UN investigates claims of mass rape by DR Congo rebels

　　

　　Thousands of women are raped each year in DR Congo, the UN says

　　The United Nations is investigating claims that rebel fighters raped more that 150 women and baby boys in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

　　The attacks happened over four days within miles of a UN base, a US aid worker and a Congolese doctor said.

　　UN chief Ban Ki-moon is sending two top aides to the country to help investigate the alleged assaults in the country's volatile eastern region.

　　Mr Ban also urged the Congolese government to investigate the attacks.

　　Aid workers and UN representatives knew that rebels had occupied Luvungi town and surrounding villages in eastern DR Congo the day after the attack began on 30 July, the International Medical Corps (IMC) said on Tuesday.

　　“Start Quote

　　The secretary-general is outraged by the rape and assault”

　　End Quote Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General

　　They could not get into the town until the rebels left, said the IMC's Will Cragin.

　　According to reports, the rebels gang-raped nearly 200 women and some baby boys over four days before leaving.

　　The region lies approximately 10 miles (16km) from a UN peacekeepers' base.

　　Mr Ban is sending Atul Khare, assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, immediately to DR Congo to help investigate, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

　　He also ordered his special representative for sexual violence in conflict, Margot Wallstrom, to take charge of the UN's response to the attacks.

　　A UN joint human rights team confirmed allegations of the rape of at least 154 women by fighters from the Rwandan FDLR militia and Congolese Mai-Mai rebels in the village of Bunangiri, Mr Nesirky said.

　　"The secretary-general is outraged by the rape and assault. This is another grave example of both the level of sexual violence and the insecurity that continue to plague Congo," he told the Associated Press.

　　'World rape capital'

　　The victims are receiving medical and psychological care.

　　Ms Wallstrom condemned the rapes. She said: "It should be noted that this incident represents a very extreme case in terms of its scale and the level of organisation of the attacks.

　　The "terrible incident" confirmed her findings during a recent visit to Congo of the "widespread and systematic nature of rape and other human rights violations."

　　DR Congo has a shocking reputation for sexual violence. In April, a senior UN official said it was "the rape capital of the world".

　　A report by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative showed that 60% of rape victims in South Kivu province had been gang-raped by armed men.

　　More than than half of the assaults took place in the victims' homes, the report said, and an increasing number of attacks were being carried out by civilians.

　　More than 8,000 women were raped during fighting in 2009, the UN says.

　　Eastern DR Congo is still plagued by army and militia violence despite the end of the country's five-year war in 2003.

　　UN peacekeeping troops have been backing efforts to defeat the FDLR, whose leaders are linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and who are operating in eastern DR Congo.

Somali MPs killed in hotel suicide attack

　　

　　The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan: "The security of the MPs was very susceptible in the hotel in Mogadishu"

　　Islamist gunmen have stormed a hotel close to Somalia's presidential palace and killed at least 32 people, including six MPs.

　　The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says the men were disguised as government soldiers.

　　They approached the Muna hotel, opened fire on a guard, then one of them blew himself up inside the building.

　　Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage from the al-Shabab Islamist militia said its "special forces" were behind the raid.

　　“Start Quote

　　The AU should declare a state of emergency and appoint someone to rule until all militants are destroyed”

　　End Quote Idowu Olabode Peculiar Nigeria

　　The hotel attack comes on the second day of heavy fighting between al-Shabab and troops of the transitional government, who are backed by the African Union (AU).

　　Our correspondent says the Muna hotel is popular with government officials, because it is in a government-controlled area and security was seen as tight.

　　Deputy Prime Minister Abdirahman Ibbi told the BBC Somali Service that the suicide attacker had blown himself up using a hand grenade.

　　As well as the six MPs, five government officials and 21 civilians were also killed.

　　Maj Barigye Bahoku, spokesman for the African Union peacekeepers, said an 11-year-old shoe-shine boy and a woman selling tea in front of the hotel were among the dead.

　　An MP at the Muna hotel told a BBC reporter that there were "dead bodies all over" and the scene was a "massacre".

　　He said the gun battle at the hotel had lasted about an hour.

　　"They rained gunfire on everybody. Nobody stood a chance. I was lucky because they aimed at me but I jumped out of the window and survived," hotel employee Adan Mohamed told the AFP news agency.

　　Analysis

　　Mark Schneider, International Crisis Group

　　Al-Shabab is estimated to control a significant portion of the country - the government is assumed to hold something of the order of 20%.

　　In recent weeks, the African Union mission there, Amisom, supporting the government, was expected to be beefed up by some additional Ugandan and Burundian troops.

　　It may well be that al-Shabab decided that before those troops became firmly located, they would carry out this attack and demonstrate their continued ability to go after government, and civilian, soft targets anywhere in the country.

　　I think the government will not collapse. I think Amisom will not allow it to collapse. Several of these kinds of attacks on civilians have lost popular support for al-Shabab.

　　Al-Shabab has moved from a largely Somali organisation two years ago, to where now our reporting shows foreign jihadis control a significant part of the decision-making.

　　Mr Ibbi called the attack "shocking and brutal", especially given that it had happened during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

　　Al-Shabab launched a new offensive on Monday soon after its spokesman said the group was declaring a "massive war" on the AU force, describing its 6,000 peacekeepers as "invaders".

　　At least 40 other people have been killed in the fighting and more than 130 wounded, with shells being fired into residential areas, according to health officials.

　　The government controls only a few key areas of the capital.

　　The group said it carried out last month's deadly twin bombings in Uganda's capital during the football World Cup final.

　　They were in retaliation for Uganda's deployment of troops to Somalia with the African Union force, it said.

　　The AU has responded by saying it will send extra troops to bolster its force in Mogadishu.

　　Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991.

Plane crash kills 42 in north-eastern China

　　

　　The majority of those rescued did not suffer life-threatening injuries

　　At least 42 people have been killed after a passenger plane crash-landed in the north-eastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang, state media report.

　　The Henan Airlines aircraft, with 91 people on board, burst into flames after overshooting the runway at Yichun City's airport at 2136 (1336 GMT).

　　Police in Heilongjiang told Chinese state TV that three of the 49 survivors were in a critical condition.

　　

　　The Embraer ERJ-190 had taken off from the provincial capital Harbin at 2051.

　　Among those on board were five crew members and five children, officials from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) told the Xinhua news agency.

　　Henan Airlines earlier told Xinhua that the plane was carrying 96 people.

　　Sun Bangnan, the deputy director of Heilongjiang's public security department, said the majority of those rescued had not suffered life-threatening injuries.

　　Unconfirmed reports said Yichun City's Lindu airport had been shrouded in heavy fog at the time of the crash.

　　

　　Henan Airlines operates five Embraer ERJ-190 passenger planes

　　A 20-strong team of CAAC officials and technicians have reportedly already left for Yichun City to begin an investigation.

　　Lindu airport is a small domestic facility that opened only last year.

　　Henan Airlines is a joint venture between Shenzhen Airlines of China and Mesa Air Group of the US, and is based in Henan province. It was previously known as Kunpeng Airlines.

　　The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says China has seen a rapid expansion in its domestic airlines in recent years and generally they have a good safety record.

　　The last serious air accident was in 2004, when a passenger plane crashed into a frozen lake near the northern city of Baotou, killing all 53 people on board. Two people on the ground also died.

Claudy bomb: conspiracy allowed IRA priest to go free

　　

　　The report said police believed Fr James Chesney was an IRA leader and was involved in the bombing

　　The police, the Catholic Church and the state conspired to cover up a priest's suspected role in one of the worst atrocities of the Northern Ireland Troubles, an investigation has found.

　　Nine people died in bombings in Claudy, County Londonderry on 31 July 1972.

　　The NI Police Ombudsman's probe found that high-level talks led to Fr James Chesney, a suspect in the attack, being moved to the Irish Republic.

　　Ombudsman's Report

　　Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader

　　No action was ever taken against Fr Chesney, who died in 1980.

　　Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said that the government was "profoundly sorry" that Fr Chesney had not been properly investigated.

　　Mark Eakin, whose younger sister Kathryn was killed in the blast, said he would like to see someone brought before the courts.

　　Mr Eakin said: "I would like to ask the British government if they would now step in and investigate this thing further, give the PSNI of today, who are still trying to investigate, more resources."

　　In 2002, the Police Ombudsman's office began a probe into the original investigation.

　　Al Hutchinson's report, published on Tuesday, found that detectives in 1972 had concluded that Fr Chesney was an IRA leader and had been involved in the bombing.

