Tsunami

Indonesia pledged to build a nationwide tsunami alert system as soldiers pulled bodies from ravaged beaches, homes and hotels Tuesday. Parents searched tearfully for their children and the death toll hit at least 531, with 275 people missing.
Bodies covered in white sheets piled up at makeshift morgues, while others lay beneath the blazing sun in the tourist resort of Pangandaran, a 6-month-old baby among them.


The search for survivors continued Tuesday, with parents among the last to give up.
"The water was too strong," said Irah as she dug through a pile of rubble with her bare hands, close to the spot where she last saw her 6-year-old son. "Oh God. Eki, where are you?"
The magnitude 7.7 undersea quake on Monday triggered walls of water more than six feet high that crashed into a 110-mile stretch of beach on Java island, an area spared by the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami.
The waves destroyed houses, restaurants and hotels and tossed boats, cars and motorbikes far inland.
The government said Wednesday that emergency workers recovered dozens of more bodies, pushing the death toll to 531 with 275 people missing.
Almost all the victims were Indonesians, but a Pakistani, a Swede and a Dutch citizen were among those killed, officials said.
At least 42,000 people fled their homes, either because they were destroyed or in fear of another tsunami, adding to the difficulty of counting casualties.

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Beyonce fasted to lose weight

Singer Beyonce Knowles fasted for two weeks to lose 20 pounds (9 kg) for her latest film role.
According to Hollywood.com, Beyonce took on a strict diet to make sure she lost weight for the film "Dreamgirls".
She said: "I wanted to make a physical transformation because I was playing this role and I wanted to be not Beyonce... It was a big sacrifice.

I basically ate vegetables, I had a trainer... I was very healthy. She added: "I did do a two-week fast but (I took) all the vitamins and nutrients my body needs. I normally wouldn't have done that for Beyonce as a performer, but Dina, as the character, I needed to drop it really fast."

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Suri Cruise Hidden

Almost three months after the birth of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter, the Shroud of Suri has yet to be lifted.
Suri Cruise has yet to be seen in public, either in person or photographically, since entering the world on April 18. To some, this is a holdout of staggering proportions. Us Weekly magazine is running a clock, ticking off the days (84 and counting) since Suri's birth.
German TV station RTL, taking matters into its own hands, has produced a composite image of what Suri might look like. TMZ.com, perhaps digging for evidence of Suri's existence, obtained a copy of the official birth certificate, filed on May 8 in Los Angeles.
And gossip website Defamer.com has called the delay "profoundly strange" and upgraded its suspicion from "mystery" to "riddle that would make the Sphinx incontinent."
Lest anyone rent out milk-carton space, Cruise spokesman Arnold Robinson pleads for privacy: "If and when they do make a decision, it will be at their discretion and not anybody else's," he told The Associated Press.
The secrecy is in stark contrast to the couple's radically public courtship. Cruise, 44, and Holmes, 27, spared no photo-op during their whirlwind romance. They are now engaged, though there has been no word on wedding plans.
The top Invisible Baby theory involves Cruise's Scientology beliefs. The religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was very specific about how infants should be treated, and taught that birth should occur in a silent environment.
Perhaps Cruise believes media attention would bring unwanted distraction - a sentiment many parents would likely agree with. Meanwhile, other celebrity babies born since Suri have made their public bows.
The daughter of Brooke Shields and Chris Henchy, Grier Hammond Henchy, was revealed weeks ago _ and she was born the same day as Suri. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, was born on May 27 and landed in several magazines by early June. The recently born children of Gwen Stefani and Rachel Weisz are confirmed to exist.
But Suri remains unseen, which is not unusual for a Cruise child. When he and Nicole Kidman were married, their two adopted children weren't photographed until 1996, when son Conor Anthony was a year old and daughter Isabella Jane was 3.
Given that track record, those counting clocks might still have a while to tick.

