UNITED STATES - ADAPTING 4 DAYS A WEEK SCHEDULE FOR WORKERS

The abnormal rise in the prices of petroleum products made the American industries to cut down the working days to 4 days a week.
In the International marketing level, the petroleum product's prices are increasing rapidly.The United States has estimated that the level of fuel products will get increased by 30 percent by the vehicles use in day-today life.
To save the fuel and the money spent for the petroleum products, 4 days per week plan is going to be adapted in all the industries.The officials of Birmingham and Alabama cities have announced the 4 days per week plan.The plan is said to be working about 10 hours a day and doing 4 days a week will equalize the working about 5 days a week.
Various industries are also likely going to adapt the same plan.More over many industries are calculating the efficiency of the workers and not the working time of the workers.It has been a thought among the workers that it will be better that doing the work completely in the given amount of time rather than doing in extra time work.
Also more workers changed the work plan because of the increasing price of the petroleum products.They are reducing the long time travel by shifting the home which is nearby the industry.Also many are changing to the industry which is nearer to the home.Because of this problem many workers are leaving their old company and searching for the newer one which is nearby home.This made a damage in the production of lots of companies.
To fight with this problem these industries are also going to implement the 4 day per week plan.
By implementing this plan,for about 20 - 40 crores of amount can be saved as suggested by officials.Moreover the production of vehicles which consumes less fuel has been increased.workers are keen in reducing to use vehicles and trying to handle the works over the phone.
In a step by step process , all the industries are planning to implement this working plan so as to reduce the more fuel consumption.The workers will get more time in the weekends to spend the time their families.

COPENHAGEN - WORLD'S BEST CITY

Copenhagen is now chosen as the world's no:1 best city.A survey on account of choosing the best city in the world gave the outcome as the above mentioned city is the best one.
To find the best cities in the world a survey has been taken by the Monogill site.The outcome of the survey mentioned the copenhagen had been chosen has the best city in the world.
Good life,Biggest transportation,Best hotels,Climatic conditions,Modern design centres paved way for selecting copenhagen has the best city.The second place is grabbed by the Munich city.Tokyo maintained to get third place of the list.Zurich comes to fourth and Helsinki manages to get the fifth place.
Paris manages to get into the first ten places.The two big cities London and New york did not a place in the top 20.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JUMPS TO 5.5 PERCENT IN MAY

WASHINGTON:Unemployment rate jumps to 5.5 percent in May, biggest rise since 1986; payrolls cut again.The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May -- the biggest monthly rise since 1986 -- as nervous employers cut 49,000 jobs.
The latest snapshot of business conditions showed a deeply troubled economy, with dwindling job opportunities in a time of continuing hardship in the housing, credit and financial sectors.
"It was ugly," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.
With employers worried about a sharp slowdown and their own prospects, they clamped down on hiring in May, said Friday's report from the Labor Department. The unemployment rate soared from 5 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May. That was the biggest one-month jump in the rate since February 1986. The increase left the jobless rate at its highest since October 2004.
The big jump in the unemployment rate surprised economists who were forecasting a tick-up to 5.1 percent. Payroll losses, however, weren't as deep as the 60,000 that analysts were bracing for. Still, job losses in both March and April turned out to be larger than the government previously reported. Employers now have cut payrolls for five straight months.
The 5.5 percent rate is relatively moderate judged by historical standards. Yet, there was no question that employers last month sharply cut jobs in manufacturing, construction, retailing and professional and businesses services. Those losses swamped gains elsewhere, including in the education and health fields, government and leisure and hospitality.
The government said the number of unemployed people grew by 861,000 in May -- rising to 8.5 million. The over-the-month jump in unemployment reflected more workers losing their jobs as well as an increase in those coming into the job market -- especially younger people -- to look for work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
A year ago, the number of unemployed stood at 6.9 million and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent.
A trio of crises -- housing, credit and financial -- have rocked the economy. That's caused economic growth to slow to a crawl as businesses and consumers have tightened their belts. Spiraling energy costs are another negative force.
The country's economic problems are a top concern for voters -- and thus for President Bush, lawmakers on Capitol Hill and those vying to win the White House this fall.
And, there's been a lot of talk about whether the economy is on the brink of, or fallen into, its first recession since 2001. That determination, made by a panel of academics, is usually made well after the fact.
"For the average American there is not debate that the eocnomy is in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "That's because their net worth is lower, their purchasing power is lower and it is tough to find a job. If you lose a job, it is tough to get back in," he said.
So far this year, the government said, job losses have totaled 324,000.
Workers with jobs, however, saw modest gains.
Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.94 in May, up 0.3 percent from the previous month. Economists were forecasting a 0.2 percent gain. Over the last 12 months, wages have grown by 3.5 percent..
With food and energy prices marching upward, paychecks aren't stretching as far. Although tax rebates helped to energize shoppers and give major retailers better sales in May, analysts still believe that anxious consumers will be keeping a close watch on their purchases and their budgets in the months ahead. A weakening job market could make people feel less inclined to spend.
Worried about inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has signaled that the central bank's rate-cutting campaign, which commenced last September to help bolster the economy, is probably over for now.
Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's powerful doses of rate reductions and the government's $168 billion stimulus package, including tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses, will pull the economy out of its deep funk in the second half of this year.
Even if that happens, the unemployment rate is expected to climb to 6 percent or higher early next year. Employers won't want to ramp up hiring until they feel more sure that an economic recovery has strong legs.

