of growth, said PM Lee.
There are many things to cheer about – Singapore's athletes are winning medals, students are excelling in international events and the country is gearing up for new and exciting projects like the Formula One Grand Prix and the integrated resorts.
On the economic side, 111,000 jobs have been added in the first half of the year and unemployment is very low at 2.4 percent.
Mr Lee said: "Singapore is growing not just because of more investments or more workers. Our people are adapting and working smarter. We are organising ourselves more efficiently and making better use of our resources.
"In short, we have increased our productivity. Our efforts to transform the economy are paying off."
Looking ahead, Mr Lee said Singapore is poised to take off, with many projects already underway.
Among them are the integrated resorts and the banking and financial centre.
The prime minister said: "From here, I can see dozens of cranes. It's a bit hazy today, but there is buzz and excitement in the air, as our city changes before our eyes, day by day.
"Even the NDP this year is different and exciting. For the first time, the parade will be held on water at Marina Bay. It will be on the largest floating stage in the world, with the new city skyline taking shape all around us."
While Singaporeans come together to help build the nation, Mr Lee said there is a major challenge which could affect the country's social harmony and national cohesion, and that is the widening of income gaps here and all over the world.
Mr Lee said while Singapore cannot stop or reverse this global trend, it can do a lot to help Singaporeans cope with it.
He said one reason for the widening income gap here is the ageing population, so the government is making changes to help Singaporeans work longer, earn more and build up their retirement savings.
It will enhance the value of HDB homes and improve the CPF system so they can enjoy a steady income and peace of mind in their golden years.
PM Lee said: "The government cannot solve all these problems alone. Everyone must play a part. We each must take responsibility for ourselves, make the effort to do well, and provide for our families and our old age.
"At the same time, the more successful Singaporeans must pitch in to help the weaker ones. The more you have gained from society, the greater your obligation to give back something to your fellow citizens."
Mr Lee said the government would tackle these issues one by one and Singaporeans have every reason to be confident about their future.
"The global backdrop is favourable. The winds and tides are with us. Our spirit is high, and our ship is ready," he added.
Mr Lee's call to the nation is to seize the moment to sail ahead into the bright and exciting future.
Call me The Geisha, and don't mess around with me, because if you do, I'm gonna call you a bitch.
In a video to promote her new single, China Wine, pastor's wife and former church counsellor Ho Yeow Sun, better known as Sun Ho, has adopted an alter-ego — that of a Japanese geisha, albeit a hip-hop one.
A version of the three-and-a-half-minute video has been posted on popular file sharing website, YouTube, and at press time, it has garnered close to 8,000 page views.
In it, Ho is seen in a risque dance routine with scantily-clad back-up dancers.
China Wine, released in the US on July 4, is currently No 4 on BET.com, a black music online portal, Ho told Today.
The Geisha, said the 37-year-old Ho, does not belong to traditional Japanese tearooms but the freewheeling worlds of reggae and Jamaican dancehall. The latter involves groups of DJs or rappers "dissing" each other on stage with music or self-created personas.
"I am totally comfortable in the role," Ho said yesterday, adding that she had "100-per-cent creative control" over her new image.
It was renowned rapper Wyclef Jean, the executive producer of her as-yet-unnamed debut English album who created the image of The Geisha for Ho.
They had met when Ho was in New York last year. He was meant to remix one of her songs, but when he heard her voice, he insisted on meeting her.
Ho has recorded five Mandarin albums.
In a separate interview with Today, he said: "She's so nice and sweet we gave her an alter-ego, The Geisha, and she's crazy!"
Jean eventually fashioned her after a real live Japanese female dancer who had won a lot of dancehall competitions in Jamaica. He also appears in the video.
When asked if she had "sold out" to cater to a slice of the Western market she is now after, and whether the video is appropriate for someone who has been looked up to as a role model, Ho said: "As an artiste, you have to grow and challenge yourself. This is a breath of fresh air for me."
