Sarah Palin, a former runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest, burst on to the political scene in 2006 by becoming both the first female and youngest governor in Alaskan history at the age of 42.

She had previously gained statewide attention as a gutsy maverick unafraid to speak truth after whistle blowing on ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders during her time on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

A “soccer-mom” type with telegenic appeal, Mrs Palin is a real life Miss Congeniality — she won the title in the Wasilla beauty pageant back in 1984.

But the mother-of-five combines her homely air with a keen grasp of the issues and a formidable campaigning style.

A strong social conservative and a staunch supporter of gun rights, she is hugely popular in Alaska — a poll published last month showed her approval rating at 80 per cent.

Mrs Palin is strongly pro-life — typified, observers say, by the fact that her fifth child, born in April, has Down’s Syndrome. The Palins also have teenage son, Track, and three young daughters, Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

She also opposes same-sex marriage, but has often sympathised with the concerns of gay community about discrimination and has implemented legislation ensuring equal benefits for same-sex couples.

After running her gubernatorial campaign on clean government, Mrs Palin has successfully pushed through an ethics Bill as well as shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. She is a spending hawk, having slashed the state’s construction budget by $237 million - the largest cuts in Alaskan history.

After taking office, she followed through on a campaign promise to sell a Windward II jet purchased on state credit. Placing it on eBay three times, she eventually sold it to the highest bidder for $2.7 million.

Mrs Palin’s energy stance dovetails nicely with that of Mr McCain — promoting resource development while also taking steps to address climate change and environmental issues. She has recently announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisers, tasked with reducing greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.

However, Mrs Palin is not entirely free of scandal. She is currently under investigation by the state legislature for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal of the commissioner for public safety, Walter Moneghan. Mr Moneghan alleges that he was fired because he was reluctant to sack a state trooper who was involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with her sister, Molly McCann. The governor is said to be co-operating with the investigation, which is being overseen by Democratic State Senator Hollis French.

An Alaskan through and through, Mrs Palin grew up with a love of traditional outdoor pursuits. As a child she regularly got up before dawn to go moose-hunting with her father and is still a strong believer in gun ownership. She is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.

Before entering politics she had a number of unconventional jobs including sports reporter and commercial fisherman, the latter alongside her husband Ted, who is a Yupik Innuit.

Actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died at the age of 50.

The star was best known for film roles in Ocean’s Eleven, Charlie’s Angels and Transformers while achieving critical and popular acclaim for the long-running sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, which earned him two Emmy award nominations.

Mac was admitted to hospital in Chicago last week and died early on Saturday morning due to complications arising from pneumonia, his publicist said.”We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected,” said Damica Taylor.

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois in October 1957.

According to his uncle, there were once as many as 10 people living in the two-bedroom apartment in which he grew up.
Mac was raised by his mother and grandparents.

“We learned to entertain ourselves,” Mac wrote in his 2003 autobiography, Maybe You Never Cry Again.

“I used to have long conversations with the living room wall.”

His memoir told how, as a child, he had discovered his mother doubled up with laughter at Bill Cosby appearing on Ed Sullivan’s TV show.

“‘That’s what I want to be, Mama, a comedian’” he recalled saying.

“Make you laugh like that, maybe you never cry again.”

He began performing as a stand-up at a church dinner at the age of eight, progressing to open mic nights and a regular stint at Chicago’s Cotton Club by the time he was 20.

His success was far from immediate and along the way he worked as a janitor, furniture mover, appliance hauler, and delivery man to supplement his comedy income.

It wasn’t until he was featured in the Kings of Comedy stand-up tour in 1997 - which was filmed and broadcast by HBO - that he achieved national prominence.

One of his co-stars in the show, Steve Harvey, paid tribute to the comedian on Saturday, saying: “The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac, he gave them their money’s worth.”

Mac often attributed his dogged persistence of a comedy career to his mother who, he said, had imbued him with a strong work ethic before she died of breast cancer when he was just 16.