9/11 SUSPECT: 'I WISH TO BE MARTYRED'

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed wants to become a martyr for his role as mastermind of the September 11 attacks, he told a U.S. military judge Thursday.
Mohammed wishes to dismiss his lawyers, plead guilty and become a martyr, he said at his long-awaited arraignment at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, asked Mohammed numerous times if he understood that he faces the death penalty. Mohammed responded, "That is what I wish. I wish to be martyred."
He told Kohlmann he could not accept any attorney because he only believes in Sharia, or Islamic law.
Mohammed and his four co-defendants, all suspected al Qaeda figures, are being arraigned on numerous charges for their alleged roles in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York and Washington, which killed nearly 3,000 people. It is the first time that reporters have been able to see the accused al Qaeda operatives, who were all in the same room for the first time since their arrests in 2002 and 2003.
The defendants were seated at separate tables. None stood when Kohlmann entered. They spoke freely among themselves throughout the proceeding, and Mohammed appeared to be instructing the others.
Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is accused of helping coordinate the attacks, was the only defendant in leg shackles. He entered the courtroom with a defiant swagger, laughing at media members who were straining to get a look at him.
In addition to Mohammed and bin al-Shibh, the defendants are Walid bin Attash, who is said to have helped train the hijackers; and Mustafa al Hawsawi and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, both of whom are accused of arranging financing for the plot.
Attash also told the judge he wanted to dismiss his legal team and represent himself.
Wearing a prison outfit and a foot-long gray beard, Mohammed appeared much thinner than when he was captured five years ago.
When he was addressed by Kohlmann, he started singing a prayer in Arabic and then repeated it in English.
The judge stopped him, saying, "I understand you have been held here for a long time and have some things to say."
Mohammed asked to continue what he was saying, noting that he understood he could not talk about torture or the Quran. Kohlmann allowed it, and Mohammed started to talk about wishing to represent himself.
Mohammed's lawyer interjected, saying his client did not understand the importance of the arraignment, and the judge explained to Mohammed that it would not be a good idea to represent himself.
Kohlmann announced at the start of the session that at least part of the detainees' statements would be classified and the judge would block out audio. The defendants have been in U.S. government custody since 2002 and 2003, and they were transferred to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in September 2006. The charges against them include murder in violation of the law of war, various terrorism counts and intentionally causing bodily injury.
n a written statement read at a March 2007 hearing, at which he was present, Mohammed said he was responsible for the attacks "from A to Z." Although Thursday's proceedings may not be complex, they follow years of struggles by the Bush administration to craft a process for bringing the detainees to trial, and officials involved in the military commissions know that the eyes of the world will be on them
Critics have called Guantanamo Bay a legal "black hole" for detainees who the United States says are not protected as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
Defense attorneys had asked for Thursday's proceedings to be delayed, arguing that they have not had enough time with their clients since the charges were announced in May.
Army Maj. Jon Jackson, al Hawsawi's lawyer, said that it's a good thing the cases are finally moving forward but that defense attorneys should have more time to discuss the cases with their clients. "We, the defense, should have been granted a reasonable delay in order to develop a relationship with these men, to talk with them about their case, to discuss strategies before we are rushed into the courtroom," Jackson said before heading to Guantanamo Bay.
Kohlmann denied the delay request.
Defense lawyers also have accused senior Pentagon officials of pushing the cases forward "in order to influence the November elections," as Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, who is defending Ali, put it last week.
But officials at the Office of Military Commissions, the Pentagon unit that serves as the convening authority for the tribunal, deny that assertion and argue that defense lawyers will be given enough time to mount their cases. "The fact they are just starting in that process isn't an indication they won't have time to prepare," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser to the office
The actual charges against the men were only sworn against them May 9. And although prosecutors are pushing for a September trial, officials familiar with the process expect long delays and much legal fighting. They say a trial is probably at least many months away. Another controversy concerns whether prosecutors will introduce information obtained as a result of coercive interrogation techniques used by the CIA, techniques critics say amount to torture.

