Game

Brett Favre/Vikings?

Brett Favre is considering surgery to heal an ankle injury that has lingered since the Vikings' NFC championship game loss to the Saints in January.

Favre told ESPN he has spoken to noted surgeon James Andrews to discuss why the ankle, which was purple after the loss to the Saints (see the photos), hasn't healed:

"To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 -- much like Green Bay for many years. That's what I was missing in my heart I suppose, a sense of belonging."

The Vikings have said they are willing to wait until training camp for Favre, 40, to decide on whether to play a 20th season.

Favre had surgery last offseason on a torn biceps in his right shoulder. That procedure was also done by Andrews.

Last week, former NFL coaches Tony Dungy and Steve Mariucci both said they had spoken with Favre recently and that the QB was dealing with lingering ailments before being able to commit to a new season. -- Sean Leahy

Putting the GOP in Peril? Crist Expected to Run as Independent, Sources Say

British ambassador in Yemen escapes assassination

NAIROBI -- The British ambassador to Yemen narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber on Monday, an assault that Yemeni officials said had the hallmarks of an attack by al-Qaeda.

A convoy carrying Ambassador Timothy Torlot was headed to Britain's embassy in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, on Monday morning when the assailant detonated his explosive-laden vest. The assailant died, but no one else was killed in the attack. Torlot was not harmed.

There was no claim of responsibility, but the involvement of al-Qaeda would indicate that the group has retained the ability to carry out high-impact assaults on Western targets, despite attempts by American and Yemeni counterterrorism officials to ratchet up pressure on extremists in Yemen.

Officials from the two countries have increased their cooperation since al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the failed bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

According to 26Sep.net, a Web site linked to Yemen's military and security service, the suicide bomber in Monday's attack was identified as Othman Ali al-Selwi, a 22-year-old student from the southern city of Taiz.

Read more here

Verizon’s next major Android phone, the Droid Incredible, coming April 29

Verizon users can stop waiting in vain for Google to bring its Nexus One smartphone over to the carrier, because there will soon be a new kid on the block that bests the Nexus One in many ways. Verizon announced today another entry in its popular “Droid” series of Android phones, the Droid Incredible by HTC.

The phone will be available on April 29 for $199.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) with a new two-year contract.

The Incredible is a much-needed addition to the Droid family. The Motorola Droid — which was released in November 2009, and is currently at the top-end of the family — appears somewhat dated today when compared to the better hardware specifications of the Nexus One.

The Incredible, on the other hand, features the same basic specifications of the Nexus One. It has a 1 gigahertz SnapDragon processor (nearly twice as fast the Motorola Droid’s 550Mhz processor), and also runs the latest version of the Android operating system, 2.1. The Incredible also has an 8 megapixel camera, compared to the Nexus One’s 5 megapixel shooter, and run’s HTC’s Sense UI — which gives the Android OS a bit of a facelift.

The faster processor is good news for Android developers who are aiming to create graphics heavy games, or other intensive apps but have been limited by the slower processors on most Android phones. The Incredible will be one of many Android phones coming out this year that features the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor.

It’s also yet another Android phone that will make Verizon users forget the fact that they can’t get an iPhone. With more Android phones of this caliber coming out (see also the HTC Evo 4G) across a variety of carriers, Apple should be worried. Even if the next iPhone is a better device than most other Android phones, Apple still needs to bring it to carriers other than AT&T. Otherwise, Android will eventually overtake its market share due to its more ubiquitous presence.

When Google announced the Nexus One in January on T-Mobile, it mentioned that the phone would hit Verizon sometime this spring. Verizon users have been waiting for more details on the Nexus One’s availability, but Google has been mum on the topic. Meanwhile, it began offering an AT&T 3G-capable version of the phone and announced that Sprint will be getting it at some point as well. With the release of the Incredible, Verizon users finally have an Android option that’s on par with the Nexus One.