　　He added that by acquiescing to a deal between the government and the Catholic Church to move Fr Chesney to a parish in the Irish Republic, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was guilty of a "collusive act".

　　He said this had compromised the investigation and the decision "failed those who were murdered, injured or bereaved" in the bombing.

　　He said that if officers involved were still alive, "their actions would have demanded explanation, which would have been the subject of further investigation".

　　As well as investigating complaints made against the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Police Ombudsman also has the authority to look at investigations carried out by their predecessors, the RUC.

　　'Never arrested'

　　Mr Hutchinson said some detectives' attempts to pursue Fr Chesney were frustrated ahead of a meeting between Northern Ireland Secretary William Whitelaw and the leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Conway.

　　There, it was agreed that the priest would be moved to a parish in Donegal, just over the border in the Irish Republic.

　　The Ombudsman found that the Chief Constable, Sir Graham Shillington, was made aware of this decision.

　　Mr Shillington said he would "prefer a move to Tipperary". Tipperary is about 200 miles from the border.

　　Fr Chesney, who denied involvement in terrorist activities to his superiors, was never arrested.

　　On Tuesday the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, said the church was not involved in a cover-up over the role of Fr Chesney.

　　Claudy bombings

　　

　　Claudy is a small village, with a mixed Protestant and Catholic population, six miles south-east of Londonderry

　　Nine people were killed in the three blasts, which happened on 31 July 1972

　　No warnings were given by the bombers

　　The IRA never claimed involvement, but were assumed to be behind them

　　Local priest Father James Chesney rumoured to have been a member of the IRA unit responsible

　　He was transferred by the Catholic Church across the border to Co Donegal

　　He died in 1980 without ever being questioned by the police over the atrocity

　　"The Church was approached by the secretary of state at the instigation of senior members of the RUC," he said.

　　"Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the secretary of state the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities.

　　"The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney."

　　Sinn Fein, the political party closely indentified with the IRA, said the deaths in Claudy were "wrong and should not have happened." The party repeated its call for an independent international truth commission.

　　BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said that the report lacks any explanation from Cardinal Conway or Mr Whitelaw about how they came to their decision to move Chesney.

　　"As both are now dead, we can only speculate as to their motives," our correspondent added.

　　"The most generous theory is that they felt that protecting the priest was the lesser of two evils.

　　"During that turbulent period in 1972, many believed that Northern Ireland was on the brink of a sectarian civil war. Almost 500 people were killed that year.

　　"If a priest had been arrested in connection with the Claudy bomb, it could have pushed community relations over the edge."

　　Both Protestants and Catholics were killed in the blasts.

　　The youngest victim was eight-year-old Kathryn Eakin who was cleaning the windows of her family's grocery store when the first bomb exploded.

　　The other people killed were Joseph McCluskey 39, David Miller aged 60, James McClelland 65, William Temple 16, Elizabeth McElhinney 59, Rose McLaughlin aged 51, Patrick Connolly, 15, and 38-year-old Arthur Hone.

　　Mr Hutchinson said that he accepted some of the decisions taken "must be considered in the context of the time" but added that the conspiracy still amounted to collusion.

　　"I accept that 1972 was one of the worst years of the Troubles and that the arrest of a priest might well have aggravated the security situation.

　　"Equally I consider that the police failure to investigate someone they suspected of involvement in acts of terrorism could, in itself, have had serious consequences."

　　He said he had found no evidence of criminal intent by anyone in the government or the Catholic Church.

　　Meanwhile in a statement, the PSNI said the investigation into the Claudy bomb was now under the remit of the Historical Enquiries Team.

Rich exoplanet system discovered

　　By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News

　　

　　The researchers say the finding marks a new phase in the hunt for exoplanets

　　Astronomers have discovered a planetary system containing at least five planets that orbit a star called HD 10180, which is much like our own Sun.

　　The star is 127 light years away, in the southern constellation of Hydrus.

　　The researchers used the European Southern Observatory (Eso) to monitor light emitted from the system and identify and characterise the planets.

　　They say this is the "richest" system of exoplanets - planets outside our own Solar System - ever found.

　　Christophe Lovis from Geneva University's observatory in Switzerland was lead researcher on the study. He said that his team had probably found "the system with the most planets yet discovered".

　　

　　The discovery could provide insight into the formation of our own Solar System

　　"This also highlights the fact that we are now entering a new era in exoplanet research - the study of complex planetary systems and not just of individual planets," he said.

　　The research has been submitted for publication to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

　　Eso's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (or Harps) instrument was responsible for the discovery.

　　Harps measures the wobble of a star; this gives a measure of how much it is being tugged on by an orbiting planet.

　　"If there is one planet it will induce a little movement - the star will come towards us and move away," Dr Lovis explained to BBC News.

　　"And what works for one [planet] works for many."

　　With many planets orbiting the star, its movement becomes a very complex "superposition" of several different planet-induced movements.

　　“Start Quote

　　[This] marks the way towards gathering the information that will put our own existence into cosmic context”

　　End Quote Martin Dominik University of St Andrews

　　Using Harp, Dr Lovis and his team were able to measure this and break it down, in order to calculate how many planets were in the system, how great each of their masses was, and even the path of each individual planet's orbit.

　　The researchers said the system around HD 10180 as unique in several respects.

　　It has at least five "Neptune-like planets" lying within a distance equivalent to the orbit of Mars, making it more populated than our own Solar System in its inner region. And all the planets seem to have almost circular orbits.

　　Dr Lovis said: "Studies of planetary motions in the new system reveal complex gravitational interactions between the planets and give us insights into the long-term evolution of the system."

　　False alarm?

　　So far, the astronomers have picked up clear signals from five planets, along with two slightly "fuzzier" signals. One of these possible sixth and seventh planets was estimated to be just 1.4 times the mass of the Earth; if its presence in the system was confirmed, it would be the lowest mass exoplanet yet discovered.

　　It is also predicted to be very close to its host star - just 2% of the Earth-Sun distance, so one year on this planet would last only 1.2 Earth days.

　　Dr Lovis said he was 99% certain that this small planet was there.

　　"There are five signals that are really strong that we have no doubt, but we have another two with a 'false alarm' probability of 1%," he said.

　　Martin Dominik, an astronomer and exoplanet hunter from the UK's University of St Andrews said the complexity and structure of this system made it an interesting discovery.

　　"The richness of the system of planets around HD 10180 with its many characteristic features marks the way forward towards gathering the information that will put our own existence into cosmic context," he told BBC News.

　　He cautioned against describing this as the "richest system" saying that it was not clear whether other systems that had already been detected hosted further planets.

　　Dr Dominik added: "I am tempted to consider the detected system as one of the most 'informative' ones.

　　"Like most discoveries in science, the findings come with more questions than answers; but in my opinion, this is what really advances a field."

Manila police admit bungling deadly bus siege

　　

　　Buddhist monks led prayers for the dead in Manila a day after the deadly bus hijacking

　　Philippine police have admitted they did not have the skills, equipment or training to handle Monday's bus siege, in which eight Hong Kong tourists were killed after being taken hostage.

　　The force said talks with the gunman had been handled poorly, and relations with the media had broken down.

　　Security experts, survivors and Chinese officials have all criticised the Philippine authorities.

　　The hostage drama came to an end when police marksmen killed the gunman.

　　He was identified as 55-year-old Rolando Mendoza, a former policeman who had seized the bus in a desperate bid to get his job back.

　　In a statement, police spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz listed a number of shortcomings in the police's handling of the situation.

　　Among them were "inadequate capability, skills, equipment and planning of the assault team" and "inadequate training and competence of assault team leader".

　　He also said another problem was "non-compliance to media relations procedures in hostage situations".

　　Police believe the hostage-taker was monitoring TV coverage from inside the bus, which contributed to his agitation as the crisis came to a head.

　　He was also able to conduct an interview with a local radio station during the siege, and warned the police that he would kill the hostages if they did not pull back.

　　In an interview with the Philippine Inquirer, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo admitted that mistakes had been made.

　　"We recognise that we lack equipment; we could have been better trained, better equipped and there should have been better response," he told the newspaper.

　　Buddhist monks led prayers for the victims in Manila on Tuesday, while angry demonstrators converged on the Philippine embassy in Hong Kong.

　　The Philippines has promised a thorough investigation and is sending a delegation to Hong Kong to explain what happened.

　　Of 25 people initially taken hostage, nine were freed after initial negotiations. The UK Foreign Office said two of them were British nationals.