LESBIAN KISS AT SEATTLE BALLPARK STIRS UP GAY-FRIENDLY TOWN

Most of the time, a kiss is just a kiss in the stands at Seattle Mariners games. The crowd hardly even pays attention when fans smooch.
But then last week, a lesbian complained that an usher at Safeco Field asked her to stop kissing her date because it was making another fan uncomfortable.
The incident has exploded on local TV, on talk radio and in the blogosphere and has touched off a debate over public displays of affection in generally gay-friendly Seattle.
"Certain individuals have not yet caught up. Those people see a gay or lesbian couple and they stare or say something," said Josh Friedes of Equal Rights Washington. "This is one of the challenges of being gay. Everyday things can become sources of trauma."
As the Mariners played the Boston Red Sox on May 26, Sirbrina Guerrero and her date were approached in the third inning by an usher who told them their kissing was inappropriate, Guerrero said.
The usher, Guerrero said, told them he had received a complaint from a woman nearby who said that there were kids in the crowd of nearly 36,000 and that parents would have to explain why two women were kissing.
"I was really just shocked," Guerrero said. "Seattle is so gay-friendly. There was a couple like seven rows ahead making out. We were just showing affection."
On Monday, Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said that the club is investigating but that t usher was responding to a complaint of two women "making out" and "groping" in the stands.
"We have a strict non-discrimination policy at the Seattle Mariners and at Safeco Field, and when we do enforce the code of conduct it is based on behavior, not on the identity of those involved," Hale said.
The code of conduct — announced before each game — specifically mentions public displays of affection that are "not appropriate in a public, family setting." Hale said those standards are based on what a "reasonable person" would find inappropriate.
Guerrero denied she and her date were groping each other, saying that along with eating garlic fries, they were giving each other brief kisses.
On Tuesday, Guerrero said a Mariners director of guest services had apologized to her. The team spokeswoman could not immediately confirm that.
After the story broke, the Mariners were blasted by the sex-advice columnist Dan Savage, who wrote about the incident on the blog of the Stranger, an alternative weekly paper.
"I constantly see people making out," Savage said. "My son has noticed and asked, `Do they show the ballgame on women's foreheads?'"
Savage called for a "kiss-in" to protest against the Mariners.
Web sites have been swamped with blog postings for and against Guerrero and her date. And th
e story has people talking in Seattle.
"I would be uncomfortable" seeing public displays of affection between lesbians or gay men, said Jim Ridneour, a 54-year-old taxi driver. "I don't think it's right seeing women kissing in public. If I had my family there, I'd have to explain what's going on."
"It all depends on the degree," Mark Ackerman said as he waited for a hot dog outside Safeco Field before Wednesday's game. "Even for heterosexual couples."
Since the incident, Guerrero's job and her past have come under scrutiny. She works at a bar known for scantily clad women and was a contestant on the MTV reality show "A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila," in which women and men compete for the affection of a bisexual Internet celebrity.
"People are saying it's 15 more minutes for my career," Guerrero said of the ballpark furor, "but this is not making me look very good."
In 2007, an Oregon transit agency chief apologized after a lesbian teenager was kicked off a bus when a passenger complained about her kissing another girl.
Also in 2007, a gay rights group protested a Kansas City, Mo., restaurant they said ejected four women because two of them kissed, and a Texas state trooper was placed on probation in 2004 for telling two gay men who were kissing at the state Capitol that homosexual conduct was illegal in Texas.
"There's a double standard. That's the bottom line," said Pat Griffin, director of the It Takes a Team! Education Campaign, an initiative from the Women's Sports Foundation to eliminate homophobia in sports.

HOMELESS MAN ACCUSED OF SWINDLING 13 WOMEN

A homeless man accused of duping 13 women by posing as a millionaire on an Internet dating service was arraigned Wednesday in this Philadelphia suburb.Paul Krueger, 50, used a laptop computer to meet the women on Millionairematch.com, prosecutors said.
He is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the women after convincing them he was a Grammy-nominated record mogul who needed investors for a new business venture that manufactured DVDs, CDs and other videos. He showed one victim false stock reports detailing the success of his nonexistent new business, according to court papers.Charges were filed in Souderton because that is where he told women to send him money; the address is the home of his ex-wife, authorities said.
Authorities say Krueger used the money to fuel his gambling addiction. He was arrested last week at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J., and did not fight extradition to Pennsylvania .Krueger declined to comment to reporters as he was arraigned on charges of theft by unlawful taking or disposition, theft by deception, deceptive or fraudulent business practices and Pennsylvania Securities Act violations

MISSING CAPE COD LIGHTHOUSE LOCATED IN CALIF

Local historians for decades thought the 30-foot tall lighthouse that once overlooked Wellfleet Harbor had been taken down and destroyed in 1925.Turns out, it had just been moved to the California coast.

