Saturday, April 2, 2011

Lily Collins is taking on the role of Snow White in The Brothers Grimm: Snow White, JJJ can confirm.

The 22-year-old actress “is said to have blown away [studio] execs with her audition,” THR reports.

“Yes! I just got cast today!” Lily, who will star opposite Armie Hammer and Julia Roberts, told HitFix.com.

Lily has also reportedly been offered the role of Stormy Llewellyn in Odd Thomas!

WHAT DO YOU THINK of Lily Collins as Snow White?




MULTAN: Pakistan army conducted successful war exercises in the Khudai range near Muzzafargarh. Large scale use of tanks, artilleries and other weapons was made in the exercises. At the occasion, Corps Commander Multan Lieutenant General Shafqat Ahmad said the army was required to remain alert to face challenges at the country’s eastern border, and to operate against terrorism. He said the armed forces of Pakistan were capable enough to guard the country’s frontiers. Ahmad also visited the semi-desert Khudai Ranges near Muzzaffargarh and witnessed exercises conducted by armour, infantry and artillery troops. The corps commander also reiterated that Multan troops played a significant role in “Operation Labbaik”, which ensured appropriate rescue and rehabilitation of displaced persons from Southern Punjab. “Along with these activities, troops are also engaged in their training activities without compromising professional standards, which is the hallmark of Pakistan Army,” the corps commander added.
Inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transport Safety Board are en route to Yuma, Arizona to investigate why a Boeing 737 developed a hole in its cabin that forced it to make an emergency landing.

Passengers aboard Friday's Southwest Airlines flight reported hearing a sound like a gunshot, followed by pandemonium as oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and the plane made a terrifying but controlled descent, dropping 7,600 metres in roughly four minutes before touching down at a military base about 240 kilometres southwest of Phoenix

So far the NTSB has only said that Flight 812 lost pressure because of an "in-flight fuselage rupture," the cause of which remains a mystery.

The FBI has already ruled out terrorism or other foul play, describing the incident as a "mechanical failure."

Southwest officials said the Arizona plane had undergone all inspections required by the FAA, but the company did not immediately provide the date of the last inspection.

Holes in aircraft can be caused by metal fatigue or lightning. The National Weather Service said the weather was clear from the Phoenix area to the California border on Friday afternoon.

A similar incident on a Southwest plane to Baltimore in July 2009 also forced an emergency landing when a 30 centimetre-long hole opened in the cabin.

No serious injuries were reported among the 118 people aboard Friday's flight, although a flight attendant was slightly hurt, according to Southwest officials.


Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons has a message for those outraged by a four-minute video of an elephant hunt in Zimbabwe on his Go Daddy video site.

"I think if you had all the facts and you knew exactly what was going on and the difference it makes in these people's lives there," he told ABC News Radio, "you'd feel completely different."
Parsons has said he participated in the hunt because the elephants were a nuisance destroying crops the local population depended upon for sustenance and even threatening the lives of villagers.

Therefore, his hunt solved two problems, he suggested.

"First they have their crops," he told ABC News Radio, "and they get to eat the elephant."

Parsons always has welcomed buzz and controversy around his racy Super Bowl commercials. But backlash against his recent video could damage his company's place as the number-one Internet domain name company.

India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in a pulsating final to deliver World Cup glory to their cricket-mad population for the first time since 1983.

Sri Lanka smashed 91 from their last 10 overs to post 274-6 in Mumbai, with Mahela Jayawardene making a superb 103.

India lost Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early on but Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Dhoni rebuilt the innings.

Gambhir was out for 97, but captain Dhoni's brilliant unbeaten 91 led India to a famous win with 10 balls to spare.

The skipper, struggling for form throughout the tournament, played the innings of his life and sealed the victory with a phenomenal straight six that sailed high into the stands, providing the catalyst for euphoric celebrations in the Wankhede Stadium.

Tendulkar's early dismissal for 18 ensured there was to be no fairytale 100th international century for Mumbai's favourite son.

But wonderful innings from Gambhir and Dhoni ensured the "Little Master" can finally get his hands on the sport's ultimate prize at the sixth attempt as India became the first host nation to win the tournament, while Jayawardene became the first player to score a hundred in the final and finish on the losing side.

