Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Hong Kong film-makers aim to be first in 3D porn

by Peter Brieger, AFP

Sat Aug 14, 2:31 am ET

HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong director Christopher Sun arranges toy action models in front of a massive penis-shaped fountain, the easiest way to explain his intentions to the multilingual cast of what has been billed as the world’s first 3D porn film.

“I can’t ask my crew to do this and the best thing is you can get (the action models) naked without any complaints,” he told AFP at a secluded studio in Hong Kong.

The director is in a race against time to complete his 3.2 million-US-dollar film “3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy”, which is due for release in May.

2 US aid arrives as Russia says no nuclear risk from fires

by Stuart Williams, AFP

1 hr 12 mins ago

MOSCOW (AFP) – The first planeloads of US aid for the Russian wildfire tragedy arrived in Moscow on Saturday as officials said a fire raging close to a top nuclear facility did not risk causing an atomic catastrophe.

Officials said that nationwide the area alight with fires was almost a quarter that of a week ago, although there appeared to be little progress in reducing the size of the blaze close to Russia’s main nuclear research centre in Sarov.

Two US Air Force C-130 planes carrying aid for Russia touched down early Saturday at a Moscow airport, followed by a charter flight from California ordered by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, state television and the foreign ministry said.

3 Controversy swells as Obama supports Ground Zero mosque

by Carlos Hamann, AFP

23 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama’s support for the right to build a mosque just blocks from Ground Zero poured fuel Saturday on a raging debate over religious freedom and sensitivities over the 9/11 terror strikes.

Muslims “have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” Obama said at an Iftar meal at the White House for Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast late Friday.

That includes “the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”

4 India outsourcers angered by US job visa hike

by Penny MacRae, AFP

Sat Aug 14, 12:01 pm ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India’s flagship outsourcing industry reacted angrily Saturday to a new US law tightening security at the Mexico border with measures paid for by steep hikes in American work visa fees.

The 600-million-dollar legislation, signed into law Friday by US President Barack Obama, will nearly double visa fees for some Indian information technology workers entering the United States.

“The US is giving a very strong signal foreigners are not welcome,” said Som Mittal, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), which represents India’s leading software exporters.

5 U.N. says no aid yet for 6 million flood victims in Pakistan

By Robert Birsel, Reuters

Sat Aug 14, 8:37 am ET

SUKKUR, Pakistan (Reuters) – United Nations aid agencies have provided assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims of Pakistan’s worst floods in decades but relief operations have yet to reach an estimated six million people.

The lives of 20 million people — nearly 12 percent of the population — have been disrupted by one of the worst catastrophes in Pakistan’s history. Six million still need food, shelter and water, the UN said in a statement.

Highlighting the scale of the disaster, Prime Minister Raza Yusuf Gilani said in an Independence Day speech the country faces challenges similar to those during the 1947 partition of the subcontinent.

6 Karzai asks Obama for review of Afghanistan war

By Andrew Hammond, Reuters

Sat Aug 14, 10:50 am ET

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked U.S. President Barack Obama to review how the war in Afghanistan is being conducted as civilian deaths continue to rise, Karzai’s office said on Saturday.

A statement issued by the presidential palace said Obama agreed in a video call to start talking about a review, which Karzai also proposed in a letter.

“The two presidents agreed that discussions regarding a strategic review of the more effective ways of fighting terrorism should begin,” the statement, written in Dari, said.

7 FDA OKs new "morning-after" pill

By Susan Heavey and Lisa Richwine, Reuters

Fri Aug 13, 8:57 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Health officials on Friday approved a new, longer-lasting “morning-after” pill to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex.

The prescription drug, called ella, is made by French company HRA Pharma and will be sold in the United States by Watson Pharmaceuticals.

It is the first emergency contraceptive approved since a five-year battle under the Bush administration ended with limited over-the-counter sales and age checks by pharmacists for a rival pill.

8 Obama backs controversial New York mosque project

By Ross Colvin and Jeff Mason, Reuters

Sat Aug 14, 1:13 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday backed construction of a proposed mosque and Muslim cultural center near the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York — a project opposed by conservatives and many New Yorkers.

“As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” Obama said to applause at an event attended by diplomats from Islamic countries and members of the U.S. Muslim community.

“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” he said, weighing in for the first time in a national debate that has grown increasingly heated in recent weeks.

9 Obama declares Gulf Coast ‘open for business’

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 1 min ago

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – President Barack Obama declared Gulf Coast beaches clean, safe and open for business as he brought his family to the Florida Panhandle and promised residents that the government wouldn’t forget them once efforts to stop the leak are finished.