　　The Philippine driver then fled the bus, leaving 15 people on board with the gunman until the end of the siege.

　　Unconfirmed reports say at least one of the dead was a dual Chinese-Canadian citizen.

Delving Into The 'Diablo 3' Crafting System

　　

　　I realize "StarCraft 2" has been stealing all of the headlines lately, but you'd do well to recall that Blizzard has another game in development. A little title called "Diablo 3." Ah yes, starting to ring a few bells, is it?

　　We haven't heard much new information about "Diablo 3" for some time, but Blizzard decided to open their giant, war-forged doors a crack to inform the world about a new feature for the franchise: The caravan. Basically the caravan is your own personal band of merry men and woman. The group follows you around the world of Sanctuary, setting up camp at specific spots to act as a sort of temporary township.

　　So what, they just replace the towns in "Diablo 2"? Actually, there's a lot more going on with the caravan than you think. Each member of the caravan has their own story, quests and even experience levels. Blizzard showed off the blacksmith in the latest demo. As you'd imagine, the blacksmith is able to fix your weapons, but he can also craft weapons if you have the necessary recipe and ingredients. Putting the blacksmith to work will improve his abilities and unlock new recipe options.

　　Where does one get recipes and ingredients, then? Ah, that's where things get even more interesting. "Diablo" fans are very familiar with the constant need to sell excess inventory. Your inventory fills up and suddenly you need to make a quick trip back to town to sell stuff in order to make room for more loot. You could just drop it on the ground and forgo the cash, but who's going to do that?

　　"Diablo 3" introduces a solution to lessen those excess loot runs. Players are given an artifact which allows unnecessary items to be broken down into their base components (two iron shards from a sword, for example). These components can then be brought to the blacksmith and used in the creation of new weapons. Higher quality weapons and gear will obviously break down into rarer ingredients, adding value to that legendary bow and arrow you simply can't use.

　　As for recipes, these can be purchased, but the rarest recipes will actually be dropped by certain monsters. Once found, you can hand a recipe over to your blacksmith and he'll be able to make the new loot, provided you have the ingredients.

　　Blacksmiths will level up as you give them more work, adding to their abilities. One such ability is socketing. Yep, you'll be able to socket just about any item in the game, including ultra-rare legendary items.

　　If this is starting to sound a lot like "World of WarCraft," that's because it is a heck of a lot like "World of WarCraft." Hey, millions of monthly customers can't be wrong, right?

GC 10: Hands-on with Tera

　　

　　No, not Tera Patrick, you dirty minds! Tera is the upcoming MMO from Bluehole Studios, published by En Masse Entertainment. Yeah, another MMO -- do they ever stop pumping these out? To be honest, when I first saw the trailer for Tera a week or two ago, I thought exactly that.

　　But after playing an instance with two developers from En Masse today, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself having a lot of fun.

　　So, the first question that will pop in your head is: “There are a ton of MMOs out there and maybe I play World of Warcraft or Guild Wars already. Why the hell should I care?” That’s actually the easy part to answer. Tera is an action-based MMO where you don’t hold the right mouse button to rotate the camera, or left click on a player and press the 5 button to heal while you are just standing around at a distance, over and over again. When I first started playing it, rotating the camera with the right mouse button was the very first thing I tried. But it did nothing!

　　Next up was moving the mouse around without holding down any mouse button, so I could mouse-over my skills and see what they did. But that moved the camera! Suddenly it hit me: I was playing a third-person RPG on PC that happened to be an MMO.

　　Playing as the Sorcerer, the left mouse button had a fireball spell assigned and the right mouse button had a chargeable damage bubble that goes through groups of enemies. Charge it to the highest level and it does a ton of damage. The thing about this control layout is that you actually shoot fireballs and damage bubbles where you are aiming. So I was running around, pausing only to click the hell out of the left mouse button and spam dps. The two developers in my party were a tank and a priest. I tried to play it like World of Warcraft and let the tank gain some agro before nuking the hell out of mobs. It worked well, like you would expect from an MMO these days.

　　

　　Among the spells I had chosen for my mid-range level Sorcerer was a short-range fire column with a short-radius area of effect that stuns enemies so you can escape to a safe distance if needed; this was assigned to the 1 button. The 2 button could be held for around 10 seconds or so to do a literal shitton of damage in a wide AoE. Some other skills were mapped to the F-keys, but I only needed to hold F1 for 5 seconds to cast a mana regen buff that regenerated a good 40% of my mana over around 20 seconds. I say "around" because I was enjoying nuking mobs too much to count the seconds. The F1 mana regen skill can be used in combat, so you don’t have to sit and drink water for a minute until you can go attack the next two mobs like in WoW.

　　My play session of about half an hour was following the tank through a typical dungeon instance and trying to kill stuff. Your cursor will indicate when you are in range for attacks to hit. That took a bit to get used to, but once you learned to focus on the cursor instead of clicking a mob and walking in range to press number keys, it felt like second nature quite quickly. Another thing I had to teach myself was to not run around like a madman, because the healer also has to aim at you to heal as well; there is no clicking a player and mashing the number key -- remember?

　　Mowing our way through the dungeon, we got to the first boss level enemy who spawns minions as reinforcement if you take too long. Good thing I had the damage bubble to obliterate the spawns, and the AoE attack, even though I kept forgetting to hold the AoE attack to actually cast it a lot of time. The bosses gave us a nice change of pace and some challenge to create a sense of variety between the enemy encounters throughout the dungeon.

　　

　　At the end, we got to the dungeon boss who did a 3-hit swipe attack and a jumping attack. It actually jumped over me most of the time; good thing too or I would’ve died horrible, horrible deaths. Even though the Tera guys were not able to take down the final boss throughout the day, that was just because they weren’t playing with Destructoid and probably played with the Hair Palace blog guys.

　　Our healer died when the boss seemed to be almost down, but a constant stream of nuking by our tank and sorcerer eventually destroyed the boss. We actually went "YEAAAH!." In fact, the developers were super enthusiastic the entire session. Either they were trained well to act like that, or they really were. I believe it’s the latter because they seemed like down-to-earth guys who just loved their game.

　　Speaking of downing, the boss didn’t have a health indicator, which raised an interesting point. The user testing for Tera showed that the testers are actually split between preferring having no HP indicator for bosses and really wanting one. Not having one means you are a bit more on edge in surviving and finishing the boss without knowing how far you got. Having one might help when you are going to do multiple runs of a really hard instance in the endgame, especially if you keep dying there. We’ll see how it ends up in the final game or subsequent updates after community outcry.

　　Besides the dungeon playthrough, the developers talked a bit about what makes Tera special other than the action focus. You can play the game with a controller which actually works well because of the camera control and skill layout. The basic layout on the PC is a 2 x 7 or 8 grid for spells in the bottom right corner, and an HP and MP bar across the top of the screen. You can map whatever you want to an Xbox 360 controller, for instance, if you want to play Tera on your TV from the couch. Admittedly, that might sound like crap if you are a hardcore PC gamer.

　　

　　At GDC Europe, the Tera guys let people play the game with mouse and keyboard as well as with a controller, and actually, most people didn’t really feel any difference in the gameplay experience. Apparently there were some "hardcore PC people" who were "meh" about it. But if anything, you just have the choice to play behind your monitor with mouse and keyboard, behind your desk with a controller or just lying on a couch. You’ll probably still want to go back to your keyboard for in-game chat, but most of us that play MMOs have headsets anyway for combat coordination.

　　I asked them what the endgame will be like. It’s going to be high level instances like you are used to, but another aspect that is unique to Tera will play a large part as well. Tera will have a political system where they allow the community to elect people like guild leaders to positions of power within the world of Tera. The elected "officials" will have abilities like setting tax rates and some other unannounced things.

　　This also adds a social aspect and allows those players who want to increase their ePenis by being elected and staying in power to do so. It sounded like an interesting system to keep the community engaged, something that is very important to the Tera developers. Maybe they should become a part of the Destructoid family if they like community that much, don’t you think?

　　A last aspect about the elected officials political system I should talk about is that they end up in one of two major groups. Since there aren’t really any factions like Alliance or Horde in Tera -- because the story is about different races teaming up against a common enemy that threatens the world they inhabit -- it’s likely that a lot of PvP will focus around rivalry between these two groups.