“Parents today don’t get it,” he wrote in his memoirs. “They don’t want to be parents. They want to be cool. They want to be hip. They don’t want to be the bad guy.

“But guess what? Being the bad guy is your job.

“My mama knew better. She wasn’t there to make me like her; she was there to shape me; she was there to make me a good person.”
Mac’s view of parenting was reflected in his hit TV show, which was based around a man’s attempts to raise his sister’s three children.

The Bernie Mac show won a Peabody award for excellence in television in 2002. At the time, judges said they had singled it out for transcending “race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion - and cool”.The sitcom, which ran for more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006, made Bernie Mac a household name,receiving several awards and nominations for his film and TV appearances for several years. Film roles starting with a small role in the Damon Wayans movie Mo’ Money in 1992, he then topped the box office with Guess Who? - a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn classic Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? - in 2005.

Earlier this year, he was at the center of controversy after making some off-color jokes at a fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicago native Barack Obama.

Controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.

“Wherever I am, I have to play,” he said in 2002. “I have to put on a good show.”

Bernie Mac had a history of ill health and suffered from the inflammatory lung disease sarcoidosis.

He contracted pneumonia for the first time in 2004 while filming Ocean’s Twelve.

Mac told his home newspaper The Chicago Sun-Times that the disease, which had nearly killed him, had acted as a wake-up call.

“My life was slipping away. I was missing out on so much stuff with my family, and I will never do that again,” he said.

In 2007, he told late night show host David Letterman he was planning to retire from comedy.

“I’m going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” he said.

Mac is survived by his wife Rhonda, daughter Je’Niece and a granddaughter and will be laid to rest on August 16 th.

At 11:42 am on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area experienced its largest earthquake in years as a magnitude 5.4 event occurred 8.5 miles beneath the Chino Hills. This earthquake was felt across much of southern California, and as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada.

Latest Earthquakes - Last 7 Days

 WASHINGTON -Hypeline News- The Supreme Court has ruled that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights.

In a 6-3 ruling, this court has upheld Indiana’s strict photo ID requirement, which Democrats and civil rights groups said would deter poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. Just in time for the Indiana’s Primary next week.

Its backers said it was needed to prevent fraud.

Justice John Paul Stevens said in an opinion The law “is amply justified by the valid interest in protecting ‘the integrity and reliability of the electoral process,’”and was joined by Chief

Justice John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy.Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas also agreed with the outcome, but wrote separately.

Justices David Souter,Stephen Breyer,Ruth Bader Ginsburg desented, just as they had in 2000.

Curently more than 20 states require some form of identification at the polls. Courts have upheld voter ID laws in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, but struck down Missouri’s in the past.

The high court’s decision will spur efforts to pass similar laws in other states.

This voter ID ruling has lacked the conservative-liberal split that marked the 2000 case.

Police said Rival gangs opened  fire with rifles and automatic weapons on the streets of Tijuana early Saturday morning in a wild and bloody shootout which killed13 people and wounding several others in this latest incidence of drug related violence

Gunmen began firing on each other with rifles and automatic weapons in a light industrial area east of the city, according to authorities, leaving a trail of corpses, spent shell casings and bullet-riddled vehicles across Tijuana as the combatants gave chase to one another.

The initial confrontation on Boulevard Insurgentes, a major thoroughfare, the battle there raged for at least 10 minutes leaving abandoned vehicles, scattered weapons, broken glass, a blood-soaked bullet-proof vest and several corpses, including one with its head blown nearly off.

The shootout is just the latest in a spasm of drug-related violence that has gripped the border town this year. In the first four months of 2008, Tijuana has seen dozens of kidnappings, assaults and homicides, including children gunned down in the mayhem.