The fate of the cast-iron tower was uncovered last year by lighthouse researchers and reported by Colleen MacNeney in this month's edition of Lighthouse Digest.
MacNeney told the Cape Cod Times in Wednesday's edition it was her most exciting discovery.
Wellfleet historian Helen Purcell says the discovery of the lighthouse at Point Montara, 25 miles south of San Francisco, was a genuine shock.
MacNeney says she discovered correspondence that proved the lighthouse, first erected in 1881, had been moved by the Coast Guard from Wellfleet to Yerba Buena, Calif., and eventually to Point Montara.
There is no known documentation explaining how it was moved across the country, MacNeney said.
But Jim Walker, chairman of the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, speculates that because it is metal, it could have been disassembled bolt by bolt, with the pieces then transported by rail.
The lighthouse is still used as a navigational aid and a hostel.

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES OF UNSEEN TRIBES IN AMAZON

CRANE COLLAPSES ON MANHATTAN'S UPPER EAST SIDE

A construction crane has collapsed on New York's Upper East Side.
The Fire Department says it has pulled people out of the wreckage at East 91st Street and First Avenue. Their conditions are not immediately known.
The top floor of a nearby high-rise apartment building has been damaged. Firefighters and rescue workers are continuing to search through the wreckage.
In March, a 20-story crane broke away from an apartment tower under construction and toppled over, killing seven.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE MEETS ROCK BAND KISS

The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a departure from her normally staid diplomatic duties, Rice met the legendary glam rock quartet when they happened to share a hotel in the Swedish capital. Rice was in Stockholm on Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out gig to play on Friday.
"I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.
"It was really fun to meet Kiss and Gene Simmons," she told reporters, noting they seemed well informed about current events. The band had asked if she could stop by after she finished dinner with the Swedish foreign minister and Rice readily agreed, she said.
Simmons and his crew, who are on a European tour, weren't wearing their trademark stage makeup, but were recognizable as rock stars to even non-fans by their hair, according to State Department officials who were with Rice.
Rice, a classically trained pianist, said she has eclectic musical tastes ranging from Beethoven to Bruce Springsteen. Hard stadium rockers like Kiss are included in the mix and Rice said her favorite tune of theirs is "Rock and Roll All Nite."But, she conceded she had never seen the group in concert.
In fact, although she frequently attends classical music performances, Rice claims to have been to only four rock concerts in her life. The first was in the early 1960s when she went as a 10-year-old to see Paul Revere and the Raiders in her home state of Alabama.
After her family moved to Colorado, Rice went at the age of 16 went on her first date with an Air Force cadet to see Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. She later saw Earth, Wind and Fire in Denver and her last rock and roll show was a U2 concert in Washington, she said.

