Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy in Canada

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? A Christian girl who was accused of burning Islam's holy book in a case that focused international attention on Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws was forced to move to Canada over security concerns, her lawyer said Saturday.

The girl left Pakistan with her parents, three sisters and a brother on March 14, attorney Tahir Naveed Chaudhry said.

A Muslim cleric who lobbied for her release, Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, said she had been facing threats and was moving constantly.

"I am sad that this innocent girl had to leave Pakistan. She had been acquitted by the court, and despite that it was not possible for her to live freely," he said.

Canada's immigration service said privacy concerns prevented them from saying whether she was in the country.

The girl was arrested in August in Islamabad after a Muslim cleric accused her of burning the Quran.

The cleric was later accused of fabricating evidence, and the girl was acquitted.

The case received attention in part because of her young age and questions about her mental abilities. An official medical report at the time put her age at 14 although some of her supporters said she was as young as 11. The medical report also said her mental state did not correspond with her age.

The Associated Press is withholding the girl's name because it does not generally identify underage suspects.

Even though the case against her was thrown out, people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan are often subject to vigilante justice. Mobs have been known to attack and kill people accused of blasphemy, and two prominent politicians who have discussed changes to the blasphemy laws have been killed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-29-Pakistan/id-ac6f94c11e934b4789da423efecaad59

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Rebels kill policeman, injure 14 others in Chechnya

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rebels have killed a Russian policeman and injured 14 others in Chechnya, police said on Saturday, a rare clash in the now mostly calm North Caucasus republic which lies near to the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Moscow waged two wars against separatist rebels in mainly Muslim Chechnya in the 1990s but the province has been fairly peaceful in recent years as Islamist insurgents have turned their focus to the nearby regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia.

This month, President Vladimir Putin put Russia's security forces on high alert to safeguard the Games due to take place next year in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

A police spokesman said by telephone from the Chechen capital Grozny that a police patrol had run into a band of rebels in the southern Shatoi district.

"They (the rebels) were ordered to put down their weapons, but instead they opened fire," he said, adding that he could not say how many insurgents had been involved.

Russia's interior ministry said security forces were pursuing the rebels in a mountainous forest region.

Human rights activists say Russia's Islamist insurgency is fuelled by a combination of religion, official corruption and strong arm tactics against suspected militants by local leaders.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-kill-policeman-injure-14-others-chechnya-103901031.html

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AUBURN Auburn swimming hires John Hargis away from Penn State to be associate head coach

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Mike Ragogna: Magnetic: Chatting with Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzeznik, Plus Daft Punk Meets Loverboy, and Exclusives from The Rides and The Slants

photo credit: Eleanor Stills

THE RIDES' "SEARCH AND DESTROY"

On the trio's attack of "Search And Destroy," Kenny Wayne Shepherd says, "When Jerry brought it in as a possibility I thought it would end up being cool and basically sold Stephen and Barry on it based on the energy level and intensity. It sounds young and fresh and we put our own stamp on it. The original by the Stooges is more primal."

"This was a great accident waiting to happen, a great choice that I resisted at first," adds Stephen Stills of the cover. "I wasn't familiar with it, then once I played it, it was the coolest thing I ever did. I put a Keith Richards spin on it and it sounds like a really good punk band is playing it."

A Conversation with John Rzeznik

Mike Ragogna: John, is this your tenth album?

John Rzeznik: This is our tenth album.

MR: And the name of it is Magnetic. Is it because all of the band members can't help but make music together?

JR: You know what, actually, that's a better story than I have.

MR: What's your version?

JR: My manager called me on the phone and said, "Think of a title for the record. Try to use one word," and that was the first word that came up in my mouth. It's that simple.

MR: Oh. Perhaps it's an unconscious expression of the fraternity of the band?

JR: I'd like to think that, yeah. We are all still on speaking terms.

MR: [laughs] What motivated you guys getting together this time out? What was the creative process like?

JR: I was really interested in working with a lot of different people. I'd been doing little one-off sessions with other writers and other artists, and I really loved all the guys that I was working with, so I thought it might be a good idea to experiment with using different producers and co-writers with me for different songs. We would just do the album a little piece at a time, instead of locking ourselves in a recording studio for six months or whatever with one guy. What I wanted to do was keep rotating guys and have this fresh energy come into the room every few days. I also noticed when we were working on one-offs, the band got much better. You knew he'd be in the studio a couple of days and then he'd be gone. I think that added to the ease of it.

MR: Look at the talent you brought into the mix--William Hughes, Gregg Wattenberg, Rob Cavallo, John Shanks and Greg Wells. Did you go to these guys because you respected them as producers in general or...?

JR: With Greg Wells, it was like that. I've always wanted to work with him and he and I had always made plans to do something together but we never got around to it. But this time, everything lined up and that's how I went with him. He's the guy that we worked with that I would even get close to saying, "Wow, this guy is a genius." He brought in this nice little piano ballad that a friend of mine had written, and he turned it into this really sweeping, epic ballad. It was just really, really amazing to see it take shape.

MR: Beyond adding their special trademark to productions, do you think the producers also added a new, fresh energy into this new batch of Goo Goo Dolls material?

JR: Oh, absolutely. Our previous album, Something For The Rest Of Us, was really somber. It wasn't a very upbeat record. It was very reflective of a time that wasn't very good. So I was like, "Okay, I want to write an upbeat, uptempo album with a more positive feel." I wanted to get up and go to work every day. That was part of the thing of working with Gregg Wattenberg, who wound up producing about half of the record. I got up there and went to work and I laughed every day. We had a good time. Also, I wanted to get their perspective on what I do. I was like, "Wow, it's my tenth record, I don't want to make the same record again." I thought the power of collaboration could make the thing sort of grow geometrically.

MR: Can you go into the latest single, "Rebel Beat?"

