- Italy speaker refuses to resign, deepens crisis ROME (Reuters) - The influential speaker of Italy's lower house refused to step down on Friday after being censured by his own party, and said his supporters could vote against the government of former ally Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
- Afghan police fire shots to quell protest after accident KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan police fired shots on Friday to disperse hundreds of people protesting the deaths of civilians in an accident involving a U.S. embassy vehicle, police said.
- Syrian and Saudi leaders tackle tension in Lebanon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met Lebanon's rival leaders on Friday to stave off a crisis over a tribunal that may indict Hezbollah members in the killing of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri.
- Mexican army kills kingpin in drug war coup GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican soldiers killed drug boss Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel on Thursday, the first major triumph this year for President Felipe Calderon's war against drug cartels but one that is unlikely to end spiraling violence.
- WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, U.S. says WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon said on Thursday, warning its unprecedented leak of secret U.S. military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies.
- U.N. rights body tells Israel to end Gaza blockade GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said on Friday.
- Wildfires sweeping Russia kill at least 25 MASLOVKA, Russia (Reuters) - Forest fires sweeping across European Russia on Friday killed at least 25 people and forced the evacuation of thousands in the hottest weather since records began 130 years ago.
- Exiled Yemen opposition leader killed on return SANAA (Reuters) - An opposition leader shot in the head after returning to his native Yemen from 32 years in exile died of his wounds, his party announced on its website Friday.
- Police open fire at Kashmir protesters, two killed SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian police on Friday fired at thousands of people protesting against Indian rule in Kashmir, killing two demonstrators, officials said, in the latest flare-up of violence in the disputed Himalayan region.
- France's Sarkozy cracks down on crime and immigrants GRENOBLE/PARIS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed tough measures Friday to fight crime, delinquency and illegal immigration as he looks to shore up his support amid scandals and low ratings ahead of 2012 elections.
- Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day ArbiterOne writes "The 11th Annual System Administrator Appreciation Day is today. Celebrated worldwide on the last Friday of July, this day honors those who fight in the digital trenches to keep the Net alive. OpenDNS offers a way to remind your boss about the holiday, while another blogger shares war stories. The startup Ksplice has created an homage to these heroes in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure." Reader Netbuzz submits a sobering look at the profession from Network World, which notes, "In the past year, [sysadmins'] pay has dropped, and more of their positions are being farmed out to temporary workers."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- To Ballmer, Grabbing iPad's Market Is 'Job One Urgency' Barence writes "Microsoft's Steve Ballmer has vented his frustration at the success of the iPad and said developing a Windows alternative is 'job one urgency.' 'Apple has done an interesting job of putting together a synthesis and putting a product out, and in which they've... they sold certainly more than I'd like them to sell, let me just be clear about that,' Ballmer told analysts. The Microsoft boss said the company plans to deliver a range of tablet formats in the next year, some based on Intel's next-gen Oak Trail processor. 'It is job one urgency around here. Nobody is sleeping at the switch. And so we are working with those partners, not just to deliver something, but to deliver products that people really want to go buy.'" In Microsoft's vision, slates will run a derivative of Windows 7.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Mars Site May Hold 'Buried Life' sridharo sends in a report from the BBC that researchers have identified ancient rocks from Nili Fossae that could contain fossilized remains of life. These rocks are very similar to Pilbara rocks in North West Australis. The rocks are estimated to be up to four billion years old, which means they have been around for three-quarters of the history of Mars. "[Many] scientists had hoped that they would soon have the opportunity to get much closer to these rocks. Nili Fossae was put forward as a potential landing site for NASA's ambitious new rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, which will be launched in 2011. ... But Nilae Fossae was eventually deemed too dangerous a landing site and it was finally removed from the list in June of this year." The research, led by a scientist from the SETI Institute, was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- High-Frequency Programmers Revolt Over Pay An anonymous reader writes "Programmers who design and code algorithms for investment banking are unhappy with their salaries. Many of them receive a low 6-figure salary whereas their bosses — who manipulate these algorithms and execute the trades — often earn millions. One such anonymous programmer points out that he was paid $150,000 per year, whereas the software he wrote was generating $100,000 per day."