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Darkness falls in Asia during total eclipse, luring masses

The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the spectacle.

State television in China broadcast this image of the eclipse.

Day turned into night, temperatures turned cooler in cities and villages teemed with amateur stargazers.

The total eclipse started in India on Wednesday morning and moved eastward across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch a rare view of the sun's corona.

Cloud cover in some areas prevented people from fully savoring the phenomenon. Still, many were awed.

Tim O'Rourke, a 45-year-old freelance photographer from Detroit, Michigan, lives in Hong Kong but traveled up to Shanghai -- touted as one of the best spots to watch the eclipse. Watch the 'exceptional' eclipse »

"It was pitch black like midnight," said O'Rourke, standing in People's Square with what appeared to be a crowd of thousands.

"Definitely not disappointed we came. Of course it would have been much better with nice weather, blue skies. But still it was a great experience, it was a lot of fun." he said. Viewing the eclipse in pictures »

Total eclipses occur about twice a year as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun on the same plane as Earth's orbit. Wednesday's event lasted up to more than six minutes in some places. Watch what a total solar eclipse entails »

In India, where an eclipse pits science against superstition, thousands took a dip in the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi to cleanse their souls, said Ajay Kumar Upadhyay, the district's most senior official. Send us your photos of the eclipse

The ritual turned into tragedy when an 80-year-old woman died and eight others were injured in what was called a stampede in some media reports. Upadhyay called the incident a "commotion" during sacred rituals in Varanasi. Watch India's reaction to the eclipse »

"Apparently, the woman died because of suffocation and after that there was some commotion, in which some eight other elderly women were injured. But it was not a stampede-like situation," Upadhyay told CNN.

It was sunny skies in Hong Kong for the eclipse, where students, parents and the elderly flooded a primary school to watch in the southern Chinese enclave.

The local astronomy society gave a presentation on how an eclipse happens and children climbed up ladders to look through two large telescopes on the school roof -- packed with skygazers -- to catch a glimpse of the moon moving across the sun. Read blog on Mother Nature conducting grand eclipse show

Others looked through binoculars covered with solar filter paper or through a large rectangular block labeled "Large Solar Filter," where they could take pictures of the moon moving over the sun.

Astronomy enthusiast Louis Chung, 13, brought his teacher to the school to witness the eclipse.

"City folks wouldn't usually be able to see this. Nature is wonderful. It is awesome to know that nature can provide such spectacular sights," said Chung, a member of the Hong Kong Astronomical Society.

"Nature is incredible, and there is too much we don't know about," said another Hong Kong local, Yee Ping, a journalist for a financial newspaper. "We try to know more and see by our own eyes so we can feel the power of nature."

Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the total eclipse will first be visible at sunrise in India and about four hours later just east of Hawaii. A partial eclipse will be visible as far south as northern Australia and as far north as Siberia, he said.

In some cultures, legends and folklore surrounds eclipses. Watch as eclipse-watchers head to China »

In India, an eclipse is considered inauspicious. Women forbid pregnant daughters-in-law from going outside out of the belief that their children could be born with marks. Some temples won't offer any prayers on the day of an eclipse -- such as the one next to the planetarium in Mumbai, which said it won't even light a stick of incense.

In Chinese tradition, there is a story about a heavenly dog eating the sun. As the story goes, people would make noise to scare off the dog and rescue the sun, said Bill Yeung, president of the Hong Kong Astronomical Society.

"In ancient China, we shared the same impression with our Indian friends that a solar eclipse was not a good thing," he told CNN. Read blog on how eclipse-chasers are gambling on weather

Some of the more unusual ways to see Wednesday's eclipse include a cruise ship that will travel along the centerline off Japan and from aboard a 737-700 chartered plane in India.

More conventional viewing parties in Shanghai had been planned along the beach, in a park and in skyscrapers. A music festival has been organized in Japan's Amami island, with more than 6,000 people expected, and Japanese television has shown rows of tents set up on Akusekijima island.