The motive for Saturday’s bloodshed is still unclear. Police said it could have been a falling out between factions of the so-called Arellano Felix narcotics cartel, which has long controlled the drug trade in this city. Or it could be another cartel trying to move in its turf. Some speculate that the killings may have been revenge by traffickers against suspected snitches.

Experts said the recent violence is linked to major offensives by authorities against organized crime drug traffickers, an operation that has strained delicate alliances between traffickers that had previously cooperated in the lucrative narcotics trade.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, in cooperation with state and local authorities, has sent hundreds of soldiers and federal police to Tijuana and other trafficking hot spots this year, an operation that has resulted in several high-profile arrests and seizures of caches of drugs and weapons.

Organized crime has responded with unprecedented ferocity to intimidate informants and police and to punish rivals they suspect of betraying them.

In January, gunmen stormed the home of Tijuana Deputy Police Chief Margarito Saldana Rivera, killing him, his wife and two daughters, the youngest age 12. A young couple and their 3-year-old son were slain the same week in what was believed to be a case of mistaken identity.

The situation in Tijuana has grown particularly volatile after a Mexican general this week publicly identified more than a dozen high-ranking public officials and law enforcement officers he alleges are in league with organized crime.

Gen. Sergio Aponte Polito made the claims in an open letter to the Tijuana daily newspaper Frontera, sparking controversy so heated that Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos appealed for calm.

Actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison for failing to file tax returns ,this despite making a $5 million down payment on his outstanding tax balance, Snipes received the maximum jail time requested by federal prosecutors.

“The three-year sentence sends a loud and crystal-clear message to any would-be tax defier that if you engage in this illegal conduct, you can and will go to prison,” said Nathan Hochman, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s tax division.

The lead prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill, repeated “The courts sent a really clear message that Americans must file and pay taxes,” he said. “If you have a legitimate dispute with the IRS, contact the IRS and dispute what you believe you’re due and owe. You can’t just totally fail to satisfy your legal obligation like Mr. Snipes did.”

Mr.Snipes went on trial in January for failing to file income taxes returns between 1999 and 2004, which he made an estimated $38 million starring in popular movies  (Passenger 57 ,White Men Can’t Jump,as well as the Blade Vampire Trilogy “. Prosecutors said that Snipes also fraudulently filed for $11 million in refunds on income taxes paid in 1996 and 1997.
Mr Snipes’ attorneys have argued that their client innocently fell victim to poor tax advice provided by his two co-defendants, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile.
Kahn and Rosile were both convicted in February on felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy.

Kahn received 10 years ,while Rosile only 54 months, both were sentenced yesterday.

Mr.Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor counts but was acquitted of serious felony charges, a verdict that was seen as a victory in the eyes of some tax protestors.
In his statement to the court, Snipes apologized for his “mistakes” but steered clear of acknowledging any intentional wrongdoing, according to observers.
“[Snipes] said he was sorry for his actions but he never used the word ‘crimes’ and he never used the word ‘tax,’” said Hochman, who was present when U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges announced the sentence in Ocala, Fla. “I think it’s an indication that Mr. Snipes, to this day, has not fully accepted responsibility for his actions.”In addition to the jail time, Snipes, 45, is being charged millions by the IRS for back taxes, penalties and interest. Defense attorney Linda Moreno declined to comment about her client’s sentence, but said that a notice of appeal will be filed within the next few days.Prosecutor O’Neill said he’s confident the ruling will stand.

“In my opinion that was an error-free trial,” he said. “In order to succeed in an appeal, you have to point to something that occurred in the trial that denied the individual due process of law. I
don’t see that happening.

Al-Qaeda regularly posts audio and video tapes on the internet

Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, says Iran is lying about Israel being behind the 11 September 2001 attacks.

In an audio tape posted on the internet, Zawahiri insisted al-Qaeda had carried out the attacks on the US.

He accused Iran, and its Hezbollah allies, of trying to discredit Osama Bin Laden’s network.

Correspondents say the comments underline al-Qaeda’s increasing public hostility towards Iran.