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Microsoft Unveils Street Slide Map UI theodp writes "For show-and-tell at SIGGRAPH 2010, Microsoft Research brought Street Slide, 'a multi-perspective street slide panorama with navigational aides and mini-map.' Very slick (demo video). Technology Review explains that Street Slide stitches together slices from multiple panoramas, making it possible to see all the shops on a street at once. Someone using Street Slide's panoramic view can slide along the facades looking for places of interest (perhaps guided by logos or ads at the bottom), and zoom back in to a classic Bing Streetside bubble view at any time."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- British ISPs Favour Well-Connected Customers scurtis writes "An insider has told eWEEK Europe that some Internet service providers in the UK only sign-up customers who can be guaranteed a good service, in order to improve average speed claims. The revelation comes after the regulator Ofcom criticised broadband service providers earlier this week for not delivering the speeds promised to consumers. Meanwhile, TalkTalk's chairman Charles Dunstone has argued that Ofcom could be doing a lot more to push BT — as the operator of the copper infrastructure — to improve maintenance of the lines and its communication with fellow service providers."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- 'Bizarre' Nanobubbles Found In Strained Graphene schliz writes "Physicists have observed 'bizarre' behaviour in graphene electrons that they say could make the material even more suitable to replace silicon in future electronic devices. When strained in a particular manner, nanobubbles formed on a sheet of graphene, within which electrons came to occupy particular, quantum energy levels rather than the usual, continuous range of energies in unstrained graphene. By controlling electrons' energy levels, researchers could control how easily they moved through graphene — in effect, controlling their conductivity, optical, or microwave properties."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- 1-in-1,000 Chance of Asteroid Impact In astroengine writes "Sure, we're looking 172 years into the future, but an international collaboration of scientists have developed two mathematical models to help predict when a potentially hazardous asteroid (or PHA) may hit us, not in this century, but the next. The rationale is that to stand any hope in deflecting a civilization-ending or extinction-level impact, we need as much time as possible to deal with the threatening space rock. (Asteroid deflection can be a time-consuming venture, after all.) Enter '(101955) 1999 RQ36' — an Apollo class, Earth-crossing, 500 meter-wide space rock. The prediction is that 1999 RQ36 has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting us in the future, and according to one of the study's scientists, María Eugenia Sansaturio, half of those odds fall squarely on the year 2182."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- 2 Chinese ISPs Serve 20% of World Broadband Users suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from Ars Technica: "If you need a reminder of just how big China is—and just how important the Internet has become there—consider this stat: between them, two Chinese ISPs serve 20 percent of all broadband subscribers in the entire world and both companies continue to grow, even as growth slows significantly in more developed markets. Every other ISP trails dramatically. Japan's NTT comes in third with 17 million subscribers, and all US providers are smaller still. 'The gap between the top two operators and the world's remaining broadband service providers will continue to grow rapidly,' said TeleGeography Research Director Tania Harvey. 'Aside from the two Chinese companies, all of the top ten broadband ISPs operate in mature markets, with high levels of broadband penetration and rapidly slowing subscriber growth.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- World's Fastest Hybrid OK'd For Production thecarchik writes "The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, first shown as a concept at this spring's Geneva Motor Show, got official approval as a production model today from the company's board of directors. Just consider the specs: a 500-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-8 engine with a 9200-rpm redline, 0-to-62-mph acceleration of 3.2 seconds, and top speed of 198 miles per hour. Oh, and did we mention it gets 78 miles per gallon on the European cycle? The astounding fuel efficiency comes courtesy of an E-Drive mode that lets the 918 Spyder drive up to 16 miles on pure electric power, though [ahem] not at 198 mph."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- U.S. economy: The thrill is gone Economy watch: The Bureau of Economic Analysis has released its first stab at estimated second quarter GDP growth: a not very encouraging 2.4 percent.
- White House: Don't post more secret war papers The White House is imploring the website Wikileaks not to post any more classified documents about the Afghanistan war, saying U.S. national security and Afghan lives are at risk.
- John Boehner's doomed political makeover John Boehner's image makeover effort, detailed in Politico on Thursday, seems destined to fail on two fronts.
- Soldier accused of leaking secrets flown to U.S. The Army intelligence specialist charged with leaking U.S. military secrets to the WikiLeaks website has been moved from Kuwait to a military jail in Virginia.
