FC Barcelona's Messi is World Player of the Year

ZURICH – Lionel Messi added FIFA's World Player of the Year award to his growing list of accolades Monday, completing a nearly perfect campaign in which his club won an unprecedented trio of Spanish and European titles.

Messi received the award at a gala ceremony in Zurich, easily outdistancing the last two winners — Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka — along with his Barcelona teammates Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in voting among national team captains and coaches.

Messi also received the Ballon D'Or as the best player in Europe after FC Barcelona won the Spanish league and cup and the Champions League. He sealed the team's first Club World Cup on Saturday with an extra-time goal to beat Estudiantes 2-1.

All that's missing from the 22-year-old Argentine's resume is a World Cup title.

"It is beautiful to achieve a year that cannot possibly be improved," Messi said through a translator, calling the FIFA award "the icing on the cake."

Messi, who was runner-up the last two years, received 1,047 points in voting. Ronaldo was second with 352 points, followed by Xavi with 196 points.

The women's award went to Marta for the fourth year in a row. The 23-year-old Brazilian playmaker won out over teammate Cristiane, Kelly Smith of England, and German stars Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings.

"I'm really surprised," Marta said.

Nobody was surprised that Messi won the award, after scoring 38 goals in 51 matches in all competitions during 2008-09 season. He has 15 goals in 22 games already as Barcelona has surged to the top of La Liga and back to the Champions League knockout phase.

His form with Argentina has been less spectacular.

The South American team stumbled into the World Cup after late winners in the final qualifying matches against Peru and Uruguay, with Messi in particular appearing confused and uninspired since Diego Maradona took over as coach last year.

Maradona has labeled Messi his "successor" on the field, and Messi has already surpassed the former great in terms of successes at the club level. But his only international triumph was an Olympic gold medal in 2006, and he will have to play better to lead Argentina to a third World Cup and its first since Maradona inspired victory in 1986.

Asked about his play with Argentina, Messi said he didn't know why he's been unable to recapture his club form with his country.

"Argentina had a hard time in the qualifying round," he said, "but the World Cup is something different. I just hope the team and I can play better."

The late England player and manager Bobby Robson received FIFA's fair play award, while the presidential award for contributions to soccer and society went to Jordan's Queen Rania.

The world governing body also announced its first World XI men's team, which included six players from the Spanish league and five from the Premier League.

Real Madrid's Iker Casillas was goalkeeper, with Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra joining Chelsea's John Terry and Barcelona's Dani Alves on defense. Xavi, Iniesta and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard were picked as midfielders, with Messi, Ronaldo and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres in attack.

The short list of candidates for Player of the Year highlighted the shift in soccer power over the past year to Spain, whose national side is the reigning European champion and whose club sides Barcelona and Real Madrid shared all five finalists for the award.

Ronaldo was the runaway winner in 2008 after a season during which he scored 42 goals and won the European championship with Manchester United. The English side was beaten in this year's final by Barcelona, and the 24-year-old Portuguese winger moved to Real Madrid in the offseason to join Kaka, the 2007 winner of the FIFA award who transferred from AC Milan.

Ronaldo was honored at the gala for scoring the best goal of the year, a 40-yard shot against Porto in last season's Champions League. Ronaldo hailed Messi for having played "very well" but credited his rival's success to Barcelona's fluid play among teammates.

"Xavi and Iniesta also deserve the award," Ronaldo said. "If I had to choose, I would say all three of them."

Xavi and Iniesta have formed the backbone of the world's best midfield, their silky passing, penetrating runs and sublime distribution of the ball perfectly complimenting Barcelona's three-pronged attack of Messi, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

It is a combination that has also been at the heart of Spain's rise to No. 1 in the world, and has the potential to lead Spain to its first World Cup title in South Africa.

"We have great hopes," Xavi said. "Let's see if this is the moment for Spain."

France: a baker scares away robbers with flour

Boissy-Saint-Leger, France - As three men broke into a bakery in town to steal the cash trade, a baker who was present at the scene managed to thwart the robbers by throwing flour face.
It was nearly 8 pm when three men, their faces covered, entered the trade of a weapon threatening the owner to recover the cash. The baker says and AFP: "The robbers were caught by the boss's throat to prevent her from shouting. I ran with my colleague. As I had nothing on hand, I caught a ferry flour, which was near the door, and I swung on the largest of the three types [...] The type was set to take four times with his gun to scare us. But He drew blank and we have not budged. "Being covered in flour, apparently he destabilized the robbers who then left the bakery running to escape. It appears that an accomplice was waiting and that the men have fled by car.

Two million people without electricity

Network Transmission of electricity (RTE) has cut electricity to avoid "a complete black-out" in the PACA region. A wide but short cut: the power was restored in the late afternoon.
Network Transmission of electricity (RTE) on Monday cut the electricity at two million people in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA), following an accident in order to avoid "a black full-out "in the region.

"TEN has just begun the implementation of controlled load shedding to avoid blackouts in the entire region," said a spokesman for the transmission system power lines. These blackouts have occurred due to "a technical incident on the electrical Tavel, near Avignon," whose causes are currently unknown.

They were made necessary due to "consumption of electricity at very high temperatures seen, particularly in the eastern region Paca", said the spokesman. "The selective cuts affect 2 million people.

Some neighborhoods of Marseilles, whose downtown and neighborhood of Nice, were without power early Monday afternoon, according to AFP journalists on site.

The current cut off just before 14:00 hours, was gradually restored by the Office of Network Transmission of Electricity (TEN) of France. The origin of the incident was not specified.

The competition's most beautiful transsexual is born in India

India - Karina Kapoor, model 25, has won the title of most beautiful transsexual India. This contest is a first in this country, where sexual minorities are often discriminated against.
There are just over two weeks, Malika Menard was elected Miss France 2010. With 63 publications to his credit, the contest most beautiful is a French television rendezvous annually in France. Even if the election of Miss France, which holds the most attention, there are other contests Beauty a bit more original: we talk, there is little time for the twentieth edition of Mini-Miss France (see article). In the city of Chennai in southern India, the competition's most beautiful transsexual who has emerged. It is the Indian Community Welfare Organization, which has initiated this projet.Plus 120 people aged 20 to 35 years gathered to compete for the title, which was won by Kareena, model 25 years . But the competition does not stop there, since he also crowned the Miss Hair, Miss Beautiful Eyes and Miss Beautiful Skin. "We thought that this would create an opportunity for the transgender community to show their talents and create a platform where she could express the problems it faces - discrimination, marginalization and prejudice. " says AJ Hariharan, contest organizer and member of the ICWO. The competition is therefore a real hope of media coverage for all sexual communities in India who live on the margins of society

Discover the most beautiful man in the world!

While all offices in all trades, the working girls swoon against the photo of Robert Pattinson, the actor whitish Twilight saga, there are across the globe a true contest which elects the most beautiful man the world ... This is not fun, participants are really muscular, really beautiful, and not merely charming or dark as the vegetarian vampire!
They are 29, all from different countries, and for two weeks they will surpass a jury to be appointed ... the best! In central Taiwan, in Taichung, the jury chose the competitor Bolivia, following a ceremony during which all strolled in swimsuit, evening wear in, and even costumes!

Beyond the simple visual device, on which all men are created equal, participants in the contest of Mister International 2009 must also walk their brains!

The five finalists had to answer questions of general knowledge and thinking ... And the best one won! If the election of Miss France was organized around the same criteria, it is certain that everything would be different ... We notice each year that all want to miss a BTS Tourism, to replace Jean-Pierre Pernaut or help children suffering in the world ...

And the most handsome man in the world this year: Bruno Kettels, Bolivia!

Second came the Spaniard Hector Soria then the candidates of Lebanon, France and Poland reached the third, fourth and fifth ...

Bruno Kettels won $ 5 000 and the right to enjoy a personal trainer ...

And for fun, we offer you the opportunity to see every angle this man who is two hours of gym a day and follows a strict diet for many years ...

Iran: Death to Montazeri returns opponents in the street

Following the death of Hossein Ali Montazeri, a leading opposition figure, Iranian demonstrators have again gathered in the streets to demand the government resign. Since June, supporters of regime change regularly descend on the streets in spite of intense repression. Read Article

It is in Qom, which held the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri What affluédes hundreds of thousands of people from several cities of Iran. (See Video)

Former Dolphin ousted by Ayatollah Khomeini has largely supported the protesters in the month of June On several occasions, the cleric for 87 years has taken an official stance against the repression of demonstrations.