But her suggestive persona has left at least one local listener scratching his head.
"The video is pretty raunchy. Maybe she's trying to shed her older, more modest image," said 25-year-old SIM undergraduate Shawn Lim.
American Internet giant Google Vice President David Eun
TOKYO : YouTube on Thursday entered a series of commercial partnerships in Japan, where the popular video-sharing website is trying to overcome fierce criticism over copyright protection.
US Internet giant Google, which owns YouTube, said it was tying up with six Japanese firms including satellite broadcaster Sky PerfecTV and quickly growing social networking service Mixi, which will both link content to YouTube.
Casio Computer Co. also formed a partnership with the rising but controversial Internet site, offering digital cameras designed to upload videos specifically on YouTube.
"After the United States, Japan is the most popular country for YouTube," Google vice president David Eun told a news conference in Tokyo.
"We really believe that if we can stay true to what users want and we can be good partners, then the business will come," he said.
But YouTube has been in a long feud with Japanese content providers over the downloading of copyrighted materials through the website.
Earlier this year YouTube agreed to post a warning on its website in Japanese against copyright infringements.
Google, which bought YouTube last year in a US$1.65 billion deal, is planning new "fingerprinting" tools in the fall to identify copyright-protected contents on YouTube.
But Japan's copyright holders, who held the second round of negotiations with Google on Tuesday, urged YouTube to take more thorough and immediate measures.
Twenty-four content owners, mainly traditional broadcasters, "strongly urged the company to swiftly take measures to prevent rights violations out of its own responsibility until the new prevention system is introduced," a statement said after the talks.
An official of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers said copyright holders were also not content with the new system.
"We believe the technology Google plans to introduce will not be good enough," he said. "There was no progress during the second meeting."
The Google vice president admitted there will be no "perfect, 100 percent solution" to weed out illegally copied and uploaded clips from all the videos inundating YouTube.
"As you all know, anytime a technology comes along it hits a sort of arms race because you have people who want to try to crack the technologies," Eun said.
"What we have to do is build scalable, efficient, automated solutions that don't depend on individual humans looking at video," he said, adding the company was still developing the tools.
Yahoo Japan, which runs its own video-sharing site called Yahoo Videocast, said last month that it would "patrol" uploaded content round the clock, agreeing to guidelines laid out by the copyright holders group.
YouTube, launched a little over two years ago after a dinner party chat by young founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, has seen phenomenal growth with websites now designed for 10 countries including Japan.
Jay Chou shows his romantic side in directorial debut
With seven bestselling albums, and more than 200,000 copies sold in Singapore alone, no one could fault singer Jay Chou if he rests on his laurels.
But the 28-year-old looks set for a fulfilling second career: He wrote, directed, and starred in his first movie, the campus romance titled Secret, which opens here on Aug 8.
Early reviews from press screenings have been favourable - most called it a competent debut effort.
In the 90-minute movie, Chou plays a music student who embarks on a search for his female classmate (Kwai Lun-mei) who mysteriously disappears from school one day.
While Kwai has given her co-star a full "100 marks" for his debut work, Chou would only allow himself 95. "It'd be strange if I gave myself a perfect score," he said.
Casually clad in a black shirt, jeans, and canvas shoes for this interview, Chou was in Singapore as part of a regional promotional tour for Secret.
Last seen in last year's Zhang Yimou period movie, Curse of the Golden Flower, Chou said he prefers staying behind the camera: "As an actor, you do what you're told. As a director, you can change your ideas any time, and control the scene."
Saying he has hit a plateau in his singing career, Chou sees directing as an alternative creative outlet. "If I continue to stand at the same spot, I cannot improve. So it's time to change tracks. I have lots of ideas to express."
For a start, he has drawn inspiration for Secret from a childhood experience, never mind that it's nowhere as romanticised as the movie. "It happened when I was about 14," he said. "She broke up with me saying that the exams were near."
