Australia would be welcome to do something like this... I'm a South African EE student at the moment, I'm working towards an SKA related project, and whether or not South Africa is chosen ultimately, we have our own radio telescope plans, so this would be useful anyway.
The SKA is about international collaboration, AFAIK. It's good for countries to share inventions.
Competing against Halloween parties and contending with an unseasonal blizzard in the Northeast, DreamWorks Animation?s "Puss in Boots," distributed by Paramount, purred its way to the top spot at the North American box office with an estimated $34 million. That amounted to a new Halloween weekend record, leaping over the $33.6 million that "Saw III" registered in 2006.
Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead the criminal crew. Also this week: "Rock Center" and "Project Runway All Stars" premiere; "Cars 2" drives on to DVD.
PHOTOS: 'Puss in Boots' and 9 Other Sexy Cartoons
But the weekend?s two other new wide releases displayed far less derring-do. Fox?s sci-fi tale "In Time," starring Justin Timberlake, debuted in third place with $12 million, while the Johnny Depp starrer, "The Rum Diary," released by FilmDistrict had to settle for a sobering $5 million and a fifth place showing.
Meanwhile, another animated movie, Steven Spielberg's "Tintin" got off to a strong start in 19 foreign markets where it collected an estimated $55.8 million. In 17 of those markets, it opened at number one, including the United Kingdom, where it took in $10.7 million and France, where it amassed $21.5 million. While Paramount handled the film in the U.K., Sony rolled it out in the other territories. The movie opens stateside via Paramount on Dec. 21.
Story: 3-D 'Puss in Boots' is the cat's meowWeekend box office
Totals for Oct. 28-30
1. "Puss in Boots," $34 million
2. "Paranormal Activity 3," $18.5 million
3. "In Time," $12 million
4. "Footloose," $5.4 million
5. "The Rum Diary," $5 million
6. "Real Steel," $4.7 million
7. "The Three Musketeers," $3.5 million
8. "The Ides of March" $2.7 million
9. "Moneyball," $2.9 million
10. "Courageous," $1.8 million
While "Puss" challenged the holiday ? Halloween weekend is usually reserved for scary movies rather than family fare ? a ghost story did hold down the second slot as Paramount?s "Paranormal Activity 3" slid 65 percent as it entered its second weekend. The second prequel to 2009?s original "Paranormal Activity," the new movie took in an additional $18.5 million to bring its domestic gross to $81.3 million.
PHOTOS: Halloween Gone Wrong: The 10 Least Scary Movies of All Time
In addition to "Puss" and "Paranormal," Paramount also had a third entry in the top five as the toe-tapping "Footloose," in its third weekend, took in $5.4 million for fourth-place standing, bringing its domestic total to $38.4 million.
Story: Despite intriguing premise, 'In Time' gets old fastCopyright 2011 The Hollywood Reporter
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45095494/ns/today-entertainment/
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SAO PAULO ? Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will undergo chemotherapy to treat a cancerous tumor in his larynx, doctors said Saturday.
The tumor was detected Saturday during an examination at Sao Paulo's Sirio Libanes Hospital, the hospital said in a statement, which added that Silva will begin outpatient treatment in the coming week.
Oncologist Artur Katz, one of the doctors attending Silva, told reporters that the former president is in "very good condition."
He said the tumor was not very big and that Silva's chances of a full recovery are excellent.
Katz said it was not possible immediately to say what caused the tumor, adding it could have been sparked by the small cigars Silva used to smoke, or even a virus.
Jose Crispiniano, spokesman for the "Lula Institute," a nongovernmental organization founded by the 66-year-old Silva after he left office, said the former president went to the hospital for a checkup because his throat was hurting him. He said Silva is expected to begin chemotherapy on Monday.
Paraguayan Foreign Minister Jorge Lara Castro, whose country is hosting the 23-nation IberoAmerican Conference in the capital of Asuncion, called the news "very sad."
"Those of us participating in this summit can only lend our solidarity and be there for him during his treatment," he told a news conference.
Silva, known as "Lula" in Brazil and abroad, was elected president of Brazil in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Under his leadership, Brazil experienced solid growth: The country's international reserves ballooned from $38 billion in 2002 to $240 billion by the end of 2009, inflation was tamed, 20 million people were lifted from poverty and nearly 40 million moved into the middle class.
Unemployment in Brazil hit a record low under Silva, and the currency more than doubled against the U.S. dollar. He also helped the nation win the right to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, the first-ever to be held in South America.
Silva left office with an 87 percent approval rating and managed to get his hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, elected in 2010 to take his spot.
"President Lula is a leader, a symbol and an example for all of us," Rousseff said in a statement. "I am sure that his strength, determination and capacity to overcome all sorts of adversities will help him win this new challenge."
In 2009, Rousseff had a malignant tumor removed from her left armpit at the Sirio Libanes Hospital. She underwent chemotherapy treatment and was given a clean bill of health in August 2010.
(This version CORRECTS the number of people who moved into the middle class to 40 million. )
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Cheerleaders at Gilbert High School in Arizona were banned from wearing their breast cancer fundraiser t-shirts. The shirts read "Feel for Lumps, Save your Bumps." Some parents think the school is being needlessly reactionary. This isn't the only dress code issue that parents and students struggle with. Here are some of the items that schools have forbidden, along with parental reactions to those rules.