Montazeri had denounced the trials of dissidents arrested in June

He was particularly angered the regime by stressing the illegality of the trials of dissidents arrested in June Several of them were forced to make forced confessions. Hossein Ali Montazeri said:

"The confessions in prison have absolutely no moral or religious value and can be used to impose prison sentences or death. Those who have racked these confessions are criminals and are religiously and legally guilty. "

According to the reformist press, several family members had been arrested following these positions. The official Iranian news was relayed with great discretion to the announcement of the death of Montazeri, and no national mourning has been declared. Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karoubi, opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had called for a day of "public mourning" on Monday and popular participation at the funeral.

Precise instructions to the press obituaries

In a press devoted to the opposition media, Courrier International, citing Radiozamaaneh.com, highlights the lack of information in the official journals:

"The Ministry of Islamic Guidance ordered newspapers not to mention the politics of this dignitary of Islam. They have asked the newspapers to highlight the differences between the Imam Khomeini [founder of the Islamic Republic] and Montazeri. They asked not to mention Montazeri's criticism against the regime.

GM taps Microsoft CFO to run finances

DETROIT – General Motors Co. has hired the chief financial officer of Microsoft Corp. to run its troubled finance operations, tapping a cost-cutter who also is a potential candidate for CEO.

Chris Liddell will become CFO starting next year and report directly to interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr., who is himself a newcomer to the automaker. The 51-year-old Liddell is the first permanent top manager hired from outside the company since it left bankruptcy protection in July. Whitacre, who says he wants to shake up GM's slow and rigid culture, has pushed out top executives and promoted younger managers in recent weeks.

Liddell replaces GM CFO Ray Young, who is transferring to China. The former head of the government's autos task force wrote that GM had the weakest finance operation that task force members had seen in a major company.

Liddell, a former investment banker and Oxford University graduate, brings to GM a reputation for holding down costs and stockpiling cash from his tenure with Microsoft, which last month announced he was stepping down.

In announcing his departure, Microsoft said he was leaving to pursue jobs above the level of CFO.

The New Zealand native is a likely candidate for the top position at GM and could be taking the CFO job to get to know the automotive business, management experts say.

Whitacre, who is 68 and the former head of AT&T Inc., became interim CEO earlier this month but says he doesn't want the job.

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, says it's hard to imagine Liddell leaving a strong global icon like Microsoft for an "eroded pillar of an old economy" without being dangled an opportunity to run it.

GM spokesman Chris Preuss says he does not know if Liddell is a candidate for the top job. He also says he does not know Liddell's pay package, which could be controlled by government-imposed pay limits.

Liddell led an effort this year to slice $3 billion in costs at Microsoft after it became clear the technology industry would not be immune from the effects of the economic meltdown. The plan included the software company's first mass layoffs, wage freezes as well as cuts to employee travel and other expenses.

Liddell also made stockpiling cash a priority. In the most recent quarter, Microsoft's cash and short-term investments that could be quickly converted to cash jumped to $36.7 billion from $31.4 billion three months earlier.

He joined Microsoft in 2005, and during his tenure, the Redmond, Wash.-based company remained an avid acquirer of smaller companies, including a $6 billion takeover of Internet advertising technology provider aQuantive Inc. He was also on board when Microsoft made its $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo Inc. in 2008.

"We're also looking to his experience and insights in corporate strategy as a member of the senior leadership team in helping our restructuring efforts," Whitacre said in the statement.

Liddell came to Microsoft after serving in the same role at International Paper Co., a global paper and packaging manufacturer and distributor.

Before IP, he had CEO experience as the top executive of Carter Holt Harvey Ltd., then New Zealand's second-largest listed company. He also was managing director and joint CEO for CS First Boston NZ Ltd.

Peter Misek, an analyst at Canaccord Adams, says Liddell has both higher ambitions and higher skills that could propel him beyond the CFO level.

"I suspect, I don't know, that the GM challenge is enormous, and if he does a great job there, it will position him well" for the CEO role, Misek says.

Liddell was able to do what many executives could not at Microsoft: change a culture of limitless growth.

"Microsoft wasn't designed for expense containment," Misek says.

Liddell holds an engineering degree with honors from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a Master of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in England. He also is a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting.

Gerald Meyers, a former chairman of American Motors Corp. who now teaches at the University of Michigan, still thinks Whitacre will take the CEO job, but says it's not out of the question that Liddell is getting a trial run.

"If his stated ambition is to be a higher level than CFO, there's really only one level above that, and that's CEO," Meyers says.

Iran cleric's funeral turns to opposition protest

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Tens of thousands of Iranian mourners turned the funeral procession of the country's most senior dissident cleric into an anti-government protest Monday, chanting "death to the dictator" and slogans in support of the opposition amid heavy security.

Giant crowds filled major streets, beating their chests in mourning, waving banners in the green colors of the opposition and shouting denunciations of Iran's rulers as Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri's body was carried to a shrine in Iran's holy city of Qom.

Some mourners clashed briefly with security forces, throwing stones — and hard-line pro-government militiamen charged some protesters until police held them back, opposition Web sites said. The militiamen tore down mourning banners and ripped to pieces posters of Montazeri near his home, the Hammihan Web site reported. Iranian authorities have barred foreign media from covering the rites.

The death of Montazeri on Sunday, at the age of 87, pushed Iranian authorities into a difficult spot. They were obliged to pay respects to one of the patriarchs of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the one-time heir apparent to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

But officials also worried that his mourning rites could give a new push to opposition protests, particularly because they coincide with a week of traditional rallies commemorating a revered Shiite martyr. Montazeri broke with Iran's clerical leadership and became a vehement critic, denouncing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and calling the postelection crackdown the work of a dictatorship.

Mourners shouted "Death to the Dictator" and other slogans in displays of anger against Iran's ruling establishment during the procession in Qom, a city of shrines and clerical seminaries about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Tehran, witnesses said. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest.

Marchers held aloft black-rimmed portraits of Montazeri and green banners and wrist bands in a powerful show of support for the Green Movement of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who attended the funeral along with another prominent protest leader, Mahdi Karroubi.

Footage posted on the Web showed massive crowds chanting in the streets of Qom and beating their chests in a sign of mourning, as Montazeri's body was carried in a coffin draped in black cloth around the city's main shrine several times then taken to a nearby cemetery for burial alongside his son, who died in the early days of the Islamic Revolution.

Security forces clashed with mourners shouting slogans outside Montazeri's house in Qom, and some protesters threw stones, the opposition Web site Norouz reported. It said an unspecified number of mourners were arrested. The report could not be independently confirmed, and witnesses did not report major clashes.

Some reformist sites reported that Mousavi's car was attacked as he left Qom and at least one member of his entourage was injured. The reports could not be independently confirmed.

Thousands of mourners also marched in the cleric's hometown of Najafabad, near the central city of Isfahan. Web footage showed crowds of men beating their chests and chanting, "Oppressed Montazeri, you are with God now."

Women in black robes shouted, "Dictator, dictator, Montazeri is alive," and "Montazeri, you who spoke the truth: Your path will be followed."

On Monday, access to the Internet in Iran was slow, and cellular telephone service was unreliable. The government has periodically restricted communications in an attempt to prevent protesters from organizing.

Authorities were clearly concerned Montazeri's death could set off a string of opposition protests linked to his funeral rites. Traditionally, memorial ceremonies are also held seven days after a death. Moreover, Montazeri's seventh day homage will fall on one of the most important Shiite religious days, marking the martyrdom of a revered 7th century leader — giving even more fuel for a rally.

In another sign of efforts to silence opposition media, authorities ordered the closure of a small, liberal-leaning newspaper, Andishe-no, or New Thinking. The paper had only a limited circulation, but was one of the few reformist publications remaining. Iranian officials also have tried to block opposition Web pages and other sites.

Montazeri broke with the regime in the 1980s after claiming that the ruling clerics violated the ideals of the revolution by taking absolute power rather than serving as advisers to political leaders. He spent five years under house arrest and had only a minor role in political affairs after being released in 2003.

But the outrage after June's disputed presidential election gave him a new voice that resonated with a younger generation. His most pivotal moments came in the summer when he denounced the "despotic" tactics and "crimes" of the ruling clerics — a bold step that encouraged protesters to break taboos about criticism of Khomeini's successor, Supreme Leader Khamenei.

In demonstrations earlier this month, students shouted "Death to the dictator!" and burned pictures of Khamenei — an act that was almost unthinkable just a few months ago.

State television made only a passing reference to Monday's funeral and did not broadcast any images. It mentioned, however, that mourners were chanting anti-government slogans.

On Sunday, Khamenei praised Montazeri as a respected Islamic scholar, but noted his falling out with Khomeini and other leaders of the revolution.

Montazeri's grandson, Nasser Montazeri, said he died in his sleep overnight. The Web site of Iranian state television quoted doctors as saying Montazeri had suffered from asthma and arteriosclerosis, a disease that thickens and hardens arteries.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said one of Montazeri's followers and a government critic, Ahmad Ghabel, was arrested while driving to Qom with his family to attend the funeral. The New York-based group called on the government not to interfere in the commemorations.