The witnesses of the eclipse will range "from the farmer who only knows legends of eclipses and may not know this is happening at all to the world's experts who have come specifically to the Shanghai region to make the most detailed scientific analysis possible," added Binzel, the MIT astronomer. iReport.com: Solar eclipse as seen from a Buddhist temple

Bob Johnson, of Sasketchewan, Canada, applied for his first passport to come and see the eclipse in Shanghai.

"During totality, we didn't see anything. We saw up to 60 percent partial eclipse but then the clouds came in and it downpoured," said Johnson. "I am not really disappointed. I'm a lot happier than yesterday because I didn't think I'd see anything. The partial was beautiful

Syed Ashraful made acting GS for council

Syed Ashraful IslamStar Online Report

Syed Ashraful Islam, second joint general secretary of Awami League, has been appointed acting general secretary of the party by its central working committee, ahead of the national council.

The central working committee of the ruling party sat today to finalise all necessary preparations for its triennial national council billed for July 24.

The meeting kicked off at 6:15pm with AL president Sheikh Hasina in the chair at her political office at Dhanmondi in the city.

Party insiders said the meeting would approve the provisional changes the AL made to its constitution for registration with the Election Commission before the ninth parliamentary elections on December 29 and declaration paper, which has been prepared in line with the party's electoral pledges.

It would also approve speech of party president and reception committee, general secretary's report, organizational report, condolence proposal, and report of party funds to be placed at the council session.

hina: Urumqi Riots An Al-Qaida Ploy

hina: Urumqi Riots An Al-Qaida Ploy

by OfficialWire NewsDesk (OfficialWire) BEIJING, CHINA

The July 5 ethnic violence between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in China's Urumqi city was part of a plan to help al-Qaida, the state media said Thursday. A lengthy article in the China Daily said as a neighbor of Afghanistan, China has suffered much because of the turbulence in that country. The report claimed evidence revealed the Uighur separatists, blamed for the July 5 riots in Urumqi, have close relations with al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Urumqi is the capital of China's northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region, which is close to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ethnic tensions have simmered for years in the region as many of the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs resent being ruled by Han Chinese, the main Chinese group in the country. The China Daily report referred to the new U.S.-led offensive against Islamic militants in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, and said the sooner peace returned to Afghanistan the better it would be for China. The report said the Urumqi riots took place immediately after the launch of the new offensive in Afghanistan. "They are not coincidental because terrorist groups in Central Asia have always had close connections," the report said. The separatists' ploy is to make Chinese people unwilling to participate in the "West-led reconstruction of Afghanistan," the report said, adding, "After all, disorder and violence in Afghanistan is to the great advantage of al-Qaida."

Recession-Related Crime Surges In Regions

Tom Rayner, home affairs producer

Some areas of England and Wales are experiencing what appears to be a surge in recession-related crime.

There has been an increase in snatching bags and pickpocketing

Latest Home Office figures show a relatively small increase nationally in offences such as burglary and robbery - but the regional breakdowns show much higher rates.

Cambridgeshire, Hampshire and Leicestershire have experienced at least a 10% increase in burglary.

Robberies in Sussex, Thames Valley, North Wales and Leicestershire have risen by at least 12%.

Nationally there was also a 25% increase in bag snatches and pickpocketing, as well as a 10% increase in shoplifting.

The overall number of crimes recorded by police in England and Wales in the financial year 2008/09 was down 5% to 4.7 million offences.

(Police Recorded Crime based on data given by police to the Home Office. British Crime Survey based on large survey of people across the country)

The number of people killed also saw a dramatic fall to a 20-year low.

There were 136 fewer homicides, including murder, manslaughter and child killings compared to a year earlier.

However, there was an increase in drug offences for the second year running.

In a Home Office briefing, statisticians said a 17% fall in the number of firearm offences may have contributed in part to the reduction in homicides.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "The latest crime statistics are encouraging.