"Feel for Lumps, Save your Bumps" t-shirts
Gilbert principal Charles Santa Cruz said that while the school encourages October Breast Cancer Awareness activities, the "Feel for Lumps" shirts were inappropriate and not authorized by the school. The cheerleaders had made the t-shirts to collect money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. They planned to wear them at football games after school hours. Booster mom, Gayleen Skowronek says, "I think it's hypocritical they would approve a fundraiser for breast-cancer research but they won't approve a shirt to bring awareness to breast cancer." Her cheerleader daughter says, "We're not saying anything a doctor wouldn't say." Other parents say that while they don't disagree with the principal, they think he's making too big of a deal over it.
"I Heart Boobies" breast cancer bracelets
Earlier this year, two Easton, Pa., middle-schoolers Brianna Hawk and Cayla Martinez were suspended for wearing Keep a Breast Foundation bracelets reading, "I (heart) Boobies." The school had banned them, saying the presented a sexual double entendre. Several boys had touched the girls inappropriately, prompted by the bracelets, officials said. The girls, with their parents, filed a lawsuit with the ACLU and won. In response to the lawsuit, a Wisconsin middle-schooler, Kaisey Jenkins and her mom, Caran Braun, challenged their school's no-"boobies" bracelet policy. The school outlawed the bracelets after some parents and faculty complained that the jewelry was inappropriate for children.
"Rebel Moms" school pride t-shirts
Last year, a parent booster group, "Rebel Moms," in Willoughby, Ohio, designed and sold a school pride t-shirt. The t-shirts showed the word "Rebels" (the South High School mascot) with a Confederate flag. The school has an ongoing rivalry with North High School. Officials forbid the sale of the shirts, but only after the mothers had sold 250 of them. The school made the parents redesign the shirts, saying the Confederate flag is offensive to some students.
Pajamas at school
In some schools, it's not just students who have to follow dress code; parents do too. Several UK schools stated that parents should not wear pajamas to school, even when they are simply dropping students off. School officials say sleepwear belongs at home, not in public. This issue sparked debate over whether schools can dictate what parents wear in their vehicles or on school property.
Some schools are banning pajamas for students' apparel also. Students have been allowed to wear pajamas to school for certain school spirit events, but some schools deem pajamas too casual. Parents are mixed on this one: some feel pajamas should not be worn in public, while others say pajamas at school are no big deal.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes from 23 years parenting four children and 25 years teaching K-8, special needs, homeschool and adult education.
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Continue reading Sony to buy out Ericsson's stake in joint venture, call it quits after ten years
Sony to buy out Ericsson's stake in joint venture, call it quits after ten years originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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THE HAGUE (Reuters) ? From deep in the Sahara, fearing that he will share his father's bloody fate at the hands of vengeful Libyans and calling in old favours bought with oil from desert tribes and African strongmen, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi may be bartering a future.
The International Criminal Court at The Hague confirmed on Friday that the 39-year-old heir-apparent to Libya's slain former leader had been in touch. It urged him to turn himself in, warning it could order a mid-air interception if he and his mercenary guards tried to flee by plane for safe haven abroad.
Though details remain sketchy of the whereabouts and state of mind of Saif al-Islam, the London-educated would-be reformer now indicted for crimes against humanity, the ICC offered some corroboration of reports from Tripoli's new leaders and African neighbours that he has taken refuge with Tuareg nomads in the borderlands between Libya and Niger, seeking a way to safety.
"Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif," ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.
"We have learnt through informal channels that there is a group of mercenaries who are offering to move Saif to an African (state) not party to ... the ICC. The Office of the Prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the air space of a state party in order to make an arrest."
Officials with Libya's National Transitional Council told Reuters earlier in the week that monitoring of satellite calls and other intelligence indicated Saif al-Islam was considering turning himself in to The Hague, and trying to arrange an aircraft to get him there and out of reach of NTC fighters, in whose hands Muammar Gaddafi was beaten and killed a week ago.
DESERT FRIENDS
However, surrender is only one option. The Gaddafis made friends with desert tribes in Niger, Mali and other poor former French colonies in West Africa, as well as farther afield in countries like Zimbabwe and Sudan, some of them also recipients of largesse during the 42-year rule of Colonel Gaddafi, a self-styled son of the desert and African "king of kings".
France, a key backer of Febuary's revolt, reminded Africans of obligations to hand over the surviving ICC indictees - former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi and Saif al-Islam: "We don't care whether he goes on foot, by plane, by boat, by car or on a camel, the only thing that matters is that he belongs in the ICC," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.
"We don't have many details, but the sooner the better."
Despite reduced circumstances since his father's overthrow in August, the younger Gaddafi, whom some have described as a playboy in his days at the London School of Economics, may have access to portable wealth in the form of bundles of banknotes and gold bars, as well as to secret, unfrozen foreign accounts.
Niger, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso, a swathe of arid states to the south of Libya, are all signatories to the treaty that set up the ICC, established to give a permanent international tribunal for crimes against humanity after ad hoc bodies set up for Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone.
"If we reach agreement, logistical measures for his transfer will be taken," ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said. "There are different scenarios, depending on what country he is in."
Without its own police force, the ICC depends on cooperation from member states -- which do not include world powers the United States, Russia and China. Its focus so far on Sudanese, Congolese and Kenyans has left some Africans disgruntled.
Powers on the continent like South Africa and Nigeria are signatories. But Algeria, which took in Saif al-Islam's mother, sister, brother Hannibal and half-brother Mohammed, is not. Nor are Sudan, Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe and a number of other nations where leaders might see advantage in giving him a haven.