GOP lawmakers seek to halt immigration reform push

Washington (CNN) -- Two key Republican lawmakers joined a growing GOP effort Sunday to halt the push for immigration reform, arguing the time is not right to take on the massive and complex issue.
"I'm not sure how you can really justify" trying to tackle immigration or energy reform this year, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia, told CNN's "State of the Union."
"We've got a lot of work left on our plate between now and the end of the summer. And we're starting on financial regulatory reform. ... I'm not sure where you find the time to deal with these other major issues," Chambliss said, adding that "until you secure the border, trying to really have an overall reform package on immigration just simply can't be done."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said last week he will make passing a comprehensive immigration bill a priority once the Senate completes its work on a Wall Street reform bill. He cited a controversial new law in Arizona, requiring police to determine whether a person is in the United States legally, as indicating the need for reform on a national level.
Reid's decision followed remarks by President Obama calling on both parties to pass immigration reform. The president has rejected the Arizona law, saying that "if we continue to fail to act at the federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, took to "FOX News Sunday" to reject the push for immigration reform.
"I just don't think this is the right time to take up this issue, with the border security problems, the drug wars going on across the border, 10 percent unemployment. It just strikes me that our time would be better spent at the federal level on other issues," he said.
One fellow Republican did not reject the possibility of an immigration battle in the Senate sometime soon.
When asked by NBC's "Meet the Press" whether comprehensive immigration reform might pass this year, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, replied "maybe." Asked if it would be a good idea, he replied, "I think we have to look at the details." He added, "First thing we'd better do is enforce our borders and know who is here and who comes and who leaves. That's No.1, and then go into the rest."
The remarks Sunday followed a stunning move by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, who declared Saturday that he was walking out of talks on climate change legislation because of Democratic efforts to bring up an immigration reform package.

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Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

It's only been a decade since we last saw a new Marvel vs. Capcom fighting game -- 2000's Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes for the Sega Dreamcast (followed by PlayStation 2 and Xbox two years later) -- but the online rumors about a new title proved true last week when Capcom revealed it was working on Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

Game Hunters was on-hand to see the game in action with an extensive video trailer to show off the characters and graphics, primarily. "We're very excited we can finally share this information with you," begins Capcom producer Ryota Nitsuma, via his translator. "Let's start with a good trailer and then we will get into details."

The fast-paced and colorful trailer showed off the high-definition characters in the game, including classic fighters -- such as Hulk, Wolverine and Iron Man from Marvel and Ryu and Morrigan from Capcom's Street Fighter and Darkstalkers, respectively -- as well as new characters like Resident Evil's Chris Redfield.

"As you can see, this is the biggest engine a fighting game has ever had under the hood, when it comes to raw processing power," says Seth Killian, Capcom's "special advisor" on the game. "This is the MT Framework that's powering the game, the same technology that brought us Resident Evil 5 and Lost Planet 2."

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Aviation authorities have now extended restrictions on UK airspace

According to the UK's Met Office, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland is "weakening", but weather patterns, for the time being, continue to blow volcanic ash towards the UK.
"We will continue to offer advice to Nats (the UK's air traffic control authority) about the spread of any residual ash," the Met Office said on its website.
"Assuming the volcanic activity continues to weaken, we can expect ash clearance across the UK and we will be looking for the earliest opportunity that this might happen."
And according to current European regulations, no matter how low the concentration, aviation authorities will not reinstate normal control over airspace as long as the ash cloud remains.
A spokesperson from from Nats told BBC News that there was "no threshold" for concentrations at which volcanic ash was acceptable.
The dust is simply too dangerous for jet engines to risk commercial flights encountering it, said Nats. If volcanic ash particles are ingested into a jet engine, they accumulate and clog the engine with molten glass, which can cause the engine to shut down.