"Since 1997, overall crime has fallen by 36% - a total of six million fewer crimes. Violence is down by 41% and domestic burglary down by 54%."

We know that during economic downturns certain crimes face upward pressure, which is why we've already taken action to tackle these head on.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson on the latest crime statistics

Referring to the increase in acquisitive crimes in some regions, Mr Johnson added: "We are not complacent.

"As in previous years, we see changing patterns of crime and we know that during economic downturns certain crimes face upward pressure, which is why we've already taken action to tackle these head on."

Figures relating to knife crime showed overall there were more than 38,000 recorded offences.

But this cannot be compared to the previous year as new categories involving a knife, such as rape and actual bodily harm, have been added to the latest statistics - prompting shadow home secretary Chris Grayling to accuse ministers of trying to "cover up" the scale of the problem.

However, like-for-like offences showed that there was an increase in attempted murders involving a knife from 245 to 271.

New element named 'copernicium'

Discovered 13 years ago, and officially added to the periodic table just weeks ago, element 112 finally has a name.

It will be called "copernicium", with the symbol Cp, in honour of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

Copernicus deduced that the planets revolved around the Sun, and finally refuted the belief that the Earth was the centre of the Universe.

The team of scientists who discovered the element chose the name to honour the man who "changed our world view".

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) will officially endorse the new element's name in six month's time in order to give the scientific community "time to discuss the suggestion".

Scientists from the Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, led by Professor Sigurd Hofmann, discovered copernicium in fusion experiments in 1996.

"After IUPAC officially recognised our discovery, we agreed on proposing the name (because) we would like to honour an outstanding scientist," said Professor Hofmann.

Copernicus was born 1473 in Torun, Poland. His finding that the planets circle the sun underpins much of modern science. It was pivotal for the discovery of gravity, and led to the conclusion that the stars are incredibly far away and that the Universe is inconceivably large.

Under IUPAC rules, the team were not allowed to name the element after a living person. But when asked if, rules aside, he would have liked to have "hofmanium" added to the periodic table, Professor Hofmann told BBC News: "No, I think copernicium sounds much better."

Nokia downbeat on handset sales

Nokia downbeat on handset sales

By Andrew Ward in Stockholm

Published: July 16 2009 12:14 | Last updated: July 16 2009 15:43

Shares in Nokia slid more than 14 per cent on Thursday after the world’s largest mobile phone maker cut its outlook for margins and market share amid continued decline in global handset sales.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive of the Finnish group, said there were signs that the overall market was bottoming and hailed the group’s “solid performance” as it announced second-quarter earnings that narrowly beat analysts’ expectations.

But investors chose to focus on downgrades in the group’s guidance for margins and market share in the remainder of the year, as Mr Kallasvuo acknowledged that competition remained “intense” in a declining market.

Nokia said it expected its market share to remain flat in 2009, compared with 2008, having previously predicted an increase.

It also conceded that operating margins in its main devices and services division were likely to miss an earlier target to be in the teens in the second half of the year.

In afternoon trading in Helsinki shares in Nokia were €1.56 cent lower at €9.54.

The downbeat assessment of the global handset market followed results from rival Sony Ericsson, which reported a €213m loss compared with a previous year profit and recorded a sharp fall in sales for the three months to the end of June.

Analysts were encouraged, however, by the robust second-quarter results, with sales and profits up from the previous quarter as the rate of decline in the market slowed.

Operating profits were down more than 70 per cent at €427m, or €0.10 per share, compared with last year, but this was better than the 72 per cent decline forecast by analysts and the 90 per cent drop suffered in the first quarter.

Sales were down by nearly a quarter at €13.2bn against the same period a year ago but this was up 7 per cent from the prior quarter.

“As a result of strong operational execution, underlying operating margins improved sequentially in all segments. Competition remains intense, but demand in the overall mobile device market appears to be bottoming out,” said Mr Kallasvuo.