BREGA, Libya — A NATO airstrike intended for the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi apparently killed at least eight rebel fighters in the battle outside this pivotal oil port, an ambulance driver and news reports said Saturday.

The deaths underscored the challenge that the Western allies and the rebels face in relying on airstrikes to push back the Qaddafi forces as the two sides mix in the battle zone along the front.

Perhaps in response to the Western airstrikes, the Qaddafi forces are increasingly plunging into combat in equipment similar to what the rebels are using, mainly pickup trucks mounted with machine guns or artillery. The move makes it increasingly difficult for even the combatants to distinguish one group from the other at first sight.

NATO, which said Saturday that it had conducted 148 airstrike sorties in the previous 24 hours, said it was investigating the episode, according to news reports.

News services reported other rebels grieving for their dead. A rebel spokesman said he could not confirm that the dead were rebels, but he called for continued airstrikes.

“You have to look at the big picture,” the spokesman, Mustafa Gheriani, told Reuters. “Mistakes will happen. We are trying to get rid of Qaddafi, and there will be casualties, although of course it does not make us happy.”

Eyewitnesses said armed Afghan riot police watched passively as a mob overran the compound.

Seven UN employees were killed, including four Gurkha guards and three international officials. One police chief said two of the victims had been beheaded, while other reports said some had had their throats slit with knives or been shot in the head.

The protests had been called over the burning of a Koran by a controversial American pastor in Florida last month, and violence related to the incident flared again yesterday when nine protesters were killed and 77 injured in clashes in Kandahar.

Pastor Terry Jones remained defiant in the face of outrage against his actions. He told The Sunday Telegraph that he was considering putting the Islamic prophet Mohammed on trial in his next "day of judgement" – an act which is highly likely to spark further unrest.

Officials claimed that the protests in Afghanistan had been hijacked by Taliban-led insurgents who also injured three soldiers in a suicide bomb attack on a Nato base in Kabul yesterday.

The scale of the violence, the brutality of the Mazar-i-Sharif attack, and the failure of local security forces to protect their compound has left UN staff in Afghanistan bewildered and raised questions about the ability of Afghan forces to take over security in the area when Nato forces withdraw later this summer.

It was the worst attack it has suffered in the country since 2001, but a UN spokesman vowed its staff will not abandon their work in Afghanistan.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday condemned the attack as "outrageous and cowardly" while the UN Security Council said those killed were "dedicated to the cause of peace in Afghanistan and to a better life for all Afghans."

As UN investigators continued their inquiries last night, senior police officials and eyewitnesses in Mazar-i-Sharif described how incompetence, cowardice and indifference were key factors in leaving some of the UN's most dedicated staff at the mercy of a baying mob.

Charlie Sheen has been pretty well everywhere the past few months, popping up all over national TV, the Internet and in other forms of mass media, blathering on about the "tiger blood" coursing through his veins and decrying the "trolls" who derailed his lucrative acting career.

So much has been said by and about the unemployed actor, it's almost as if there's nothing left to learn about him.

Sheen's banking on the "almost" part.

Promising "the REAL story," the 45-year-old ex-"Two and a Half Men" star is hitting the road for a month-long, 20-city tour that gets its start Saturday night in Detroit.

Why Detroit?

"Why not," asked publicist Larry Solters, who, like his boss, hasn't said a lot about the show, other than it will last an hour and a half and feature guests, music and a multimedia presentation. Rapper Snoop Dogg will be there as will guitarist Rob Patterson.

What remains to be seen is whether Sheen - a talented comic actor, but not a stand-up comedian - can sufficiently entertain a live audience for that length of time.

Two weeks after a dark-of-night barrage of mostly U.S. missiles and bombs opened the international air assault on Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, the American combat role is ending, the rag-tag rebels are reeling and the Pentagon is betting its European allies can finish the job.