　　

　　Some short, final bits of info:

　　Level cap is level 60

　　There are 80+ zones and 25 cities

　　The game will run well on a Core 2 Duo and a nVidia 7-series-type graphics cards

　　Quest text scrolls if you select a quest NPC, but it will be separated so that the main goals come first and the story and universe text comes second. If you don’t care about the universe and just want to get on with it, you don’t have to scroll through the quest text to find what you need to know

　　There will be mission quests that guide you from zone to zone. Since they mentioned mission quests, I asked if there will be a line of mission quests that conclude the story in Tera. The reps said that every zone will have its own questline that eventually leads to a conclusion

　　Tera is not your average MMO. It focuses on action-based gameplay rather than clicking and standing and mashing your queue of number-key skills. Skill at controlling your character and landing your attacks plays a key role in the gameplay. That also means you need a team that is not only good at coordinating and following their assigned roles, but also good at controls and doing the right attacks at the right moments and actually landing hits.

　　Tera turned me from "meh MMO" into someone who really enjoyed playing it. Being the compulsive gamer I am, I still need to stay the hell away from anything in the genre. But if I had the spare time, I would totally give Tera a shot.

World of Warcraft private server loses $88 million to Blizzard

　　

　　World of Warcraft

　　Photo: Blizzard Entertainment

　　Gamasutra has reported that Blizzard won a court case against Scapegaming for hosting a World of Warcraft private server.

　　The suit, which was won in a default judgment (Alyson Reeves, owner of Scapegaming, did not respond to the suit), ended up with a final judgment of about $88 million. The sum comes from $3 million dollars in micro-transaction profits (found in the defendant's PayPal records), $64,000 in attorney's fees, and over $85 million in statutory damages based on the number of community members making use of the private servers.

　　Considering that World of Warcraft cost about $100 million to make, and a few hundred to million to maintain over the past six years ($200 million from 2004-2008), it's clear Scapegaming will pay a pretty steep cost in the end to violate the EULA of the world's most popular MMORPG.

Blizzard unveils collector's edition of 'World of Warcraft: Cataclysm'

　　

　　Blizzard Entertainment will release a collector's edition for the third expansion of World of Warcraft later this year.

　　The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector's Edition will be available for PCs and Macs for $79.99.

　　The special edition will include a Cataclysm art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, mouse pad and soundtrack. Consumers will also receive an exclusive pet for use in the game.

　　Cataclysm is the third expansion for World of Warcraft. The first, The Burning Crusade, debuted in 2007, while Wrath of the Lich King arrived in 2008.

　　Among the new features debuting in Cataclysm are two new playable races, the Goblins and Worgen, and an increase in the level cap to 85.

HumanCar creates a real muscle car-摇啊摇啊摇,摇着走的汽车.

　　

　　Forget cars powered by human feces, the future of motoring runs on human muscles. Don't fret--we're not talking about blending people to a pulp and pouring their liquefied remains into a gas tank--this is the HumanCar Imagine PS.

　　The brainchild of U.S. engineer Charles Greenwood, the car is operated by up to four hand cranks. The idea is that driver and passengers pull and push levers--reminiscent of an exercise rowing machine or the railway handcar contraptions you see in cartoons--to produce energy that turns the wheels. Early reports that holes in the floor let you push with your feet proved wide of the mark.

　　The vehicle can be powered by just one or two people, though this could be pretty tiring after awhile. Luckily, it can be turned into a hybrid by connecting auxiliary power systems such as a battery (or fuel cells when available) making it ideal for those who are lazy but want to travel long distances.

Movie Review: Shooting April

　　Reviewing Shooting April, the new film written and directed by Tod Lancaster, has been a lot harder than I originally thought because after watching it, the only thing I can really think is "…that was pretty f***ing crazy." And while one line would assuage some people, I don’t really think that’s something most others would be content with, so bear with me as I try to gather my wits throughout the course of this review.

　　So, Shooting April was pretty f***ing crazy… DAMN. Hang on. Deep breath...

　　

　　Despite suffering from the logic flaws of other films shot in a similar way (Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead), Shooting April manages to rise above it on the strength of both its story and the absolute knockout performance by its lead actor. It hits all the right spots, being both funny and disturbing at the same time, and Lancaster shows his ability to create tension that builds up until it’s released in a final act that is so dark, I’m having a hard time getting it out of my head.

　　Shooting April is made up of a series of videos recorded by three friends: Truman (Matthew John Prater), Weasel (Eric Fagundes), and Doug (Darius Safavi). Truman is the leader of the group, the loud boisterous one who lacks any fear and any conscience. Weasel is the opposite of Truman, horrible with the ladies and would probably scream if he saw his own shadow. Doug, the third man, is the guy with the camera shooting the footage and occasionally chiming in with his two cents.

　　The reason they are shooting footage in the first place is for their website, where they post a variety of videos of them doing stunts and engaging in all sorts of other debauchery. For the first half of the movie, we follow the three as Doug tapes Truman destroying property, having sex with a girl in a boat at a party, and setting himself on fire, all the while trying to outdo himself and to get Weasel to "grow a pair" (that’s the technical term, Google it). At one of the parties they attend, they meet a girl named April (Rachel Seiferth), who’s shy and from the looks of it, way too nice to be associating with people of this caliber. Naturally since Truman considers himself to be a god, he thinks he can get her to sleep with him on the first date. The other two disagree, and it becomes a bet: if Truman can do it, he gets 100 bucks. Unfortunately, things begin to escalate and eventually get out of hand.

 

New York skyline facing big change

　　

　　The Empire State Building overlooks the rest of Manhattan. Photo / AP

　　NEW YORK - Look at Manhattan from afar, and the first thing you notice is the Empire State Building, spiking like a needle above the carpet of skyscrapers that coats Manhattan from tip to tip.

　　Now it's got some competition - a proposal for a nearby glass office tower that would rise almost as high and alter the iconic skyline.

　　The tower would spoil the famous view of the 102-storey skyscraper for millions of tourists, the Empire State Building's owner, Anthony Malkin, testified at a City Council hearing today. It "defines New York," he said.

　　"We view this as an assault on New York City and its iconography," said Malkin, whose grandfather founded the Malkin Holdings company. It's "the end of the image of New York City that billions of people hold dear."

　　The City Council is to vote this week on whether to allow a developer to erect a 67-storey tower that's only 10 metres lower than the 79-year-old Empire State Building, the city's tallest skyscraper.

　　The proposed tower's developer, David Greenbaum, says 15 Penn Plaza would provide critically needed and state-of-the-art office space to midtown Manhattan, creating at least 7,000 new jobs.

　　

　　"The fact is, New York City's skyline has never stopped changing, and I certainly hope it never will," testified Greenbaum, president of Vornado Realty Trust's New York chapter.

　　The council's Zoning and Franchises subcommittee planned to vote Tuesday on whether to change rules. If they OK the plan, the final word would lie with the City Council - unless the mayor objected.

　　Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports the tower, which was approved by the City Planning Commission last month, spokesman Stu Loeser said late Monday.

　　The building would stand two blocks west of the Empire State Building on the site of the current Hotel Pennsylvania on Seventh Avenue, steps from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station.

　　"Wow! Wouldn't that be sad!" said Christa Huggins, a 35-year-old from Utah visiting the Empire State Building's 102nd-floor observatory.

　　Huggins said she "loves the view of New York all the way around, but especially in that direction. And this would block it."

　　Renderings of the proposed building - designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects - portray a skyscraper shaped like a giant chisel atop a block. It tapers to a flat edge at the peak and is marked by a top-to-bottom groove on its face.

　　In his last-ditch effort to change the plans, Malkin - who also owns a stake in Vornado - appealed to subcommittee members to make 15 Penn Plaza no more than 250 metres high, about two-thirds of the originally proposed size. In addition, he asked asked that it be streamlined to minimally obscure the view of the western side of the Empire State Building.

　　But the idea of even an 250-metre tower next to the 380-metre tall Art Deco symbol of New York - 440 metres if you include its spire - disappointed some tourists.

　　"That would still be no good, because I like to look down at the streets of New York." said LeeSa Snarr, 37 - who did so Monday from the 102nd floor.

　　Malkin told the subcommittee that the Empire State is "the No. 1 favorite building in the US, surpassing the White House."

　　It was the tallest building in the world when completed in November 1930. King Kong scaled it in the 1933 movie and subsequent remakes; a B-25 bomber crashed into it in fog in 1945.

　　It became the city's tallest building again after the World Trade Center was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. Its brightly lit spire shines different colors to celebrate national holidays and special occasions year-round.