Another prominent critic, filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad, was arrested on a charge of insulting officials, the state news agency IRNA reported Sunday. Nourizad, once a conservative government supporter, wrote a letter of protest to Khamenei in September urging him to apologize to the nation for the postelection crackdown.

Montazeri was one of the leaders of the revolution and he helped draft the nation's new constitution, which was based on a concept called velayat-e faqih, or rule by Islamic jurists. That concept enshrined a political role for Islamic clerics in the new system.

But a deep ideological rift soon developed with Khomeini. Montazeri envisioned the Islamic experts as advisers to the government who should not have outright control to rule themselves. He was also among those clerics who believed the power of the supreme leader comes from the people, not from God.

Taking an opposing view, Khomeini and his circle of clerics consolidated absolute power.

STDs Common Among Sexually Active Teen Girls in Cities

Among teenage girls living in U.S. cities, about half acquire at least one of three common sexually transmitted infections -- chlamydia, gonorrhea or trichomoniasis -- within two years of becoming sexually active, a new study has found.


The study of 381 girls, aged 14 to 17, also found that it was common for these patients to have repeated infections.

"Depending on the organism, within four to six months after treatment of the previous infection, a quarter of the women were re-infected with the same organism," Wanzhu Tu, associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and an investigator at the Regenstrief Institute, said in a university news release.


Subsequent sexually transmitted infections (not necessarily the same type) were diagnosed within two years after an initial sexually transmitted infection in about 75 percent of the girls, and within four years in 92 percent of the girls, according to the report in the December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Tu and colleagues also found that screening for sexually transmitted infections may not begin until several years after a girl begins sexual activity, especially among those who become sexually active at a young age.


"This is important because many clinicians are reluctant to address sexual activity with younger teens, and may miss important prevention opportunities," study senior author Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in the news release.

Screening of sexually active teen girls should begin within a year after first intercourse and retesting of infected girls should be done every three to four months, the researchers said.

Philippine volcano gets louder, could erupt soon

LEGAZPI, Philippines – Philippine troops on Monday pressed the last 3,000 villagers who have refused to heed government warnings to leave the danger zone around a volcano that experts say is ready to erupt.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the foothills of Mayon, which on Monday emitted lava fountains, powerful booming noises and other signs of an approaching eruption. But authorities are having trouble keeping villagers away from their homes and farms, said Gov. Joey Salceda.

"There are people who have been evacuated three times, and we sigh: 'You again?' " said Salceda of central Albay province. "We've been playing cat and mouse with them."

After a week of puffing out ash and sending bursts of lava trickling down its steep slopes, the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) mountain overlooking the Gulf of Albay and Legazpi city shook with nearly 2,000 volcanic earthquakes and tremors between Sunday and Monday, state volcanologists said.

The emission of sulfur dioxide — an indication of magma rising inside the volcano — jumped to 6,000 tons per day from the normal 500, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It also reported "audible booming and rumbling sounds" in the eastern flank of the volcano, accompanied by intensified crater glow at night.

Lava fountains bursting from the cone-shaped volcano overnight rose 650 feet (200 meters) in the air, the institute said.

Scientists raised the alert level Sunday to one step below a hazardous eruption, saying one was possible within days. The only higher level is when a major eruption is in progress.

Army troops and police added more patrols to enforce a five-mile (eight-kilometer) exclusion zone around the mountain, Salceda said. The area is about 210 miles (340 kilometers) southeast of Manila.

More than 44,000 residents were given sleeping mats and food inside school buildings, gyms and other emergency shelters, but some have been spotted checking on their farms in the prohibited zone.

About 3,000 villagers have held out, staying behind on the fringes of the danger zone out of concern for their homes and belongings. Many have been evacuated only to come back to tend to farms and property.

Army troops have been deployed to persuade them to move to safety, said Jukes Nunez, a disaster management official.

"We won't bodily carry them away because that will violate their rights," Nunez told The Associated Press. "But we've sent troops to persuade and nag them nonstop to move to safer areas."

Scientists said red hot lava flows had reached three miles (five kilometers) from the crater.

A major eruption could trigger pyroclastic flows — superheated gas and volcanic debris that race down the slopes at high speeds, vaporizing everything in their path. More extensive explosions of ash could drift toward nearby towns and cities. The provincial capital of Legazpi is about nine miles (15 kilometers) away.

In Mayon's other eruptions in recent years, pyroclastic flows had reached up to four miles (six kilometers) from the crater, Salceda said.

"The probability of survival in an eruption is zero if you're in the danger area. The solution is obviously distance," he told the AP.

Mayon last erupted in 2006, when about 30,000 people were moved. An eruption in 1993 killed 79 people.

The first recorded eruption was in 1616; the most destructive came in 1814, killing more than 1,200 people and burying a town in volcanic mud. The ruins of the church in Cagsawa have become a tourist attraction.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo exploded in the northern Philippines in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people.

Google fined $14,300 a day in France over books

PARIS – A Paris court ruled Friday that Google Inc.'s expansion into digital books breaks France's copyright laws, and a judge slapped the Internet search leader with a euro10,000-a-day fine until it stops showing literary snippets.

Besides being fined the equivalent of $14,300 for each day in violation, Google was ordered to pay euro300,000 ($430,000) in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere, which brought the case on behalf of a group of French publishers.

Google attorney Alexandra Neri said the company would appeal.

The decision erects another legal barrier that may prevent Google from realizing its 5-year-old goal of scanning all the world's books into a digital library accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

A U.S. legal settlement that would give Google the digital rights to millions of books is in limbo because U.S. regulators have warned a federal judge in New York that the arrangement probably would thwart competition in the budding electronic book market and compromise copyrights, as well.

The top U.S. copyright official and the governments in Germany and France also have raised objections about that settlement overstepping its bounds. Google is trying to address the critics with a revised settlement that is still under court review.

The French case is relatively small in comparison. It didn't even seem to faze investors as Google shares gained $3.86 to $597.80 in Friday afternoon trading.

Still, the ruling served as a reminder that Google's ambitious push into other markets beyond Internet search increasingly is clashing with fears the Mountain View, Calif., company is getting too powerful.

As part of the backlash, Google has been depicted as a copyright scofflaw that prospers off the content of others — a portrayal the company's management insists is totally off base.

The head of the French publisher's union applauded Friday's verdict.

"It shows Google that they are not the kings of the world and they can't do whatever they want," said Serge Eyrolles, president of France's Syndicat National de l'Edition. He said Google had scanned 100,000 French books into its database, 80 percent of which were under copyright.

Eyrolles said French publishers would still like to work with Google to digitize their books, "but only if they stop playing around with us and start respecting intellectual property rights."

Philippe Colombet, the head of Google's book-scanning project in France, said the company disagrees with the court's ruling.

"French readers now face the threat of losing access to a significant body of knowledge and falling behind the rest of Internet users," Colombet said in a conference call with reporters. "We believe that displaying a limited number of short extracts from books complies with copyright legislation both in France and the U.S. — and improves access to books."

Colombet declined to answer questions about whether Google would remove the books from its database or pay the fine. "We are going to study the judgment carefully over the coming days," he said.

The judgment will have little or no effect on Internet users outside of France. And French books that are in Google's database with publishers' consent will remain searchable, even in France. Colombet could not say how many French books Google has scanned overall, or how many French publishers allowing Google to show its works.

Google has scanned more than 10 million books worldwide since 2004, including 2 million with the consent of about 30,000 publishers, About 9,000 of those publishers are in Europe, Colombet said. Another 2 million books in Google's library no longer are in copyright. Google has been only showing snippets from the remaining books while it tries to iron out copyright disputes.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made catching up on France's digital delay one of the national priorities by earmarking euro750 million (about $1 billion) of a euro35 billion spending plan announced earlier this week for digitizing France's libraries, film and music archives and other repositories of the nation's recorded heritage.

Earlier this week a consortium of French technology companies announced a plan to create a book scanning project they said would be better than Google's, but only in three years time.

Autopsy set for actress Brittany Murphy

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Los Angeles coroners were to carry out an autopsy on the body of Brittany Murphy on Monday following the 32-year-old actress's sudden death at the weekend.

Assistant Coroner Ed Winter said initial reports indicated that the star of "Clueless" and "8 Mile" died from heart-related causes but said toxicology tests would also be carried out.

The TMZ.com entertainment website reported meanwhile that Murphy was very ill in the hours before her death on Sunday and that multiple prescription drugs were discovered in her home.

Los Angeles Police Department investigators said Sunday foul play was not suspected in the death following preliminary inquiries.