JR: Well, I was downtown in New York, taking a little walk and there was a block party with a bunch of people and music was blasting and people were cooking and stuff. I walked by and I was like, "Wow, that's really, really cool," and then I went to the studio and started playing guitars. It wasn't like it had a direct influence on the lyrics of the song, but just seeing a group of people that close and having such a good time was really, really inspiring to me. It was like, "Wow, this is a family." That doesn't really happen a lot in LA--at least not in my neighborhood. I don't even know my neighbors. It just made me so happy that I wanted to sort of capture the feeling of it.

MR: Speaking of happy, there's the song "Happiest Of Days." It's got a spirit of renewal, as does the whole album. As you were bouncing back from the challenging period during which the last album was made, you were determined to have a great album, weren't you.

JR: Well, I was determined that I was going to have fun making an album, because the process on the previous one was really difficult it wasn't a lot of fun. We did a really long tour for that album. All I can say is that I think we all wanted to have a good time again. We made a lot of mistakes on the previous album, so I said, "Let's learn from them and not repeat them."

MR: Magnetic also features the anthem "Keep The Car Running."

JR: I wrote that with John Shanks. He and I were discussing it and we sort of lyrically had this Springsteen-ish kind of thing about escaping. This song is more about growing up and suddenly becoming disillusioned with the American dream or whatever you want to call it. It's wanting to get out and find your own way of life.

MR: Yeah. If somebody were to look at one of the tracks on the album, maybe because of the lyrics or how special it is to you, which would you choose?

JR: Yeah, this song, "Come To Me." I love it. I went deep on that one.

MR: It's a nice ballad.

JR: Thank you very much. I just like that song a lot because the sentiment of it is very simple. It could be construed as somewhat sappy, but I just love it. To me, it's a very basic concept that I think anyone can relate to.

MR: When Billboard unveiled their top one-hundred songs of the last twenty years, you had a few songs on the list including "Iris."

JR: We had two in the top ten, which was really surprising, and then we had a third on that list. That was really an amazing thing. I wanted to tear the little page out and put it on my refrigerator with a little magnet just to remind myself when I'm being down about money and everything, "We did this."

MR: What do you think as far as your contribution to music? How would you like people to think of Goo Goo Dolls?

JR: You know what's really amazing? When I'm out on the road, I get letters from people every day. They'll hand me a letter or somebody will give it to me or they'll talk to me, and whenever I read their letters, people always share their hardships with me. Sometimes, it's really, really heartbreaking, the things that I read in these letters. I think that at least in the people who like our band, we're being remembered as a band that was there for them when they needed us.

MR: In "Keep The Car Running," there's the theme of disillusionment of youth, and you're getting married this summer, right?

JR: Yeah.

MR: So it seems like this project is and has been a maturing process for the band in a lot of ways.

JR: Definitely, definitely. It was a maturing process for this band. Robby has a daughter, Mike's been married for a few years. I've been with the same girl for almost ten years, so it's kind of like, "Oh, let's get married." It's time to have kids and grow up and have a life.

MR: Nicely said. Hey, what advice do you have for new artists?

JR: Wow. You know what? Don't worry about becoming a rock star. And if you do get to become a rock star, don't act like one.

MR: Is there anything you can add as far as how they approach it creatively?

JR: I think staying really honest in your own process no matter what it is and not worrying about the outcome. "Is this going to get me my record deal? Is this going to make me famous?" Asking yourself results questions is just... Nah. You just wind up getting into trouble. You don't really keep the process clean when you start thinking about the end result.

MR: Yeah. What does the future hold for Goo Goo Dolls?

JR: We're just taking it a little bit at a time. Right now, there are a lot of great things going on. We're just about to start a really great tour with Matchbox Twenty. We have a tour of the UK planned for the fall, and then depending on how the album's doing we might go write another one or keep touring.

MR: From a fan's perspective, it would be fun to see both bands collaborate. I wonder what a Goo Goo Dolls/Matchbox Twenty single would sound like.

JR: Wow! That's a really good question. I'd like to find out. Maybe it would wind up sounding like Mot?rhead.

MR: John, as always, I really appreciate your time. The touring is going to be endless for this one?

JR: We're only booked through the end of the year so far, but I'm sure there are going to be other opportunities and we're going to grab them.

MR: And you have to get married.

JR: I do! Yeah, I think I've got like four days off. She's really amazingly cool. She understands. Then I have to take her on a honeymoon when I'm done this summer.

MR: Cool and all the best, John, and have a great wedding.

JR: Hey, thank you.

MR: Bye, John.

JR: Bye.

Tracks:
1. Rebel Beat
2. When The World Breaks Your Heart
3. Slow It Down
4. Caught In The Storm
5. Come To Me
6. Bringing On The Light
7. More Of You
8. Bullet Proof Angel
9. Last Hot Night
10. Happiest Of Days
11. Keep The Car Running

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne

photo credit: Mick Rock

DAFT PUNK HELPS LOVERBOY GET LUCKY

In his corner, red leather pants, bandanas, and rock. In that corner, space helmets and electronic music. high-energy rock shows have to do with space helmets and electronic dance music. Yes, Mike Reno's lovechild Loverboy had an album, oh, a year or two ago that shares the same title as the Dafters' current single. Strange coincidence, wouldn't you say?

Well, no, it's just a coincidence. But the Loverboy album is now a "hit" with Spotify searches for "Get Lucky," and quoting one of the pop rock unit's hit single, Mike & Co. are "Lovin' Every Minute of It."

Spotify's Soundrop app acknowledged the new activity online for Loverboy albums. "We've seen Loverboy's hits played more and more in our Love the '80s room, and traffic to the Loverboy room has increased," said Thomas Ford, VP of Marketing for Soundrop. "There's no question the attention from the Daft Punk single has led some fans to the band's album, which just proves the enduring appeal of the record some three decades later."

The confusion is contagious. Anna Hecht, before a show at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, blogged, "Someone asked me, have you heard 'Get Lucky'? And I was all, 'Yeah, it's flippin' awesome! Loverboy rules!' But they said, 'No, I mean the new Daft Punk song.'"