MERCENARIES
As well as enjoying protection from Tuareg allies who traditionally provided close security for the Gaddafis, Saif al-Islam may still be in the company of mercenaries from elsewhere in Africa, including possibly South Africa, NTC officials say.
A South African newspaper, in an unconfirmed report, said South African mercenaries were working to fly him out.
Living conditions in the desert are spartan, though the autumn climate is relatively temperate. Smugglers and others who make a living in the desert travel in 4x4s and trucks, watching fuel gauges closely, as well as by horse and camel, resting in tents as well as simple shacks scattered close to oases.
Communications are provided by satellite phones powered by car engines and generators, but also networks of nomads.
A bodyguard who saw Saif al-Islam as he fled last week from one of the Gaddafi clan's last bastions near the capital told Reuters that Saif al-Islam, eldest son of Gaddafi's second wife Safia, seemed "nervous" and "confused". He escaped even though his motorcade was hit by a NATO air strike as it left Bani Walid on Oct. 19, the day before his father died at Sirte.
Three of Saif al-Islam's brothers were killed in the war. Another, Saadi, has found refuge in Niger.
The arrest or surrender of Saif al-Islam would bring a new prominence for the nine-year-old ICC, whose highest profile suspect to date is Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who remains defiantly in office, defended by many fellow Africans.
INTERNATIONAL COURT
Following the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, most probably at the hands of the fighters who filmed themselves battering and abusing him, Western allies of Libya's new leaders had urged them to impose respect for human rights, even for those accused of scorning the rights of others down the decades.
NTC leaders would like to run their own trials, but acknowledge that their writ barely runs in the deep south.
Their NATO allies, now winding up a mission that backed the revolt, have expressed little enthusiasm for hunting a few individuals across a vast tract of empty continent -- though French troops based in West Africa might be the best placed to step in with transport if Gaddafi did choose to surrender.
Richard Dicker of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the killing of his father made it all the more important that Saif al-Islam end up on trial in the Netherlands:
"The gruesome killing of Muammar Gaddafi last week underscores the urgency of ensuring that his son, Saif al-Islam, be promptly handed over to the International Criminal Court for fair trial in The Hague," Dicker said.
"This will best ensure that justice is done."
The ICC's Moreno-Ocampo said in his statement: "If he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty. The judges will decide.
"If the judges decide that Saif is innocent, or has served his sentence, he can request the judges to send him to a different country as long as that country accepts him."
Saif al-Islam was once seen as a liberal reformer, architect of a rapprochement with the oil-thirsty Western states on whom his father waged proxy guerrilla wars for decades. But he ran into opposition from hardliners among his brothers and had taken a lower profile before bursting back onto the world's television screens with belligerent win-or-die rhetoric after the revolt.
The ICC accuses him of hiring mercenaries to carry out a plan, worked out with his father and Senussi, to kill unarmed protesters inspired by Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere.
However, even if arrested on charges relating to his role in attacks on protesters in February and March, Saif al-Islam could make defence arguments that might limit any sentence, lawyers said -- possibly a tempting alternative to death in Libya.
WARM WELCOME
For now, some of the few tens of thousands of people who eke out a living in the deepest Sahara, a borderless expanse roamed by smugglers and nomadic herders, say there would be a welcome for the younger Gaddafi, who in better times exhibited paintings he said were inspired by his love for the desert landscapes.
"We are ready to hide him wherever needed," said Mouddour Barka, a resident of Agadez in northern Niger. "We are telling the international community to stay out of this business and our own authorities not to hand him over -- otherwise we are ready to go out onto the streets and they will have us to deal with."
Niger's government in the capital Niamey has vowed to meet its ICC commitments. But 750 km (400 miles) north in a region where cross-border allegiances among Tuareg nomads often outweigh national ties, the picture looks different.
"I am ready to welcome him in. For me his case is quite simply a humanitarian one," said Mohamed Anako, president of Agadez region, itself the size of France. "Libya and Niger are brother countries and cousins ... so we will welcome him in."
Libya's southern neighbours accepted Muammar Gaddafi's largesse despite exasperation at his vision of a trans-Saharan people, which prompted concern over their territorial integrity.
For northern communities in both Niger and Mali, the NATO-backed Libyan war that removed him has brought nothing but trouble, with thousands of African migrant workers and armed Tuaregs who fought for Gaddafi turning up at their door.
(Additional reporting by Sara Webb and Aaron Gray-Block in Amsterdam, Samia Nakhoul in London, Mark John in Dakar, Ibrahim Diallo in Agadez and Barry Malone in Tripoli; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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There?s been some speculation that the Red Sox may be interested in hiring former pitching coach and current Blue Jays manager John Farrell to replace Terry Francona.
Because of that the Blue Jays have changed their policy about granting teams permission to speak to their employees and team president Paul Beeston released this statement:
Due to the distraction caused by media speculation regarding our employee permission policy, the Toronto Blue Jays have amended their policy and will not grant permission for lateral moves.
In other words, Farrell wouldn?t be allowed to interview for the Red Sox?s manager gig as long as he?s under contract as the Blue Jays? manager.
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by Illinois State Insurance ? October 25th, 2011
The day your teen gets their license and is ready to hit the road is one of the hardest days for any parent. Before you hand over the keys though you need to be sure that your teen has proper car auto insurance in effect. When you get ready to add your teen to your auto policy you should shop around. Insuring your teen?s car can get expensive so you want to be sure you are getting the best deal on your policy.