In a two-hour audiotape posted on an Islamic website, Osama Bin Laden’s chief deputy responded to questions posted by al-Qaeda sympathizers.

In response to a question about persistent rumors in the Middle East that Israel was involved in the 9/11 attacks, Zawahiri said the rumor had begun on the Hezbollah television station, Al-Manar.

“The purpose of this lie is clear - Saying that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who hurt America as no-one else did in history, he said.”The Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it.”

In this second verbal attack on Iran , Zawahiri went on to criticise Iran for co-operating with the US in its 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, that helped to remove the Taleban.

“Iran’s aim here is also clear - to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said.

Earlier this month, in an audiotape the al-Qaeda deputy accused Iran of planning to annexe southern Iraq and the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula.

These messages appear to play on Sunni fears throughout the region of growing Iranian influence, and to present al-Qaeda as the best bulwark against Tehran.

BEIJING (Hypeline News) - China on Tuesday defended a cache of its weapons headed for Zimbabwe saying it was part of normal bilateral trade, but suggested the arms might not be delivered due to problems offloading the cargo.while Protesters opposed to Chinese weapons being delivered to Zimbabwe demonstrated in South Africa on April 19

A Chinese ship loaded with a controversial cargo of arms intended for Zimbabwe is headed to the Angolan capital Luanda, as China defended the shipment against international criticism.

The Chinese ship loaded with weapons destined for Zimbabwe has highlighted Beijing’s support for the increasingly isolated African regime, amid new violence surrounding elections there.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters in Beijing.”This is normal trade in military products between the two countries,”adding”The relevant contract was signed last year and has nothing to do with the situation in Zimbabwe.”
The ship’s inventory published by a South Africa newspaper listed Three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes are among the cargo on the Chinese ship .

Attempts to offload the ship in the South African port of Durban were unsuccessful, and it is now headed for Angola.

Jiang said China maintained a prudent policy when it sold weapons overseas, and that Beijing sells only a fraction of the arms that are traded globally.

“We hope relevant parties will not politicise this issue,” she said.

“As Zimbabwe could not receive the cargo as scheduled, China Ocean-going Shipping Corp had to give up the Durban port and is now considering carrying back this cargo to China.”

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said Monday it was mobilising against allowing the Chinese ship, An Yue Jiang, from offloading in any African harbour.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party currently is battling to stay in power after last month’s disputed elections, is defending its right to buy weapons saying “It’s our sovereign right to defend ourselves, it’s our sovereign right to buy weapons from any legitimate source worldwide and we don’t need clearance from anyone,” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said.

ZANU-PF on Monday denied opposition claims of politically-related killings in the aftermath of the polls.

Some glaciers in Europe have suffered significant losses

The rate at which some of the world’s glaciers are melting has more than doubled, data from the United Nations Environment Programme has shown. Average glacial shrinkage has risen from 30 centimetres per year between 1980 and 1999, to 1.5 metres in 2006.

Some of the biggest losses have occurred in the Alps and Pyrenees mountain ranges in Europe.

Experts have called for “immediate action” to reverse the trend, which is seen as a key climate change indicator.

Estimates for 2006 indicate shrinkage of 1.4 metres of ‘water equivalent’ compared to half a metre in 2005.

Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General of the UN and executive director of its environment programme (UNEP), said: “Millions if not billions of people depend directly or indirectly on these natural water storage facilities for drinking water, agriculture, industry and power generation during key parts of the year.

“There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine. The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise and it is absolutely essential that everyone sits up and takes notice.

He said that action was already being taken and pointed out that the elements of a green economy were emerging from the more the money invested in renewable energies.

Mr Steiner went on: “The litmus test will come in late 2009 at the climate convention meeting in Copenhagen.

“Here governments must agree on a decisive new emissions reduction and adaptation-focused regime. Otherwise, and like the glaciers, our room for manoeuvre and the opportunity to act may simply melt away,instead of coming up with plans to harvest the water an use it before can raise sea level rise.