On a warm and muggy day, Obama pledged to “keep up our efforts until the environment is cleaned, polluters are held accountable, businesses and communities are made whole, and the people of the Gulf Coast are back on their feet.”

Obama is in the region for a brief weekend trip with first lady Michelle Obama, daughter Sasha (her sister Malia is at summer camp) and the family dog, Bo. Their 27-hour stop in the Sunshine State is as much a family vacation as it is an attempt by the president to convince Americans that this region, so dependent on tourism revenue, is safe for travel.

10 With BP spill under control, US looks at drill ban

By CHRIS KAHN, DINA CAPPIELLO and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writers

40 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – Now that the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history has effectively been stopped, the White House is considering an early end to its moratorium on deepwater drilling.

But four months after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, regulators have only started to make good on promises to overhaul drilling. Tough measures are stalled in Congress. A $1 billion emergency response network proposed by the industry won’t be operational for another year.

And while doomsday scenarios from the BP spill, like oil washing up the East Coast, have not come to pass, there are no guarantees that drilling will be any safer once it does resume.

11 Cholera strikes amid Pakistani flood disaster

By ASHRAF KHAN and NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writers

1 hr 54 mins ago

SUKKUR, Pakistan – The deadly, waterborne disease cholera has surfaced in flood-ravaged Pakistan, the U.N. confirmed Saturday, adding to the misery of 20 million people the government says have been made homeless by the disaster. A fresh surge of floodwater swelled the Indus River, threatening previously spared cities and towns in the south.

The crisis has battered Pakistan’s economy and undermined its political stability at a time when the United States needs its steadfast cooperation against Islamist extremism. The U.N. has appealed for an initial $460 million to provide relief to Pakistan but has said the country will need billions to rebuild once the floodwaters recede.

Because of the flooding, Pakistan canceled celebrations Saturday marking its creation and independence from Britain in 1947. President Asif Ali Zardari met with flood victims in the northwest, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to visit affected regions on Sunday.

12 Will Medicare checks in the mail help Democrats?

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 45 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A check from Uncle Sam gets your attention, even if the money doesn’t help that much with the bills.

More than 750,000 Medicare recipients with high prescription costs each got a $250 government check this summer, and 3 million-plus more checks are going out to people who land in the program’s anxiety-inducing coverage gap.

Democrats, running scared in an election year, are trying to overcome older people’s mistrust of the new health care law, which expands coverage for younger generations by cutting Medicare payments to hospitals and insurers.

13 Obama claims GOP trying to destroy Social Security

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

Sat Aug 14, 11:33 am ET

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used the anniversary of Social Security to trumpet Democrats’ support for the popular program and accuse Republicans of trying to destroy it.

Seventy-five years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday: “We have an obligation to keep that promise, to safeguard Social Security for our seniors, people with disabilities and all Americans – today, tomorrow and forever.”

Some Republican leaders in Congress are “pushing to make privatizing Social Security a key part of their legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress this fall,” Obama said.

14 6 Iraqi forces killed as checkpoints attacked

By SAAD ABDUL-KADIR, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 25 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed six Iraqi security personnel Saturday, including a pair of sleeping policemen who were shot and set on fire, amid persistent debate over whether Iraqi forces can protect the country as U.S. troops leave.

The early-morning shootings at Baghdad checkpoints demonstrated the insurgents’ aim to weaken confidence in the government and aggravate sectarian tension as all but 50,000 U.S. troops head home by the end of August.

In the first attack, gunmen armed with silenced pistols killed two policemen asleep in their patrol car at a security checkpoint in the Shiite-dominated New Baghdad neighborhood, said an officer with the federal police in Baghdad. The assailants then set the car on fire and fled, he said.

15 WikiLeaks says it won’t be threatened by Pentagon

By KEITH MOORE, Associated Press Writer

Sat Aug 14, 11:40 am ET

STOCKHOLM – WikiLeaks will publish its remaining 15,000 Afghan war documents within a month, despite warnings from the U.S. government, the organization’s founder said Saturday.

The Pentagon has said that secret information will be even more damaging to security and risk more lives than WikiLeaks’ initial release of some 76,000 war documents.

“This organization will not be threatened by the Pentagon or any other group,” Julian Assange told reporters in Stockholm. “We proceed cautiously and safely with this material.”