　　Greenbaum testified that he would work to help improve nearby transportation facilities, including wider rail platforms at Penn Station, one of the world's busiest rail stations; provide better access to subway stations; and ease pedestrian and traffic congestion in the area, which also includes Macy's flagship department store.

　　He said he would reopen an underground passage connecting nearby subway lines and PATH commuter trains to New Jersey, so travelers don't have to go outside to transfer.

　　The developer has not set a target date for the tower's construction, saying Vornado needs to wait until it signs a large commercial tenant first.

　　Malkin said he favors the development of this midtown Manhattan neighborhood, but "we are concerned about the legacy" - of the Empire State Building.

　　"We are the stewards of this great icon," he said.

New Details on X-Men: First Class

　　

　　Producer Bryan Singer teases details on Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class.

　　In a discussion with AICN, Bryan Singer, co-writer and producer on the upcoming X-Men: First Class, revealed a few details about the movie, including when it will be set, the look he’s going for, and a few pieces of casting news.

　　The movie will focus on Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy, and Erik Lensherr (aka Magneto), played by Michael Fassbender as they first meet and together dream up the X-Men. The events will take place before Xavier was confined to a wheelchair, although the movie will feature the events that led to his injuries.

　　Set in the early days of the 1960s when Kennedy was president, the Civil Rights was gaining popularity, and the country felt like it could do anything, the story will feature both the look, and the optimistic feeling of the era. The movie will have a heavy international feel to it, akin to the old James Bond movies, and filming will take place in the US, England, and several locations will be created to represent places like the Soviet Union. The movie will begin with Xavier at Oxford, and the Hellfire Club — an organization of mutants in England that are part social club, part villains — will play a major part.

　　Singer also revealed a few pieces of casting news as well. Neither Jean Grey nor Cyclops will be in the movie (contradicting earlier rumors that had Kick Ass’ Aaron Johnson playing the role of Cyclops), but it will feature his brother, Alex Summers, aka Havoc. There are more casting surprises coming in the next month as filming gets underway, but for now we have confirmation that we will be seeing Darwin, Raven Darkholme, Banshee, Beast, Azazel, Emma Frost, and a female Angel. Singer also confirmed that despite the similar name, the movie would not be related to the comic of the same name.

Week's box office: Watch The Expendables at 1 spot Movie Online Free Streaming

　　location: Week's box office: Watch The Expendables at 1 spot Movie Online Free Streaming Watch The Expendables at 1 spot Movie Online Free Streaming. Sylvester Stallone ( The Expendables Movie ) and a posse of pumped-up action heroes held the 1 spot in weekend box office. Find out how much money 'The Expendables' made it for all hoped to end the current era of parody films may have broken the 'Vampires Suck' and our performance, 'Switch,' says Jennifer Aniston's star power in this week's box office rundown.

　　

　　'The Expendables' is not enough business to stay in the first place, $ 16,500,000, more than enough to outdo all the five new wide releases that opened in theaters last week. The action looks like total gross so far: $ 64,800,000. Remember when you last week not to buy a ticket on the plump parodies such as 'Vampires Suck' is the only way to prevent them from happening? So much for that. The 'Twilight' parody of the planned second place earned $ 12,200,000 this weekend, and a total of $ 18.5 million already in his pocket since opening Wednesday. The film received the most support to young moviegoers, according to Box Office Mojo, 72 percent of the audience was under 21. Oh good. Hope for our future. (The third in the series, 'Eat, Pray, Love Movie' generated by the proposed $ 12,000,000 revenue. After the final numbers come Monday, we'll see the vampires finally squeaked a win Julia Roberts.

　　The four other films that debuted in theaters - 'Lottery Ticket Movie' Piranha 3-D Movie, 'Nanny McPhee returns Movie' and 'The Switch Movie' - guess which place the lowest? If you guessed the Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston rom-com, you're right! Despite a press campaign that preceded the establishment, the situation comedy that has landed in eighth place, only $ 8.1 million. When the question arises: Should not the film Jennifer Aniston a little better than that, taking into account that according to Forbes magazine, is the fourth highest paid actress in Hollywood

TIME News-Box Office: Stallone Wins Expendable Weekend

　　

　　Like Poseidon distracted but not devoured by a school of piranha (actual size: 5 to 10 inches), The Expendables won the weekend box office at North American theaters by overcoming five undersized new contenders. Sylvester Stallone's senior-citizen action movie, which united the Rocky-Rambo star with such veteran action figures as Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, will have earned $16.5 million this Friday-to-Sunday frame, according to early studio estimates. That's a 53% drop from the film's debut last week, but still enough to win an anemic weekend like this — when, for the first time since Labor Day 2009, not a single movie registered as much as $5 million on a Friday night.

　　Among the quintet of midget challengers to the Stallone throne, Vampires Suck did best, with $12.2 million for the weekend and $18.6 million since its Wednesday opening. Another dimwit burlesque from parody panderers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie), the vampire farrago is a Mad-magazine satire, dumbed down and grossed out. But give these guys credit for latching onto a timely high concept (and making it for a skimpy $20 million). With the Twilight series in the middle of its five-film run, Vampires Suck drew both fans of Bella, Edward and Jason, and guys out for a few cheap laughs. The movie nosed out Julia Roberts' Eat Pray Love by $200,000; the ranking of the two pictures may change when tomorrow's final figures are issued.

　　The once robust subgenre of Afro-American ensemble comedy offered Lottery Ticket, with rapper Bow Wow tangling with a ghetto full of stereotypes played by Ice Cube, Terry Crews and Keith David. The movie took in $11.1 million, for the highest per-theater gross among any of the weekend's movies in wide release. The top per-theater number for any movie was claimed by The Tillman Story. Amir Bar Lev's documentary about NFL player Pat Tillman's death by friendly fire in Iraq, and its cover-up by the Army and top Bush Administration officials, amassed $52,200 at four theaters, or $13,100 per screen.

　　Back on the wide-release list, the kids' movie Nanny McPhee Returns earned $8.3 million, after taking in $62.6 million abroad. A sequel to the semihit film ($122.5 million worldwide) based on Christianna Brand's books about a Mary-Poppins-from-hell governess, the new film was scripted by its star Emma Thompson. Finishing seventh on its first weekend had to be discouraging, but Thompson's nanny bitch did outgross Jennifer Aniston's The Switch. A sperm-donor comedy, with Aniston's BFF Jason Bateman as the father of her turkey-baster child, The Switch attracted only $8.1 million in its opening weekend. Its final earnings could be less than this summer's indie-film hit The Kids Are All Right, which is up to $18.2 million in its seventh week.

　　The big disappointment for studios that keep grinding out cheapo horror remakes — and others betting the backlot on 3-D as the savior of the industry — was the underachieving $10 million tallied by Piranha 3D. Arriving decades after Roger Corman's original 1978 low-budget hit (directed by Joe Dante and scripted by John Sayles) and its 1981 sequel Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (directed by a 27-year-old Canadian kid named James Cameron), Alexandre Aja's version enjoyed an enthusiastic 80% rating from the Rotten Tomatoes survey of critics. It also had the magic of 3-D, whose consumer clout and higher prices are supposed to guarantee hits in any genre. But no gimmick — sorry, technical advance — can get people to pay a 30% surcharge for films they wouldn't necessarily seek out in 2-D. Is the stereoscopic movie a trend or a fad? We may find an answer next weekend, when Cameron's Avatar resurfaces, in 3-D only, at about 700 theaters.

　　No question, it was a lousy weekend for the domestic box office. Why does Hollywood consider the summer movie bonanza over when the official season still has another month to run? Why does the industry think there are fewer available customers this time of year than in early May, when it launches its first blockbusters? Well, in the prevailing wisdom of the moguls, late August is the time when kids are already back in school, or packing for it, or so depressed by the imminent arrival of homework and cafeteria taunts that they lock themselves in their bedrooms and mope. This notion must comfort Hollywood, since it allows the studios to stage a clearance sale of their junk and genre pictures, then explain away the abysmal numbers by shrugging and saying, "It's the end of summer. Nobody goes to the movies."

　　For refutation of the theory, you need only look back to this same weekend last year, when Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds — a 2½-hr. World War II fantasy with lots of talk, most of it in French or German — snagged $38.1 million on its way to a $120.5 million gross in domestic theaters and nearly $200 million abroad. Eight years ago, the Chinese action epic Hero, starring Jet Li and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, opened to $18 million, or nearly $25 million in today's dollars. Either way, Hero would have finished No. 1 this weekend — and the whole movie was spoken in Mandarin. To understand what was going on, people actually had to read the English subtitles. Talk about homework!