Dr Ian Willis, of the Scott Polar Research Institute, said: “It is not too late to stop the shrinkage of these ice sheets but we need to take action immediately.”

The findings were compiled by the World Glacier Monitoring Service which is supported by UNEP. Thickening and thinning is calculated in terms of ‘water equivalent’.

Glaciers across nine mountain ranges were analysed.

Glaciers have been monitored for more than a century

Dr. Wilfried Haeberli, director of the service, said: “The latest figures are part of what appears to be an accelerating trend with no apparent end in sight.

“This continues the trend in accelerated ice loss during the past two and a half decades and brings the total loss since 1980 to more than 10.5 metres of water equivalent.”

During 1980-1999, average loss rates had been 0.3 metres per year. Since the turn of the millennium, this rate had increased to about half a metre per year.

The record annual loss during these two decades - 0.7 metres in 1998 - has now been exceeded by three out of the past six year (2003, 2004 and 2006).

On average, one metre water equivalent corresponds to 1.1 metres in ice thickness. That suggests a further shrinking in 2006 of 1.5 actual metres and since 1980 a total reduction in thickness of ice of just over 11.5 metres or almost 38 feet.

In its entirety, the research includes figures from around 100 glaciers, with data showing significant shrinkage taking place in European countries including Austria, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Norway’s Breidalblikkbrea glacier thinned by almost 3.1 metres in one of the largest reductions.

Mr Schmidt says he is concerned about the openness of the net Any deal between Yahoo and Microsoft could be “bad for the internet”, according to the head of Google.

Chief executive Eric Schmidt said that Google was “concerned” about a deal and said it could have implications for the “openness” of the internet.

Last month Microsoft proposed a buyout of Yahoo for $44.6bn deal that was rejected by Yahoo’s board.
experts said that the buyout was an attempt by Microsoft to challenge Google’s dominance.

“We would be concerned by any kind of acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft,” Mr Schmidt said at a conference in Beijing.

“We would hope that anything they did would be consistent with the openness of the internet, but I doubt it would be.”

He highlighted the software firm’s past history and “the things that it has done that have been so difficult for everyone”.

In 2004 the European Commission fined Microsoft 497m euros for abusing its market dominance, a ruling the US company finally lost on appeal in September last year.

Yahoo has tried to fend off the bid from Microsoftand The Commission has since launched two new competition inquiries against Microsoft.

“We are concerned that there are things Microsoft could do that would be bad for the internet,” said Schmidt.

His comments echo those of David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, who has previously said that any deal could exert an “inappropriate… influence” over the internet.

“This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the internet: openness and innovation,” he said in a company blog earlier this month.

Earlier this month, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said the company would gain market share against Google in search and advertising, even if led to his “last breath” at the firm.

Last week a contingent of Microsoft executives met up with their Yahoo counterparts in California.

No investments bankers attended Monday’s meeting, nor was there any discussion about whether Microsoft was willing to raise its offer, according to reports.

Yahoo has been exploring different ways to fend off Microsoft since the bid was first launched six weeks ago. Possible alliances include with social networking site MySpace, web portal AOL or even Google.

Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corp, which owns MySpace, has downplayed interest in Yahoo whilst AOL has outlined plans to buy social network Bebo, making a deal more complicated..

Any deal between Google and Yahoo, could fall foul of antitrust regulations, according to analysts.

However, reports suggest that Yahoo is in no rush to make any decision.

The firm had been given a deadline of 14 March by shareholders to nominate candidates to supplant its current board. Last week, Yahoo postponed the deadline from Friday to 10 days after it announces its annual meeting.

The meeting will not be announced before April and may not be confirmed until after the firm’s first quarter results are released, according to reports.Microsoft has threatened an attempt to oust Yahoo’s 10 directors if it can’t broker an amicable takeover.