- Convenience foods for the end of the world I tried to avoid this reality for weeks, but the buzz was deafening: We are now officially living in the age of the Candwich, where popping open a soda to find lunch inside is something we're supposed to want to do. But, friends, there is hope: We have survived the cultural apocalypses foretold by egregiously dumb convenience foods before, and here are a few choice examples. And if we are doomed, at least we'll have years' worth of this stuff lying around to keep our hollow, soulless bodies alive.
- The wrong lessons of the Sherrod story MSNBC's "Hardball" today might have seemed like a case of blind men describing an elephant, as host Chris Matthews, Gov. Howard Dean and I all appeared to have seen different Shirley Sherrod videos. And we wound up sparring over that (though Dean and I were on the same side), rather than the perfidy of Andrew Breitbart, on the day Shirley Sherrod announced her intention to sue Breitbart, the impresario of Big…Everything, but especially Big Propaganda, and a big, big smear of Shirley Sherrod.
- "Hugh Hefner" and the creation of American manhood Along with a vast cohort of American males raised between the 1950s and the 1980s, my budding sexuality -- and, even more so, my sense of what it meant to be a man -- was profoundly influenced by one Hugh Marston Hefner, scion of a conservative Chicago family with roots in Puritan New England. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is very much up for debate, although I think the only possible answer is that it's both.
- What makes Paul Rudd laugh Allow us to make a modest proposal: Paul Rudd is one of the great comic leading men of his generation. With his boyish charm and unassuming good looks, he could easily have ended up as a romantic-comedy lightweight, following the template laid out by his breakthrough role in "Clueless." But instead, he's spent much of the last decade surrounding himself with stand-ups and sketch comics, matching wits with Steve Carell and Seth Rogen in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and guesting as an oily Lamaze instructor on "Reno 911." Although he studied Jacobean drama at Oxford, Rudd's classical background hasn't prevented him from improvising alongside club-hardened comics, a talent that serves him mightily well in "Dinner for Schmucks."
- Should my 90-year-old mom refuse medical tests?
Dear Cary,
- Panel hits Charles Rangel with 13 ethics charges House investigators accused veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel of 13 violations of congressional ethics standards on Thursday, throwing a cloud over his four-decade political career and raising worries for fellow Democrats about the fall elections.
- Economy Grew at Rate of 2.4% in Quarter The government on Friday also revised growth in the first quarter to 3.7 percent, higher than the previous estimate.
- Leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia in Lebanon to Discuss T... The visit, five years after the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, showed that Syria’s influence over Lebanon was rising again.
- Rangel Appears Nearly Certain to Face Trial on Ethics Cha... Representative Charles B. Rangel’s trial before the House ethics committee is a potential embarrassment for Democrats during election season.
- Taliban Exploit Openings in Neglected Province Deprived of jobs and government services, people in Baghlan Province are turning to the Taliban for speedy justice and work.
- Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been a Sink of Pollution For decades, the oil industry, farming and lax oversight have contributed to a dead zone in the gulf.
- F.D.A. Clears Way for Embryonic Stem Cell Trial Using Pat... Using human embryonic stem cells, the trial will be tested in patients with new spinal cord injuries.
- Getting Into Med School Without Hard Sciences A program admits students if they study humanities instead of the traditional pre-medical school curriculum.
- Disney Sells Miramax for $660 Million The deal ends a laborious bidding process that saw the label’s co-founders, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, fall short in their attempt to regain control.
- Mexican Drug Lord Killed Soldiers shot a leader of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel Thursday, providing a needed victory to President Felipe Calderón in his war against cartels.
- Google search running again in China Chinese users were temporarily unavailable to access search, but Google said the blockage may have been overestimated and that service appears back to normal.
- Palin: Obama Endangers Nat'l Security By Going On "The View" After President Obama appeared on The View today, Sarah Palin took to her Twitter account to criticize Obama for ignoring national security and instead chatting on daytime TV, “President w/no time to visit porous US/Mexican border to offer help to those risking life to secure us,but lotso’ time to chat on The View?”
- Heroic Afghan Dog Reunited with U.S. Soldier When Chris Duke was serving in Afghanistan, he befriended stray dogs Sasha, Target and Rufus. One night, a suicide bomber tried to get into Duke's barracks. But the dogs began barking and biting him. The attacker blew himself up before he could kill 50 soldiers inside. Duke returned home a month later - the dogs had to stay behind. Until now.