You must have your teenagers listed on your car auto insurance policy if they are going to drive. If they are away at school or out of town for the summer and you are 100% sure they will not be driving you can take them off the policy for a short time to save some money. During the time they are not listed on the policy though they can not drive for any reason.
Teen rates can be steep there are a few ways to save though. A really big factor is the kind of car your teen is going to drive. If you plan buying your 16 year old a Mustang for their birthday expect to pay through the nose for car auto insurance. Getting your teenager a safe and sensible car with good safety features will go a long way on saving you on premiums. Not only that but new drivers are safer in these types of vehicles as well.
There may be other ways you can get a break on your teen?s car auto insurance. Many carriers will offer discounts for students who get good grades. There are often also discounts to be had for things like driver?s ed, driving learning courses and other courses designed to keep your teen safer in the car.
Like any kind of car insurance the best way to find a good rate is to get several companies to give you a quote. You will find there can be a really big range between carriers? prices so it is very important to shop around. You can use an online auto insurance quote form to make it easier. You fill out one form and get rate quotes from several different carriers.
Letting your teen hit the road is going to be stressful no matter what but you can relieve some of the stress by making sure your teen is covered with the right car auto insurance. You can relieve even more stress by making sure you are paying the lowest rate.
Source: http://illinoisstateinsurance.com/getting-your-teens-car-auto-insurance/
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BOGOTA, Colombia ? After agonizing a few months over a guerrilla pamphlet that named him as a "military target," Hermes Sanchez finally decided to quit the race for mayor of Leiva, a rural municipality in Colombia's lawless southwest.
He had three excellent reasons: his children, aged 18 to 24. The rebels had made it clear, in "discussions" with Sanchez's adherents, that his family was also at risk.
The 48-year-old cattle trader said rebels wanted him out of the race because "I'm not the kind of person they can manipulate," something they apparently learned from his term as mayor from 2004-2006.
The truest barometer of Colombia's troubled democracy has always been its fate in the rugged, verdant countryside, and violence against rural political candidates has surged ahead of Oct. 30 regional and municipal elections. These days, illegal armed groups are increasingly deciding who gets elected.
At least 41 candidates have been murdered since February, nearly twice as many as in the same period four years ago, when the last such vote for mayors, governors and municipal councils was held.
"These are Colombia's most contentious elections because local power is the true power," said Alejandra Barrios, director of the independent electoral watchdog Electoral Observation Mission, which compiled the figures.
Interior Minister German Vargas says the government provided bodyguards for at least 72 candidates who complained of threats, but acknowledged it's a huge challenge to protect the more than 100,000 candidates running for regional and local office.
No one is counting how many candidates, like Sanchez, have quit out of fear. And it isn't just leftist rebels, primarily the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, that imperil them. Far-right militias, drug traffickers and criminal associations run by corrupt politicians also seek compliant local officials.
The pamphlet threatening Sanchez, a member of the Liberal Party, also named three other candidates, from the Conservative and Green parties and the Indigenous Social Association.
It branded all four collaborators of "narco-paramilitaries," the lawless foes of Colombia's oldest and most potent guerrilla band, known as the FARC.
Sanchez calls the claim nonsense. He says the rebels seek only to remove obstacles to their control of the region's cocaine-trafficking routes.
Only one of the threatened candidates, the Conservative, has stayed in the race. Two other candidates, meanwhile, have signed up to replace those who dropped out.
The town once grew coca, the raw material for cocaine, but the farmers and cattle ranchers in the 13,000-population municipality have now replaced the crop with coffee and cacao.
Yet the region is becoming more dangerous as the FARC steps up deadly attacks on police and military patrols and noncombatants. It killed 20 soldiers in two separate attacks in the space of 48 hours last week, one nearby, the other in northeastern Colombia.
The surge in violence hasn't erased the major security gains achieved during the 2002-2010 tenure of former President Alvaro Uribe. But in unstable regions, it does stoke fears of a return to the lawlessness of a decade ago, when ransom-hungry guerrillas brazenly stopped and kidnapped motorists at rural roadblocks.
The uptick in rural violence led President Juan Manuel Santos to replace his entire military high command as well as his defense minister last month.
A decade ago, nearly half of Colombia was in the hands of outlaws. Now, illegal armed groups operate in about a quarter of the Andean nation, according to the independent nonpartisan Conflict Analysis Resource Center.
The Interior and Defense Ministries say 15 percent of Colombia's 1,102 municipalities are now at high risk of violence or corruption due to such groups. In 2003, a fourth of the municipalities were considered at high risk.
Uribe's security gains were costly, helped by special war taxes, a near doubling of the ranks of Colombia's military and U.S. military aid that has since diminished.
"There's a drop in operations by security forces and a new outbreak of guerrilla activity that began in the last months of Uribe's government," said former national security advisory Alfredo Rangel.
Attacks on the military are up 22 percent, while attacks on businesses and infrastructure are up 24 percent, he said, citing his own research. The independent Arco Iris think tank counts 1,115 hostile actions by the FARC in this year's first half, up 10 percent from the same period of 2010.
Reported kidnappings, meanwhile, were up 35 percent, to 177, for the first six months of 2011 over the year-before period, according to the nonprofit Pais Libre foundation. Kidnappings are chronically underreported in Colombia; affected families often don't trust authorities.