16 Brown, couples urge speedy return to gay marriages

By PAUL ELIAS and LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer

Sat Aug 14, 9:31 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO – The attorneys who successfully sued to strike down California’s same-sex marriage ban have joined Attorney General Jerry Brown in urging a federal appeals court to quickly allow gay marriages to resume in the state.

Theodore Olson and David Boies, the high-profile lawyers representing two couples, told the appeals court that same-sex couples are being hurt every day Proposition 8 is enforced and should not be denied their civil rights while the ban’s sponsors pursue an appeal of last week’s decision overturning the 2008 measure.

“Indeed, the only harm at issue here is that suffered by Plaintiffs and other gay and lesbian Californians each day that Proposition 8’s discriminatory and irrational deprivation of their constitutional rights remains in force,” the lawyers argued in a filing late Friday.

17 2 killed as troops open fire on Kashmir protesters

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Aug 14, 1:14 pm ET

SRINAGAR, India – Two people were shot dead by security forces Saturday as deaths continued to mount during weeks of defiant protests against India’s rule over the predominantly Muslim region of Kashmir.

Unrest that has killed at least 57 people since June shows no signs of abating despite the deployment of thousands of troops and calls from India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for calm. Tens of thousands of Kashmiris staged angry demonstrations Friday after government forces killed four people and wounded 31 others.

The situation in recent weeks has been reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked the armed conflict that has so far killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.

18 In a sluggish economic summer, no easy fix ahead

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

Fri Aug 13, 7:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve has little power left to lift the economy out of its rut. Congress, with an election looming, has no appetite for more stimulus. Shoppers are reluctant to spend, and businesses are slow to hire.

Let’s face it: There is no easy or imminent fix for the flagging recovery.

The sluggish economic summer wore on Friday with news that Americans spent less at most retail stores in July. Earlier this month came word that the trade deficit is ballooning and companies are not adding jobs fast enough to bring down unemployment.

19 Sacred artifacts returned to Northern Calif tribe

By SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press Writer

Sat Aug 14, 1:17 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – White deerskins, condor feathers and head dresses made of bright red woodpecker scalps are among more than 200 sacred artifacts that are once again in the possession of a Northern California Indian tribe.

The Yurok Tribe celebrated the items’ return this past week – among the largest repatriation of Native American sacred objects ever – from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

“It’s part of the fabric of who we are and why we are,” said Javier Kinney, who helped truck the artifacts back from Suitland-Silver Hill, Md. “It’s a little bit of mixed emotion – sadness that they were gone for so long but joy and excitement that they’re back. It’s like family coming back home.”

20 AP Enterprise: More immigrants getting licenses

By TIM KORTE and MANUEL VALDES, Associated Press Writers

Fri Aug 13, 11:51 pm ET

BURIEN, Wash. – Carlos Hernandez packed up his family and left Arizona after the state passed its sweeping immigration crackdown. The illegal immigrant’s new home outside Seattle offered something Arizona could not: a driver’s license.

Three states – Washington, New Mexico and Utah – allow illegal immigrants to get licenses because their laws do not require proof of citizenship or legal residency. An Associated Press analysis found that those states have seen a surge in immigrants seeking IDs in recent months, a trend experts attribute to crackdowns on illegal immigration in Arizona and elsewhere.

“It’s difficult being undocumented and not having an identification,” said Hernandez, of Puebla, Mexico. “You can use the Mexican ID, but people look down on it.” An American driver’s license is also a requirement for many jobs.

21 NJ blogger convicted of threatening Ill. judges

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer

Fri Aug 13, 11:47 pm ET

NEW YORK – A right-wing New Jersey blogger was convicted at his third trial Friday of making threats against three federal judges in Illinois in retaliation for a ruling supporting gun control.

A Brooklyn jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Hal Turner guilty of making death threats.

A judge jailed Turner, of North Bergen, N.J., following the verdict. His attorney declined comment.

22 Ames must conserve to restore water after flooding

By MICHAEL J. CRUMB, Associated Press Writer

Fri Aug 13, 6:03 pm ET

AMES, Iowa – Ames officials implored residents Friday to do a better job of conserving water after historic flooding caused pipes to break and left the college town of 55,000 without drinking water.

John Dunn, the water and pollution control director in the central Iowa city, said people must adopt “temporary lifestyle changes.”

“Water used for any purpose other than essential health and sanitation purposes is hampering our community-wide recovery and extending the amount of time until water is available for drinking,” Dunn said. “The use of water for nonessential purposes must stop.”

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  1. The method is always the same.

    The meta madness is what changes.

  2. That story was in the paper here about a week ago. Its star will be a Japanese AV actress.

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