Added Loverboy founder/lead guitarist Paul Dean: "I don't mind how they find out about us. Maybe we 'Got Lucky' back in the day, but it takes more than luck to survive this long. Hey, we're just a bunch of daft punk-rockers ourselves."

photo courtesy of The Slants

"MISERY"'S GOT COMPANY

"We shot the music video for 'Misery' at an old power plant here in Oregon," explains The Slants' bassist Simon Young. "It was the perfect vibe to go with the footage from the upcoming Tai Chi Hero film. Ironically, we kept blowing the power at the power plant; it was to much rock 'n' roll for its old transformers to handle! We began working with Wellgo USA to help promote the first film in the series, Tai Chi Hero. The steampunk-martial arts adventure was definitely a perfect fit for our band and we had so much fun doing it, that we decided to release a second music video to help promote the home release of the sequel.

"'Misery' was one of the first songs that we wrote for our most recent release, The Yellow Album, Simon continued. "It's about moving on from brokenness, desolation, and loneliness. Filming at a decommissioned power plant was a perfect metaphor. We worked with a local organization who wanted to get more attention on the historical site. The location has hardly been captured on film, it was only recently used for a scene in the TV series, Grimm."

?

Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ragz2008

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/emmagneticem-chatting-wit_b_3514213.html

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Facebook rolls out hashtag support for mobile web and related searches

Clickable hashtags are a major new Facebook feature, and now the social network is bringing them to the next level by rolling out related searches and mobile availability. We're talking about its mobile site and (unfortunately) not its iOS and Android apps, making the former a better choice for browsing public status updates on the go. The introduction of related searches also makes it easier to discover new conversations, as searching for a particular hashtag brings up similar ones. Facebook analyzes which terms are often posted together, so looking for #equality also brings up posts tagged with #lgbt or #pride. These updates will soon show up on your accounts if they haven't yet, and unless you despise hashtags, they're icing on the cake.

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Source: TechCrunch

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/cW2IFg1BWsk/

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U.S. boss held captive by angry Chinese employees released

By Maxim Duncan

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese factory workers on Thursday released their U.S. boss, held captive for a week, after a compensation dispute was resolved, a company official and union representative said.

Chip Starnes, president of Specialty Medical Supplies, in the Beijing suburb of Huairou, was allowed to leave the factory and was resting in a hotel, the company official said.

The workers had demanded severance packages identical to those offered to 30 employees who were recently laid off, even though the firm planned no further layoffs, Starnes said earlier.

"The mass labor dispute incident for this unit has been resolved," said Chu Lixian, head of the rights and interests department of the Huairou District Labour Union.

"Both sides have come to an agreement through joint efforts made by Mr. Starnes and the workers' side. The results have turned out to be satisfactory."

The workers' demands followed rumors that the entire plant was being closed after the company's plastic injection molding division began a move to India to lower production costs.

"As of now my boss Chip feels exhausted after two harsh days and has gone back to a hotel, okay?" Specialty Medical General Manager Xing Shuang told Reuters Television. "This is all I have to say."

Starnes spent the week inside the plant, which produces alcohol pads and plastic blood lancets for diabetics, behind barred windows. He could not be immediately reached for comment.

The stand-off highlighted one of the lesser-known risks of doing business in China - that trust between workers and management, and faith in the legal system, is often low.

Starnes, whose company is based in Florida, flew to China on June 18 and his detention started on Friday.

(Writing by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-boss-held-captive-angry-chinese-employees-released-065633865.html

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RBS to decide on branch sale plan in July - sources

By Matt Scuffham

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland will make a decision on how to offload hundreds of branches it has been ordered to sell by European regulators in the next month, industry sources told Reuters on Friday.

RBS is preparing the business, code named Rainbow, for a stock market flotation but is open to the idea of first selling substantial stakes to strategic investors prior to an initial public offering. The investor would then stay on as a dominant force in the floated company after the IPO.

The bank must sell 315 branches as a condition of receiving a 45.5 billion pound government rescue in 2008 which left it 82 percent state-owned.

Industry sources said RBS is considering proposals from 3 sets of investors who could serve as the strategic partner.

One consortium is led by private equity firms Centerbridge and Corsair and has backing from the Church of England's investment fund, while another comprises several of Britain's biggest investment firms and is led by former Tesco finance director, Andy Higginson.

A third proposal has been submitted by British private equity firm Anacap Financial Partners, in conjunction with U.S. private equity group, Blackstone . RBS could also pursue a stock market flotation of the branches on its own without having additional investors on board, the sources said.

RBS is not yet favouring a particular proposal.

"All bids have their merits and it is too early to say which bidder is most likely to succeed," said one source close to the sale process.

RBS is aiming to tell potential investors what its plans are in the next month, the sources said, although that timetable is not set in stone.

An IPO could happen any time in the next two years, the sources said, but the bank would like to go earlier to avoid competing against a glut of impending bank share sales.

The government is planning to start selling its shares in Lloyds Banking Group soon while Lloyds is looking to spin off 630 branches via a stock market flotation.

The deal adds to an increasingly busy block of UK bank assets seeking investment or new capital over the next year, raising questions of whether the market will be swallow everything.

Spain's Santander and Virgin Money, the financial group that is part of Richard Branson's empire, are both planning to float their UK businesses.

The sale of the RBS branches was halted in October when Santander pulled out of a deal to buy the whole portfolio for 1.65 billion pounds. RBS has said a sale this year is now unlikely, meaning it will have to ask European regulators to extend a December 2013 deadline.

(Additional reporting by Laura Noonan; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rbs-decide-branch-sale-plan-july-sources-145011672.html

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Iraq official says Baghdad open to US military aid

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq is open to greater American military cooperation as U.S. commanders explore ways to boost security assistance to the country, a top Iraqi official said Thursday as a fresh wave of bombings claimed 16 lives.

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, has recommended that military American commanders look for ways to help improve the military capabilities of Iraq and Lebanon, which both face the risk of spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Dempsey said Wednesday that the assistance would not involve sending U.S. combat troops, but could involve the U.S. sending in training teams and accelerating sales of weapons and equipment.