News of Murphy's death comes after a medical drama involving her husband Simon Monjack last month, when an ambulance was called to a Los Angeles airport arrival gate as the couple returned from Puerto Rico.

On that occasion, it was the actress's husband who was rushed to hospital. Reports said the couple had been returning to Los Angeles after Murphy was thrown off the set of a movie and fired for difficult behavior.

Murphy made her name in television sitcoms during the 1990s before grabbing notable roles in "Clueless," "Girl, Interrupted," "Sin City," "8 Mile" and "Happy Feet."

She provided the voice of Luanne Platter in more than 200 episodes of the animated television sitcom "King Of The Hill."

Celebrities meanwhile took to micro-blogging site Twitter to express their grief over Murphy's death.

"Brittany Murphy was an incredible ray of Light to so many people. Her smile was contagious. My prayers are with her family and loved ones," wrote Jessica Simpson.

Lindsay Lohan wrote: "My deepest condolences go out to all of Brittany Murphy's loved ones & may she rest in peace... She was a great talent w/a beautiful soul."

Meanwhile celebrity blogger Perez Hilton struck a somber note, saying Murphy's death followed a "decade of decadence" in the entertainment world.

"Hollywood

Evelyne Thomas, Live 8 did not give up!

Last September, Evelyne Thomas made his comeback on TV Direct 8, with his show "Is there a solution to everything."
But with production costs very high, the TNT channel decided last week to stop the charges. Evelyne Thomas, now back on that decision in the magazine Tele Star.

"The show ends, but I'll be a bonus in January on Live 8 with a new concept. This is not a punishment but rather a promotion. I passed the hearing of the case in three months, I am "primisable" "Live 8 had to estimate my capital sympathy deserved wider exposure. A choice has to be examined

Lindsay Lohan: her father accused her ex of hitting him

Former Michael Lohan, who was arrested last Monday, now finds himself in the same position as him. According to a police report, it would indeed hit on the head with his shoe.
According to one witness, Michael Lohan and Erin Muller will be stopped in the driveway of the house of the mother of the young woman last November 14. Michael Lohan was thinking because she was too drunk to drive, which caused the dispute. It would then be out of the car to prevent him from driving.

The father of Lindsay Lohan claims that when he opened the door, Erin Muller was hit in the head intentionally. Erin on her Michael Lohan arrested for violating a restraining order.

There is reason to wonder if Michael Lohan, who is a specialist of vengeance, did not invent this story from scratch to take his revenge against his former ...

The car of the Iranian Moussavi attacked his return from Qom

Car of the Iranian dissident Mirhosseini Moussavi was attacked on Monday in his return to Qom, where he had gone to attend the funeral of the dissident Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, reports the website Kalemie Reform.
A member of the entourage Moussavi was injured in the attack perpetrated by men "undercover" on a motorcycle, said the site.

The attackers smashed the rear window of the vehicle.

Mirhosseini Moussavi had made the journey of 125 km from Tehran to attend the ceremony. He went to Montazeri's home to express condolences to the family, where he was photographed with Mehdi Karoubi, another great figure of the reformist opposition in Iran.

Carrie Underwood engaged to NHL player Mike Fisher

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Carrie Underwood is engaged to Ottawa Senators hockey player Mike Fisher, her publicist said Monday.

No wedding date has been set for the couple, who have been dating for about a year.

"The couple couldn't be happier," said publicist Jessie Schmidt.

Fisher, 29, recorded his 300th career point for the Senators in their 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Fisher had an assist on Anton Volchenkov's goal in the first period.

Asked by The Associated Press last month what Underwood's family thought of Fisher, the 26-year-old singer said they were supportive.

"They love me and I would hope my parents would think we raised a good, smart girl, so she's going to do the right thing no matter what it is," she said.

Days before the CMA Awards in early November, Underwood did not know whether she would be spending the holidays with Fisher.

"Christmas, I don't know. We haven't really thought that far ahead. We kind of take it one week at a time," she said then.

Underwood has kept her relationship largely under wraps, but she gave Fisher a very public shout-out in the liner notes of her current album, "Play On," that was released Nov. 3. She wrote, "Thank you (No.) 12 (referring to his jersey number.) You are the most amazing addition to my life! You are such a wonderful person and have had such an amazing hand in the building of this album and in the growth of me as a person. I love you so much! You make my life better in every way!"

WTO: China unfairly restricting American CDs, DVDs

GENEVA – The World Trade Organization's top arbitrators upheld a ruling that China is illegally restricting imports of U.S. music, films and books, and Washington pushed forward with a new case accusing China of manipulating the prices for key ingredients in steel and aluminum production.

Monday's verdict by the WTO's appellate body knocked down China's objections to an August decision that came down decisively against Beijing's policy of forcing American media producers to route their business through state-owned companies.

If China fails over the next year to bring its practices in line with international trade law, the U.S. can ask the WTO to authorize commercial sanctions against Chinese goods.

"Today America got a big win," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement. "U.S. companies and workers are at the cutting edge of these industries, and they deserve a full chance to compete under agreed WTO rules. We expect China to respond promptly to these findings and bring its measures into compliance."

The Asian country's import restrictions have been a key gripe of Western exporters, who complain that China's rapid rise as a trade juggernaut has been aided by unfair policies that boost sales of Chinese goods abroad while limiting the amount of foreign products entering the Chinese market.

The probe initiated Monday by the WTO — at the request of the U.S., Mexico and the 27-nation European Union — focuses on the other half of the equation by examining China's treatment of domestic and foreign manufacturers with regards to its vast wealth of raw materials.

Washington and Brussels claim that China unfairly favors domestic industry by setting export quotas on materials such as coke, bauxite, magnesium and silicon metal. Export quotas are contentious under trade rules because they can cause a glut on the domestic market, driving down prices for local producers, while leading to scarcity and higher prices for competitors abroad.

Beijing, however, claims that the curbs are an effort to protect the environment, and says they comply with WTO rules. For its part, China is challenging U.S. trade rules on a number of issues such as poultry, and asked the WTO at the dispute body meeting Monday for a new investigation into American import taxes on Chinese tires.

Washington delayed the tire probe for another month, but the global trade referee will likely rule in all these disputes over the course of the next year.

Analysts and observers believe these Sino-American trade fights are only the beginning as President Barack Obama's administration will likely file more cases against China. Obama made campaign pledges to take a tougher approach with U.S. trading partners in the face of soaring job losses and the longest U.S. recession since World War II.

Last week, the two countries settled a dispute initiated by the Bush administration in December over subsidies that China allegedly provides to exporters of famous Chinese merchandise. Beijing agreed out-of-court to eliminate the subsidies, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which will boost the prospects of U.S. exporters of household appliances, textiles, chemicals, medicines and food products.

The media dispute with China focused on a number of complaints raised by the trade associations representing record labels such as EMI and Sony Music Entertainment; publishers including McGraw Hill and Simon & Schuster; and, to a lesser extent, the major Hollywood studios of Warner Bros., Disney, Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox.

The WTO made no finding that implies it is illegal for Beijing to review foreign goods for objectionable content. But it said China cannot limit the distribution of U.S. goods to Chinese state-owned companies, and said the Asian country's burdensome restrictions were not "necessary" to protect public morals.

Aubrey O'Day sexy devil in a dress at the neckline dizzy

Aubrey O'Day, beautiful blonde and former member of the girls-band Danity Kane, appeared really very glamorous at the party for the DVD release of the movie The Hangover. In a charming and ultra-sexy little red dress, the young singer was just perfect.
Aubrey O'Day put on her cleavage and her pretty staggering legs of a gazelle to be the most beautiful. Really radiant and with his glam makeup and delivered a superb all-bright smile, the singer is at the top.

X-Factor Season 1, Bonus 7: Summary

This evening, three semi-finalists of X-Factor will be performing on stage in front of viewers. In this seventh bonus, they will try to reach the final.
W9 propose the semi-finals of the X-Factor. From 20h35, viewers will hear her sing the three candidates remaining in the competition. For two hours, they will occur each turn and will convince the public and jury.Il are only three to try their luck to win the show. The Basil coached by Marc Cerrone, helped by Sébastien Alain Lanty and Marie, the little protected by Julie Zenatti.Ce evening, they will have to seduce the audience by interpreting several songs each. A major challenge, since they are competing to reach the final. At the end of the show, viewers will decide only the participants who will continue the adventure. Tonight also in X-Factor, Christophe Willem will interpret one of his latest hits.

Jackson's death voted top 2009 entertainment story

Here are 2009's top entertainment stories as voted by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by The Associated Press.