　　The moral of this Sunday's sermon: the late-August box office depends on the movies, stupid, not on stupid movies.

　　Here are the Sunday estimates of this weekend's top-grossing pictures in North American theaters, as reported by Box Office Mojo:

　　1. The Expendables, $16.5 million; $64.9 million, second week

　　2. Vampires Suck, $12.2 million; $18.6 million, first five days

　　3. Eat Pray Love, $12 million; $47.1 million, second week

　　4. Lottery Ticket, $11.1 million, first weekend

　　5. The Other Guys, $10.1 million; $88.2 million, third week

　　6. Piranha 3D, $10 million, first weekend

　　7. Nanny McPhee Returns, $8.3 million, first weekend

　　8. The Switch, $8.1 million, first weekend

　　9. Inception, $7.7 million; $261.8 million, sixth week

　　10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $5 million; $20.7 million, second week

　　[MONDAY UPDATE: The final weekend figures, released today, show that most of the top 10 films earned more money than estimated yesterday. The Switch made enough to leapfrog Nanny McPhee into seventh place. The full list: 1. The Expendables, $16.968 million; 2. Vampires Suck, $12.2 million; 3. Eat Pray Love, $12.1 million; 4. Lottery Ticket, $10.7 million; 5. The Other Guys, $10.21 million; 6. Piranha 3D, $10.1 million; 7. The Switch, $8.437 million; 8. Nanny McPhee Returns, $8.408 million; 9. Inception, $7.8 million; 10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $5.2 million.]

 

Pakistan seeks IMF loan restructuring after floods‎

　　

　　Tens of thousands of Pakistanis have fled a threatened flood surge in the south

　　Officials from Pakistan have held talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss its $11bn loan package in the wake of the devastating floods.

　　The IMF's regional director, Masood Ahmed, told the BBC the organisation wanted to find a way to help Pakistan "through this difficult phase".

　　This could include lowering some fiscal targets or allowing Pakistan to apply for emergency natural disaster funding.

　　Earlier, UN officials described the humanitarian situation as critical.

　　They said that although the UN had raised 70% of the $460m (£295m) needed for emergency relief, many people had yet to receive any help.

　　In the UK, relief agencies have said public donors have given £29m ($45m) to the relief effort. They also said the international response had been slow to build up, but that donations had increased in the second week.

　　Government officials and aid agencies in the southern province of Sindh said 80% of those affected had fled their homes.

　　The Indus river outside the city of Hyderabad is at its highest for more than 50 years and is expected to rise further on Tuesday.

　　Budget targets

　　Mr Ahmed said Pakistan's budget and macroeconomic prospects would have to be reviewed following the floods, which UN officials estimate have left about 1,600 people dead and affected another 16.8 million.

　　Analysis

　　Andrew Walker Economics correspondent, BBC World Service

　　The IMF-Pakistan talks are about restructuring an existing $11bn loan that was to help with economic reforms.

　　The programme began in late 2008 and loan instalments are subject to a review by the IMF of Pakistan's economic policies and performance, including the government's budget deficit.

　　The flood has wrecked that budget.

　　A large part of the country's agricultural output has been washed away, severely hitting tax receipts.

　　Spending to repair the damage will further aggravate the deterioration in the budget.

　　To get the remaining instalments of the loan, Pakistan will need to get the IMF's agreement to a new, less demanding target for the deficit.

　　In fact, the IMF revised the target slightly back in May to allow for urgent security spending.

　　Senior IMF officials have already said they are ready to help Pakistan following the floods, so some relaxation of the target is likely in due course.

　　"We need to look at these issues together in an objective way and find a solution that helps the economy during this difficult period, but also keeps them on a path that is going to produce a sustainable basis for growth," he told the BBC.

　　"The Pakistani economy faces challenges even before these massive floods hit them. And those challenges are still there."

　　"They need to be able to raise more revenue to finance their spending. The government has a very low tax base and we need to be able to find a way where we help them through this difficult phase," he added.

　　Last week, Pakistani officials said they would ask the IMF to restructure the current $10.66bn loan package - through which it has received about $7bn since 2008 - or consider a new programme with performance criteria that were tailored to their country's new economic reality.

　　A relaxation of the IMF's target for Pakistan reducing its budget deficit in order to qualify for further instalments of the loan is likely given the circumstances, says BBC economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

　　Estimates for economic growth have been downgraded, with the agriculture sector particularly badly hit. The floods have destroyed or damaged more than 1.7m hectares (4.25m acres) of land, officials say.

　　Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari said it might take more than three years for Pakistan to recover from the disaster and cost up to $15bn (£10bn).

　　

　　Pakistan's humanitarian crisis is the largest in decades

　　"I don't think Pakistan will ever fully recover but we will move on," he told reporters, adding that the government was working to prevent future flooding.

　　Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the BBC that more relief supplies would be flown into the country's remotest region, Gilgit Baltistan, after hearing complaints of slow aid delivery to people there.

　　The north-eastern area remains cut off due to the closure of the Karakoram highway, its only road link to the outside world.

　　Mr Gilani said more would be flown in now that the weather had improved, and insisted that the government's credibility in handling the disaster was good.

　　Under threat

　　Tens of thousands of Pakistanis have fled a threatened flood surge, with the country's south now bearing the brunt.

　　An estimated four million people have now been displaced in and around the city of Sukkur, in Sindh province.

　　Flood defences around the southern town of Shahdadkot are still being strengthened - although most of the population have already left.

　　

　　A makeshift mud barrier, built by the army and volunteers, is Shahdadkot's last line of defence from the flood waters.

　　Provincial minister Mir Nadir Magsi told the BBC the situation remained critical in Shahdadkot, even though the river level had gone down.

　　The river water, which is being held back by a temporary barrier of mud and sand, is at a much higher level than the land. Bulldozers are mending small breaches in the barrier.

　　The threat appears to have receded from the city of Hyderabad, where the flood control barriers have held against what local officials said was a "super flood".

　　Evacuation activities, meanwhile, have started in Thatta district next to the Arabian Sea.

　　Dozens more villages have been inundated and although authorities expect flood waters to drain into the Arabian Sea over the next few days, evacuees who return may find their homes and livelihoods have been washed away.

　　

Philippines president pledges Manila bus siege inquiry

 

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President Benigno Aquino said he had been confident in the security forces

The Philippines will hold a "thorough investigation" into how eight Hong Kong tourists were killed while they were being held hostage on a bus in Manila, President Benigno Aquino says.

Survivors and experts have criticised the police for being indecisive and slow in their handling of the crisis.

The day-long siege ended when police marksmen shot and killed the gunman, who was a disgruntled ex-policeman.

In the last hour of the siege, police failed in an attempt to board the bus.

Rising anger

They were forced back by gunfire from the inside of the vehicle.

 

Almost one hour later, they managed to get on board the bus. By that time, the gunman had been killed along with eight of the 15 passengers.

"We want a thorough investigation of everything that transpired," Mr Aquino told a news conference.

He defended the actions of the police at the scene, saying the gunman, identified as 55-year-old former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, had not shown any sign of wanting to kill the hostages.

But when asked if he was entirely satisfied with the police, he said: "How can you be satisfied if there were some people who were killed?"

His comments came amid rising anger at the handling of the crisis.

'Visibly lacked...competence'

One of the survivors, who identified herself only as Mrs Leung, told reporters: "Why was there no one to help us after so many hours?"

She said her husband had been killed trying to stop the gunman from shooting other passengers.

"I miss him. I actually really wanted to die with him. But I think of my children," she said.

Rolando Mendoza: Hostage taker

 

Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang also criticised the way the siege was dealt with.

And security analysts questioned whether the police were trained to handle such a situations.

Frederic Gallois, who once commanded France's elite hostage rescue unit, told the AFP news agency that the police operation was "badly prepared and risky".

Mr Gallois said the officers involved "visibly lacked adequate equipment and tactical competence".

Earlier, police spokesman Colonel Nelson Yabut said the police had initially been forced to retreat because an officer was shot and injured.

"On our first assault, Captain Mendoza was sprawled in the middle of the aisle and shot one of our operatives. On our second assault we killed him," said Col Yabut.

The gunman had spent almost three decades with Manila's police force, but was sacked earlier this year over claims of extortion.

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Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang: "I feel exceedingly sorry for the families"

During the hostage crisis, he posted signs with his demands on the bus windows - the main one urging the police force to reinstate him.