Because of this, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recommended implementing a no-fly zone if volcanic ash is detectable in airspace. (ICAO operates the International Airways Volcano Watch system).
Whether to open or close airspace is a decision for national aviation authorities, but all European nations abide by these safety recommendations.
Aviation consultant, Chris Yates explained: "The ICAO regulation that has prompted this widespread grounding is from experience gained from over 80 incidents between 1980 and 2000 [as well as] computer modelling and best 'guestimate'."
But the current paralysis of UK and European air traffic is unprecedented, so the regulations may have to be changed in order to get things moving.
"The airline industry...are clearly making the argument that we are being over cautious in grounding all flights," said Mr Yates.
"Whilst it remains possible to find clear air up above us this doesn't necessarily mean that there are no pockets of high concentrations of ash at the various flight levels. I would suggest it's better to err on the side of caution."
But the European Commission has now intervened to organise a meeting on Friday between technical and safety experts to find out if there are other options, such as setting up a fly zone that would allow carriers to navigate around the plume.
But policy-makers have stressed that any decision must be based on a scientific assessment of where and when it is safe to fly.

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California's jobless rate hits high of 12.6% in March

California's unemployment rate reached a new high of 12.6% in March, bolstering fears that a weak labor market will remain a drag on the state's economy at least through the end of the year.

The unemployment rate in February was 12.5%.

Despite hints of an economic turnaround, some of the 2.3 million unemployed in the state found March the toughest month yet. That's because tens of thousands have been out of work so long that their unemployment checks will be cut off within the next few weeks. They're not helped by the $18-billion measure signed Thursday by President Obama that extends jobless benefits for many Americans through June 2.

The Employment Development Department estimates that about 100,000 Californians will have exhausted their benefits by this weekend.

"Jobs have not been quickly multiplying, so there's a lot of people who are still in need of assistance," said Loree Levy, a spokeswoman with the Employment Development Department.

California payrolls increased by 4,200 nonfarm jobs in March, primarily in the sectors of manufacturing, educational and health services, and leisure and hospitality. Still, the unemployment rate rose as many who had been discouraged by the job hunt resumed their search.

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Wow

A slowly spreading plume of volcanic ash from Iceland is covering parts of Europe, shutting down air travel and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world. The ash cloud forced Europe's two busiest airports, Heathrow in London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, to cancel all non-emergency flights Thursday.
Officials at Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based air traffic agency, said about 20 percent of European Union flights were canceled Thursday. They warned problems could persist for another two days.A volcanic eruption in Iceland sent a plume of ash into the atmosphere. British airspace has been closed down for the first time since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York.
"What we are seeing in Iceland is that as the magma particles get towards the surface, they interact with the very cold water and they chill to form glassy fragments and these glassy fragments are small, they have sharp edges and when those get up in the air that is what is causing the risk to aviation," says Colin Macpherson, a professor of Earth sciences at Britain's Durham University.Aviation analysts say the sharp volcanic particles can damage a jet engine or cause it to shut down in mid air. Macpherson says the disruption is due to a combination of things.

"It is not just a case of understanding the activity at the volcano itself, what we are also seeing the effect of at the moment are the prevailing weather conditions because we are in a northerly air stream at the moment and that is bringing the volcanic dust from Iceland down over the U.K. and hence the caution on behalf of the aviation authorities," he said.

Macpherson says the ash cloud is not unusual nor is the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull after 200 years of dormancy.
"Any substantial eruption of a volcano has a potential to do that over a short period of time. By geological standards, this is not what we would call a big eruption," he said.

Macpherson says there is also no way of knowing whether there could be another eruption that could cause a similar ash cloud.
"Because there are only a couple of previous records of eruption at this particular volcano, it is difficult to judge either how long the activity will go on there, or how long the volcano might then be dormant before it goes active again," he said.

Meteorologists and aviation authorities are monitoring wind direction and the ash cloud's movement from Iceland to determine where and when to shut down airspace in Europe. There has also been extensive flooding in the southeastern part of Iceland as parts of a glacier were melted by the volcano.