1. MICHAEL JACKSON DIES: On June 25, Jackson was pronounced dead at the age of 50. One of the most momentous and shocking deaths in pop culture history, the event reverberated in many ways. There was the ongoing investigation: Jackson's death was ruled a homicide, and his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who says he's innocent of wrongdoing, is being investigated for manslaughter. There was the gigantic Los Angeles funeral. There was the documentary, "This Is It," of Jackson's preparations for a comeback concert series. But, perhaps most of all, there was the celebration of his music, on stages and sidewalks the world over.

2. SUSAN BOYLE BECOMES OVERNIGHT SENSATION: Two 21st-century powers — reality TV and the Web — combined to turn the humble, unknown Boyle into an international star. After Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream" on "Britain's Got Talent" on April 11, the clip spread like wildfire online, totaling more than 120 million views on YouTube. Her album, released in November, had the best opening week sales of a female debut in decades.

3. LATE-NIGHT SWAP: On NBC, Conan O'Brien took over the "Tonight" show, and Jay Leno moved to 10 p.m. All the fanfare may have been overdone, though: At year's end, neither was receiving good ratings.

4. WALTER CRONKITE DIES: The passing on July 17 of Cronkite, a paragon of journalism and a father figure to a nation, was not only the sad loss of a universally acknowledged great man but was a reminder of a bygone era in broadcasting.

5. DAVID LETTERMAN AFFAIR: Letterman's Oct. 1 announcement on his "Late Show" carried two bombshells: He alleged that he had been the victim of an extortion attempt, and he confessed to having affairs with women on his staff. Letterman, who hasn't shied from the subject on air, saw some of his best ratings in years. The man accused of trying to blackmail Letterman, Robert J. "Joe" Halderman, says he was just shopping a screenplay.

6. CHRIS BROWN ASSAULTS RIHANNA: The big story on Grammy night in 2009 didn't take place on stage but outside the ceremony. Chris Brown assaulted then-girlfriend Rihanna, an altercation that led to Brown pleading guilty to felony assault in June. Both R&B stars were in comeback mode before the year was out, releasing new albums just weeks apart.

7. KANYE WEST ROBS TAYLOR SWIFT: Bad behavior, not awards, also ruled the story line at the MTV Video Music Awards. When a stage-crashing West interrupted Swift's acceptance speech for best female video, the rapper clearly underestimated the negative reaction he would inspire.

8. LIVE VIDEO EXPLODES ON THE WEB: One of the biggest trends in online video was the emergence of demand — and supply — for live video. Live online video particularly suited daytime news events (when people are at work in front of computers). Millions online watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama and the funeral of Michael Jackson.

9. KATE AND JON GOSSELIN BROADCAST SPLIT: One of reality TV's latest sensations fell apart just as it was reaching fruition. TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8" was winning its best ratings in its fifth season when the Gosselins — parents of eight children — announced their separation. With more than 10 million viewers, that episode earned the show its best ratings. Arguments in the divorce, which became final in December, have thus far prevented the show from continuing. TLC hopes to debut a show for Kate Gosselin in the spring.

10. HEATH LEDGER WINS POSTHUMOUS OSCAR: Ledger, whose death topped the poll of 2008's top entertainment stories, remained a presence in 2009, when he won an Oscar for best-supporting actor for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

First discovery of a house from the time of Jesus in Nazareth

For the first time remains of a house from the time when Jesus lived were exhumed from Nazareth in Galilee, said on Monday the Israeli Antiquities Authority.
Archaeologists do not establish a direct link between this house and Jesus. According to many Christians, the childhood home of the Virgin Mary was a cave above which stands the imposing Church of the Annunciation.

Yardena Alexander, who led the excavations around the church, explains What emerged was the walls of a house in the first century AD, consisting of two rooms and a courtyard.

This discovery is of utmost importance because it demonstrates for the first time what it was like a house on the Jewish village of Nazareth, "said Alexander in a statement services antiques.

"The building we found was small and unassuming, is probably the model most popular home in Nazareth at the time," she said.

According to the archaeologist, Nazareth, now the largest city in Israel's Arab population, with 65,000 inhabitants, was a hamlet at the time of Jesus.

So far, a number of tombs from this period were found in Nazareth, but no trace of habitation of this century had been uncovered.

Family: Brittany Murphy was ill days before death

LOS ANGELES – Brittany Murphy's family said the actress was ill with flulike symptoms in the days before her death and prescription medications were taken from her home, the Los Angeles coroner's office said Monday.

The 32-year-old star of films such as "Clueless" and "8 Mile" died Sunday morning after collapsing at her Hollywood Hills home. Paramedics tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said they will conduct an autopsy Monday to try to determine what killed the actress, and said her death appeared to be from natural causes. He said the reported illness could have contributed to her death, but it will be weeks before a final determination is made.

Toxicology tests will be performed, and officials will contact her personal physician to get a better sense of Murphy's medical history, Winter said.

Neighbor Clare Staples said she saw firefighters working to resuscitate the actress Sunday morning. She said Murphy was on a stretcher.

Murphy's husband, wearing pajama bottoms and no shoes, appeared "dazed" as firefighters tried to save her, Staples said. "It's just tragic," she added.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

"The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy," Murphy's husband and family wrote in a statement. "She was our daughter, our wife, our love, and a shinning star. We ask you to respect our privacy at this difficult time."

Murphy moved to Los Angeles with her mother, Sharon, in the early 1990s. Her career started with small roles in television series, commercials and movies, but her part in "Clueless" led to larger projects.

She is best known for parts in "Girl, Interrupted" and "8 Mile," and also voiced the character Luanne Platter for more 200 episodes on Fox's animated series "King of the Hill."

Her role in "8 Mile" led to more recognition, Murphy told AP in 2003. "That changed a lot," she said. "That was the difference between people knowing my first and last name as opposed to not."

She married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in 2007.

Murphy's father, Angelo Bertolotti, said he learned of her death from his son, the actress's brother, and was stunned.

"She was just an absolute doll since she was born," Bertolotti said from his Branford, Fla., home. "Her personality was always outward. Everybody loved her — people that made movies with her, people on a cruise — they all loved her. She was just a regular gal."

He said he hadn't heard much about the circumstances of Murphy's death. Bertolotti divorced her mother when Murphy was young and hadn't seen Murphy in the past few years.

"She was just talented," Bertolotti said. "And I loved her very much."

The Paris Bourse finds the path to higher

The Paris Bourse ended the session up on Monday, recovering some lost ground over the last two sessions last week (-1.16% to close Thursday and Friday -0.95%). At the close, the CAC 40 index ended up 2.05% at 3872.06 points for a trade volume of 2.4 billion euros. The famous rally Year-end "appears to be a good reason for investors to" play "on the rise.
N o statistics were published on Monday. In contrast, the rest of this week shortened (end of quotes provided 13 hours Thursday and closing of the Exchange Friday) should be marked by the third estimate of U.S. GDP for the third quarter and the sales figures in real estate the United States.

US expert: 'Too late' to save northern white rhino

OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY, Kenya – A 38-year-old northern white rhino born in south Sudan ate African grasses for the first time in three decades Monday, the first full day on the continent for the world's last four northern white rhinos capable of breeding.

The rhinos' handlers and park officials hope the rhinos will bear young in their natural habitat and save their subspecies. But the four haven't reproduced in years, and a U.S. rhino expert said he believes the effort is futile — suggesting that the northern white rhino is already effectively extinct.

The four rhinos landed in Kenya on Sunday after flying in from a zoo in the Czech Republic. They were transported in wooden crates that read "Last Chance to Survive." Only eight northern whites are believed to remain.

"It makes no sense to move them at this point in time. It's way too little, too late," said Randy Rieches, curator of mammals for the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which has two northern whites. "That's based on a lot of knowledge, a lot of husbandry and certainly a lot of reproductive background."

As plans were made to move the rhinos, Rieches said he shared his opinions with officials at the Dvur Kralove Zoo and Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the game park where the four rhinos now reside.

The northern white rhino is the most highly endangered mega-vertebrate on earth. Risking the few that are left, even though they are not reproducing, while taking funding from other endangered rhinos was a bad idea, said Rieches, who sits on the board of the International Rhino Foundation.

Rhino handlers and park officials in Kenya dismissed Rieches' view, saying that even if chances of success are low, they have to try.

"I'd say of course there's a chance. What was the option? That they stay in the zoo and not breed?" said Berry White, a woman known as the "rhino whisperer" who helped prep the mammals for their move. "Yes, of course a lot of money was spent (moving the rhinos), but people wanted to spend money on this project."

White said female rhinos can breed until they are 30. The two females moved to Kenya are 9 and 20 years old. Animal experts say the northern whites haven't bred in zoos because they form sibling relationships with the opposite sex.

"The girls have a lot of years left in them. One has bred already. Yes, some people would say it's a longshot but not necessarily. ... Let's hope in the next five years there's one or two calves, some buildup," White said.