Much of pre-electoral violence owes to a rise in cash transfers to Colombia's provinces. New laws put more than $15 billion a year in public works funds in the hands of towns and provincial governments, and put millions worth of mining and oil royalties in local hands.
Aggravating factors: the influx of $2.3 billion in emergency reconstruction funds earmarked for areas devastated by recent record flooding, and government efforts to return at least (8 million acres?) 2 million hectares of land stolen from peasants who were violently displaced by paramilitaries and rebels.
Authorities say they are boosting protection for candidates.
But that's not happening in towns like Leiva.
"The police assigned us a single patrolman as an escort," said Sanchez. "But the mayor and other municipal officials haven't helped at all."
"They've abandoned us completely."
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In this image released by Paramount Pictures, a scene is shown from the film "Paranormal Activity 3." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures)
In this image released by Paramount Pictures, a scene is shown from the film "Paranormal Activity 3." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Paranormal Activity 3" didn't just go bump in the night. It made a ton of noise at the box office with a record-setting, $54 million opening.
The third film in Paramount Pictures' low-budget fright franchise, which was No. 1 at the box office, had the biggest debut ever for a horror movie, according to Sunday studio estimates. It broke the previous record part two set a year ago with $40.7 million. It's also the biggest opening ever for an October release, topping the $50.35 million Paramount's "Jackass 3D" made last year.
"Paranormal Activity 3" is actually a prequel, with the discovery of disturbing home-movie footage from 1988. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who made the creepy documentary "Catfish," took over directing duties this time.
Don Harris, Paramount's president of distribution, said the studio hoped part three would simply perform better than part two. The first "Paranormal Activity," with its reported $15,000 budget, became a phenomenon in 2009 through midnight screenings and word of mouth.
Harris believes this installment did so well because it's actually the best movie of the three. He noted that it appealed to an older crowd, with 47 percent over the age of 25 compared to 40 percent for "Paranormal Activity 2." Strong reviews also helped, he said, including a rave from Time magazine. And fundamentally, horror movies simply play better in a packed theater.
"Ultimately, it gets back to why there's still a theatrical business, why people still go to the movies," Harris said. "We want to laugh in a group, we want to be scared in a group, people like to cry in a group in the dark where nobody can see them crying. It's all the reason movie theaters exist and this genre has always been front and center."
Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, said he was expecting "Paranormal Activity 3" to come in around $35 million for the weekend, simply because most newcomers have been underperforming this fall.
"This brand is as solid as the 'Twilight' brand or the 'Jackass' brand. There are certain brands that just transcend any kind of box-office rhyme or reason. They just resonate," Dergarabedian said. "These are shot in someone's house, they look like they're shot with a home video recorder, and people just relate to it."
Last week's No. 1 release, the futuristic boxing robot adventure "Real Steel," fell to second place. It made $11.3 million for a domestic total of $67.2 million. Worldwide, the Disney movie has grossed $153.3 million.
Among the other new releases this week, Summit Entertainment's 3-D version of "The Three Musketeers" came in fourth place with $8.8 million. And Universal's "Johnny English Reborn," a sequel to the 2003 spy parody starring Rowan Atkinson, opened at No. 8 with $3.8 million. But it's already a huge hit internationally, having made $104.5 million so far.
In limited release, the critically acclaimed psychological thriller "Martha Marcy May Marlene" made $137,541 on four screens in New York and Los Angeles. That's a hefty $34,385 per screen average, according to Fox Searchlight.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Paranormal Activity 3," $54 million. ($26 million international.)
2. "Real Steel," $11.3 million. ($18.5 million international.)
3. "Footloose," $10.85 million.
4. "The Three Musketeers," $8.8 million. ($17.1 million international.)
5. "The Ides of March," $4.9 million.
6. "Dolphin Tale," $4.2 million.
7. "Moneyball," $4.05 million.
8. "Johnny English Reborn," $3.8 million. ($13.5 million international.)
9. "The Thing," $3.1 million.
10. "50/50," $2.8 million.
___
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Paranormal Activity 3," $26 million.
2. "Real Steel," $18.5 million.
3. "Johnny English Reborn," $13.5 million.
4. "The Three Musketeers," $17.1 million.
5. "Contagion," $9.6 million.
6. "The Smurfs," $3.4 million.
7. "The Lion King," $3.3 million.
8. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $2.9 million.
9. "Friends With Benefits," $2.8 million.
10 "The Change-Up," $2.4 million.
___
Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
http://www.rentrak.com
___
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) ? Kenyan troops in Somalia closed in on the rebel-held town of Afmadow Saturday where they may fight their first ground battle against al-Qaida-linked militants since launching an offensive last weekend, a military spokesman said.
Hundreds of residents were fleeing Afmadow in anticipation of fighting as Kenyan and Somali troops moved closer.
Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said Kenya's army was flanking Somali troops and pro-government militia. Afmadow is now controlled by al-Shabab, Somalia's most dangerous militant group waging a war against the country's weak U.N.-backed government.
"We believe this movement will create the first ground offensive," Chirchir said.
Kenya had been bombing militants from the air but the charge at Afmedow will be first "man to man fighting situation," he said.
Al-Shabab militants are regrouping in the town of Bula Haji to reinforce their fighters in Afmadow, Chirchir said.
Osman Ahmed, a resident in Afmadow, said there is alot of tension with militants preparing to do battle with Kenyan and somali government troops.