He highlighted a slight increase in overall market share during the quarter to 38 per cent, while the group’s share of the fast-growing smartphone market rose to 41 per cent.

Jackson was 'healthy, vibrant' at last rehearsal

OS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The rehearsals ended on a high note that night.

Jackson, here at a June 23 rehearsal, "was full of jokes, full of life," band vocal coach Dorian Holley said.

Michael Jackson was energetic and excited. He popped his signature moonwalk and dance spins that gave chills to some of those watching.

As he walked to his car, he put his arm around concert promoter Randy Phillips and -- as Phillips later recounted -- in his soft voice, whispered: "Thank you, I know we're going to get it there together. I know I can do this."

That was late Wednesday night, June 24. A few hours later, Jackson was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead.

"All I know is that the Michael Jackson that hugged me and said 'goodnight' was a healthy, vibrant human being about to undertake the greatest undertaking of his life," Phillips said Thursday. "And something happened between 12:30 when he left us and the morning when I had to rush to the hospital when I got the first call." Watch Jackson rehearse for London shows »

The death of the pop icon shocked the music world, not only because many fans were looking forward to his 50 sold-out shows in London, England, beginning in mid-July, but also because the 50-year-old singer -- while a step slower than in his prime -- was apparently healthy and up to the task of what has been described as a grueling show.

MICHAEL JACKSON The Memorial

Tuesday, join CNN for all day coverage as the world celebrates the life of a worldwide pop icon, and don't miss our prime time coverage starting at 8 ET.

see full schedule »

"He was just like a kid in the candy store because he was seeing his vision come alive," said Dorian Holley, the vocal coach for Jackson's band, about the last rehearsal.

"He was just full of jokes, full of life," Holley said. He added that Jackson was due to be back at rehearsals again at 4:30 p.m. on the day of his death.

On Thursday, Phillips' promotion company, AEG Live, released a 1½-minute rehearsal clip that was shot two nights before Jackson's death.

In that clip, Jackson barreled through the song "They Don't Care About Us." As a guitarist played a riff, he danced next to her and then led eight backup dancers in a choreographed march, reminiscent of his breakthrough music video "Thriller."

The clip -- shot at the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles, California, on June 23 -- ends with a voice off stage saying, "Hold for applause, hold for applause ... fade out."

Two days later, Jackson was dead.

Phillips said a doctor, hired by the tour's insurance carrier, examined Jackson before AEG proceeded with the rehearsals -- and gave the singer the green light to continue.

"He examined Michael for about five hours at his house and I think they went somewhere for some other tests," Phillips said. "We are obviously not privy to the patient-doctor relationship with that information, but the insurance broker told us that he passed with flying colors."

The production pace in those final weeks was ferocious, some of the attendees said.

Jackson's manager, Frank DiLeo, told a radio interviewer that he discussed tweaking the strenuous two-hour format of the shows.

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"We were going to do one of two things," DiLeo told KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, last week. "We were either going to do so much in the beginning, take a half-hour break, then come back and do the second half of the shows. Or we were going to cut it down to 90 minutes."

The exacting rehearsals may have been taking a toll on Jackson, his doctor's lawyer has said.

"Michael Jackson didn't eat very much," said Edward Chernoff, the lawyer for Jackson's cardiologist, Dr. Conrad Murray. "He really didn't drink very much. He didn't hydrate very well. When he rehearsed, it was very strenuous exercise."

As authorities await toxicology reports to determine how Jackson died, fans around the world lamented the loss of a great performer whose ability to dazzle seemed intact, if inhibited, in the short video clip.

"He still moves better at 50 than I could at 15," said Stephanie Siek, a graduate student in Frankfurt, Germany. "But he also seems to be holding back in a way he never did in his older videos or other footage I've seen. I think it would have been a great show, but I think that a lot of people would have been disappointed, because he was so iconic in his prime. That's a very, very hard standard to live up to."