Rob Brett, the director of Fauna and Flora International, which helped arrange and finance the rhinos' move, said the money donated for the project — from the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs in Australia — was not transferable, though Brett said if it had been his money he would have spent it to protect black rhinos in Zimbabwe.

The donor, Alastair Lucas, said he became involved with the northern white rhino project earlier this year after visiting Uganda and being told parks there no longer have rhinos. He declined to say how much he donated or the cost of moving the animals.

"It just seemed to me extraordinary that no one was picking this up and doing something," Lucas told The Associated Press on Sunday as he watched the rhinos unloaded into large pens. "It seemed to me to be such an important project.

"From where I stand, in 20 years they die out. It seems to me better to give them one last chance," Lucas said.

Even if the two female northern whites do successfully breed, they may not produce a pure genetic offspring. Brett said that breeding with southern whites was "inevitable," and that the goal simply was to pass on as many northern genes as possible. Northern whites are resistant to the tsetse fly and can survive where the fly lives; southern whites cannot.

The last northern white calf born was in 2000. The male and female in San Diego have never mated and there is no chance they can reproduce, Rieches said.

Rhinos operate on a three-year reproductive cycle and when they get out of sync, reproductive pathology and tumors begin, Rieches said.

"They feel that by locating them in another environment, they might start cycling again. That's a gamble at best. If you add in the reproductive pathology, I think you might get better odds in Las Vegas," Rieches said.

No officials at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy would disclose any financial figures behind the rhinos' arrival and upkeep, though Rieches said officials planned to spend $90,000 a year for security. Officials at Ol Pejeta said their security precautions are among the best in the world.

Rhino horns sell for more than gold on a per-weight basis, and have been the reason for a huge poaching problems against the species.

Noah Wekesa, Kenya's minister of forestry and wildlife, said during the rhinos' arrival on Sunday that Kenya has had "an issue" with poaching. In 1973, he said, Kenya had 20,000 black rhinos. By 1989 there were only 285. Today, the population is up again, with 609 black rhinos in Kenya. There are about 336 southern white rhinos, too.

The longevity record for a northern white rhino is 44 years and 10 months, Rieches said.

The oldest of the four rhinos now in Kenya, 38-year-old Sudan, is the only one of the four born in Africa. The other three were born in captivity. The rhinos will remain penned in the Kenyan park as they acclimate to the climate and vegetation. They will be given more room to roam in coming weeks and eventually released to the entire park.

"They're doing great," White said Monday morning outside of Sudan's pen, which had a patch of African grass growing in the middle of it. "He's grazing now. He's grazing for the first time in 33 years."

The Polisario asks world to help the Western Sahara

The recent hunger strike conducted by the pro-independence Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar shows that urgent action against violations of human rights carried out by Morocco, says the head of the Frente Polisario.
The hunger strike was conducted during one month at the airport in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, has shone the spotlight of international news on the Western Sahara as frequently since the annexation of the former Spanish colony in Rabat in 1975.

The Polisario Front said the independence of Western Sahara in 1976.

The militant aged 43 years and mother of two children had stopped eating in protest against Morocco's refusal to let her return to Western Sahara if it does not recognize Rabat's sovereignty over the territory.

She was finally able to go home after the intervention of the United States, Spain and other countries.

"The hunger strike was about our fight and handed over Western Sahara led major international issues," said the leader of Polisario, Mohamed Abdelaziz, in an interview with Reuters at his headquarters in Algeria.

"Morocco must stop its campaign against our people inside the occupied territories. We urge the UN to establish a mechanism to protect human rights and accountable for its action until resolution conflict ", he hoped.

TOWARD RESUMPTION OF TALKS?

Territory the size of Great Britain and has rich deposits of phosphate, and perhaps oil off the coast, the Western Sahara is witnessing one of the oldest territorial conflicts in Africa.

The Moroccan Minister of Communications, responding to accusations of Polisario Front said it was only propaganda.

"Morocco's record on human rights is the best in the region," said Khalid Naciri told Reuters in Rabat.

The Sharifi kingdom, he said, wishes to negotiate a peaceful solution to this conflict. According to Naciri, the Polisario and its allies within the Algerian government attempts to exploit this hunger strike to paralyze the peace process.

The talks are deadlocked, even though both sides say they are ready to resume dialogue. The head of the Polisario reiterated Monday in Algeria.

"Obviously, it is now more urgent than ever to find a just and balanced solution to this conflict. We are ready for direct negotiations with Morocco," said Abdelaziz.

"We believe there are several measures that Morocco can take immediately to facilitate negotiations and to prove his good faith. One of them would free seven of our activists."

In October, the Moroccan police arrested seven members of the Polisario Front who were returning from a trip to the headquarters of their movement in Algeria. Rabat said they were facing charges of treason and espionage, acts that are punishable by twenty years in prison.

Exclusive interview with Arthur

A few days before Christmas and he goes on stage at the Theater de la Gaite Montparnasse in Paris, Arthur was kind enough to give us a few moments when his agenda is overbooké.
Besides, having more time to his family, that's what he requested in his list to Santa! It has been five years since he travels the roads of France to satisfy his passion: making people laugh through his spectacles.

Arthur, at the Gaite, a. .. of gaiety, and intend to prove it to you! Around his favorite themes, which he told us exclusively, you will soon discover January 22 an Arthur in great, great shape.

Far from resembling what has been said about him, Arthur is above all a man who takes risks, even of learning to dance ... and especially to change their minds all those who had assumptions about his ability to make us laugh.

An interview with which you will discover another facet of this man's career extraordinary and that is nothing more than a man ... can not be nicer!

Brittany Murphy as his father did not believe she died of a heart attack!

It's a real twist! Father of Brittany Murphy does not believe his daughter has died of a heart attack as he was shown yesterday evening. Angelo Bertolotti has entrusted: "Brittany has never suffered from heart problems. I do not understand how she died. To me it makes no sense."
His father does not speak of diabetes. But investigators discovered that she was being treated. According to several accounts, she was ill in recent days. It would have had the flu and she also suffered from diabetes. It took so many drugs, as should prove to be an autopsy performed today.

Many prescription drugs have been found in it. However, no prohibited substance was found.

Simon Monjack, her husband of Brittany Murphy, did not want an autopsy. For him, the young actress and singer has unfortunately died of a heart attack. But doctors at the Cedars-Sinai hospital where she is currently perform well at the Justice autopsy.

An autopsy will be performed today. Toxicological analysis will be conducted on the remains. The results will be known within six weeks.

Christina Ricci in panties for an ultra-chic pub!

The wise actress "Sleepy Hollow" can be incredibly sexy, as in this pub for a luxury bag. In this mini-film of 2 minutes, 4 roles it plays and unfolds in panties. Look! Sexy Christina Ricci? Not if we think of her in the role that was revealed to the public in "The Adams Family". But the girl has come a long way, and is now a sexy actress who is not afraid to reveal her charms!

In this video, an advertisement for the last sack of the DKNY brand, the beautiful 29 year old brunette plays 4 different women and kept stringing chic New Yorker, the most intimate lingerie ... Canon panties and bra, the brunette is also in trench coat and evening dress: it's a real parade!

Storm-walloped East Coast returns to work — slowly

NEW YORK – Millions of East Coast commuters returned to work Monday over slick roads and icy sidewalks after a weekend winter storm dropped record snowfall, interrupted holiday shopping and stranded travelers.

The storm crept up the coast on Saturday and Sunday, walloping states from the mid-Atlantic to New England, causing hundreds of delayed or canceled flights, widespread power outages and treacherous driving conditions. The weather was blamed for at least seven deaths, including a snowmobile driver who crashed head-on into a horse-drawn buggy in Pennsylvania's Amish country.

Meanwhile, airports in the Northeast that were jammed up this weekend were working their way back to normal. On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration was reporting that all major airports on the East Coast had average flight delays of less than 15 minutes.

Still, three major airports in the New York City area were expecting an unusually busy holiday travel week as many who were stranded by the cancellation of 1,200 flights over the weekend try to make it to their destinations.

Despite the storm's powerful punch, many took solace in the fact that the timing could have been worse, even if it left people trapped in their homes all weekend.

Thomas Standers, of New Rochelle, N.Y., was feeding dozens of Christmas cards into a mailbox at the train station in Pelham early Monday.

"If we hadn't been stuck inside all weekend, these would never have gotten done," he said. "Now we have a fighting chance they'll get there by Christmas."

Many schools and offices were closed Monday, making traffic a little lighter on slow-moving roads and lessening the strain on beleaguered transit systems. Highways were largely clear, but secondary roads remained treacherous.

In Washington, federal agencies were closed Monday and bus service was running behind schedule, but the Metro finally was able to open all 86 of its rail stations. Subways had been limited to underground stations for two days.