Gadhafi is still standing, with a few uncertain signs that his inner circle could crack. The Obama administration is hoping that if Gadhafi's government doesn't implode soon, a relentless campaign of airstrikes on his tanks, air defenses and most trusted army units will at least weaken his ability to survive a renewed uprising by a disjointed opposition. The rebels initially rattled Gadhafi but in recent days have given up most of their gains.

The bottom line, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "He's still killing his people."

So the mission remains incomplete, but the U.S. is following through on a pledge to shift the main combat burden to Britain, France and other NATO allies.

Starting Sunday, no U.S. combat aircraft are to fly strike missions in Libya. Also falling silent on Sunday will be the initial workhorses of the military campaign: U.S. Navy destroyers and submarines that launched Tomahawk cruise missiles from the positions in the Mediterranean Sea.

The planes and naval vessels will be on standby in case NATO commanders decide their own forces cannot handle the mission on their own. Combat air missions will continue to be flown by Britain, France and other NATO member countries.

A larger group of participating air forces will patrol over Libya to ensure that Gadhafi's air force stays grounded. U.S. planes will support them with refueling aircraft and electronic jammers.

Health officials struggling to contain a measles outbreak that's hit hard in Minneapolis' large Somali community are running into resistance from parents who fear the vaccine could give their children autism.

Fourteen confirmed measles cases have been reported in Minnesota since February. Half have been in Somali children, six of whom were not vaccinated and one who was not old enough for shots. State officials have linked all but one of the cases to an unvaccinated Somali infant who returned from a trip to Kenya in February. The state had reported zero or one case of measles a year for most of the past decade.

Amid the outbreak, a now-discredited British researcher who claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism has been meeting with local Somalis. Some worry Andrew Wakefield is stoking vaccination fears, but organizers say the meetings were merely a chance for parents to ask him questions.

"Unfortunately a lot of the media thinks he's saying 'Don't get vaccinated.' That's far from the truth. He's basically encouraging people to get vaccinated but do your homework and know the risks," said Wayne Rohde, a co-founder of the Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota, which says parents should have other options for immunizing their children.

Measles has been all but eradicated in the United States, but accounts for about 200,000 annual deaths worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None of those infected in Minnesota have died, though eight have required hospitalization.

The infections come as autism concerns have surged over an apparent rise in cases in Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the U.S. Officials, though, haven't determined if that's really happening.

The Minnesota Department of Public Health found in 2009 that young Somali children in Minneapolis public schools were over-represented in autism programs, but cautioned that alone didn't prove a higher rate of autism. The CDC and National Institutes of Health are working with the advocacy group Autism Speaks on a more systematic study.

President Barack Obama is getting ready to make one of Washington's worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.

Democratic officials familiar with the plan say Obama will file 2012 campaign papers with the Federal Election Commission as early as this coming week.

It's a long-anticipated but formal step that will allow him to start raising money for the campaign, which will be based in Chicago.

The fundraising effort has begun. Obama raised $1.5 million at a Democratic fundraiser in New York City this past week and he'll headline events in the coming weeks in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Obama raised an eye-catching $750 million for his 2008 campaign.

The officials asked not to be identified in order to speak before the re-election papers are filed.


Northern Ireland police say a bomb has exploded under a car in the town of Omagh.

It was not immediately clear who may have been targeted or if there were any casualties in Saturday's blast.

Since 2007, Irish Republican Army dissidents have planted dozens of booby-trap bombs under the private cars of police officers. The bombs usually fail to detonate and have killed nobody. But two policemen have lost their legs in attacks in May 2008 and January 2010.

IRA dissidents committed the deadliest single bombing of the entire Northern Ireland conflict in Omagh on Aug. 15, 1998, when a car bomb detonated amid a crowd of evacuated shoppers and workers. Twenty-nine people, mostly women and children, were killed.


The main Libyan opposition spokesman says 13 rebels have accidentally been killed and seven injured in a NATO airstrike targeting Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said Saturday that the attack occurred as the rebels prepared to take over the oil city of Brega.

His comments are the first confirmation that the rebels were killed in an airstrike. NATO says it's looking into the report.

Calling it an "unfortunate accident," Ghoga says the rebels were killed as they moved forward while the NATO strike was in progress late Friday.