Sixteen Percent Of High-Impact, High-Tech Firms Founded By Immigrant Entrepreneurs

July 16, 2009 10:55 AM EDT

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sixteen percent of high-impact, high-tech firms have at least one immigrant founder, according to a study released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Although these firms are concentrated in states with large immigrant populations, in most other respects they resemble high-impact, high-tech firms founded by native-born entrepreneurs.

Moreover, these immigrant entrepreneurs are highly educated and appear to be strongly rooted in the United States. Roughly 55 percent of the foreign-born founders hold a masters degree or a doctorate. In addition, they are more than twice as likely as native-born founders to hold a doctorate. Furthermore, 77 percent of the foreign-born high-tech entrepreneurs are American citizens and, on average, they have lived over 25 years in the United States. Two-thirds of them received their college degrees here, as well.

"Immigrant entrepreneurs clearly contribute a significant amount to our country's cutting edge high-tech firms," said Shawne McGibbon, acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy. "This report outlines these contributions and delivers important new data about immigrant entrepreneurs."

High-tech Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the United States, written by David Hart, Zoltan Acs, and Spencer Tracy, Jr. with funding from Advocacy, defines high-impact firms as those with sales that have at least doubled over the 2002-2006 period and which have significant employment growth during that time. The authors defined high-tech industries using research and development employment as a share of total employment as the key criterion.

For a complete copy of the report, visit www.sba.gov/advo. The Office of Advocacy, the "small business watchdog" of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policymakers. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.

ndian Politician 'Should Be Raped' Uproar

An Indian politician has been arrested and her house set on fire for allegedly suggesting a rival should be raped to better understand the plight of sex attack victims.

Rita Bahguna Joshi (L) and Mayawati

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, chief of the Congress party in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, is being held for 14 days pending a probe into the matter.

It is alleged she promoted social enmity, insulted a woman's modesty and insulted a person of lower caste.

No charges have been filed yet, but the three offences are punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Joshi's house in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow was set on fire on Wednesday night, hours after she made a speech criticising state Chief Minister Mayawati.

Victims should "throw the money at Mayawati's face and tell her, 'You should also be raped and I will give you 10 million rupees"'.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi's controversial comment

Mayawati, a single woman, belongs to the Bahujan Samaj Party which draws its support from the low-caste Hindus.

For centuries, those from low castes have remained underprivileged in India's deeply hierarchal society.

But, in recent years, members of low castes have achieved enormous political clout, which became evident when Mayawati took control of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, in May 2007.

The Bahujan Samaj Party is a bitter rival of the Congress, which runs the federal government and some of India's 29 states.

After being arrested, Joshi said her comments were taken out of context.

Her speech was about the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and the increasing number of rapes in the state.

I regret what I said in a fit of anger. If it is being misconstrued, if it's being misinterpreted, it is being taken out of context, then I regret it.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi

Citing cases in which some women were paid 25,000 rupees (£313) after being raped, Joshi said simply compensating them with money was not enough.

Victims who are raped should "throw the money at Mayawati's face and tell her, 'You should also be raped and I will give you 10 million rupees (£125,000)

China and Australia trade warnings on Rio case

BEIJING (Reuters) – Australia and China traded warnings on Thursday over Rio Tinto employees detained for spying, as the United States urged Beijing to ensure transparency and fair treatment for staff of foreign companies.

Over a week after detaining an Australian Rio executive and three of his Chinese colleagues on allegations of stealing state secrets related to sensitive iron ore price negotiations, China's Foreign Ministry warned Australia against interference.

"We resolutely oppose anyone deliberately whipping up this case or trying to interfere in China's judicial independence," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters. "This is not in Australia's interest."

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he did not expect relations to be harmed by the case, but warned: "China itself does need to think about whether its handling of this matter has any adverse implications for it."

Smith and Chinese officials met on Thursday on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, but both sides declined to comment on their talks.