- Disney sells Miramax for over $660 million to Filmyard Walt Disney Co has sold film studio Miramax for more than $660 million to Filmyard Holdings LLC, ending months of talks between the media group and various bidders.
- President Obama calls African-Americans a "mongrel people" "President Obama waded into the national race debate in an unlikely setting and with an unusual choice of words: telling daytime talk show hosts that African-Americans are 'sort of a mongrel people.'"
- Female Teacher Lies to Student for Sex, Lots of Sex A high school student, who was 16 at the time of the sex crimes, tells police that he thought he would marry the teacher accused of having sex 100 times with him.
- How Much I Need To Fart (Graph) Ewww.....People have so much fart that they can explode
- 93 years & 3 months in prison for Mobile car jacking Technically, the prison term handed down this afternoon to a local man who committed a string of carjackings in December 2008 was not a life sentence.
- BP Denies Texas A Cash Advance, Gets Scathing Response Oil giant BP Plc rejected a request from Texas for a $25 million cash advance to clean up shorelines sullied by the Gulf oil spill, and got a scathing response from top Texas officials, according to letters given to Reuters on Thursday.
- Goldman Sachs: Don't Call Our ***** Deals, "***** Deals" The employees of Goldman Sachs have been told to please watch their language. Bad words—for instance, bad words that may have featured prominently in a certain e-mail characterizing a business transaction as a “***** deal”—will no longer be allowed to sully the firm’s e-mails.
- Moscow to allocate $200 million for wind-power plant Russia plans to spend US$200 million on construction of the largest wind-power plant in the Krasnodar region, RIA Novosti reported Friday.
- Floods wreak havoc on Pakistan, killing hundreds The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 313 on Friday, rescue and government officials said.
- Troops kill senior 'capo' of mighty Mexico cartel Soldiers killed a top leader of the Sinaloa cartel in a raid on his posh hideout, dealing the biggest blow yet to Mexico's most powerful drug gang since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against organized crime in 2006.
- Eurozone unemployment rate stable at 10% in June The unemployment rate of the euro zone remained at 10 percent in June, unchanged compared with the previous three months, the European Union's (EU) statistical bureau Eurostat said on Friday.
- False alarm: What's behind the Google search block report? Google triggered a false alarm Thursday by posting a notice that its search engine and several other services had been cut off in China - a key market where the company has gained a second place in market share.
- Moderate quake rocks eastern Indonesia An earthquake with magnitude of 5. 4 jolted eastern parts of Indonesia on Friday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported here.
- China opposes EU sanctions on Iran: Spokeswoman China opposed unilateral sanctions levied on Iran by the European Union (EU), said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu here on Friday.
- Officials: Floods kill at least 313 in Pakistan The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 313 on Friday, rescue and government officials said, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.
- Sister of dead Italian photographer calls for probe The sister of an Italian photographer, who was shot dead more than two months ago in clashes between the army and the anti-government protestors, on Friday called on the Thai authorities to speed up the investigation.
- Heatwaves hit northern hemisphere Russia, the United States and some European and Asian countries have suffered frequent heat waves this summer. The long, hot summer in the northern hemisphere is becoming one of the most important climate issues this year.
- Iran and Russia: Pies Falling from the Skies Until just a few months ago the official commentariat in Tehran was building a lot of pies in the sky with the prospect of a new axis to oppose the global influence of the American “Great Satan.”
- UN Rights Body Tells Israel to End Gaza Blockade GENEVA, July 30 (Reuters) - Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations
- 2 Britons, 3 Iraqis Killed in Jordan Road Accident AMMAN, Jordan (AP) _ Jordan's police spokesman says two British and three Iraqi women who were taking part in a U.N.-sponsored training course have died in a road accident in Jordan. Lt. Col. Mohammed
- Pentagon: Leak Investigation May Go Beyond Military WASHINGTON (AP) — A criminal investigation into the leak of tens of thousands of secret Afghanistan war logs could go beyond the military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, and he did not
- Palestinian Rocket Hits Israeli City, No Injuries ASHKELON, Israel(Reuters) - A rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip struck the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on Friday, causing damage but no injuries, officials said. The rare
- Saudi, Syrian Leaders Head to Lebanon Amid Tension BEIRUT (AP) — The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia were heading to Beirut on Friday to help defuse a simmering crisis over expected indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
- Embracing Islam Part One London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Nobody can argue that there has been an unprecedented boom in the number of people converting to Islam in Europe and the US, and Islam today is reportedly the fastest growing
- The Arab Media's Take on Tourist Victims Perhaps the Saudi youth who reported being attacked and beaten by two Bahraini security guards was perhaps luckier than other Saudi tourist victims, for his attack was at least documented in images.