"We sleep and wake up with fears, only gunmen and sporadic civilians are crossing the streets. It's a frightening situation," he said.
Kenya last weekend sent its troops into Somalia to pursue al-Shabab militants blamed for a string of kidnappings on Kenyan soil.
Somali gunmen have kidnapped four Europeans in the last six weeks ? two from the Lamu coastal region and two from the Dadaab refugee camp. One of the hostages, a quadriplegic French woman, died on Wednesday.
Kenya's government says the kidnappings threaten the country's tourism industry ? a key driver of the economy? that had bounced back after near collapse following postelection violence three-years-ago in which more than 1,000 people died.
Also Saturday the U.S. Embassy warned that an imminent terrorist attack in Kenya is possible. It said likely targets include places that foreigners congregate, including shopping malls and night clubs.
In response to the Kenyan military incursion, al-Shabab on Monday threatened to carry out suicide attacks in Kenya similar to those in July that killed 76 people watching the World Cup final in Uganda. Al-Shabab said that attack was a response to Uganda sending troops to support Somalia's government.
Somalia has been a failed state for more than 20 years. The lawless country is a haven for pirates and international terrorists and the conflict is causing a major famine which is believed to have cost tens of thousands of lives already.
Al-Shabab is blocking aid from reaching hungry Somalis, after it banned major aid groups from operating in the territories it controls.
Chirchir said the overall strategy of Kenya's military incursion is to reduce al-Shabab's effectiveness and restore authority to Somalia's government in order to achieve enduring peace.
African Union troops and government soldiers pushed the al-Shabab militia from their last bases in the capital on Thursday, AU spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said.
Al-Shabab has retreated before the Kenyan forces so far, but the militants have struck back in the Somali capital with a series of bombings ? including a truck bomb that killed over 100 people. On Thursday, they put up a bloody fight when AU forces arrived in Deynile, al-Shabab's last base in Mogadishu.
Otherwise, the Kenyan army has so far met little or no resistance during their push into the rebel-controlled areas of Somalia, as it marches toward its ultimate target; the al-shabab stronghold of Kismayo.
Kenya's troops are untested and it isn't clear they are prepared for a long-term occupation requiring counterinsurgency skills ? a scenario that ended U.S. and Ethiopian interventions during Somalia's 20-year-old civil war. The Somalia operation is Kenya's biggest foreign military commitment since independence in 1963.
However, al-Shabab is facing a major crisis which may have weakened its ability to put up a resistance.
The militia has been weakened by a severe drought and famine in its strongholds, a loss of revenue from markets in Mogadishu where it pulled out under pressure, internal divisions and public discontent over their strict punishments, recruitment of child soldiers and indiscriminate bombings.
Kenya's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Moses Wetangula, said Friday that al-Shabab are on the run and growing weaker by the day. Wetangula spoke after attending a meeting in Ethiopia of East Africa's Inter Governmental Authority for Development, also known as IGAD, on the Somali issue.
Hailemariam Desalegn, Ethiopia's foreign minister and vice prime minister, said the timing is right for Kenya's military offensive in Somalia and that East African nations unanimously support it.
"The long-term goal is to eradicate al-Shabab from Somalia," he said. "The territorial integrity of the whole IGAD region is under threat."
Al-Shabab is now being confronted by forces from three East African countries, following Kenya's incursion into Somalia.
Burundi and Ugandan forces make up the 9,000 African Union peacekeeping force, which is supporting the weak U.N.-backed Somali government. The AU forces on Thursday forced the militant group out of its last bases in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
____
Odula reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Associated Press writer Luc Van Kemenade also contributed to this report from the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Google Inc has spoken to at least two private equity firms about possibly helping them finance a deal to buy Yahoo Inc's core business, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Google and prospective partners have held preliminary discussions but have not come up with a formal proposal, and Google may end up deciding not to pursue a bid, the source said.
It is not clear which private equity firms Google has spoken to, the WSJ said.
Representatives of Google could not immediately be reached for comment.
Any potential deal between the two biggest Internet companies would likely arouse antitrust scrutiny.
Google is interested in selling some advertising across Yahoo's websites, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft Corp is now considering financing part of a bid for Yahoo by a private equity firm, people familiar with the matter have said.
(Msnbc.com is a joint-venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
Yahoo has been in a state of chaos since it fired former CEO Carol Bartz in early September. The company retained investment banking firm Allen & Co to help conduct a "strategic review" of its business and is reportedly working with executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find a new CEO.
A number of potential buyers have expressed interest in a deal with Yahoo. Private equity firms Silver Lake Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Bain Capital, Hellman & Friedman, Blackstone Group, and KKR are among those likely to get a look at the limited financial data Yahoo's advisers are circulating.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45006952/ns/business-us_business/
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The Cardinals are making some changes to their lineup as the World Series shifts to the American League for Game 3 against the Rangers tomorrow night.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that Lance Berkman will serve as designated hitter while Allen Craig will make the start in right field against the left-hander Matt Harrison.
Craig, who had RBI pinch-hits on Wednesday and Thursday, should be a regular for Games 3, 4 and 5 in Texas. While he will spell Berkman in Game 3, there?s a chance he could give Matt Holliday a break in left field on Sunday or Monday.
Craig, or ?Wrench? as he is affectionately known by Cardinals? fans, is 6-for-20 (.300) with one triple, one home run, five RBI and a 5/4 K/BB ratio during the postseason. The 27-year-old batted .315/.362/.555 with 11 homers and 50 RBI over 219 plate appearances during the regular season, including a 1.000 OPS in 70 plate appearances against left-handers.