The Rio detentions show how the general murkiness of state secret laws puts foreign investors at risk when dealing with state-owned entities and potentially sensitive economic information, a point U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke raised during a CNN interview.

"These are of course of great concern with respect to U.S. investors and multinational companies from around the world that have projects here," Locke said.

"We need to have transparency, we need to have assurances and confidence that people working for these multinational companies ... will be treated fairly."

Locke said he stressed to Chinese officials that they communicate with the Australian government on the case. He did not raise the issue during meetings with the Chinese premier.

STATE DATA OR STATE SECRETS?

Rio Tinto's China team managed operational details of term contracts for iron ore, a key ingredient in steel making, as well as tracking market information.

Information in China is often widely available before it is officially released. On Thursday, for example, a Chinese paper published the second quarter GDP data, citing an official who had given a speech the day before.

At the official press conference later that morning to release the second-quarter data, National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Li Xiaochao said the leak would be investigated but stopped short of saying it constituted a "state secret."

But in an op-ed in the Shanghai Securities News, a researcher from the Ministry of Commerce said that China's bottom line in iron ore talks was definitely a state secret.

The detentions have complicated annual negotiations to set the price at which mills import contracted iron ore.

This year's negotiations have been particularly fraught, since they coincided with the collapse of a deal by Chinese flagship aluminum firm, Chinalco, to increase its stake in Rio.

Instead, Rio and BHP plan to merge their iron ore operations in western Australia, although they say they will keep marketing separate. The Chinese steel industry fears the tie-up between the two Australian giants will allow them to keep prices higher.

In the absence of a formal settlement between the Chinese steel industry and Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, major Chinese mills had agreed to pay 33 percent less than 2008 prices -- in line with settlements reached by Japanese and Korean mills, sources told Reuters.

The annual negotiations are "definitely not over," a China Iron and Steel Association negotiator told the Caijing news organization, but acknowledged some mills had agreed to a 33 percent cut.

Traditionally, all the mills accept a settlement reached between any mill and any of the three miners, BHP, Rio and Vale.

China's flagship steel mill, Baosteel, said that none of its employees had been detained or assisted in the investigation. Chinese media had earlier reported the lead negotiator for previous years' talks, from Baosteel, was among those investigated in the probe.

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer and Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Michael Perry and Jim Regan in Sydney; Editing by Nick Macfie)

30 Rock leads the way for Emmys

Comedy 30 Rock, starring Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, leads the nominations for this year's Emmy awards with 22.

In the best comedy category, which it has won for the past two years, it goes up against shows including The Office, Family Guy and Flight of the Conchords.

Briton Hugh Laurie is up for best drama actor for House while Kenneth Branagh is up for best actor in a mini-series or film for BBC One's Wallander.

The awards will take place on 20 September in Los Angeles.

Laurie, 50, has previously won two Golden Globes for playing Dr Gregory House.

Branagh, meanwhile, is up for his performances as the eponymous police chief in the TV adaptation of the Wallander novels, by Swedish author Henning Mankell.

The show's director Philip Martin is also nominated for an award.

Branagh is up against fellow Briton Sir Ian McKellen, 70, who is nominated for the film version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's King Lear - first shown in the UK on More4.

BBC period dramas Little Dorrit and The Tudors received 11 and five nods respectively.

Sir Tom Courtenay and Andy Serkis, who starred together in Charles Dickens adaption Little Dorrit, will compete in the best supporting actor in a mini-series or movie category.

No. This is some sort of trick fest The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons o his nomination

Entourage, How I Met Your Mother and Weeds complete the line-up of best comedy series contenders.

Grey's Anatomy star Chandra Wilson and The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, who announced the awards together, were both featured on the list.

"No. This is some sort of trick fest," said Parsons when his nomination for best actor in a comedy series was announced.

Wilson is up for best actress in a mini-series or movie, for Accidental Friendship, and supporting actress for Grey's Anatomy.

"I'm going to the party," she said.