- The Misyar Question! One of the most charming stories of real Misyar marriage (a marriage where couples may live separately and without financial obligations), is the story of a handsome young Algerian man, whose country’s
- Kuwait Gets $650 Mln in Iraqi Reparation: UN GENEVA (AFP) – The United Nations released 650 million dollars in Iraqi compensation to Kuwait on Thursday, the latest payment of a war reparation scheme that began in 1994. The payment brings the
- India told to forget the Kohinoor diamond The British government has refused to consider returning the jewel in the British monarch's crown.
- Death for six in double-murder case A local court in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district Friday gave death sentence to six people in a double-murder case of August 2000, an official said.
- Paulose strikes gold after two years at Asian All Star At... India's middle distance runner Sinimol Paulose bagged an international gold medal after two years, winning the women's 1500 metres while Juana Murmu registered her personal best to win the gold in women's 400 metre hurdles on the second and final day of the Asian All Stars Athletics Meet here Friday.
- Woman not allowed to teach after burqa refusal A lady teacher in West Bengal's first Muslim university, the Aliah University, was not allowed to teach after she refused to wear the burqa (veil) inside the varsity premises.
- Two killed, over 50 injured in violence across Kashmir Two people were killed and over 50 others injured Friday in fierce daylong clashes between the security forces and protesters across the Kashmir Valley.
- Meghalaya militant leader still a police officer in records Believe it or not: a Meghalaya police officer-turned-militant, Champion R. Sangma, is still a Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Meghalaya police records, a police official said Friday.
- Obama to address joint session of Indian parliament US President Barack Obama is likely to address a joint session of parliament when he comes on his maiden history-making visit to India in November, sources said.
- Hockey India allowed to go ahead with election The Supreme Court Friday allowed Hockey India to go ahead with the election of its executive board and complete it by July 31. It was also allowed to announce the results but restrained from acting in pursuance of the outcome of the election.
- Uttar Pradesh seeks amendment to reintroduce 'antici... Exactly 34 years after it was scrapped, the provision for anticipatory bail is being reintroduced by the state government in Uttar Pradesh.
- 12 electronic CNG filling stations to come up before Games A total of 12 electronic compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations will come up in Delhi before the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games, Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said Friday.
- Exclusive CS Video: Ashley Judd is Helen Normally, when we do video interviews with filmmakers or actors, we try to keep things light by making jokes, but when we had the opportunity for a rare and intimate sit-down with actress Ashley Judd for her new movie Helen , directed by German filmmaker Sandra Nettelbeck ( Mostly Martha ), it didn't seem appropriate to make light of the serious condition her character faces in the dark drama.
Judd plays Helen Leonard, a professor of music, who has secretly suffered from depression for many years, unbeknownst to her husband (Goran Visnjic from "E.R.") and daughter (Alexia Fast). When she has a sudden breakdown, her condition comes out in a way that drives her family apart, and Helen ends up finding a friend and confidante in Lauren Lee Smith's Mathilda, a talented...
- Scream 4 's Ghostface Spotted! Ghostface has finally reared his masked face for the first time in ten years, thanks to a behind-the-scenes image snapped by Scream 4 Director Wes Craven.
The below image just appeared on the Director's Flickr account with the message, "He's baaack!"
- J.J. Abrams to Produce Boilerplate Adaptation J.J. Abrams has purchased the rights to the book Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel and will oversee the film adaptation, reports Heat Vision .
The book, 170 pages of text with 350 illustrations and photo manipulations, was written by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett and relates the adventures of a robot built in the Victorian age who, through its travels, meets all manner of famous historical personalities throughout it's century-spanning existence.