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Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, center, cries as she's hugged by her son Maximo and her daughter Florencia, left, after general elections in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. Fernandez has been re-elected by a landslide. Exit polls say Fernandez has gotten 54 to 55 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, center, cries as she's hugged by her son Maximo and her daughter Florencia, left, after general elections in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. Fernandez has been re-elected by a landslide. Exit polls say Fernandez has gotten 54 to 55 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez flashes a victory sign while celebrating with supporters after general elections in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. Fernandez has been re-elected by a landslide. Exit polls say Fernandez has gotten 54 to 55 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Supporters of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez celebrate her re-election after general elections in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011. Fernandez has been re-elected by a landslide. Exit polls say Fernandez has gotten 54 percent to 55 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia)
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez speaks to supporters after general elections in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011. Fernandez has been re-elected by a landslide. Exit polls say Fernandez has gotten 54 to 55 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Supporters of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez celebrate her re-election after general elections in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday Oct. 23, 2011. Fernandez has been re-elected by a landslide. Exit polls say Fernandez has gotten 54 percent to 55 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, the widest victory margin for any Argentine president since democracy was restored in the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected in a landslide Sunday, winning with the widest victory margin in Argentina's history after her government spread the wealth of a booming economy.
Fernandez had 53 percent of the vote after 43 percent of the polling stations reported nationwide. Her nearest challenger got just 17 percent. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo predicted the president's share would rise as polls reported from her party's stronghold of densely populated Buenos Aires province.
"Count on me to continue pursuing the project," Fernandez vowed in her victory speech. "All I want is to keep collaborating ... to keep Argentina growing. I want to keep changing history."
Fernandez is Latin America's first woman to be re-elected as president, but the victory was personally bittersweet ? the first without her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who died of a heart attack last Oct. 27.
"This is a strange night for me," she said, describing her mix of emotions. "This man who transformed Argentina led us all and gave everything he had and more ... Without him, without his valor and courage, it would have been impossible to get to this point."
Thousands of jubilant, flag-waving people crowded into the capital's historic Plaza de Mayo to watch on a huge TV screen as she spoke from a downtown hotel, where her supporters interrupted so frequently with their chants that she lectured them as a mother would her children: "The worst that people can be is small. In history, you always must be bigger still ? more generous, more thoughtful, more thankful."
But later she, too, showed her teeth when she vowed to protect Argentina from outside threats or special interests.
"This woman isn't moved by any interest. The only thing that moves her is profound love for the country. Of that I'm responsible," Fernandez said.
Fernandez was on track to win a larger share of votes than any president since Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected with 52 percent. Her margin over Gov. Hermes Binner and five other candidates was wider even than the 1973 victory margin of her strongman hero, Juan Domingo Peron.
Her political coalition also hoped to regain enough seats in Congress to form new alliances and regain the control it lost in 2009. At play were 130 seats in the lower house and 24 in the Senate.
Fernandez suffered high negative ratings early in her presidency, but she soared in popularity as a widow by softening her usually combative tone and proving her ability to command loyalty or respect from an unruly political elite.
Most voters polled beforehand said they wanted government stability to keep their financial situations improving in what has been one of Argentina's longest spells of economic growth in history.
Fernandez, 58, chose her youthful, guitar-playing, long-haired economy minister, Amado Boudou, as her running mate. Together, the pair championed Argentina's approach to the global financial crisis: nationalize private pensions and use central bank reserves to increase government spending rather than impose austerity measures, and force investors in foreign debt to suffer before ordinary citizens.
Argentina's world-record debt default in 2001 closed off most international lending, but it has kept the country booming ever since, with its economy expanding at twice the rate of Brazil's, economist Mark Weisbrot said.
The country faces tough challenges in 2012: Its commodities exports are vulnerable to a global recession, and economic growth is forecast to slow sharply in the coming year. Declining revenues will make it harder to raise incomes to keep up with inflation. Argentina's central bank is under pressure to spend reserves to maintain the peso's value against the dollar, while also guarding against currency shocks that could threaten Argentina's all-important trade with Brazil.
Boudou could now win attention as a potential successor to Fernandez, but navigating these storms will require much skill and good fortune.
Opposition candidates blamed Fernandez for rising inflation and increasing crime and accused her of politically manipulating economic data and trying to use government power to quell media criticism.
Former President Eduardo Duhalde, who fell from front-running rival to near-last in the polls, said in a dour closing speech that "the country is dancing on the Titanic," failing to prepare Argentina for another global economic crisis.
But Weisbrot said Argentina is in far better shape than most countries in the region to face such problems.
U.S. President Barack "Obama could take a lesson from this," said Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "It's an old-fashioned message of democracy: You deliver what you promise and people vote for you. It's kind of forgotten here in the U.S."
Binner, 68, a doctor and governor of Santa Fe province was followed by Ricardo Alfonsin, 59, a lawyer and congressional deputy with the traditional Radical Civic Union party and son of the former president, with 12 percent; Alberto Rodriguez Saa, 52, an attorney and governor of San Luis province whose brother Adolfo was president for a week, with 8 percent; and Duhalde, who preceded Kirchner as president, with 6 percent. Leftist former lawmaker Jorge Altamira, 69, and Elisa Carrio 54, a congresswoman who came in second behind Fernandez four years ago, had 2 percent.