Best drama

TV movie Grey Gardens, starring Drew Barrymore, got the second most nominations with 17 awards.

Mad Men, which won the best drama prize last year, will compete against controversial polygamy series Big Love, Damages, Breaking Bad, Dexter, House and Lost in the same category this year.

The 1960s-set period drama is up for 15 other awards.

Glenn Close, who was named best actress in a drama for Damages last year, is up for the same award again.

She is up against Brothers and Sisters star Sally Field, Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men, Holly Hunter for Saving Grace, and Law and Order's Mariska Hargitay.

British actor Hugh Laurie, who stars in House, is up against nominees including Michael C Hall, for Dexter, and Mad Men's Jon Hamm in the best actor in a drama series category.

Hugh Laurie is up for best actor in a drama series

30 Rock is set behind the scenes on a fictional sketch show.

Its creator Tina Fey, who also writes and stars in the show, has again been nominated for best comedy actress.

The star - who scooped the award last year - will go up against actresses including Samantha Who? star Christina Applegate, Sarah Silverman for The Sarah Silverman Program, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Alec Baldwin - winner of last year's best comedy actor for 30 Rock - is up for the same award this year, competing against nominees including Parsons, Jemaine Clement for Flight of the Conchords, Steve Carell for The Office and Charlie Sheen for Two and a Half Men.

Weekly late-night sketch show Saturday Night Live features in 13 categories with sometime contributor Justin Timberlake nominated for best guest actor in a comedy series.

China GDP growth accelerates to 7.9%

China GDP growth accelerates to 7.9%

By Richard McGregor in Beijing

Published: July 16 2009 03:59 | Last updated: July 16 2009 11:49

Beijing is in reach of its 2009 growth target of 8 per cent after its economy accelerated significantly in the second quarter on the back of increased government spending and a surge in bank lending.

The economy expanded by 7.9 per cent in the three months to the end of June over the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Thursday, with investment, industrial production and retail sales all contributing to higher output.

Li Xiaochao, a spokesman for the NBS, said the economy “had stabilised with increasing positive changes” after dipping sharply at the end of last year and expanding by only 6.1 per cent in the first quarter, leading many economists to believe that the government would not be able to meet its year-long growth target of 8 per cent.

The high-speed growth, above analysts’ consensus forecasts, was driven by the government’s aggressively loose fiscal and monetary policies, funded largely by record lending by state banks.

But the government’s pump-priming has turned the economy around, prompting rapid revisions by many investment bank economists, and the World Bank, to upgrade China’s outlook.

“The Rmb1,530bn in new loans in June brought total new lending in the first half of the year to Rmb7,400bn, or almost one quarter of our estimated 2009 GDP,” said Wang Tao, of UBS, in Beijing.

“We now expect total new lending in 2009 to reach Rmb9,000bn, a speed of re-leveraging unprecedented in China’s history.”

The bank lending and fiscal spending has driven fixed asset investment, the prime engine of growth, up by 33.5 per cent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2008.

Government incentives for consumption, such as rebates on buying cars and white goods, helped support retail spending, which expanded by a healthy 15 per cent in the first six months of the year.

Inflation, the Chinese government’s biggest policy headache until the middle of last year, remained under control in the first half of the year, with the consumer price index falling by 1.1 per cent from a year ago and 1.7 per cent in June alone.

Many local economists believe that the central government will not begin to rein in the stimulus programme until inflation begins to pick up.

The absence of inflation will in the meantime encourage Beijing to maintain loose monetary policies.

At his press conference, Mr Li appeared to suggest that the government was not yet ready to apply the brakes to the economy.

Although momentum was clearly picking up, he said the recovery was “unbalanced” and there were still “uncertain and volatile factors” at work in the economy.

However, the faster-than-expected second quarter figures may strengthen the case already being argued internally by the central bank and the bank regulator for the stimulus to be reined in.