CHEMICAL FIRE, RAIN HAMPER CHINA QUAKE RECOVERY

A stockpile of chemicals being used to disinfect an earthquake-shattered Chinese town ignited Thursday and injured scores of soldiers doing relief work, adding to a day of problems for urgent recovery efforts.
Heavy rain also added to the misery of crowds of homeless survivors living in tents or lean-tos, and hampered troops rushing to drain a quake-spawned lake before it floods a valley filled with villages.
The chemical fire took place in the town of Leigu, in devastated Beichuan county. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that more than 800 people were evacuated to avoid a cloud of dense chlorine gas caused by the blaze.
As in many destroyed towns, officials have been spraying disinfecting bleach on streets and rubble in an effort to prevent disease breakouts. Thousands of people are still missing and their bodies could be buried in the rubble, while rats and other scavengers have been reported in some places.
But one expert said the spraying of bleach on rubble has little effect except perhaps a psychological one for victims.
"It really doesn't make much sense because it's not doing much good," said Claude de Ville de Goyet, the retired emergency preparedness director for the Pan American Health Organization and a consultant who works disaster sites. "It's cosmetic."He said that even if there were a cholera outbreak — which there is not — spraying the surface of rubble would not help. Bleach does work well to disinfect water.
State-run television showed smoke billowing over Leigu and reported that a stockpile of bleach powder had ignited in a storage building. CCTV footage showed soldiers spraying down the building and extinguishing the threat, and then several soldiers who were gasping for air being treated by medics.
"The soldiers have inhaled the fumes, it has affected their bodies, and they are in the military hospital now," said a soldier, identified by CCTV as the leader of the fire crew. His name was not given. He said 61 soldiers were injured. Xinhua reported that four people were injured. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the different injury tolls.
It was not immediately clear why the bleach ignited, though substances in it can turn explosive if heated or mixed with hydrocarbons such as those in diesel fuel.
Rain, meanwhile, grounded helicopters helping in operations to drain the Tangjiashan lake, which formed above Beichuan town after a quake-triggered landslide blocked a river.
With roads to the area cut off, helicopters have airlifted 40 heavy earth-moving machines to dig drainage channels. Heavy rain prevented aircraft from flying Thursday, CCTV reported, though workers were able to continue clearing debris. The rain added marginally to the rising waters, but was a minor factor compared to the river feeding into the lake.
In three days of around-the-clock work, troops have dug a 50-yard-wide channel running 300 yards long, CCTV said, without saying how much further work was needed.
The government Thursday raised the confirmed death toll from the quake to 68,516, with 19,350 people still missing. The government has said it expects the final tally to surpass 80,000.
The rain made conditions worse for the 5 million people left homeless by the quake, increasing the threat of more landslides.
"Before the earthquake the mountains here were completely covered with trees and it was green everywhere. You could not see any naked rock in the mountains," said Zhou Liqiong, resident of Hanwang town. "Now the continuous landslides have changed the look of the place. You can see the naked mountains everywhere."
Some 158,000 people downstream from Tangjiashan lake have been evacuated, and officials have pledged to warn other nearby residents in case of flooding so they have time to flee. Troops have sealed off Beichuan to the public.Of 34 lakes created by the earthquake, 28 are at risk of bursting, Xinhua said.
The military released some details of the massive recovery effort. Lu Dengming, commander for the area around Chengdu, the capital of hardest-hit Sichuan province, said more than 2,500 miles of damaged roads have been repaired and 70 million cubic feet of ruins cleared, the official Xinhua New Agency reported.
Some 178,000 troops, militia and reservists were taking part in the operation, and had delivered more than 510,000 tons of relief materials by land and air, including tents and prefabricated houses and schools, Lu said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Beijing was in talks with Tokyo about the sensitive issue of using the Japanese military to deliver earthquake relief, in what would be the first significant military dispatch involving the two countries since World War II. No decision was made Thursday.
Japan invaded China and conquered large parts of it in the 1930s before being defeated by the Allies in 1945, and many Chinese still strongly resent Japan for its military aggression.
Japanese media reported Friday that the government had decided against using it military for the mission.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who is visiting China, will travel to the disaster region Friday, Qin said.
Also Thursday, the head of the world's most famous panda reserve, badly damaged by the earthquake, said it was looking for a new home.
"What I'm worrying about are secondary disasters, such as severe aftershocks," Zhang Hemin, chief of the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve, said by phone. "The road is easily blocked by rocks falling from the mountain. There would be no way to get the food in."
One panda remains missing. Conditions remain so bad that the government last week arranged an emergency food shipment of about 5 tons of bamboo for the 47 pandas still at the reserve. Some pandas have been moved to another breeding center in Chengdu, and eight were flown to Beijing last weekend for a previously scheduled stay for the Olympics.

JAPAN WOMAN CAUGHT LIVING IN CLOSET

A homeless woman who sneaked into a man's house and lived undetected in his closet for a year was arrested in Japan after he became suspicious when food mysteriously began disappearing.
Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top compartment of the man's closet and arrested her for trespassing, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday.
The resident of the home installed security cameras that transmitted images to his mobile phone after becoming puzzled by food disappearing from his kitchen over the past several months.
One of the cameras captured someone moving inside his home Thursday after he had left, and he called police believing it was a burglar. However, when they arrived they found the door locked and all windows closed.
"We searched the house ... checking everywhere someone could possibly hide," Itakura said. "When we slid open the shelf closet, there she was, nervously curled up on her side."
The woman told police she had no place to live and first sneaked into the man's house about a year ago when he left it unlocked.
She had moved a mattress into the small closet space and even took showers, Itakura said, calling the woman "neat and clean."

WORLD'S RAREST RHINO CAUGHT WRECKING VIDEO CAMERA

The world's rarest rhino does not like the limelight. A Javan Rhino was captured on video attacking a camera set up in an Indonesian jungle to study the habits of the animal, apparently because she sensed the lens was a threat to her calf, the WWF said Thursday.
There are around 70 Javan Rhinos in the wild, about 60 of which live in Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of Java island. The remainder live in Vietnam.
In the first month of operation, five infrared video traps have captured two images of the camera-shy mother and calf, said Adhi Rachmat Hariyadi, head of the Ujung Kulon project for the environmental group.
"It is very unusual to catch a glimpse of the Javan Rhino deep inside the rain forest," he said, adding the camera was undamaged and put back on its stand the day after the incident.
WWF officials say they plan to relocate several of the rhinos in the park to another part of Indonesia in the hope that they breed. Otherwise, they fear the species could be wiped out in the event of disease or natural disaster.
Rhino numbers in Indonesia over the past 50 years have been decimated by rampant poaching for horns used in traditional Chinese medicines and destruction of forests by farmers, illegal loggers and palm oil plantation companies.
Apart from the 60 Javan Rhinos, there are thought to be around 300 Sumatran rhinos still alive in isolated pockets in the forests of Malaysia and Sumatra island.