The last American combat troops left Iraq in December 2011, ending a nearly nine-year war that cost nearly 4,500 American and more than 100,000 Iraqi lives.

About 100 military and civilian Department of Defense personnel remain in Iraq as an arm of the American Embassy to act as liaisons with the Iraqi government and facilitate arms sales. The U.S. has similar offices in other countries.

Ali al-Moussawi, the media adviser for Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, told The Associated Press that Baghdad would welcome increased arms sales and faster weapons deliveries along with U.S. training teams to help it confront rising regional instability and terrorist threats.

"We welcome this kind of cooperation and we consider it a part of the existing agreement between us," al-Moussawi said when asked about Dempsey's comments.

"Because of the high risks the region faces, I think there should be bigger cooperation and coordination between all countries threatened by terrorism."

Iraq is struggling to contain a resurgent al-Qaida that is one of the main drivers behind the country's worst uptick in violence in half a decade. More than 2,000 people have been killed in car bombings and other violent attacks in Iraq since the start of April.

More violence rocked Iraq late Thursday when bombs struck cafes in and around Baghdad, killing 16 and wounding dozens. The attacks struck in quick succession at the start of the local weekend while the cafes were filled with patrons watching a soccer match.

Police reported five people killed and 17 wounded in Baghdad's largely Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah, and another three dead and 14 wounded in Shiite-dominated Umm al-Maalif, in the southwestern suburbs of the capital.

Another blast struck the Shiite town of Jbala, about 50 kilometers (35 miles) south of Baghdad, killing 8 and wounding 25.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information to journalists.

The upsurge in violence comes as Iraqi fighters have been traveling to fight on both sides of Syria's civil war. The Iraqi branch of al-Qaida is pushing to make itself a player in the conflict, and now calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to highlight its cross-border ambitions.

Iraq has acquired billions of dollars' worth of American-made military equipment, including howitzers, armored personnel carriers and Abrams tanks in recent years.

It has yet to receive the first of as many as 36 F-16 fighter jets it has ordered, and Baghdad has been pressing U.S. officials to speed delivery of the warplanes.

Also on Thursday, a spokesman for Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission said a voting list backed by influential Sunni politicians has won the biggest single bloc of seats in provincial elections in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar.

Safaa al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Independent High Electoral commission, said the United list led by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi won 8 of 30 seats in Anbar's provincial council. A bloc backed by al-Maliki came in second with five seats.

The western province of Anbar, a former al-Qaida stronghold, has been the center of anti-government rallies protesting what Sunnis say is their second-class treatment by the Shiite-led government.

Residents in Anbar and neighboring Ninevah province voted last week in local elections that had been delayed due to security concerns.

___

Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Adam Schreck contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-official-says-baghdad-open-us-military-aid-142850054.html

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Ambulances Highjack Car Radios To Let Drivers Know They're Coming

Everyone knows they should pull to the side of the road when an ambulance with its blaring siren approaches. But what if you've got the windows rolled up, the radio blaring, and can't hear it coming? That's not a problem in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where to increase emergency response times, the ambulances actually hijack nearby AM and FM signals to let drivers know they're nearby.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BYXbGR9J00s/ambulances-highjack-car-radios-to-let-drivers-know-they-589891444

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This Guy Has an Invisible Headphone Implanted In His Ear

Rich Lee has freed himself from the frustrations of misplacing or having to untangle his headphones ever again. How? He's what's known as a grinder: someone who experiments with surgical implants or body-enhancements, and he's come up with a doozie. Implanted in his tragus?the stiff protrusion just in front of your ear canal?is a small magnet that works like an earbud built into his head.

To keep the implant almost completely imperceptible, audio signals are transmitted via a coil Lee wears around his neck?based on this Instructable?that creates a magnetic field causing the implant to vibrate and produce sound. Audio quality is certainly nowhere near close to what you'd get from headphones or an actual pair of earbuds, but Lee's approach has a lot of distinct advantages.

In addition to listening to music whenever and wherever he wants, Lee also has plans to hook the wireless system up to various sensors like ultrasonic rangefinders, thermometers, and even geiger counters, giving him the ability to hear distances like a bat, or sense how hot something is without touching it.

The implanted magnet even seems like the perfect tool for Cyrano de Bergerac types who need a little coaching when wooing someone. Or gamblers needing a little extra info from incognito scouts surrounding a poker table. Whether that makes this human hacking experience worth it, well, that's up to you. [H+ Magazine via Boing Boing]

Images by Rich Lee / H+ Magazine

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-guy-has-an-invisible-headphone-implanted-in-his-ea-574006141

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HTC 8XT and Samsung ATIV S Neo announced by Sprint

SAN FRANCISCO (BUSINESS WIRE), June 26, 2013 ? Sprint (NYSE: S) and Microsoft Corp. today outlined plans to launch the first two Windows Phone 8 smartphones to offer Truly UnlimitedSM?Sprint 4G LTE this summer ? HTC??8XT and Samsung ATIV S? Neo. Customers will appreciate access to the advanced features and capabilities of these devices with the benefit of unlimited 4G LTE (available in select markets) data, text and calling to any mobile with no metering, no throttling, and no overages, all while on the Sprint network.

HTC 8XT will be available for $99.99 with a new line or eligible upgrade, two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate via reward card1. ATIV S Neo will be priced at $149.99 with a new line or eligible upgrade, two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate via reward card1. Exact availability dates and full feature lists for both smartphones will be shared at a later date. Customers can preregister for more information and email updates about Windows Phone 8 from Sprint and HTC 8XT and ATIV S Neo atwww.sprint.com/windows8.

?We know our customers are anxious to get their hands on these Windows Phone 8 smartphones, HTC 8XT and ATIV S Neo,? said Fared Adib, senior vice president-Product Development, Sprint. ?Without a doubt, they will rival any smartphone on the market today. Our customers will appreciate being able to use them all day, every day without worrying about overages or data caps.?