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Jessica Simpson to co-host Teen Choice show

Jessica Simpson's schedule is getting even busier now that she's co-hosting the Teen Choice awards.

The eighth annual special will air live Aug. 20 on Fox (8 p.m. EDT).

Her co-host will be announced at a later date, Fox said Tuesday.

At "Teen Choice 2006," Simpson is nominated for choice movie breakout performance for her role as Daisy Duke in "The Dukes of Hazzard," choice red carpet fashion icon and choice hottie.

In the youth-centric ceremony, teen-friendly stars of film, television, music, sports and fashion win surfboard awards.
Voters can cast their ballots until Aug. 11 on the Web sites Teenpeople.com, MySpace.com, Ign.com and Fox.com.
Simpson, 26, stars in the comedy "Employee of the Month," which opens Sept. 15. Her new album, "A Public Affair," debuts Aug. 29.
She and Nick Lachey, who co-starred in the MTV reality show "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," recently divorced after three years of marriage.

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Les Bleus honored in Paris the day after loss in final

Thousands of fans braved soaring temperatures to honor the national team Monday, a day after Les Bleus were defeated by Italy in a World Cup final that had a shocking end to the captain's illustrious career.
Fans of all ages gathered under a punishing sun at the elegant Place de la Concorde to pay homage to the team and bid farewell to retiring Zinedine Zidane -- sent off from his last-ever match after head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi.
Earlier, French President Jacques Chirac also thanked the team, which lost in a penalty shootout 5-3.
"France loves and admires you," Chirac said in a speech before lunching with the players and their wives at the presidential Elysee Palace.
"At such a level of competition, as we all know, winning or losing depends on so little that it is not what counts," said Chirac, who had attended Sunday's final in Berlin.
The president had special words of consolation for Zidane, a national idol whose last act as a soccer player shocked fans and threatened to tarnish his reputation.
Chirac ensured Zidane that he had France's respect.
"You are a virtuoso, a genius of world football," Chirac said. "You are also a man of heart, commitment, conviction. That's why France admires and loves you."
Many of the team's supporters seemed to agree.
According to the Paris police, some 15,000 people -- many carrying signs that read "Zidane we love you" -- packed the square in front of the Hotel de Crillon for a last glimpse at Zidane and his teammates.
They chanted Zidane's nickname -- "Zizou" -- calling the now-retired captain to take his place at the hotel's second-story balcony, which was draped with a giant blue jersey.
But in spite of the fans' insistence, Zidane made only a brief appearance, waving and taking a humble bow before he ducked out of sight.
Zidane -- who shot to stardom during the 1998 World Cup that France won on its home turf -- was expected to explain himself in the coming days.
Some fans insisted that Zidane should apologize.
"For the sake of the kids that adore him, he needs to say he's sorry," said Beatrice Marechaud, 35, a still-life photographer, who said she turned out to cheer the team's other players. "It's really too bad for him to end his career this way."
Others in the crowd said they expected that Zidane's career would outshine his final ugly gesture.
"He had so many magical moments, I don't think that people are going to remember this negative one," said Regis Bernard, a 32-year-old salesman, who shouted when Zidane made his appearance.
Fans cheered when David Trezeguet appeared on the balcony. But Trezeguet, whose missed penalty cost France the match, broke down in tears. Striker Thierry Henry comforted him with a bear hug.

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Emmy Awards

The Emmy Awards are United States television production awards, similar to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment.
Three related but separate organizations present Emmy Awards:
- the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors national prime time entertainment (excluding sports);
- the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizes daytime, sports, news and documentary programming; and
- the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors programming originating outside the United States.

The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The name "Emmy" was a feminization of "immy", a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy in the first awards ceremony. The Emmy Awards trophies are currently made by a private company with a manufacturing site at the maximum security El Dorado Correctional Facility, in El Dorado, Kansas.
The statuette of a winged woman holding an atom has since become the symbol of the TV Academy's goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science. It was created by television engineer Louis McManus, using his wife as a model.