When Fernandez is inaugurated Dec. 10, her Front for Victory coalition will become the first political bloc to begin a third consecutive presidential term since 1928, when President Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical Civic Union took office, only to be toppled by a military coup two years later, said Leandro Morganfield, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires.
Voting is obligatory in Argentina, and 77 percent of the nearly 29 million registered voters cast ballots in the country of 40 million.
"I've been a political activist my whole life, but I haven't always been able to vote," Fernandez said when she cast her ballot, referring to the 1966-1973 and 1976-1983 dictatorships, which tried and failed to eliminate Peronism as an electoral force. "To be able to vote freely in the Argentine republic is an achievement."
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Michael Warren can be reached at www.twitter.com/mwarrenap
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updated 10:16 p.m. ET Oct. 22, 2011
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Surely, if you didn't see it in the fifth inning of Game 2, you've caught the replay by now. It's only been aired a couple hundred times, and you have to think we'll be seeing it for years to come.
Andrus making a diving stop on Rafael Furcal's hard smash up the middle, then from the edge of the outfield grass, making a glove flip of about 25 feet right to Kinsler on the bag at second for a force out to end the inning and strand two Cardinals runners.
"I don't know if I've made a better play,'' Andrus said afterward. "I have made that kind of play a couple times. No, not in the World Series. The fact that it was in the World Series makes it real special. It's a play I'm never going to forget. You can't practice it. It's instinct, reaction. You have to be focused. In those situations, you have to help the pitcher.''
Asked if that was the best play he's seen Andrus make, Kinsler -- his double-play partner -- actually said: "There are a couple others that come to mind.''
And then he added: But yeah, being that it was a World Series game and that was a run-saving play, that was ridiculous. It was one of the best I've seen, not just by (Andrus), but one of I've the best I've seen. The glove flip was right on the money. It doesn't get any better than that.''
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More newsDeMarco: Even after the single-greatest one-man offensive show in World Series history, Albert Pujols didn't want to talk about himself. But there's no escaping the series-changing nature of the Cardinals' 16-7 win in the pivotal Game 3 in the Rangers' back yard. And Pujols led the assault.
Albert Pujols joined Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit three home runs in a World Series game, tying records with five hits and six RBIs that led the Cardinals to a 16-7 rout of the Texas Rangers on Saturday night that gave St. Louis a 2-1 Series lead.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45002623/ns/sports-baseball/
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What's life like as a Muslim-American?
A new eight-part series on TLC that premieres November 13 will try to answer that question by following the lives of five very different Muslim-American families. The show, "All-American Muslim", was filmed in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit that's known for it's large Arab-American population. It promises to go "inside the rarely seen world of American Muslims to uncover a unique community struggling to balance faith and nationality in a post 9/11 world," according to a press release.
Producers picked a diverse crowd to profile, from sisters who are polar opposites (one wears a headscarf and prays daily, the other has tattoos -- illegal in Islam -- and is married an Irish Catholic) to a high school football coach to newlyweds, in order to show people who "share the same religion, but lead very distinct lives that often times challenge the Muslim stereotype." The series will also address issues such as the post-9/11 life for Muslims and gender roles in Islam.
The show, which is rare for its focus on Muslims, has generated much buzz in the Muslim-American community as well as non-Muslims. Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he is looking forward to watching the series.
"It'll give us a taste of the lives of Muslim-Americans in both their aspirations and concerns. I think the show will be good and humanizing for the Muslim community of Dearborn," said Walid, who is friends with one of the cast members. Walid cautioned that, in terms of ethnic background, Muslims are "much more diverse than what Dearborn may show. Dearborn is an anomaly in the American Muslim landscape for its large Arab-American population and concentrated Muslim population."
The first episode of "All-American Muslim" airs at 10 p.m. Eastern time on TLC.
Here is a run-down of the show's characters, courtesy of TLC.
Suehaila and Shadia: Suehaila wears a traditional headscarf and follows daily prayer rituals - while Shadia, her outspoken sister, is decorated with piercings and tattoos and recently married Jeff, an Irish Catholic who is converting to Islam.Nader and Nawal: Newlyweds expecting their first baby, Nader and Nawal are working to strike the right balance between their traditional Muslim roots and American culture.
Fouad: As head coach of the Fordson High School football team, Fouad has pioneered a shift in his team's summer practice schedule by flipping to night workouts from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. since a majority of his team are Muslim and are fasting for Ramadan.
Mike and Angela: Mike, a deputy chief sheriff, and his wife Angela, a consultant to a major auto manufacturer, are juggling their busy careers with raising their four children in a modern Muslim family.
Nina: A strong, independent Muslim businesswoman, Nina's family runs the premier wedding and banquet hall in Dearborn ? but against their advice, she is trying to venture off on her own to open a nightclub.
Samira and Ali: Samira and her husband of seven years, Ali, struggle with fertility issues and are pursuing numerous options including conventional fertility techniques, dietary alternatives and Muslim supplication prayers. After years of unsuccessful attempts, Samira considers putting on the Hijab in order to be closer to God and hopefully be blessed with a child.
Check out a slideshow of some of the cast members below.
The Jaafar Family
1?of?11
The Jaafar Family of Dearborn, Michigan are part of the cast of "All-American Muslim."
MORE SLIDESHOWS
The Jaafar Family
The Jaafar Family of Dearborn, Michigan are part of the cast of "All-American Muslim."
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