Gears of war 3

Gears of War 3, the latest installment in the top-selling Gears of War franchise, will hit store shelves in April of 2011. That's the news from creator Cliff Bleszinski, who introduced the Gears of War 3 trailer during a segment of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Gears of War fans, rejoice. Franchise creator Cliff Bleszinski was on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" Monday to officially unveil "Gears of War 3," the long-awaited follow-up to 2008's mature-rated blockbuster "Gears of War 2." Mr. Bleszinski said the game, which will be available in April of 2011, would pit COG forces against the Lambent, the monstrous, mutating species that figured so heavily into the plot of "Gears of War 2."

Bleszinski showed off a trailer called "Ashes to Ashes," which shows an array of COG soldiers – including at least a few familiar faces – barreling through a destroyed city. At one point, the soldiers exchange gunfire with a group of locusts and a giant crab-like creature with spiked limbs. "Graphics are the thing that pull people in," Bleszinski told Mr. Fallon. "But what ultimately matters is gameplay."

Bleszinski, who currently serves as the design director for Epic Games, discussed his storied history in the video games industry, which includes a record-shattering high score on the Nintendo classic Super Mario Brothers. "I made my first game when I was 11," Bleszinski said. "I made my first commercially available game when I was 17." Epic Games released the first "Gears of War" in 2006.

The first two Gears of War games sold a collective 12 million copies, USA Today reports, making the franchise one of the biggest hits on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

According to Bleszinski, "Gears of War 3" will be the first Gears game to include female soldiers – an announcement that drew loud cheers from Fallon's audience. Bleszinski joked that the existence of "Gears of War 3" was the "worst kept secret" in the video game industry, and said he hoped the long lag time between announcement and release would help drum up additional excitement for the game.

How far would you go to protect what you love

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Japanese watch company Seiko has been making a line of watches with e-ink displays — the same technology used in many e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle — for a few years now, but the latest revision truly ups the ante. And with a product name like “Future Now,” its low-power, crystal clear grayscale screen is sure to catch the eyes (and wallets) of more than a few tech geeks.

The technology that kicks this e-ink watch into overdrive is its active matrix display — the same type of screen technology behind your typical LCD panel. Using active matrix, all of the legibility and low-power consumption benefits of e-ink are combined with a much richer range of imagery and data display. Compared to earlier e-ink watches — whose displays could only render a few hundred individual segments in black or white only — the “Future Now” watch renders 80,000 pixels in four shades of gray, providing 300 dpi resolution for intensely sharp and clear images even within the restricted dimensions of a wristwatch screen.

Wanye Blogs from prison

Celebrities using social media to communicate with fans has become so commonplace it’s no longer newsworthy when a big celeb jumps on the bandwagon –- except when they do so from prison.

Lil Wayne is no stranger to social media –- he’s the second most popular artist on MySpace, has blogged about sports for ESPN and recently began tweeting. But last month, the rapper was sentenced to a year in prison on a weapons charge, an incident one would think might prevent him from utilizing social media channels.

However, Wayne has launched WeezyThanxYou.com, posting his first blog update on Friday. In it, he writes, “During my prison stint, I want my fans to know I love you. I want all of you to know that I appreciate all the mail I get, and this is my way of saying thank you.”

Wayne also says that his sports commentary will resume, writing, “Real soon, you can catch me blogging for ESPN again thank you espn for not letting my passion for sports perish.” He also responds to letters that have been sent to him in prison from fans. There are even “Free Weezy” T-Shirts available for $29.99 (perhaps this is why his label is called “Young Money”).

It appears that Lil Wayne’s new site isn’t a case of celebrities getting special treatment in jail, however. It was put together by Karen Civil, who works in online marketing at the rapper’s label. She told me in an email last night, “Wayne writes hand written letters giving updates on his time, and also answering questions from fans. The letter is re written to his blog.”

Civil says that we won’t see a return to Twitter or MySpace updates from jail — which would be a bit more challenging logistically — but that fans of the seemingly ubiquitous artist can expect to hear some new material during his prison stint. According to Civil, Lil Wayne is “featured on a few projects that will be released during his incarceration.”