Windows Phone 8 won the?PC Magazine?Readers? Choice Award for best mobile operating system in March 2013. The only phone with Live Tiles, Windows Phone 8 offers a truly personal smartphone experience designed to keep customers connected to the people and things that matter most. Windows Phone brings together the best of Microsoft with the same modern look and feel, including Bing, Office, Xbox and Skype, for a rich customer experience. In addition, the Windows Phone Store includes more than 160,000 apps to choose from, with hundreds added daily.

?We are excited to be bringing the most personal smartphone experience to Sprint customers this summer,? said Terry Myerson, corporate vice president, Microsoft Windows Phone Division. ?With compelling hardware from HTC and Samsung, coupled with unlimited 4G LTE from Sprint, these Windows Phones will offer the complete package.?

Must-Have Features from HTC

Music-lovers will appreciate the amazing sound capability of HTC 8XT with HTC BoomSound?, introducing for the first time on Windows Phone 8 dual front-facing stereo speakers with a dedicated amplifier that brings people closer to their music, videos and games they love. In addition, Beats Audio? enables studio-quality sound, so listeners hear music the way the artist intended with unique audio tuning that delivers thundering bass, soaring midrange and crisp highs. And HDR recording uses advanced dual microphones and audio processing to capture clean, rich sound that is worthy of high-definition video.

?Inspired by the design that won the prestigious ?red dot award: product design 2013,? the new HTC 8XT brings a truly crafted smartphone with brilliant color, soft-to-the-touch texture and tapered design to be comfortable in the hand,? said Mike Woodward, president North America, HTC Corporation. ?A pleasure to hold and a pleasure to hear, the front-facing stereo speakers are a first for a Windows Phone and deliver sounds that demand to be heard.?

HTC 8XT is also ideal for photo buffs with an 8-megapixel main camera with autofocus and LED flash, and a front-facing 1.6-megapixel camera. The main camera takes great photos in bright-light and low-light situations, and the ability to shoot video and take still pictures simultaneously. It also offers multishot burst mode to help capture the best picture of a moving photo subject, and a dedicated Windows Phone camera button to open the camera quickly, even when the phone is locked or sleeping, so users never miss an opportunity to capture life?s most important moments.

Inside the beautiful HTC 8XT is a Qualcomm??Snapdragon? 400 processor with 1.4GHz dual-core CPUs supporting 4G LTE and 1080p video capture, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM memory, microSD? memory card slot with support for up to 64GB memory cards, a crisp 4.3-inch display, Wi-Fi?, Bluetooth?, GPS support and 1,800mAh lithium-ion battery.

Advanced Features from Samsung

ATIV S Neo will offer a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, microSD memory card slot, international roaming, 4.8-inch high-definition display, Wi-Fi and 2,000mAh lithium-ion removable battery. Sharing is easier than ever with ATIV S Neo featuring ATIV Beam using near field communication (NFC) to share photos, music and video with other Windows Phone 8 and select Android? devices. ATIV S Neo includes the Samsung exclusive Now feature, which highlights top news, weather and relevant information at a single glance.

?Samsung is committed to offering smartphones across a variety of platforms and the rich Windows Phone 8 experience on the ATIV S Neo is a testament to this effort,? said Kevin Packingham, Samsung Mobile chief product officer. ?The ATIV S Neo makes it easy to stay in-the-know while connecting with friends, family and colleagues, through new sharing features and powerful productivity applications.?

Having ATIV S Neo in your pocket means users can do more with their smartphone camera. It will offer an 8-megapixel main camera with LED flash and a front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera for video chat. It will include a variety of camera apps preloaded, including the Beauty Shot mode for smoother looking skin in headshots, Manga Camera to give pictures a fun twist by turning friends and family into cartoons, and built-in Photo Editor that allows the user to edit, color, effect, decorate or share their pictures quickly and easily.

These smartphones also make it easy for customers to stay productive with Office Mobile for Windows Phone. With Office Mobile, people can access, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from anywhere. Plus, customers can count on Office Mobile to keep content and formatting intact so documents still looks great when back on a PC, Windows tablet or Mac.

Microsoft Office 365 offered by Sprint?is available for small and mid-sized businesses. It includes Sprint?s unique Carefree Cloud migration and onboarding assistance, end-user level support, predictable monthly costs with no up-front infrastructure expenses, pay-as-you-go plans, savings by bundling all of the necessary tools and advanced options to simplify management further, all with a single bill and single point of contact.?Sprint recently announced?expanded plans available with Office 365, including enhanced audio conferencing and availability at?select Sprint retail stores.

Sprint offers 4G LTE in top summer destinations like Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston,?Los Angeles?and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sprint offers 4G LTE service in?110 markets nationwide?and expects to provide 200 million people with LTE by the end of 2013.

For the most up-to-date details on Sprint?s 4G LTE portfolio and rollout, visit?www.sprint.com/network.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/htc-8xt-samsung-ativ-neo-announced-sprint-142004709.html

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Comfortable cruise to Tokyo to be a reality - Stuff

The tourism industry is welcoming Air New Zealand's announcement that its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will fly to the key long-haul destinations of Shanghai and Tokyo.

Air New Zealand is the launch customer for the 787-9, the stretch version of the Dreamliner, which is due to roll off the production line at Boeing's Seattle plant next month.

The national carrier expects to have the first of its 10 new 787-9s flying by the middle of next year, with the rest in operation over the following three years.

The airline has said the Dreamliner will be a game-changer, opening up the prospect of expanding its network of routes around the Pacific Rim.

Yesterday it announced the new fuel-efficient aircraft would fly Auckland-Shanghai and Auckland-Tokyo, and also service some mid-haul destinations such as Perth, Honolulu and Papeete.

Tourism Industry Association policy and research manager Simon Wallace said China was a key growth market for New Zealand, with Chinese visitor numbers up 27 per cent in the past year.

The Japanese market was also recovering well from the slump following the 2011 tsunami.