The gunman had boarded the bus at Luneta Park in central Manila, and the hostage drama played out across the eight-lane road inside the park.

In all, 22 Hong Kong tourists were taken hostage along with three Filipinos - a driver, a guide and a photographer.

Nine people were freed after initial negotiations, and the driver fled, leaving 15 hostages on board until the end of the siege.

‘Survival of fittest’ is disputed

　　

　　Mammals had plenty of space in which to thrive after the extinction of the dinosaurs

　　Space is the final frontier for evolution, a study suggests.

　　It proposes that Charles Darwin may have been wrong when he argued that competition was the major driving force of evolution.

　　He imagined a world in which organisms battled for supremacy and only the fittest survived.

　　But new research identifies the availability of "living space", rather than competition, as being of key importance for evolution.

　　Findings question the old adage of "nature red in tooth and claw".

　　The study conducted by PhD student Sarda Sahney and colleagues at the University of Bristol is published in Biology Letters.

　　The research team used fossils to study evolutionary patterns over 400 million years of history.

　　Focusing on land animals - amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds - the scientists showed that the amount of biodiversity closely matched the availability of "living space" through time.

　　“Start Quote

　　Competition did not play a big role in the overall pattern of evolution”

　　End Quote Professor Michael Benton Bristol University

　　Living space - more formally known as the "ecological niche concept" by biologists - refers to the particular requirements of an organism to thrive. It includes factors like the availability of food and a favourable habitat.

　　'Lucky break'

　　The new study proposes that really big evolutionary changes happen when animals move into empty areas of living space, not occupied by other animals.

　　For example, when birds evolved the ability to fly, that opened up a vast range of new possibilities not available to other animals. Suddenly the skies were the limit, triggering a new evolutionary burst.

　　The extinction of the dinosaurs gave mammals their lucky break.

　　This concept challenges the idea that intense competition for resources in overcrowded habitats is the major driving force of evolution.

　　“Start Quote

　　What is the impetus to occupy new portions of ecological space if not to avoid competition?”

　　End Quote Professor Stephen Stearns Yale University

　　Professor Mike Benton, a co-author on the study, explained that "competition did not play a big role in the overall pattern of evolution".

　　"For example, even though mammals lived beside dinosaurs for 60 million years, they were not able to out-compete the dominant reptiles. But when the dinosaurs went extinct, mammals quickly filled the empty niches they left and today mammals dominate the land," he told BBC News.

　　Alternative view

　　However, Professor Stephen Stearns, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University, US, told BBC News he "found the patterns interesting, but the interpretation problematic".

　　He explained: "To give one example, if the reptiles had not been competitively superior to the mammals during the Mesozoic (era), then why did the mammals only expand after the large reptiles went extinct at the end of the Mesozoic?"

　　"And in general, what is the impetus to occupy new portions of ecological space if not to avoid competition with the species in the space already occupied?"

告别薇安-前言

      网上的朋友提议，也许可以一起合作写个剧本。是要关于网络的。
　　就先写个故事出来。
　　也许是自己写得感觉比较累的一篇。已经是凌晨的时分。

　　对于我来说，我喜欢这个文字游戏。再想象如果是一部电影，可以在里面填充一些什么。应该有帕格尼尼的小提琴旋律吗。或者是一个男人冷漠的脸。
　　还有地铁站台拥挤的人群。和地铁呼啸而去后空旷的惨白灯光。地铁是一个时代的象征。
　　而那个男人只是一杯接一杯地喝完他的咖啡。他找不到他幻想里的那个女孩。
　　那种孤独的感觉。

　　告别薇安。第一次写网络情缘。
　　也许要合作的朋友是会有些失望的。安妮写出来的文字有她的定势。
　　如果是电影。里面的音乐和情节都应该是杂乱的。还有很多的旁白。男人淡漠的声音。他做着琐碎的事情。他注定一无所有。

　　这是个告别的时代。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                                                      ——前言

 

CNN-Primary-Care Doctors: Saying No to $191,000 a Year

　　

　　Last year, the U.S. government spent over $2 trillion on health care, the most of any OECD country. Still, with all that money going out the door there is a worsening income crisis among primary-care physicians that, if unaddressed, will lead to an acute shortage of these doctors in the years ahead, when retiring baby boomers will need them most.

　　The education pipeline offers no hint of improvement. Less than 2% of current medical students are interested in general internal medicine and 4.9% in family-care practice, says a study by Dr. Karen Hauer, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (See how to prevent illness at any age.)

　　While a growing concern, it's no mystery as to why the general practitioner (GP) is a dying breed. Rising medical-school costs — up between 4% and 7% from last year, according to American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) data — and a continually widening gap between general-practitioner and specialist salaries make the career choice for medical students a fairly easy one: get a specialty.

　　"Primary care, especially family medicine, was what I wanted to do when I started medical school. Now three years later with $150,000 in debt, I am considering specializing in neurology," says Samantha Luk, a third-year medical-school student at Northwestern University. While she hasn't ruled out family medicine when she has to make her career decision in 2011, the combination of a higher salary and more interesting work that neurology offers is swaying her to specialize.

　　In 2009, primary-care doctors earned a median salary of $191,401, according to the Medical Group Management Association's 2010 physician-compensation report. Cardiologists earned a median of $457,310 and dermatologists made $385,088 — doctors who owned their practices earned much more, on average. (Watch TIME's video "Uninsured Again.")

　　In these tough economic times, most Americans would say that any of those incomes seem high. In fact, the primary-care doctor's gross is often far short of what they need to make ends meet. The average medical-school student graduates with $200,000 in loans, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). This doesn't include their debt related to four years of undergraduate study. For some students the total debt burden can reach nearly $500,000 — a daunting sum that puts many of them off family medicine. "Money is a bigger influence on these decisions than most students will admit," Luk says. Plus, specialties offer lifestyle advantages, like more time with family in the long run.

　　Even for students without heavy debt burdens, the appeal of a general practice is low. "I don't believe medical students go into this profession to make money," says Jamil Ortoleva, a third-year medical student at Columbia University. "But family physicians don't make enough to cover costs of running a clinic, the insurance is high and so many clinics have closed over the past few years. Even GPs still in business have to take on more patients to pay the bills. The quality of care goes down, and that's a huge deterrent," he adds. (See 10 players in health care reform.)

　　The trend away from family practice is already producing shortages in rural areas and could produce a national doctor crisis in just a few years. "Unless more primary-care physicians are recruited, we estimate a shortage of 30,000 doctors by 2015," says Dr. Atul Grover, chief advocacy officer for the AAMC. "In 10 years, this shortage could go up to 150,000. It takes seven years to train a doctor, so we need to act now," he says.

　　The recent passage of health care reform legislation offers some improvement to primary-care doctors, but doctors see it as insufficient. "The new legislation adds a 10% bonus to primary-care physicians' Medicare reimbursement salaries. But this is nowhere near enough. We need to see a 30% to 50% increase in salaries overall to make any real change in the system," says Dr. Lori Heim, president of the AAFP.

香港游客大巴在菲律宾遭劫持

　　

　　劫持者先后释放了三名儿童和两名妇女游客以及一名导游。

　　香港康泰旅行社证实，该社一个旅行团所乘坐的大巴在菲律宾马尼拉被劫持。

　　警方表示，劫持者是当地一名被开除的警员。他手持冲锋枪，劫持了这辆标有香港康泰旅行社字样的旅游巴士。

　　香港旅游业议会称，被劫持游客年龄介乎4至72岁。

　　截至当地时间13时30分(格林尼治标准时间5时30分)，已有七名游客和一名导游获释。获释游客包括三名儿童、两名妇女和一名男子。

　　下午14时19分左右，又有一名菲律宾人质获释，有消息说他是一名摄影师。

　　香港保安局局长李少光表示，希望菲律宾当局能以香港人质的安全为优先考虑，尽快和平解决事件。

　　没有安装Flash播放器

　　中国驻菲律宾大使馆领保领事王晓波对BBC中文网说，大使馆的警务联络官等官员已经赶赴现场。

　　王晓波证实被劫持游客全是香港公民，并说中方已要求菲律宾警方谨慎采取行动。

　　据中国新华社报道，菲律宾总统阿基诺三世也作出了呼吁，促请劫持者尊重人质生命。

　　

解职警员

　　劫持事件发生在星期一(8月23日)早上。当时旅游大巴在马尼拉市中心的卢内塔广场停靠，继而被枪手劫持。

　　康泰旅行社总经理刘美诗在香港表示，事发后车上领队曾偷偷致电回香港报告事件，并说被挟持游客目前安全，没有出现恐慌。

　　刘美诗说，这个旅行团原定星期一(8月23日)下午启程返回香港。旅行社已经通知了大多数被劫持游客的家属。

　　据菲律宾警方表示，劫持者名叫门多萨，他原本是一位高级探员，因涉嫌抢劫和勒索而被解职。

　　警方说，他挟持了游客与警方谈判，要求让他复职。

　　BBC东南亚事务记者哈维指出，菲律宾发生劫持事件并不罕见，但动机通常是跟政治或商业纠纷有关。

BBC-Pakistan floods: Senior UN figure criticises response

　　

　　The International Monetary Fund said Pakistan faced a "massive economic challenge"

　　A senior United Nations official has called on the global community to urgently step up its response to the floods that have struck Pakistan.