Originally pitched as a graphic novel, the authors spent a decade compiling Boilerplate's (the robot's) history online, evolving Boilerplate's history into a guide called The History of Robots in the Victorian Era , attempting to establish the character's presence throughout various famous historical events.
Check out the...
- Exclusive: Director Burr Steers and the Cast of Charlie ... A man of many hats, Burr Steers began working in Hollywood in the late 1980s as an actor, appearing in the cult thriller Intruder and, later, in the modern classics Pulp Fiction and The Last Days of Disco , among other films. It was in 2002, however, that Steers stepped behind the camera to write and direct Igby Goes Down before working on more mainstream fare, including scripting How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and directing his first work with Zac Efron, 17 Again .
This Friday sees the release of Steers' newest film, Charlie St. Cloud , the story of a young man who, brought back from the same accident that killed his brother, continues to speak and interact with either the ghost or the memory thereof.
Steers took the time to have a refreshingly candid talk with...
- SDCC EXCLUSIVE: Walt Disney Studios' Sean Bailey Ever since a tremendously well-received Hall H announcement at the 2008 Comic-Con, TRON: Legacy has been building a steady fan momentum by way of a virtually unprecedented large-scale viral campaign. This year saw the return of Flynn's Arcade , a fan experience not far from the convention center that let con-goers enter the world of the film .
The morning following the surprise reveal of a new lounge addition to Flynn's , ComingSoon.net had a chance to speak with TRON: Legacy producer Sean Bailey who was recently promoted to Disney's President of Production. He shared his thoughts about working on TRON , the importance of the fan-supported universe, and the projects he's eager to work with next, including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides , 20,000 Leagues Under...
- Kristen Johnston Joins Vamps Kristen Johnston has joined the cast of writer/director Amy Heckerling's new feature film Vamps . Written and to be directed by Heckerling, Vamps tells the modern day tale of two young beautiful female vampires living the good nightlife in New York until love enters the picture and each has to make a choice that will jeopardize her immortality. Filming will begin next week in Detroit, Michigan.
Johnston joins Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter, already on board as two young vampires and Sigourney Weaver, who plays the role of Cisserus, a bloodthirsty "stem" vampire who has created a dynasty.
Johnston plays Mrs. Van Helsing, a posh British woman who is suspicious of her son's new love interest Stacey (Ritter).
Most recently, Johnston was nominated for a 2010...
- First Image of Super 's Crimson Bolt James Gunn has officially released the first image of his superhero character, the Crimson Bolt, from the upcoming Super on his official website, JamesGunn.com .
Super offers Gunn's take on the superhero genre and stars Rainn Wilson as an average guy who takes on the pseudo-superhero alter ego of the Crimson Bolt, after watching his wife (Liv Tyler) fall under the spell of a charming drug dealer (Kevin Bacon).
Check out both the costume and an official still from Super below and click either image to head to Gunn's blog:
- SDCC: Exclusive Saw 3D Interview Six films and 730 million dollars later (officially, now, the Guinness World Record for "Most Successful Horror Movie Series"), the "Saw" franchise is coming to an end this Halloween with the ultimate entry, Saw 3D .
ShockTillYouDrop.com scored an exclusive interview atop Lionsgate's double-decker exhibit booth, where director Kevin Greutert and star Tobin Bell shared their thoughts on the series' move to 3D, the franchise's legacy and how it feels to finally offer up the final chapter.
You can check out the interview over at ShockTillYouDrop !
In related news, UGO has also debuted this new motion poster for the film.
- Len Wiseman to Direct Total Recall Len Wiseman ( Live Free or Die Hard , "Underworld" films) is in final negotiations to direct Columbia Pictures' Total Recall , it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. The film will be a new, contemporized adaptation of Total Recall , which was based on the story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick. Kurt Wimmer is writing the screenplay. Neal H. Moritz will produce through his Original Film banner.
Commenting on the announcement, Tolmach said, "Len has an incredible love of the genre and a great gift for action. He'll bring a contemporary feel to the film while taking care with everything we love about Philip K. Dick's original story."
Moritz said, "I have been trying for...
- New Featurette and Poster for Disney's Tangled Walt Disney Pictures has debuted this new featurette and poster on Tangled , opening in 3D and 2D theaters on November 24.