"It's good Air New Zealand has focused the new aircraft on where the growth is coming from," he said. "It's all about a superior visitor experience."

Putting the Dreamliner on these routes with its four seat classes - Business Premier, Premium Economy, Economy and the Kiwi-designed Skycouch - demonstrated New Zealand's commitment to attracting high-value Chinese travellers.

It will be the first time the Skycouch has been available on routes into Asia, Air New Zealand said. "It just helps to give us that competitive advantage, which we really need," Wallace said.

Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have just signed a one-year partnership to spend $10 million each jointly promoting travel to this country in selected key markets, including China, Japan, North America and Australia.

This year Air New Zealand began operating daily return services to Tokyo and Shanghai in response to strong demand.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

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Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8840995/Comfortable-cruise-to-Tokyo-to-be-a-reality

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Obama opens 2nd-term drive against climate change

President Barack Obama wipes perspiration from his face as he speaks about climate change, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at Georgetown University in Washington. The president is proposing sweeping steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and to boost renewable energy production on federal property, resorting to his executive powers to tackle climate change and sidestepping the partisan gridlock in Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama wipes perspiration from his face as he speaks about climate change, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at Georgetown University in Washington. The president is proposing sweeping steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and to boost renewable energy production on federal property, resorting to his executive powers to tackle climate change and sidestepping the partisan gridlock in Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama wipes his face as he speaks about climate change, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at Georgetown University in Washington. The president is proposing sweeping steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and to boost renewable energy production on federal property, resorting to his executive powers to tackle climate change and sidestepping the partisan gridlock in Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama speaks about climate change, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at Georgetown University in Washington. The president is proposing sweeping steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and to boost renewable energy production on federal property, resorting to his executive powers to tackle climate change and sidestepping the partisan gridlock in Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Appealing for courageous action "before it's too late," President Barack Obama launched a major second-term drive Tuesday to combat climate change and secure a safer planet, bypassing Congress as he sought to set a cornerstone of his legacy.

Abandoning his suit jacket under a sweltering sun at Georgetown University, Obama issued a dire warning about the environment: Temperatures are rising, sea level is climbing, the Arctic ice is melting and the world is doing far too little to stop it. Obama said the price for inaction includes lost lives and homes and hundreds of billions of dollars.

"As a president, as a father and as an American, I'm here to say we need to act," Obama said. "I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing."

At the core of Obama's plan are new controls on new and existing power plants that emit carbon dioxide ? heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. The program also will boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures. Obama called for the U.S. to be a global leader in the search for solutions.

But Obama's campaign will face extensive obstacles, including a complicated, lengthy process of implementation and the likelihood that the limits on power plants will be challenged in court. Likewise, the instantaneous political opposition that met his plan made clear the difficulty the president will face in seeking broad support.

"There will be legal challenges. No question about that," former EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said in an interview. "It's a program that's largely executive. He doesn't need Congress. What that does, of course, is make them (opponents) madder."

Obama also offered a rare insight into his deliberations on whether to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, deeming it in America's interests only if it doesn't worsen carbon pollution. Obama has faced intense political pressure from supporters and opponents of the 1,200-mile pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Declaring the scientific debate over climate change and its causes obsolete, Obama mocked those who deny that humans are contributing to the warming of the planet.

"We don't have time for a meeting of the flat-earth society," Obama said.

Obama's announcement followed years of inaction by Congress to combat climate change. A first-term effort by Obama to use a market-based approach called cap-and-trade to lower emissions failed, and in February a newly re-elected Obama issued lawmakers an ultimatum in his State of the Union: "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will."

Four months later, impatient environmental activists reveled in the news that Obama was finally taking matters into his own hands, announcing a series of steps that don't require congressional approval.

"This is the change we have been waiting for," said Michael Brune, who runs the Sierra Club, an environmental group. "Today, President Obama has shown he is keeping his word to future generations."

Republicans on both sides of the Capitol dubbed Obama's plan a continuation of his "war on coal" and "war on jobs. The National Association of Manufacturers claimed Obama's proposals would drive up costs. Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of the coal-heavy state of West Virginia slammed what she called Obama's "tyrannical efforts to bankrupt the coal industry."

"The federal government should leave us the hell alone," said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, whose agency handles Texas' environment and energy markets.

Even industry groups that have been friendly to Obama and supportive of his climate goals, such as the Edison Electric Institute, which represents power plants, signaled their apprehension by calling for "achievable compliance limits and deadlines."

Obama said the same arguments have been used in the past when the U.S. has taken other steps to protect the environment.

"That's what they said every time," Obama said. "And every time, they've been wrong."

Obama broke his relative silence on Keystone XL, explicitly linking the project to global warming for the first time in a clear overture to environmental activists who want the pipeline nixed. The pipeline would carry carbon-intensive oil from Canadian tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast refineries and has sparked an intense partisan fight.

"Our national interest would be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution," Obama said.

The White House indicated Obama was referring to overall, net emissions that take into account what would happen under alternative scenarios. A State Department report this year said other methods to transport the oil ? like rail, trucks and barges ? could yield even higher emissions.

"The standard the president set today should lead to speedy approval of the Keystone pipeline," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Announcing he will allow more renewable energy projects on public lands, Obama set a goal to power the equivalent of 6 million homes by 2020 from sources like wind and solar, effectively doubling the current capacity. The set of actions also includes a new set of fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks, more aggressive efficiency targets for buildings and appliances, and $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to spur innovation.

By far the most sweeping element ? and the one likely to cause the most consternation ? is new limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants.

The administration has already proposed rules for new coal-fired plants, but they have been delayed amid industry concerns about the cost. A presidential memorandum Obama issued Tuesday directs the EPA to revise and reissue the new plant rules by September, then finalize them "in a timely fashion."

The key prize for environmental groups comes in Obama's instruction that the EPA propose rules for the nation's existing plants by June 2014, then finalize them by June 2015 and implement them by June 2016 ? just as the presidential campaign to replace Obama will be in full swing.