　　Louis-George Arsenault, director of emergency operations for Unicef in New York, described the lack of support as "quite extraordinary".

　　The humanitarian crisis was the largest "in decades", he warned.

　　Mr Arsenault spoke as the International Monetary Fund was due to start talks with Pakistani officials in Washington.

　　The talks on Monday will allow the IMF to assess how best to give help. It says the floods that have struck Pakistan pose a "massive economic challenge" and it will review the country's budget and financial prospects.

　　Threatened flood-surge

　　As officials prepared for the meetings, Mr Arsenault, of the UN children's fund, said: "One of the major challenges that we have which is quite extraordinary is the lack of level of support from the international community.

　　"Right now, our level of needs in terms of funding is huge compared to what we've been receiving, even though this is the largest, by far, humanitarian crisis we've seen in decades."

　　Tens of thousands more Pakistanis have been fleeing the floods, with the south now bearing the brunt.

　　

　　Overall, about 1,600 people have been killed and 20 million affected.

　　In southern Pakistan tens of thousands of people are fleeing a threatened flood-surge, three weeks after heavy monsoon rains first hit the country.

　　In the city of Shahdadkot, a hastily built barrier has been breached, allowing floodwaters to approach houses.

　　An estimated four million people have now been displaced in the city of Sukkar alone.

　　Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) says diseases are spreading in affected areas.

　　'Unprecedented flood'

　　Sindh in the south is now being described as the country's worst-hit province, with officials saying at least 200,000 residents have fled in the last 24 hours.

　　In Shahdadkot, the BBC's Jill McGivering says residents are leaving en masse to try to reach safe ground.

　　The makeshift 4ft mud barrier, built by the army and volunteers, was the city's last line of defence and has now been breached in several places.

　　Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Sindh provincial irrigation minister, said that most people had been escorted to safety, but efforts were under way to help those still stranded.

　　"We are trying to save the city from the unprecedented flood," he said.

　　

　　Sindh is now being described as the worst-hit province

　　The Pakistan government has said that the cost of rebuilding after the floods could be as high as $15bn (£10bn).

　　About one-tenth of the homeless have places in relief camps, the rest are trying to survive alone, without shelter or any assurance of food, she says. Aid is being provided but it is limited and in enormous demand.

　　Dozens more villages have been inundated and although authorities expect flood waters to drain into the Arabian Sea over the next few days, evacuees who return may find their homes and livelihoods have been washed away.

　　The UN says it has now raised about 70% of the $460m it called for in its emergency appeal, as donors pledged more money.

　　Pakistan has also accepted $5m (£3.2m) in aid from its rival and neighbour India.

　　The floods began last month in Pakistan's north-west after heavy monsoon rains and have since swept south, swamping thousands of towns and villages in Punjab and Sindh provinces.

　　The UN said on Friday that more helicopters were urgently needed to reach communities cut off by the water.

　　Experts warn of a second wave of deaths from water-borne diseases such as cholera unless flood victims have access to supplies of fresh drinking water.

BBC-毕马威：英为移民设上限将导致职位流向国外

　　

　　英国内政部从明年开始要对移民人数永久性设定上限。

　　最新发表的一项调查报告指出，英国雇主表示由于无法聘用到合适的人才而导致某些职位空缺。报告还警告说，政府应该考虑采取分阶段逐步实施对移民人数封顶的政策。

　　四大国际会计事务所之一的毕马威周日(22日)就移民问题作出了年度策略报告。该报告敦促英国政府要在对技术移民封顶的政策方面持谨慎态度，报告还称，如果英国没有足够的高技术人才，那么可能工作机会就会流向国外。

　　报告的作者以及该机构的顾问戴维斯指出，“虽然失业率很高，但是政府推出对移民封顶的政策正值很多公司很难聘用高技术人才之际。而培训英国工人来填补这些职位空缺不是短期内能够解决的。”

　　“循序渐进”

　　他说，如果推出封顶政策，应该采取一种循序渐进的方式。否则，那些拥在全球运作的公司如果在英国招聘不到所需技术人才，那么他们就会把这些高技术工作职位转移到其它国家。“

　　报告对600个公司进行了调查。报告称，其中大约有一半公司因招不到所需人才出现职位空缺。在私营公司中，主要空缺的是工程、IT、以及财经专业的技术人员。而在公营公司中，则缺少护士和医生。

　　流向中印

　　报告还说，十分之一接受调查的私营公司计划在明年6月把很多工作职位转移到英国以外地区，其中大多数会转移印度和中国。

　　最常见的设在国外的工作职位包括客户热线服务中心 、与信息技术以及财经专业相关职位。

　　英国的联合政府计划从明年开始就实行永久性的移民人数配额，这就会对可以前往英国工作及生活的欧盟以外国家人数实行上限。

　　内政部长特雷莎·梅表示，移民人数将会从工党执政时的数十万人减少到数万人。

　　在2009年的前9个月，进入英国的移民人数达到14.2万人，其中大约一半的人士来自欧盟以外的国家，而这个数字相对于2008年的16万人已经有所减少。

Alien hunters 'should look for artificial intelligence'

　　

　　The Allen telescope array will comprise 350 telescopes listening for ET signals

　　A senior astronomer has said that the hunt for alien life should take into account alien "sentient machines".

　　Seti, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, has until now sought radio signals from worlds like Earth.

　　But Seti astronomer Seth Shostak argues that the time between aliens developing radio technology and artificial intelligence (AI) would be short.

　　Writing in Acta Astronautica, he says that the odds favour detecting such alien AI rather than "biological" life.

　　Many involved in Seti have long argued that nature may have solved the problem of life using different designs or chemicals, suggesting extraterrestrials would not only not look like us, but that they would not at a biological level even work like us.

　　However, Seti searchers have mostly still worked under the assumption - as a starting point for a search of the entire cosmos - that ETs would be "alive" in the sense that we know.

　　That has led to a hunt for life that is bound to follow at least some rules of biochemistry, live for a finite period of time, procreate, and above all be subject to the processes of evolution.

　　But Dr Shostak makes the point that while evolution can take a large amount of time to develop beings capable of communicating beyond their own planet, technology would already be advancing fast enough to eclipse the species that wrought it.

　　"If you look at the timescales for the development of technology, at some point you invent radio and then you go on the air and then we have a chance of finding you," he told BBC News.

　　"But within a few hundred years of inventing radio - at least if we're any example - you invent thinking machines; we're probably going to do that in this century.

　　"So you've invented your successors and only for a few hundred years are you... a 'biological' intelligence."

　　'Moving target'

　　John Elliott, a Seti research veteran based at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, says that Dr Shostak is putting on a firmer footing a feeling that is not uncommon in the Seti community.

　　"You have to start somewhere, and there's nothing wrong with that," Dr Elliott told BBC News.

　　

　　Alien AI may choose to linger at galactic centres, where matter and energy are plentiful

　　"But having now looked for signals for 50 years, Seti is going through a process of realising the way our technology is advancing is probably a good indicator of how other civilisations - if they're out there - would've progressed.

　　"Certainly what we're looking at out there is an evolutionary moving target."

　　Both Dr Shostak and Dr Elliott concede that finding and decoding any eventual message from such alien thinking machines may prove more difficult than in the "biological" case, but the idea does provide new directions to look.

　　Dr Shostak says that artificially intelligent alien life would be likely to migrate to places where both matter and energy - the only things he says would be of interest to the machines - would be in plentiful supply. That means the Seti hunt may need to focus its attentions near hot, young stars or even near the centres of galaxies.

　　"I think we could spend at least a few percent of our time... looking in the directions that are maybe not the most attractive in terms of biological intelligence but maybe where sentient machines are hanging out."