Lil Wayne’s blog from jail serves as yet another example of how social media is changing the relationship between brands and their fan bases – even if a pen and paper needs to temporarily take the place of an @reply.

Mashable

Check out this site for you social network addicts wealth of info

Fornever

Murs and 9th wonder at it again
here

Are jobs really looking at my resume ?

Dear Annie: What is going on in HR departments at big companies these days? The last time I looked for a job, which admittedly was quite a while ago, if you submitted a resume and cover letter to HR, you at least got some kind of response (even if it was a form letter saying "no thanks").

That seems to have changed. I've been looking for work for almost a year now, since I lost my job as a brand manager at a mid-sized company, and it is incredibly frustrating. I've sent dozens of carefully crafted resumes to HR people, usually in response to specific ads on job boards or company websites, and it's like sending things into a black hole. I just hear nothing.

Are your other readers having this experience? How can I get these gatekeepers to respond to me, or if that's asking too much, how do I get past them? -- Just Joan

Dear J.J.: No doubt about it, what you're experiencing is awful. What's even worse (and, alas, quite common) is to have gotten as far as the interview stage, and had one meeting or even several that went swimmingly, so that your hopes are as high as can be, and then to hear...nothing.

It's hard to believe that people in a position to tell you yea or nay about a job are so insanely busy that they really don't have 30 seconds to dash off an e-mail telling you whether you've got a shot at it or not -- and small comfort to reflect that, if they're this rude to candidates, you wouldn't want to work there anyway.

But in defense of HR people, consider: They are overwhelmed. For one thing, at many companies, HR departments have suffered cutbacks right along with every other function: The average HR staff now numbers 9.2 employees, down from 13 in 2007, according to a recent poll by the Society for Human Resource Management. Any time headcount takes a 30% hit, you know the survivors are struggling.

Moreover, it's not that HR folks are unsympathetic to your plight. Plenty of them know firsthand what it's like to be unemployed for a painfully long time. SHRM did another survey, this time of HR professionals who'd been out of work (85% due to layoffs) in 2009, and found that of those who recently found a new job, 47% had been job hunting for six to 12 months, and another 27% had been looking for longer than a year. Among those who were still unemployed when SHRM conducted its poll, only 18% expected to find work within six months; 43% thought they'd have to search for a year or more.

The really disheartening part: Among those hired in 2009 after a lengthy search, almost half (49%) said they liked their new jobs less than the ones they had lost. The survey didn't ask why, but my guess would be overwork. HR departments are inundated with resumes, sometimes getting hundreds or even thousands for every available opening. Your carefully crafted resumes are buried somewhere in an ever-mounting pile, and HR staffers are hard-pressed to keep up, let alone give each candidate the kind of individual consideration that he or she deserves.

So how do you get around this? Vicki Barnett, head of a Denver career coaching firm called Make It Happen, says that, instead of sending resumes to HR, you should send them -- either on paper, electronically, or both -- to an executive at the company one or two levels above the hiring manager for the position you want. Granted, that person is likely to be extremely busy too, so he or she will delegate you to the person one or two steps down -- i.e. the one doing the actual hiring.

"Resumes travel down the food chain more easily than up," Barnett says. If the boss forwards your resume, a hiring manager is likely to give it a more thorough read than the 10 seconds HR may spend on it. After you've sent your resume, wait a few days, then follow up with a phone call to find out who has it and ask if you can schedule a meeting.
Obviously, there are still no guarantees you'll get hired, but bypassing HR gives you one big advantage, Barnett says: "Hiring managers have their 'wish lists,' but HR doesn't know what's on them, because what hiring managers really hope to find is often a combination of ineffable qualities that can be hard to spell out on paper."

HR people are usually just trying to match up keywords between your resume and the job description, Barnett adds -- and if you only have 12 out of the 15 keywords, you won't make it past that hurdle. Hiring managers, on the other hand, can look at a resume and read between the lines: "Even if your keywords don't match up precisely, you may have other experience or qualifications that would catch their eye."