Joy Ricasa, 59, a bookkeeper, said she drove from her home in Upper Marlboro, Md., to the Largo Metro station early Monday to commute into Washington. The roads were "coated with ice," she said.

"I was very careful. I don't want to have an accident," Ricasa said.

In New York City, the Long Island Rail Road urged its riders to allow extra time; several passengers said the ride itself was fine, but getting to the train was a problem.

"The roads are a mess," loan officer Sophia White, 42, said Monday morning after she took the train from Queens to Manhattan, enroute to Jersey City, N.J. "The plow truck came through but it's very icy still."

J. Silhan worked an overnight shift at the Gurney's Inn oceanfront resort in Montauk, N.Y., after spending all day Sunday plowing and digging out people's houses with his father-in-law.

"I've been up 24 hours," Silhan said Monday morning. "I'm going to go crash" — hastily emphasizing that he meant "sleep."

Commuters also found it slow going in Philadelphia, where many residential streets were still snow-covered and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority suspended service on some bus routes.

Even as some workers returned to the job Monday, their children were being given the day off.

Philadelphia's public and Roman Catholic schools were closed to give the city another day to clear streets and sidewalks. Schools also were closed Monday in Baltimore, Roanoke, Va., most of Washington's suburbs and many Long Island towns, among other areas. Washington, D.C., public schools were already scheduled to be on winter break Monday.

On the rails, Amtrak canceled some trains in the East on Monday because of the storm and warned that long-distance trains to the South and West faced substantial delays.

Power outages remained an issue. More than 130,000 people were without power in West Virginia and Virginia as of Monday morning.

The storm came on the last weekend before Christmas, and merchants feared they'd take a hit as the storm blew through, shutting people indoors. Crowds were unusually light Sunday morning at the Providence Place mall in downtown Providence, where Reuben Tillman III, a salesman at Champs Sports, said he had made only one sale in his first couple of hours at work.

"But I do have a theory: Everybody who's here has a SUV," he said. "This is happy truck day."

Tillman predicted that business would be booming closer to Christmas, with people who opted to stay home on Sunday doing last-minute shopping on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The storm yielded record snowfall totals at several locations. The 16 inches recorded Saturday at Reagan National Airport outside Washington was the most ever for a December day. Philadelphia, which recorded 23.2 inches, had its second-largest snowfall since it began keeping records in 1884.

The storm began wreaking misery Friday in South Florida, where it caused flooding and knocked out electricity in the Carolinas before turning to snow as it moved north.

Four people were killed in accidents on snow-covered roads in Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

Another death in Virginia is believed to have been caused by exposure, and authorities there said the weather may have contributed to another traffic death.

In Pennsylvania, a 20-year-old man was killed Saturday afternoon when the snowmobile he was driving crashed head-on into a horse-drawn buggy. The two people in the buggy were unhurt.

In western North Carolina, a man was killed when his car slid down an embankment.

A plow truck driver was found dead in his truck with the motor running Sunday on New York's Long Island, but it was unclear whether his death was related to the storm, police said.

Black ice will be a concern Monday night after sunshine and "a little bit of melting," said Richard Castro, of the Weather Service in Upton, N.Y.

Delphine Chanéac love with a handsome farmer?

The project was announced last October, it will be implemented next month on M6: Delphine Chanéac will live a romance complicated and full of surprises with the beautiful Thierry Neuvic.
In Love cow, a TV movie of 90 minutes, the smart and very urban Lili (Delphine Chanéac) is engaged to Eric (Emmanuel Patron) but she falls in love with the farmer terribly sexy what Luke (played by Thierry Neuvic) . He is already father of a little Antoine while Lili is about to marry it fun to count the cows to sleep, she can not live outside the city. Clearly, while opposing them and yet ... But love is stronger than anything.

It's beautiful like a Barbara Cartland novel but it is a television M6 which combines these two great names in French cinema: recall that Thierry has worked under the direction of Mr. Clint Eastwood in Hereafter and Delphine credited with Adrien Brody for Splice, soon to theaters. Also note that the pretty DJette also released a novel, What's left of me, next February.

Delphine Thierry and give the reply to Emmanuel and Stéphane Metzger Patron (RIS Police Scientifique) or Laure Marsac.

To see the result of this fiction, so Love is in the field, it will take a few days. If you are burning with impatience as the room that accommodates your TV or a fragrant sweet smell of fresh grass and dung, it will wait until January 14 for the evening special campaign M6: the TV movie Love Cow at 20.55 will indeed follow ... the fifth season of love is in the meadow (now program presented by Karine Le Marchand).

The Queen of England is a big fan of Star Trek

Mythic figure in science fiction, Patrick Stewart will receive an honor that our friends the aliens must envy him: he will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England in a few weeks. Recognized and respected by all the geeks and beyond for his character Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Next Generation and Professor X in X-Men saga - there is also a nice cameo in Wolverine -- The Queen has paid tribute to intergalactic hero.
However, it is important to remember that the career of Patrick Stewart, seen at the BAFTA ceremony, should not be limited to these works, important as they are. Indeed, this actor of 69 years is a real passion for theater. He participated in sixty parts of the Royal Shakespeare Company. This artist is also renowned for her voice and doubled the Pharaoh Seti I in The Prince of Egypt.

Sentimental side, Stewart in 1990 divorced his first wife, Sheila Falconer, with whom he had two children, Daniel Freedom and Sophie Alexandra. He became engaged in 1997 with Wendy Neuss, a producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation and married her in 2000. After attending a few years the actress Lisa Dillon is now friends with Sunny Ozell, a lovely woman ... younger than her own daughter. The actor explains his choice: "I just met no women my age."

The Queen of England is looking forward to ennoble Stewart because, according to report from Buckingham Palace, she is a great admirer of the actor

France will submit the files stolen from HSBC in the Swiss courts

The French court agreed to convey 'very soon' to the Swiss judicial files seized earlier this year at the home of Herve Falciani, and requested the investigation into the investment bank HSBC said on Monday 21 December with the Attorney General of Aix-en-Provence, Francis Faletti. 'The prosecutor's office in conjunction with the Department of Justice has reviewed the elements of the request for assistance in Switzerland. There is no particular item which would lead to a lack of transmission, explained the prosecutor.
Switzerland has put pressure on France to retrieve confidential information that Hervé Falciani has stolen between 2006 and 2007 and were used to partially fuel the list of fraudsters held by the French Ministry of Economy. Pending the French decision, Bern has suspended the ratification of a cooperation agreement on tax evasion to come into force in 2010.

In an interview published Sunday in Le Matin, general manager of the bank, Alexandre Zeller, said that the list contained fewer than ten names, suspected by France to tax evasion or money laundering. "The only concrete thing we've seen so far is a list of seven names that showed us the Crown of the Confederation. After verification, we can say that this list contains inaccuracies and inconsistencies. data [Hervé] Falciani (former employee of the bank in Geneva who stole the data) I've seen are either incomplete or contain errors. "

François Faletti recalled that part of the Swiss request had been "executed" earlier this year after a search conducted January 20 at the request of the Swiss authorities. At the time, PV searches and hearings were sent to Swiss authorities. The France forward is now "the other elements in addition" or "files before", said the prosecutor.

These files, which Switzerland accuses Hervé Falciani, a former employee of HSBC, have pirated covered for months by a dispute between Paris and Bern, which recently issued an ultimatum to get them back by Christmas . Investigations Open from these files in France, by the prosecutor of Nice, are related to possible acts of money laundering, while the Swiss investigation was opened to hackers. "We're on two different sites. The investigation will continue on both sides (of the border, editor's note)," said Attorney General.

Michael Jackson: an FBI report to be released

Since the death of "King of Pop" last June, many revelations about him have come to light. However, this time, the information looks explosive, since it is an FBI report to be published.
Indeed, it is a report of three hundred thirty-three pages which should be revealed soon, according to the site TMZ.Au program, revelations about the many trials that have marked the career of Michael Jackson, including cases of sexual abuse between 1993 and 2004, but also the many attempts of extortion which he was victime.Mais apparently nothing to report on the mysterious Dr. Conrad Murray, nor about the singer's death because the investigation is still underway in this regard.

Shakira: beautiful, her man and his animals!

Not bother to worry for Shakira! After a promotional world tour, the Colombian singer has decided to grant itself a well deserved break and is in his house in Punta Del Este, a coastal town in Uruguay, we have found with her beloved Antonio Rua, who was too sexy in her videos and her two dogs. One would think a clip, filming a romantic comedy, but not these images are a reflection of the current daily Shakira. Beautiful pictures, right?