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Shakira

After achieving superstardom throughout Latin America, Colombian-born Shakira became Latin pop's biggest female crossover artist since Jennifer Lopez broke down the doors to English-language success. Noted for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control over her music, especially for a female artist; she wrote or co-wrote nearly all of her own material, and in the process gained a reputation as one of Latin music's most ambitiously poetic lyricists. When she released her first English material in late 2001, she became an instant pop sensation, thanks to her quirky poetic sense and a sexy video image built on her hip-shaking belly-dance moves.
Shakira Mebarak (full name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) was born February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, into a poor family. Her mother was a native Colombian and her father was of Lebanese descent, and so as a child Shakira soaked up music from both cultures; she also listened heavily to English-language rock & roll, listing her favorite bands in later interviews as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the Police, the Cure, and Nirvana. Shakira wrote her first song at age eight, began entering (and winning) talent competitions at age ten, and started learning the guitar at age 11; one story runs that around this age, she was kicked out of her school choir for singing too forcefully. In 1990, at age 13, Shakira moved to Bogotᠩn hopes of pursuing a modeling career, but wound up signing a record deal with Sony's Colombian division instead. Her 1991 debut album, Magia (Magic), was comprised of songs she'd written over the past five or six years, including some of her earliest efforts. Although it didn't break internationally, the record started to make a name for her in her home country. Dissatisfied with the pop inclinations of the follow-up, 1993's Peligro (Danger), Shakira changed direction for a time, joining the cast of the Colombian soap opera El Oasis in 1994.
When Shakira returned to recording in 1995, she asserted more control over the direction of her music, and worked more rock & roll rhythms -- as well as occasional Arabic tinges -- into her Latin pop material. The first results were Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), which was initially released in 1995; a slow seller at first, the album gradually caught on thanks to the rock-tinged single "Estoy Aqui," which became a hit all over Latin America, as well as Spain. After that breakthrough, Pies Descalzos just kept spinning off singles: "D󮤥 Est᳠Coraz󮿬" "Antolog?" "Pienso en Ti," "Un Poco de Amor," "Se Quiere, Se Mata." The album hit number one in eight different countries and eventually went platinum in the U.S. as well; Shakira toured for nearly two years promoting it (she finally left El Oasis in 1997).
Seeking to build on her success, Shakira signed Emilio Estefan -- Gloria's husband and a highly successful music-biz insider -- as her manager and producer. The move paid off when her follow-up album, 1998's D󮤥 Estᮠlos Ladrones? (Where Are the Thieves?), became an even bigger worldwide hit than its predecessor. What was more, it cracked the lucrative U.S. market wide open, spending 11 weeks at number one on Billboard's Latin album chart and producing two U.S. number ones (on the Latin chart) with "Ciega, Sordomuda" and "Tu." The album's signature track, however, was the worldwide hit "Ojos As? her most explicit nod yet to the Arabic music she'd picked up from her father (not to mention its latent belly-dancing connotations). D󮤥 Estᮠlos Ladrones? was also the most effective presentation yet of Shakira's strong-willed persona; her self-analysis made her even more popular among female fans, while her anger over love gone wrong drew comparisons to Alanis Morissette.

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4 July: Independence Day of USA