Here's hoping.

Summer Blockbusters

"SALT"
When an informant accuses Evelyn Salt of being a double-agent, she must go on the run and escape her compatriots to prove her innocence. That means dying her hair, jumping off bridges, crashing cars, and busting some heads. "Salt" reunites Jolie with her "The Bone Collector" director Phillip Noyce, and from the footage it looks like it could be the start of her own "Bourne Identity"-type series. "Salt" opens July 23.


"KNIGHT AND DAY"
Interestingly, Tom Cruise was going to play the lead in "Salt" before he left that serious spy thriller for this movie that balances action with a fair dose of humor. And it pairs him with another actress who has earned her action hero credentials: Cameron Diaz. The trailer shows Cruise injecting some of the loopiness that earned him great reviews in "Tropic Thunder," and Diaz gets be more than just the damsel in distress. "Knight and Day" will be released for the Fourth of July weekend.


"THE EXPENDABLES"
For pure machismo, you can't top the combination of Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Jet Li. They lead the mercenaries of "The Expendables," written and directed by Stallone. Their group of tough guys also includes Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and UFC Champ Randy Couture. Plus, the movie is the first time Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have appeared in a movie together. The ultra-masculine "Expendables" hits screens on August 13.



"THE A-TEAM"
23 years after the TV show went off the air, "The A-Team" is back. The setting has been modernized -- the team served in the Middle East, not Viet Nam -- but the characters and their individual styles are mostly the same, right down to B.A. Baracus' Mohawk and custom van. The action in the trailer looks completely over the top, but it's all in keeping with the show's not-so-serious mood. "The A-Team" rolls into theaters on June 11.


"PRINCE OF PERSIA SANDS OF TIME"
Set in medieval Persia, the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it's up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time.

Mcnabb traded to the redskins!?

PHILADELPHIA(AP)—Donovan McNabb(notes) is changing uniforms and staying in the NFC East.

The Philadelphia Eagles traded McNabb to the Washington Redskins for a pair of draft picks Sunday night. The Eagles will receive a second-round pick (37th overall) in this month in the NFL draft and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year.

“Donovan McNabb was more than a franchise quarterback for this team,” Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie said. “He truly embodied all of the attributes of a great quarterback and of a great person. He has been an excellent representative of this organization and the entire National Football League both on and off the field. I look forward to honoring him as one of the greatest Eagles of all-time and hopefully see him enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton one day.”

The trade is the boldest move to date for new Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and could spell the end in Washington for Jason Campbell(notes), the starter for 3 1/2 seasons. Shanahan already has signed free-agent Rex Grossman(notes) as a backup and has been actively scouting the top quarterbacks available in the draft, when the Redskins will have the No. 4 overall pick.

“I’m really excited about my future with the Washington Redskins,” McNabb said in a statement. “I’m eager to work with Coach Shanahan. He’s been a very successful coach with a couple of Super Bowl victories on his resume. While it’s been my goal to win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, we came up short. I enjoyed my 11 years here and we shared a lot more good times than bad.”

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At least 30 killed as triple car bomb hits Baghdad

Three car bombs ripped through Baghdad this morning in a co-ordinated attack that ended a period of relative calm and killed more than 30 people.

The suicide attacks were all in western Baghdad. One was outside the Iranian Embassy in the Karadat Mariam district, another was close to the house of the German Ambassador in al-Ruad Square, in the Mansour area, near other embassies. A third, also in Mansour, was near the Egyptian Embassy.

"I heard the sound of the explosion and ran out into the street to see a big cloud of dust and smoke," said Ali Sanz Ali, 26, a labourer working near the Iranian Embassy.

He said that cement walls outside the heavily guarded building had been flattened and "on the other side of the street many cars had been destroyed and burned. You could see the dead people sitting in the chairs of the cars behind the steering wheel with smoke coming out of the cars."

