Deadly blast hits southern Iraq
10 June 2009
Dozens of people were reported to have been injured in the mid-morning attack.
The area has been the scene of fierce fighting in the past between rival Shia militia factions.
The attack comes weeks before US forces are due to withdraw from towns and cities in Iraq, leading to concerns that violence could escalate.
Police say the bomb was in a parked car in the town of Bathaa in Dhiqa province, about 320km (200 miles) south-east of Baghdad.
"There was a big explosion, it was an awful incident" said Farhan Fadel, 31, who suffered a broken leg and injured abdomen in the blast.
Hassan Ali, a 44-year-old grocer, said some of his friends were killed or injured.
"There was smoke everywhere," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
There were conflicting reports about casualty figures, with official sources withdrawing their initial statement that 30 people had been killed.
At least 17 dead in Pakistani hotel blast
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The death toll from a suicide attack on a five-star hotel in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar rose to at least 17 people Wednesday, police said.
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Three suicide attackers shot their way onto the grounds of the Pearl Continental Hotel, which is often frequented by foreigners and diplomats, and set off a vehicle bomb Tuesday night.
The attack also wounded at least 64, according to Qhazi Jamil, senior superintendent of Peshawar police.
Among the dead were two U.N. employees -- a Serbian national working for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and a UNICEF worker from the Philippines -- and the hotel's general manager.
The blast inflicted severe damage on the building, which is surrounded by a security wall, and destroyed dozens of cars in the parking lot, police and witnesses said. The chief of Peshawar's bomb-disposal squad said the bomb contained about 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of explosives.
Can once-cool MySpace stage a comeback?
In the brief history of Web sites, there are few if any second chances. Remember Friendster?
Experts say MySpace should focus on music to stage a comeback. Here, Green Day performs at a MySpace event.
That's why it's difficult for some industry observers to see a comeback for MySpace, the large online social network that has seen its popularity flatline and its hipness surpassed by younger sites like Twitter and Facebook in recent months.
"If you look back at the first era of the Web, there are a bunch of companies that didn't survive that -- the search sites like Lycos and Excite," said Richard MacManus, founder and editor of ReadWriteWeb, a technology news site. "I guess you could say MySpace is in danger of falling into the same black hole those companies did."
He added: "If you look at the history, MySpace is going to disappear over time."
MacManus and others said it is possible but unlikely that MySpace will buck the Web's high turnover rate. If successful, a reborn MySpace would prove something new: that it's possible for a big-name Web site to recover from a slump.
There are some signs that MySpace is trying to reinvent itself.
Adam Lambert: I'm 'proud of my sexuality'
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert confirmed publicly what he assumed everyone already knew: He is gay.
Adam Lambert talks about his sexuality and his "Idol" experience in the new Rolling Stone.
"I don't think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I am gay," Lambert told Rolling Stone magazine.
He said he is "proud of my sexuality" and never sought to hide it during the "Idol" competition.
"I embrace it," he said. "It's just another part of me."
Still, he stayed silent when, in March, a picture of him, dressed in drag and kissing an ex-boyfriend, emerged online.
Lambert told Rolling Stone he was worried coming out would "be so sensationalized that it would overshadow what I was there to do, which was sing."
The photo was taken on one of the three or four times he's dressed in drag, Lambert said, "but 'sucking my boy's face? Yes, that I will own.' "
He took down all of the pictures on his Facebook and MySpace pages before the "Idol" season, but he forgot about another Web site profile that included the drag photo, he said.
source: cnn.com/entertainment
ICC World Twenty20 Group B: Pakistan 175-5 (20 ovs) bt Netherlands 93 (17.3 ovs) by 82 runs
Kamran Akmal (41) fired two sixes and Younus Khan (36) hit three as Pakistan made 175-5 after opting to bat first.
The target of 176 was effectively 151 for the Netherlands to go through and eliminate Pakistan on run-rate.
But spinners Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi both took two wickets in three balls and Akmal four superb stumpings, as the minnows were routed for 93.
In such an important contest following their 48-run defeat against England, all the batsmen contributed in the Pakistan innings.
Even when the runs began to dry up in the middle, Misbah ul-Haq came in at the start of the 14th over and soon hit the first boundary for 30 balls.
The 18th over proved the most prolific, Younus wielding two sixes, one smartly caught by a sprightly member in the pavilion.
After Younus holed out to long-on, Misbah hit the final ball of the over down the ground for four more.
Exhausted Federer quits Wimbledon warm-up
Roger Federer quits the Halle Open saying he is "overwhelmed and exhausted" after his Paris triumph.
Federer beat Swede Robin Soderling in Sunday's Roland Garros final to complete his Grand Slam haul and equal the record 14 'major' wins by Pete Sampras.
He traditionally uses the German follow-up event as his warm-up for Wimbledon which starts on June 22.
"I sincerely apologise to the tournament organisers, my competitors, and my fans in Germany," Swiss world number two Federer said in a statement on his Web site.
"I only hope they will understand that I still feel emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted by the incredible events of the past few days.
"It is hard for me to admit, but I simply cannot imagine giving my best effort in another tournament right away and I don't want to risk injury if I am not 100 percent prepared.
"I need to rest and recuperate, but I look forward to returning to Halle in 2010 to go for my sixth title."
Serb Novak Djokovic, who scored a straight sets win over Italy's Simone Bolelli 7-5 6-2 in 84 minutes earlier in the day, has now been promoted to top seed.
"For my first game here, I was pretty happy," said Djokovic, who faces France's Florent Serra in the second round.