AMAZON- RARE UNCONTACTED TRIBE PHOTOGRAPHED

Amazon Indians from one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air, with striking images released on Thursday showing them painted bright red and brandishing bows and arrows.
The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.
"What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilized' ones, treat the world," Jose Carlos Meirelles was quoted as saying in a statement by the Survival International group.
One of the pictures, which can be seen on Survival International's Web site , shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.
Another photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts, some of them also preparing to fire arrows at the aircraft.
"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, which supports tribal people around the world.
Of more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says. It says all are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and ravaged by new diseases.

'INDIANA JONES' EARNS $311 MILLION WORLDWIDE

The most recent Indiana Jones film more than recouped its big budget with an estimated $311 million in global box office sales through the long weekend, according to studio estimates Monday.

Families went in droves to catch "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," a PG-13 adventure starring Harrison Ford as the whip-cracking archaeologist who took 19 years to return to the big screen.

Paramount Pictures estimated the action sequel made $151.1 million in the U.S. and Canada from Thursday to the holiday Monday and $160 million overseas.

It marked the second biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever, behind only "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which made $153 million domestically from Thursday to Monday last year.

Nearly a third of the domestic audience was made up of parents with their children, said Rob Moore, president of Paramount Worldwide Distribution.

"Adults really drove this opening. This is one of their favorite franchises and they couldn't wait to take their kids with them," Moore said.

The film cost a reported $185 million to make, even with the principal talent — Ford, director Steven Spielberg and writer George Lucas — deferring their usual fees for a greater share of the profits.

The first three Indy movies raked in $1.2 billion worldwide.

Marketing costs were undisclosed, although the latest "Indiana Jones" received a major push from Paramount. DVDs of the first three movies were re-released, they aired on TV days before the opening and huge billboards sprung up.

The final trailer for the movie rolled before the opening of Marvel Studios' "Iron Man," which was also distributed by Paramount, three weeks earlier.

"It's been a pretty good month," Moore said. "We started the month with 'Iron Man' and finished with 'Indiana Jones.'"

Other movies' receipts over the long weekend paled by comparison.

Disney's "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" slashed its way to $28.6 million, for a total $96.7 million over two weeks. "Iron Man" locked up third with $25.7 million in its third week for a total of $257.8 million.

The Wachowski brothers flick "Speed Racer," distributed by Warner Bros., crawled closer to the finish line with $5.2 million for fifth, bringing its domestic total to $37.4 million. It brought in $30 million overseas, and had yet to be released in major markets France, Russia, Japan and Australia.

The studio said it was not ready to wave the checkered flag on the film, which cost $120 million to make.

"If I had my druthers I'd have it in theaters for weeks and months to come," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' executive vice president of distribution.

For the year so far, domestic movie revenues are down more than 4 percent at $3.4 billion, with attendance off nearly 7 percent.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," $126 million (plus $25.1 million on Thursday).

2. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," $28.6 million.

3. "Iron Man," $25.7 million.

4. "What Happens in Vegas," $11.2 million.

5. "Speed Racer," $5.2 million.

6. "Made of Honor," $4.2 million.

7. "Baby Mama," $4.2 million.

8. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," $2.2 million.

9. "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," $1.2 million.

10. "The Visitor," $917,000.