In the United States, Independence Day, also called the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Independence Day is commonly associated with parades, barbecues, picnics, baseball games, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the U.S. Fireworks have been associated with the Fourth of July since 1777.
Picnics and barbecues
Fourth of July barbecues (sometimes abbreviated as "BBQ") and picnics are outdoor meals that are easy to prepare for the large quantities of people that often gather on July 4.
Barbecues generally involve hamburgers and hot dogs which may be garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions. Hamburgers may be topped with lettuce and/or tomatoes, and hot dogs may be topped with relish. For buns, the meat may be served on a hamburger bun or hot dog bun respectively, or sliced bread may be used as a bun substitute. Grilled chicken is sometimes also served.
July 4 Picnics are generally held in parks while waiting for fireworks or are held at the beach. They do not involve heated meats and instead include sandwiches such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tuna salad sandwiches. Picnics were traditionally transported in a picnic basket although they are more commonly carried in coolers.
Beverages for a picnic or barbecue generally include 2-liters of soda. Soda is chilled with ice and served in party cups. If alcoholic beverages are present, the host may provide canned beer or a keg or may ask participants to bring their own beer (referred to as "BYOB"). Traditional sides for a picnic or barbecue include potato salad, potato chips, vegetable tray, jello salad, and perhaps corn on the cob.
Guests at barbecues and picnics may sit at a picnic table or some other form of outdoor furniture. If the picnic is in a park (especially where fireworks are held), a picnic blanket may be set on the ground and participants eat the food sitting down on the blanket.

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Scientology

Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American pulp fiction and science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy. By 1960 Hubbard had redefined it as a "religion by its basic tenets". The name "Scientology" is also sometimes used to refer to the Church of Scientology, which is the largest organization promoting the belief system of Scientology. There are other organizations and individuals who are not affiliated with the Church of Scientology who regard themselves as practitioners of and believers in Scientology, sometimes collectively called the Free Zone. The Church regards such independents, almost without exception, as not practicing the "true" Scientology set out by Hubbard, while many of those independents make the very same criticism about the Church.
The Church of Scientology presents itself as a religious non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the human spirit and providing counseling and rehabilitation programs. Church spokespeople claim that Hubbard's teachings (called "Technology" or "tech" in Scientology terminology) have saved them from addictions, arthritis, depression, learning disabilities, mental illness, cancer, homosexuality and other perceived problems.
The controversial organization has attracted much criticism and distrust throughout the world because of its closed nature and strong-arm tactics in handling critics. Lawmakers, including national governing bodies of several countries, have characterized the Church as an unscrupulous commercial organization, citing harassment of critics and exploitation of its members.

Scientology's principles have been characterized as pseudoscientific by scientists, medical doctors and psychotherapeutic practitioners. Although some religious scholars consider Scientology a religion, it has frequently been perceived as a cult and a pseudoreligion.
Allegations of Scientology's cult status can be attributed to its unconventional creation by a single authoritative and charismatic leader.
Within the church members are arranged in a hierarchically pyramid ranked structure, with higher level members holding authority over lower ranked subordinates, especially as evidenced by the Sea Org. The Church indoctrinates its members providing very little initial knowledge of the inner secrets of the organization. In order to reach this knowledge parishioners are required to advance forward in rank through study and payments to the Church, the incentive of which is the stepped acquisition of promised powerful secrets and gaining of supernatural abilities.
According to a 2001 survey published by the City University of New York 55,000 people in the United States would, if asked what their religion was, have said Scientology. The worldwide number of Scientologists is disputed: the Church of Scientology claims around 10 million members as of 2006, but claimed national membership figures it has released when totalled indicate a figure of around 500,000. Adherents.com suggests there may be 500,000 Scientologists worldwide while critics say Church membership is likely to be less than 100,000.

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Superman Returns

Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character, Superman. The film is directed by Bryan Singer, and stars Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey. The screenplay is by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris.
Filming began on February 2005 and the movie was released in the United States on June 28, 2006. Bryan Singer has said that the loose continuity established in the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films serves as its back-story, or, as he put it, a "vague history". The late Marlon Brando reprises his role as Superman's biological father, Jor-El, from Superman, using computer-generated techniques coupled with footage from the Superman franchise archives.
Released alongside the film was a documentary, Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, covering the history of the Superman franchise with input from Bryan Singer, as well as other past and present actors, directors, writers, artists, and fans.

Shooting of Superman Returns was initiated in Australia, on locations that included a farm located outside of the regional town of Gunnedah in North West NSW, and Sydney. Some other scenes were shot in the United States. The film was shot entirely on high-definition video using a Panavision Genesis camera.

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