Rather than issue a specific, uniform standard that plants must meet, the EPA will work with states, power sector leaders and other parties to develop plans that meet the needs of individual states and also achieve the objective of reducing emissions.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-25-Obama-Climate%20Change/id-8a15610c8f4b493ea8a9cfeea32ca534

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5 key details from Obama's big climate change speech

O

n Tuesday, President Obama, sweating slightly in the Washington D.C. sun in front of a receptive crowd at Georgetown University, laid out his strategy to fight climate change.

His plan, detailed earlier in a 21-page outline, focuses on three main areas: Cutting carbon pollution, preparing the United States for the effects of climate change, and coordinating the U.S. effort with other countries. Obama is looking to essentially side-step Congress, relying on the EPA's power to regulate climate change under the Clean Air Act.

"This is a challenge that doesn't pause for partisan gridlock," Obama said. "It demands our attention now."

Liberals, of course, will want to see results before they give credit to Obama for fighting climate change. He made big promises in the 2008 campaign. (Remember how "this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal"?) But with the death of cap-and-trade in the Senate in 2010, and Obama's hesitance to put the kibosh on the Keystone XL pipeline, green activists have been less than enthused about the White House's record on the environment.

During his speech, Obama remained noncommittal on the pipeline, saying that "our national interest will be served only if this pipeline does not significantly exacerbate the climate problem." No doubt Democrats and Republicans will quibble over what the word "significantly" means.

Speaking of the GOP, it has already framed Obama's climate change plan as the president abandoning "any pretense of an 'all of the above energy plan'" and stepping up his "effort to bankrupt the coal industry."

So what exactly can Obama do without the help of Congress? Here, five key details:

1. Institute new carbon pollution standards on power plants
This is the most ambitious ? and most vague ? part of Obama's proposal. Power plants produce 40 percent of the country's carbon dioxide. Putting limits on carbon pollution from power plants would be a huge step toward reaching the White House's goal of cutting greenhouse emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

"Today, for the sake of our children, I'm directing the EPA to set higher carbon pollution standards," Obama said.

The president's language concerning specific policy, however, was very vague. The White House has not said how, when, or how strictly it will regulate power plants. Officially, Obama is "issuing a Presidential Memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency to work expeditiously to complete carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants."

While light on specifics, the fact that it includes "existing power plants" is a big deal, considering that the EPA only has the power to regulate carbon pollutants in new power plants. The lack of federal limits, Obama said, is "not right, it's not fair, and it needs to stop."

New regulations, if started today, could take years to implement.

2. Encourage more clean energy production
Obama's plan also calls for $8 billion in loan guarantees for clean energy projects and a vast increase in the number of permits for renewable energy projects on public lands. Since 2009, the White House claimed, enough solar, wind, and geothermal facilities were built to power 4.4 million homes.

3. Create new energy efficiency standards
One thing green activists have applauded Obama for is increasing fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, something he claimed on Tuesday that he would continue by creating stricter standards for heavy-duty trucks. The White House also wants to create new efficiency standards for appliances that would cut 3 billion metric tons of carbon pollution by 2030.

4. Prepare for the changes that are already happening
Obama repeatedly invoked Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday as evidence that climate change was already affecting the weather. His message? It's happening now, so the United States might as well prepare for it.

That involves, apparently, creating task forces to analyze the problem, giving local authorities federal assistance, and providing $200 million in award money to communities that build infrastructure with "enhanced preparedness" for climate change-related disasters.

5. Cut funding for fossil fuel subsidies and new coal power plants overseas
The White House claimed that international fossil fuel subsidies cost the United States $500 billion every year ? an amount it said it's looking to cut from the 2014 budget. Obama also claimed that the United States was going to stop financing new coal power plants overseas, with the exception of plants in poor countries that have no other economically feasible option.

All of this doesn't add up to the most detailed plan ever, but the president's tone at least signified that he was serious about fighting climate change.

"I don't have much patience for anyone who says this problem isn't real," Obama said. "We don't have time for a meeting of the flat-Earth society."

Source: http://theweek.com/article/index/246090/5-key-details-from-obamas-big-climate-change-speech

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Snowden said to seek asylum in Ecuador, Iceland (The Arizona Republic)

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Edward Snowden To Cuba? Hong Kong Lets Leaker Leave, But His Final Destination Is Unknown

By James Pomfret
HONG KONG, June 23 (Reuters) - A former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency, charged by the United States with espionage, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, his final destination as yet unknown, because a U.S. request to have him arrested did not comply with the law, the Hong Kong government said.
Edward Snowden left for Moscow on Sunday and his final destination may be Cuba, Ecuador, Iceland or Venezuela, according to various reports. The move is bound to infuriate Washington, wherever he ends up.
"It's a shocker," said Simon Young, a law professor with Hong Kong University. "I thought he was going to stay and fight it out. The U.S. government will be irate."
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a source at the Aeroflot airline as saying there was a ticket in Snowden's name for a Moscow-Cuba flight. Itar-Tass news agency cited a source as saying Snowden would fly from Havana to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
The South China Morning Post said his final destination might be Ecuador or Iceland.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was unaware of Snowden's whereabouts or travel plans.
The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website said it helped Snowden find "political asylum in a democratic country". It did not elaborate, other than to say Snowden was "currently over Russian airspace" with WikiLeaks legal advisers.
The White House had no comment on the WikiLeaks posting.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said last week he would not leave the sanctuary of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London even if Sweden stopped pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he feared arrest on the orders of the United States.
U.S. authorities have charged Snowden with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, with the latter two charges falling under the U.S. Espionage Act.
The United States had asked Hong Kong, a special administrative region (SAR) of China, to send Snowden home.
"The U.S. government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden," the Hong Kong government said in a statement.
"Since the documents provided by the U.S. government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR government has requested the U.S. government to provide additional information ... As the HKSAR government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
It did not say what further information it needed, but said Snowden left Hong Kong "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel".