DIRECTOR SYDNEY POLLACK DIES AT 73 IN LOS ANGELES

Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay who achieved commercial success and critical acclaim with the gender-bending comedy "Tootsie" and the period drama "Out of Africa," has died. He was 73.
Pollack died of cancer Monday afternoon at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, surrounded by family, said publicist Leslee Dart. Pollack had been diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago, said Dart.
Pollack, who occasionally appeared on the screen himself, worked with and gained the respect of Hollywood's best actors in a long career that reached prominence in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Sydney made the world a little better, movies a little better and even dinner a little better. A tip of the hat to a class act," George Clooney said in a statement from his publicist.
"He'll be missed terribly," Clooney said.
Last fall, he played Marty Bach opposite Clooney in "Michael Clayton," a drama that examines a law firm's fixer. The film, which Pollack co-produced, received seven Oscar nominations, including for best picture and a best actor nod for Clooney. Tilda Swinton won the Oscar for supporting actress.
Pollack was no stranger to the Academy Awards. In 1986, "Out of Africa" a romantic epic of a woman's passion set against the landscape of colonial Kenya, captured seven Oscars, including best director.
In accepting his Oscar, Pollack commended Meryl Streep, who was nominated for best actress but didn't win.
"I could not have made this movie without Meryl Streep," Pollack said. "She is astounding — personally, professionally, all ways."
Over the years, several of his other films, including "Tootsie" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" got several nominations, including best director nods.
Pollack's movies frequently had some of Hollywood's top actors: "Absence of Malice" with Sally Field and Paul Newman, "The Yakuza" with Robert Mitchum, "Three Days of the Condor" with Robert Redford, and "The Firm" with Tom Cruise, among others.
"Having the opportunity to know Sydney and work with him was a great gift in my life," Field said in a statement. "He was a good friend and a phenomenal director and I will cherish every moment that I ever spent with him."
In later years, he devoted increasing time to acting, appearing in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives," Robert Altman's "The Player," Robert Zemeckis' "Death Becomes Her," Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut."
Pollack's recent producing credits include "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain." His last screen appearance was in "Made of Honor," a romantic comedy currently in theaters, where he played the oft-married father of star Patrick Dempsey's character.
In recent years, Pollack also produced many independent films with filmmaker Anthony Minghella and a production company Mirage Enterprises.
The Lafayette, Ind. native was born to first-generation Russian-Americans. In high school, he fell in love with theater, a passion that prompted him forego college and move to New York and enroll in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater.
Studying under Sanford Meisner, Pollack spent several years cutting his teeth in various areas of theater, eventually becoming Meisner's assistant.
"We started together in New York and he always excelled at everything he set out to do, his friendships and his humanity as much as his talents," said Martin Landau, a longtime close friend and associate in Actor's Studio, through spokesman Dick Guttman.
After appearing in a handful of Broadway productions in the 1950s, Pollack turned his eye to directing — where he would ultimately leave his biggest mark. He helmed "The Way We Were" (1973), "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972), "Havana" (1990) and "The Interpreter" (2005).
"Sydney let the dialogue and the emotion of a scene speak for itself. Not given to cinematic tricks, his gentle and thoughtful touch and his focus on the story let us inhabit the world he created in each film," said Michael Apted, president of the Directors Guild of America.
But Pollack, who stood over six feet tall and had a striking presence on the screen, never totally gave up acting.
At the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, Pollack said "Tootsie" star Dustin Hoffman pushed the director into playing the actor's exasperated agent. At that point, he hadn't acted in 20 years.
Pollack said Hoffman repeatedly sent him roses with a note reading, "Please be my agent. Love, Dorothy." At that point, Pollack hadn't acted in 20 years.
"Most of the great directors that I know of were not actors, so I can't tell you it's a requirement," he said. "On the other hand, it's an enormous help."
In the 1982 movie, Hoffman plays an out-of-work actor who pretends to be a woman to land a role on a soap opera.
"I didn't think anyone would believe him as a woman," Pollack said. "But the world did, they went crazy."
Pollack was survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel; his brother Bernie; and six grandchildren.

THE WORLD'S BEST PAID SOCCER PLAYERS

David Beckham's move to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer last summer was a big score for U.S. soccer and an even bigger one for Beckham, the former captain of England's national team.

The Galaxy's attendance for the five matches he played (he missed much of the season due to injury) averaged 37,659, 57% more than the team's previous record. Per game attendance for MLS as a whole rose 50% after Beck's debut, and ratings for ESPN2, one of MLS's national television partners, were up 25%.

Beckham posted huge wins off the pitch as well. Of the $49 million he made in 2007 to make him the highest-paid soccer player in the world, $12 million was salary from the Galaxy and Real Madrid, and $37 million was from image rights, including a portion of the proceeds from 300,000 Beckham Galaxy jerseys sold, and endorsements from the likes of Adidas, Pepsi and Coty.

The superstar further fueled his hype by signing a three-year Armani underwear contract last November, worth upwards of $20 million. The deal launched with a series of ads showing Beck provocatively posed in only the designer's drawers. Soccer moms have no excuse for not noticing him now.

A look at the remaining list of top paid players (salary plus incentives and endorsements) emphasizes the blurring line between athlete and celebrity. Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo's showboating on the field helped earn him $19 million, nearly half of which came from endorsements including a spot in a Fuji Xerox commercial where the Portuguese two-footer plays a matador with a soccer ball instead of a cape.