In the animated musical comedy, a princess stolen from her parents' castle as a baby, Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore) is locked in a hidden tower longing for adventure Now an imaginative and determined teenager, she takes off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade with the help of a dashing bandit (voice of Zachary Levi). With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort find adventure, heart, humor, and hair... lots of hair.
- Blast destroys Los Angeles welding shop An explosion at a welding shop in south Los Angeles injured at least two people Friday morning, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
- YouTube wants your 15 minutes of fame Good news for everyone out there who's ever thought to themselves: "A 10-minute video of my cat eating ribs on the kitchen floor is just too short."
- Red Bull's Vettel quickest in Hungarian GP practice Red Bull set the pace again in practice as Sebastian Vettel recorded the fastest lap time in both sessions Friday ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.
- 3 wildfires burning more than 22,000 acres in Southern Ca... Hundreds of firefighters -- backed up by 11 aircraft -- battled a third wildfire in the Los Angeles area Friday as two more raged within 60 miles of one another.
- Syrian, Saudi leaders visit Lebanon for summit The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia visited Lebanon Friday for a political summit, a trip intended to ease a brewing crisis in the religiously diverse and combustible nation.
- From the Nile to the Yangtze: Sailing the world's greates... The life-blood of civilizations and natural wonders, rivers are one of the best ways to explore the world's most spectacular scenery.
- WikiLeaks founder 'disappointed' by Gates' remarks WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday that he was disappointed by criticism from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates over the release of about 76,000 pages of U.S. documents related to the war in Afghanistan.
- Incoming BP chief promises help for Gulf region 'for years' Incoming BP CEO Bob Dudley sought to reassure jittery Gulf of Mexico residents Friday that the massive British corporation will not abandon them once the ruptured well responsible for the oil disaster has been permanently sealed.
- Sorry, you don't have an airline ticket When Linda Foy checks in for her flight, she's told she has no airline tickets. But wait! Didn't her online travel agent, Expedia, just confirm her flights? And will Expedia now refund the new tickets she must buy?
- Family transformed three years after bridge disaster For 13-year-old Arrianna Merritt, the words mother and hero go hand in hand.
- Former NSA Director: Hold Nations Responsible For Cyber A... LAS VEGAS — Attribution is one of the biggest problems on the internet when it comes to cyberwarfare. How do you hold a nation responsible for malicious attacks if you can’t determine whether or not the activity was state-sponsored? It doesn't matter, former NSA Director Michael Hayden says. Do it anyway.
- What You Want: Flickr Creator Spins Addictive New Web Ser... Meet Caterina Fake, the creative spark behind Hunch. Her big idea? Develop a web service that knows what you want before you even want it.
- Pakistanis Ask: Drones? What Drones? Here in the America, the CIA's drone war in Pakistan is hotly-contested. In Pakistan, two-thirds of the people have never heard of the drones, according to a new poll. You can hear the champagne corks popping at Langley.
- July 30, 1935: Penguins Invade Britain, Readers Rejoice Penguin publishes the first paperback books of substance, bringing the likes of Ernest Hemingway, André Maurois and Agatha Christie to the masses. The business model of the book-publishing industry is about to change.
- Found: The Future of In-Flight Entertainment What will in-flight entertainment be like in the year 2023? There isn't any.
- Found Contest: Imagine the Future of Taco Trucks Wired magazine's Found page represents our best guess at what lies over the horizon, from touchscreen windshields to organ farming. Help create our next Found page: Show us what taco trucks will look like in 10, 20 or 100 years?
- Clive Thompson on the Death of the Phone Call Clive Thompson waxes philosophical on how text messaging is threatening -- and preserving -- the telephone conversation.
- Alt Text: Library of Congress Rulings That Could Have Been Being able to legally jailbreak your iPhone is cool and all, but think where this type of legal reasoning could take us.
- WikiLeaks Suspect's YouTube Videos Raised 'Red Flag' in 2008 An Army private suspected of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks was admonished as a trainee in 2008 for uploading YouTube videos discussing classified facilities, according to an Army official with direct knowledge of the incident.
- Gallery: How to Build an Earthquake-Resistant Bridge San Franciscans gets a peek at what's involved in building a new bridge when builders place the first segment of a tower that will soon hold up a brand-new span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Wired.com shoots photos of the new bridge on a recent tour of the massive construction project.