“We believe that the rapid recovery in growth, plus concerns about inflation and asset quality, will lead to a change in macro policy, and we look for policy consolidation in the months ahead,” said Ms Wang, of UBS..

Michael Jackson is Facebook's most popular

By Stephanie Busari
CNN news

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Michael Jackson has officially become the most popular person on Facebook, with more than 7 million fans on the social networking site.

The Michael Jackson Facebook page is now the most popular on the social networking site.

Previously, the most popular person on Facebook, with just over 6 million fans, was U.S. President Obama.

Over the past week, Jackson's page has grown from 80,000 fans to just over 7 million, generating the largest response on a Facebook page, the social networking site says.

He has continued to gain about 20 fans per second and even more during peak traffic hours, said social media commentator Nick O'Neill, founder of the Social Times Web site.

By comparison, actor Ashton Kutcher recently entered a race to beat CNN's Larry King to 1 million followers on Twitter. Kutcher won and remains the most popular person on Twitter -- but still has only 2.6 million followers.

During his memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, all 10 trending topics on Twitter.com were Jackson-related.

Jackson's popularity and the viral nature of Facebook fan pages are the primary reasons for the huge fan base, O'Neill explained.

He said, "It's simply his popularity. Also, as users become fans, the page gets recommended to others, driving the viral growth of the page.

"Michael Jackson is simply the largest celebrity in the world. While he was a controversial figure, he clearly attracts the attention of the global media," he continued.

The Facebook page has become an online memorial to Jackson, with thousands of comments from around the world; dozens appear every minute.

Free virtual versions of Jackson's famous glove are the most popular gift on the site, with more than 800,000 sent to members.

The huge following leaves the singer's heirs (and his record label) with a massive network to communicate with fans and continue the massive resurgence of interest in Jackson's music, O'Neill said.

"While Sony has not heavily engaged the fan base on Michael Jackson's page, they at least have a presence. If your fans are there, you should be there.

"This also provided an ongoing promotional channel for any future products that are released. It's simply not an option and will become a component of all marketing strategies."

There have been 2.6 million downloads of Jackson's music since his death. He has the top two albums on iTunes, as well as three of the top 10 singles.

In the United Kingdom, Jackson held 11 of the top 200 album positions and 43 of the top 200 singles, based on sales monitored by the Official Charts Co. for the week ended June 27.

His "Number Ones" album topped the OCC album chart after selling 46,400 physical copies and 10,000 downloads.

The surge for demand in Jackson's music looks likely to continue for several months: The fan page has a music player with some of Jackson's hits and an option to buy them through Amazon.

Jackson Hair Horror 'Sparked Pill Addiction'

A harrowing accident that happened while Michael Jackson was filming a commercial may have fuelled his addiction to painkillers, it has been claimed.

Jackson's head was badly burned during the TV ad. Pic Usmagazine.com

Shocking new video footage has revealed the star was severely injured when his hair caught fire after a special effects explosion.

The singer was filming a TV ad for Pepsi in the Los Angeles Auditorium in January 27, 1984 when things went horribly wrong.

Usmagazine.com's clip shows Jackson dancing on stage in a glittering suit while pyrotechnic displays explode around him, as planned.

Video: Jackson's Hair Catches Fire

But during the sixth take the fireworks go off too early and Jackson's hair catches fire.

At first Jackson is apparently unaware his head is on fire and continues dancing for several seconds until the crew descends on him to douse the flames.

The pop star suffered second and third-degree burns on his scalp, face and body - for which he had to have surgery.

To relieve his injuries, the star was prescribed several medications, which kicked off his addiction to painkillers and obsession with plastic surgery, Usmagazine.com says.

Michael Jackson

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Sources close to Jackson have claimed he was never the same after the accident, the website adds.

Powerful painkillers were found in Jackson's body after he died from a suspected cardiac arrest on June 25, aged 50.

Reports have said Jackson regularly took a cocktail of up to eight painkillers to help him deal wit