Serbia will file his candidacy Tuesday for entering the European Union

Boris Tadic will visit Tuesday, December 22 in Stockholm to submit the candidacy of his country to the European Union, confirmed Monday, December 21 the Serbian presidency. This decision, which came after several weeks of rapprochement between Belgrade and the EU, has been hailed by the Swedish Prime Minister who welcomed Serbia 'has taken an historic step by deciding to stand'. Read Article

In early December the twenty-seven member states of the EU have agreed to the implementation, long blocked an agreement on free trade between the EU and Belgrade. Serbian citizens are also allowed since Saturday, when holding a biometric passport to travel within the Schengen area of free movement of persons, which includes the majority of EU countries.

A deposit of application to the EU Presidency is the first step for a country aspiring to EU. Serbia is the latest country, from the former Yugoslavia, to present his candidacy to the EU. Slovenia is part of the EU since 2004, Croatia is well advanced in the accession negotiations and hopes to join in 2011, Macedonia has applied since December 2005 but stalled for opening accession negotiations, Montenegro deposited his candidacy in December 2008.

Bosnia mired in an impasse institutional lags, like Kosovo, where Serbia is challenging the declaration of independence before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The proclamation of independence by Pristina authorities have been recognized so far by 64 countries worldwide, including 22 of the 27 EU states. Albania has submitted its candidacy for EU membership in April.

The death of Brittany Murphy: everything you need to know the reactions

Brittany Murphy is officially died yesterday at age 32 of a heart attack. But according to several accounts, she was ill in recent days. It would have had the flu and she also suffered from diabetes. It took so many drugs, as should prove to be an autopsy performed today.
Many prescription drugs have been found in it. However, no prohibited substance was found.

Simon Monjack, her husband of Brittany Murphy, did not want an autopsy. For him, the young actress and singer has unfortunately died of a heart attack. But doctors at the Cedars-Sinai hospital where she is currently perform well at the Justice autopsy.

An autopsy will be performed today. Toxicological analysis will be conducted on the remains. The results will be known within six weeks.

This morning, his family released the following statement:

"The sudden death of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy. She was our daughter, our wife, our love and a bright star in our lives. We draw your attention to meet our distress at this difficult time."

The people multiplied this morning the message:

Ashton Kutcher - who was her ex in 2003: "Today the world has lost a burst of sunshine. My deepest condolences to the family of Brittany, her husband, her mother Sharon fantastic. See you in the other side girl. "

- Jessica Simpson: "Brittany Murphy was an incredible ray of light for many people. His smile was contagious. My prayers are with his family and loved ones.

- Alyssa Milano: "Brittany and I had toured together in 2003. C? Was a gentle soul, full of talent and a big heart"

- Kim Kardashian: "I am shocked d? Learn the death of Brittany Murphy. Clueless is my favorite movie of all time. My prayers are with her husband and his family.

- Alicia Silverstone: "J? Have a lot of? Love for her in my heart and I? Hope that? She rest in peace. C? Is really sad news. I am so sad d? Learn this news. J? I loved working with Brittany. She was so talented, so friendly and so nice. "

Brittany Murphy was born November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. Check his native Georgia to Los Angeles at the age of 13, Brittany Murphy had landed her first role to fourteen years in the television series "Drexell's Class" - She played the role of Brenda Drexel. Thereafter, she played the role of Molly Morgan in Almost Home. In 1990 she was the lead singer of the band "Blessed Soul".

In 1993, she needed to film in "Family Prayers". In 1995, she knows the success with "comedy Clueless" But it was "Sin City" -2005 - and "8 Mile" -2002 - which made him famous worldwide.

She has played in many films which we note "For better and for the laugh" -2003 - "The Ex my guy" -2004 - "Love and Other Disasters" in 2007.

In 2006, she lends her voice to the animated film "Happy Feet" which is broadcast Sunday night on France 2!

Brittany Murphy married last May, the director Simon Monjack in a private ceremony as they had known only four months!

How the IDF wants to remove the illegal settlers

Prepared in the biggest secret within the walls of the Ministry of Defense of Israel, an IDF document comes leak Read Article

The document is a memo from the Israeli army planning the destruction of illegal buildings in settlements during the freeze period. "It is by far the operation of this type the largest Israeli army" on Monday RFI correspondent in Jerusalem.

According to the document, the IDF would intend to use means of large scale to remove the illegal settlers. The numbers of special forces and mounted police backed by helicopters and drones have been mobilized for the occasion. The army should still use a system of electronic jamming of mobile phones to prevent settlers from communicating with each other to organize any resistance.

The document was obtained by the settlers who were then released before going to the wall in the media to show their opposition. Quoted by the Israeli daily Haaretz, a spokesman for the settlers denounced yesterday an army 'preparing for a war of the past "before adding that the colonists were preparing" a series of surprises for which the army is not ready, "citing as an example the recent burning of the mosque of Yusuf in the West Bank.

Leaders from several locations should meet Monday to discuss the response to give to the authorities. A hunger strike is considered as including the implementation of a smear campaign by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Many members of the extreme right have announced their support for the cause of the colonists. According to Michael Ben-Ari, a member of the Party of National Unity, a plan "would cause a civil uprising in the colonies, which might encourage troops to halt their action.

The sign "Arbeit macht frei" Auschwitz found

Police found the famous inscription of iron "Arbeit macht frei", which overlooks the entrance to the former concentration camp Auschwitz, and arrested five suspects apparently unrelated to the neo-Nazi or extreme right. Museum officials have repair panel, cut into three pieces, and hang up as soon as possible.
Five men, aged 20 to 39, were arrested late Sunday night after the discovery of the inscription, which in German means "Work brings freedom". The panel of 5 meters was found in three pieces near the house of a suspect in a snowy forest in northern Poland, at the other end of the country, the camp of Auschwitz is a museum located in the south.

The inscription had been stolen before dawn Friday, causing consternation and indignation in the world. This disappearance had been unanimously condemned by the international community.

The sign marks the entrance to the former Nazi death camp where more than one million people, mostly Jews, were killed during the Second World War.

The arrests were carried through over a hundred details, welcomed Monday the chief investigators, Andrzej Rokita at a press conference.

It is too early to know the motives of the alleged theft. Rokita says the suspects did not appear linked to neo-Nazis or extreme right. Another investigator, Marek Wozniczka, said it would determine whether they had acted on orders. "These are ordinary thieves," he said.

Four are unemployed and fifth owns a small construction company. Four of them have also attended the same flight, winning the 40kg panel. "It seems they have cut enrollment in Oswiecim (Auschwitz in German) Similarly, it is easier to carry," noted Andrzej Rokita. Each piece corresponds to one of the German words.

The suspects should be indicted for stealing an object of particular value and face up to ten years in prison. Other charges could be brought against them.

Museum officials have greeted the news with great relief, despite the damage to the panel. A spokesman Pawel Sawicki said that experts should determine how best to repair it but the authorities hope to put in place as soon as possible.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, praised the speed of the investigation. "Whatever the motivation, it must have a twisted mind to fly the symbol of the Holocaust death camp the world's most famous," he said.

A survivor of Auschwitz, Noach Flug, also welcomed the entry has been found. "We thank the Polish government and Polish police have conducted an intense investigation that led to the discovery of the panel," said the head of the International Auschwitz Committee. "We intend to monitor the investigation to understand the motives of thieves". He found "necessary" to strengthen the security of the site.

Ministerial Meeting in Israel on a possible prisoner exchange

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday morning his chief ministers to decide on a possible prisoner exchange with Hamas militants, against the soldier Gilad Schalit.
The prime minister and ministers have met three times Sunday and also Monday morning. The Army Radio said Israel has a new meeting was scheduled in the afternoon. The question of an exchange dividing the seven officials, Mr. Netanyahu could submit the issue to a vote of his cabinet in full force.

The Franco-Israeli soldier, 23, was detained for over three years in the Gaza Strip by militants close to Hamas. If approved, the prisoner exchange would be within 48 hours to allow the objectors to present their legal objections.

A tent was erected outside the official residence of Prime Minister urging the Government to conclude an agreement. Dozens of protesters were present.

The parents of Gilad Schalid met Benjamin Netanyahu after the ministerial meeting. No evidence has filtered through the discussions. Before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Aviva Schalit pleaded Radio IDF for a decision in the day. She hoped that the ministers "understand that their vote will mean either a death sentence for Gilad, a release."

Exchanges of prisoners are controversial in Israel, some fearing that it encourages activists to remove more hostages. For Palestinians, the release of hundreds of men, women and youth constitute an important victory. It could also lead to a lifting of certain restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt to the Gaza Strip since 2007.

A Palestinian source close to the matter, the prisoners could be released in two stages. A first group of 450 would be released and Schalit would be handed over to the Egyptians and then transferred to Israel. The others were released a few weeks or months later