A romantic at heart, Chou confessed: "I used to like this (other) girl. On her birthday, I brought her to a park, told her to close her eyes, and then set off some firecrackers. It was like a scene from a movie."
But his next directorial effort is likely to be an action flick. Or perhaps a serious drama. Or maybe even an animated movie.
After all, Doraemon is his favourite cartoon.
"Many childhood dreams have been built upon this character," he said.
LOS ANGELES - At 53-years-old, Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan is still doing his own stunts. Retirement, he says, is the last thing on his mind.
His latest film, "Rush Hour 3," which opens at the North American box office next week and in his native Hong Kong on August 16, sees him climbing around on the Eiffel Tower without so much as a safety net.
"I did all my stunts, even the scene full of fighting and acrobatics on top of the Eiffel Tower," he told reporters in Los Angeles this week.
"In that sequence there are no explosions, shooting, just one of the best stunt teams in the world working at the height of its abilities," he said.
"The experience was something none of us would forget, least of all me," added the former stunt man, who has now been a leading figure in the Hong Kong martial arts film scene since the early 1970s.
"I can tell my grandchildren, 'This is your grandfather. This is me. That's not a double flying around the Eiffel Tower in 100 mile-per-hour winds'," he said.
The first episode in the "Rush Hour" franchise marked a late start to Chan's international career in 1998.
While he was well known before then to martial arts film fans, many of whom consider him to be the natural heir to legend Bruce Lee, "Rush Hour" set him on a course that has since led to a string of big budget Hollywood movies.
The first two installments of the trilogy, in which Chan plays opposite US comedian Chris Tucker, took 600 million dollars between them in worldwide box office receipts.
The third part of the action-comedy series, directed by Brett Ratner with a 140 million dollar budget, sees Chan and Tucker tracking down Chinese gangsters working Paris' criminal underworld.
Famed movie director Roman Polanski plays an unpleasant police inspector, while 2.36-meter (seven-foot-nine) -tall Chinese basketball star Sun Ming Ming plays a triad.
While Ratner said that the hardest thing was to film in Paris and get Tucker on board for the project, Chan said his biggest challenge during filming was trying to understand Tucker's and Ratner's accents.
The stunts, however, were never an issue. "Sometimes I forget my age," Chan said. "You just keep moving."
"I'll do it until my body will tell me stop. I don't think about retirement," he insisted.
Chan said he spent two weeks training with basketball star Sun, who weighs more than 135 kilos (300 pounds), teaching him how to move like a martial arts actor.
"He can knock you down right away. But he's clever, he's good. Twenty some years old and twice my size, so the scene was great."
Chan, himself a director, seems to be showing no sign of slowing down.
"Now I'm so busy, I have lots of projects. One of them is a movie that we're shooting in China: "The Forbidden Kingdom" with Jet Li.
He described the film, due out next year, as a movie about cops and triads. It also features stunt choreographer Donnie Yen.
Li, the Beijing-born star of "Hero", last year vowed that his previous film "Fearless" would be his last martial arts picture. "The Forbidden Kingdom" is the first movie the two superstars have appeared in together.
Football: Manchester Utd sign Australian wonderkid
LONDON : Manchester United have signed a nine-year-old Australian wonderkid who is tipped to be as good as Wayne Rooney.
Brisbane-born Rhain Davis was snapped up by the Premiership champions after his grandfather sent a DVD of the youngster in action to Old Trafford.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was impressed enough to invite Davis, who holds a UK passport through his mother Leah, to move to England and train with the club.
Rhain and his father Mark moved to Cheshire, close to United's training base, last month and will soon be joined by the rest of his family.
United striker Rooney is regarded as one of the best players in the world, but Rhain already shows enough promise to suggest he could emulate the England star's success.
To do so Rhain will first have to earn a full-time scholarship with United, which is awarded to promising 12-year-olds.