For Nike, Ronaldo laced up a pair of Mercurial Vapor IV boots and took on another formidable challenge--­a race against an equally beautiful Bugatti Veyron, the fastest accelerating street car in the world. Having eclipsed Man Utd's season goal-scoring record for a winger (held by the late great George Best), and on the verge of a Premier League title and Champions League final, the 23-year old Ronaldo only needs a Posh Spice-like wife to fully eclipse Beckham's fame.

Kaká (AC Milan) followed in the footsteps of fellow Brazilians Ronaldo and Ronaldinho by capitalizing on being named FIFA's 2007 World Player of the Year, with big money endorsements with Adidas and Armani. But unlike his countrymen, this 26-year-old known by his childhood nickname (his full name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite) banks on his rare "wholesome athlete" image to earn almost half his income from sponsors.

After Kaká helped the Rossoneri to a seventh Champions League crown in 2007 (and finished as the competition's top scorer with 10 goals), he removed his jersey to reveal an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt. He did more than wear his faith on his sleeve. Of the $18 million he earned last year, he tithed 10% to his church.

THE SEX (AND THE CITY) ECONOMY

On May 30, the company's New Line Cinema division is releasing the feature-film version of Sex and the City, following a blockbuster six-year run on its cable outlet, HBO.

Chronicling the travails and triumphs of four single Manhattan women, Sex spawned a devoted female following and later a cottage industry that has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue--and not just for the media giant. From booze shakers to shoe makers, businesses continue to cash in on Sex's enduring appeal.

New Line sees the film as "the Super Bowl for women," and they're already raking in cash. The studio has tie-in deals with eight marketers, including Glacéau VitaminWater, Mercedes Benz and Skyy vodka, whose products are mentioned by the actors or appear in the film. Bag designer Judith Lieber created a jeweled "cupcake" purse for Charlotte's daughter. Vivienne Westwood designed Carrie's wedding dress and Fred Leighton made her jewelry.

But Sex and the City's influence is nothing new. The show has been a marketing bonanza for years. It made a fashion icon of star Sarah Jessica Parker, who went on to become a designer. She created her own line of clothing, called Bitten, for retailer Steve & Barry's. Every item in the Bitten line costs $19.98 or less.

Parker also launched two perfume names with Coty--"Lovely," which has had global sales of $155 million, and "Covet," a recent launch.

Kim Cattrall, who plays seductress Samantha Jones, tried to capitalize on her fictionalized persona with two books: Sexual Intelligence and Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm. They sold a combined 370,000 copies. Even Marian Jordan, the founder of Redeemed Girl Ministries who speaks to women "about the unfailing love that she has found in Jesus," took a crack at the market. Her book, entitled Sex and the City Uncovered: Exposing the Emptiness and Healing the Hurt sold under a thousand copies. (Psst--people like sex.)

The show, which made a fifth character out of New York City, attracts fans to the Big Apple in droves, and locals cash in. Location Tours offers a three-hour bus tour that stops at shops and bars that have appeared on the show. The tour costs $40 a head, and its owners say it attracts as many as 1,000 people a week. Destination on Location Travel offers "set-jetting" weekends in New York, where groups of up to twelve women are shuttled around town and given the fantasy that they're one of the four Sex characters. The price: a hefty $15,000 per person.

Another Sex winner: shoemaker Manolo Blahnik. Blahnik has been designing shoes since 1971, but became a household name when Carrie Bradshaw swooned over his gravity-defying stilettos. "Manolo Blahnik's success skyrocketed as a result of Sex and the City," says Paula Correri, accessory editor at Tobe Report, a retail consultancy. "The prices keep escalating, but women will starve themselves to score a pair of his shoes."

Ironically, though, the woman who started it all, Candace Bushnell, hasn't profited nearly as much. Bushnell turned her "Sex and the City," column in the New York Observer into a bestselling book of the same name.

Soon after, Bushnell sold HBO the rights for six figures, but didn't share in the upside. Not that she's done badly. First published in 1997, Bushnell's book has sold more than 260,000 copies since 2001. Meanwhile, the show instantly became one of HBO's highest-rated attractions when it launched in June 1998.

HBO won't disclose DVD sales figures, and there's no way of telling how many of their 39 million subscribers signed up as a result of the series. In 2004, HBO sold the rights to Sex to fellow Time Warner cable outlet TBS for $750,000 an episode. The show is syndicated in over 200 countries. HBO's online store sells 74 Sex-themed items, including a "Carrie Balconette Bra" ($94), "Samantha Thong" ($36), "Charlotte Camisole" ($90), "Miranda Martini Glass" ($12.99) and a "Mr. Big T-shirt" ($19.99).

The network will be no more specific than to say it's made "hundreds of millions of dollars" from Sex. Not bad.