CHINA SAYS U.S. "BIGGEST VILLAIN"
Hong Kong, a former British colony, reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and although it retains an independent legal system, and its own extradition laws, Beijing has control over Hong Kong's foreign affairs. Some observers see Beijing's hand in Snowden's sudden departure.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier this month that Russia would consider granting Snowden asylum if he were to ask for it and pro-Kremlin lawmakers supported the idea, but there has been no indication he has done so.
Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden, a former employee of contractor Booz Allen Hamilton who worked at an NSA facility in Hawaii.
The South China Morning Post earlier quoted Snowden offering new details about the United States' spy activities, including accusations of U.S. hacking of Chinese mobile telephone companies and targeting China's Tsinghua University.
Documents previously leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies, including Facebook and Google, under a government programme known as Prism.
In its statement, the Hong Kong government said it had written to the United States "requesting clarification" of earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies.
"The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter, so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong," it said.
China's Xinhua news agency, referring to Snowden's accusations about the hacking of Chinese targets, said they were "clearly troubling signs".
It added: "They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age." (Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Shanghai; Nishant Kumar in Hong Kong; Alexei Anishchuk and Steve Gutterman in Moscow, and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/23/edward-snowden-cuba_n_3485796.html

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'Monsters U' scares up $82M box office

Movies

Pamela McClintock The Hollywood Reporter

22 hours ago

Disney/Pixar

"Monsters University"

Affable monsters and hordes of zombies converged at the North American box office over the weekend to create a perfect storm for moviegoing.

Disney and Pixar's long-awaited sequel "Monsters University" opened to a sizzling $82 million, the No. 2 Pixar opening of all time after "Toy Story 3"($110 million). Overseas, "Monsters U" took in an early $54.5 million from 35 markets for a worldwide debut of $136.5 million.

Brad Pitt zombie pic "World War Z," from Paramount, also overperformed in opening to $66 million, the top launch for an original live-action tentpole since "Avatar." It also marks Pitt's largest opening domestically, easily outpacing the $50.3 million launch of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in summer 2005. Internationally, "World War Z" debuted to $45.8 million from its first 25 markets for a worldwide total of $111.8 million.

PHOTOS: "World War Z" Premiere: The Zombie apocalypse starts in London

"World War Z's" performance is a notable victory for Paramount, considering many in Hollywood left the film for dead after its release was pushed back from December 2012 in order to allow for numerous reshoots required to reshape the ending. Directed by Marc Forsterand co-financed by Skydance Productions, "World War Z" was a passion project for Pitt, who produced the tentpole.

Domestic box office revenue for the weekend reached an estimated $236 million, the second best of the year after Memorial Day weekend and among the top 10 weekends of all time.

Heading into the frame, box office observers believed "World War Z"would end up in a closer battle with Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan's "Man of Steel," with many giving Superman an edge over zombies.

As it turned out, "Man of Steel" fell more than expected for an all-audience tentpole, even as it jumped the $200 million mark domestically. The movie grossed $41.2 million in its second weekend, a 65 percent decline, to come in No. 3 and pushing its North American total to $210 million.

Coming in No. 4 was Sony's innovative comedy "This Is the End," which fell just 37 percent in its second weekend. The R-rated pic grossed $13 million for a domestic cume of $57.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was Summit's sleeper hit "Now You See Me." The magician heist pic has enjoyed a great hold, grossing $7.9 million in its fourth weekend for a domestic total of $94.5 million.

The might of "Monsters U," directed by Dan Scanlon, continues Pixar's winning streak at the box office and marks the 14th Pixar title to open to No. 1. The sequel returns Billy Crystal, John Goodman,Steve Buscemi and Frank Oz in the roles of Mike Wazowski, James P. Sullivan, Randall Boggs, and Jeff Fungus, respectively.

"The consistency of the quality that comes from Pixar and John Lasseter and his team is extraordinary. This movie had to live up to a very had to live up to a very high bar, and it did," said Disney executive vice president of distribution Dave Hollis, also noting that the animated tentpole did strong nighttime business in a sign that adults were turning out in addition to families.

"Monsters U" will have plenty of competition in the coming weeks as a record number of 3-D summertoons open at the North American, but a glowing A CinemaScore should help fuel word of mouth.

Overseas, the 2013 summer animation war began over the weekend in Australia, where "Monsters U" debuted opposite University's "Despicable Me 2" in advance of the winter holidays. "Despicable 2" was the victor, grossing $4.3 million. Combined with previews, the toon has earned a total of $6.4 million. "Monsters U" took in $3.5 million.

STORY: "Monsters," "Despicable Me 2," "Turbo": Summer's brutal animation war

Paramount is hoping that "World War Z" -- following the lead of other successful original tentpoles -- enjoys a better-than-usual multiple. "Avatar" debuted to $77 million in December 2009 on its way to cuming $760.5 million domestically, or 10 times its opening number. And in summer 2010, Christopher Nolan's "Inception" grossed $292.6 million, nearly five times its $62 million debut.

"This was an original movie in a summer that's been full of sequels and remakes. I think it captured the public's imagination. Certainly, Brad gave a superb performance," said Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore.

Rated PG-13, "World War Z" earned a B+ CinemaScore.

"World War Z," based on Max Brook's 2006 novel of the same name, was a sizable gamble for the studio, costing $190 million to produce after tax incentives. The budget was originally $150 million, but the additional work -- shepherded by Pitt and Forster alongside Paramount Film Group president Adam Goodman and his team -- bumped up the number.

In the film, Pitt plays a retired U.N. employee who must return to work and stop a worldwide pandemic that is turning humans into zombies. "The Killing's" Mireille Enos stars as his wife.

"World War Z" opened in 25 foreign markets this weekend, including the U.K., South Korea and Australia.

At the specialty box office, Sofia Copolla's "The Bling Ring"came in No. 11 as it made a major push in its second weekend, upping its theater count from five theaters to 650. The indie film, from A24 films, grossed $1.8 million from 650 theaters for a cume of $2.1 million.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/monsters-university-scares-82-million-overcomes-zombie-hordes-6C10423618

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