According to the Ministry of Information, there were a number of other attempted attacks. Police intercepted a car laden with explosives that may have been targeting an organisation protecting embassies, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) targeted police patrols.

About 35 people were killed in the attacks and 240 wounded, it was reported, although officials warned that many people were in a critical condition and the death toll was likely to rise.

American and Iraqi authorities have emphasised the improvement in the general security situation in Iraq, but these so-called spectacular attacks have been happening with deadly regularity.

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Ipad release

Scarlett johansson Iron Man 2 Yes!

Job increase

WASHINGTON — The nation's economy posted its largest job gain in three years in March, while the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third straight month.

The increase in payrolls is the latest sign that the economic recovery is gaining momentum and healing in the job market is beginning. Still, the healing is likely to be slow, and most economists don't expect new hiring to be fast enough this year to rapidly reduce the unemployment rate.

The Labor Department said employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the most since the recession began but below analysts' expectations of 190,000. The total includes 48,000 temporary workers hired for the U.S. Census, also fewer than many economists forecast.

Private employers added 123,000 jobs, the most since May 2007.

"It's just the beginning of a rise in private hiring that will help sustain the recovery," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. "They're not big numbers, but they're welcome numbers."

Still, there are 15 million Americans out of work, roughly double the total before the recession began in December 2007. More Americans entered the work force last month, which prevented the increase in jobs from reducing the unemployment rate.

The economy likely began recovering in the middle of last year, but is only now showing modest job gains.

"It is still disappointing that it took roughly nine months before we started to see any meaningful rebound" in jobs, Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients.

The stock market is closed Friday. Interest rates rose in the bond market after the report. Investors often sell Treasurys and favor riskier assets like stocks and commodities when the economy is improving.

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Bias media

President Obama called out Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh by name in an interview with CBS News' Harry Smith about the vitriol present on the talk radio airwaves.

"I've been out and about, listening to talk radio," Smith told Obama. "The kindest of terms you're sometimes referred to out in America is a socialist. The worst of which I've heard is called a Nazi. Are you aware of the level of enmity that crosses the airwaves and that people have made part of their daily conversation about you?

"Well, I think that when you listen to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck, it's pretty apparent, and it's troublesome," the President responded. "But keep in mind that there have been periods in American history where this kind of vitriol comes out. It happens often when you've got an economy that is making people more anxious, and people are feeling like there is a lot of change that needs to take place. But that's not the vast majority of Americans. I think the vast majority of Americans know that we're trying hard, that I want what's best for the country."

Obama added that he doesn't buy into the favorable coverage of him either.

"I didn't buy all the hype, right after inauguration, where everybody was only saying nice things about me," he said. "And I don't get too worried when things aren't going as well because I know that over time these things turn."


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Update to the 110 freeway

Caltrans has no plans to halt construction work on the 110 Pasadena Freeway as requested by Highland Park preservationists, who fear the project will damage the historic character of the city's oldest freeway. In fact, the $17 million project - which includes new barriers and other safety improvement features - will soon be moving into a phase that promises to shut down sections of the freeway on numerous weekends through early next year.



"It's moving forward as planned," said Caltrans spokeswoman Kelly Markham of the Arroyo Parkway Improvement Project. The project will "improve safety for motorists, reduce maintenance costs and improve the appearance of the historic highway."

However, Markham warned motorists that all southbound lanes of the freeway will be closed on as many as 20 weekends (northbound lanes will remain open for the most part) beginning later this month. The first, 55-hour, weekend closure is scheduled to begin Friday, April 23 when southbound lanes will be closed between Glenarm in Pasadena and Orange Grove in South Pasadena. Subsequent freeway closures - which will take place every other weekend - will follow construction work as it moves south into Los Angeles to the 5 Freeway.

Say it ain't so

Successful sitcom "Two and Half Men" could be down a man. Star Charlie Sheen, who has been grappling with legal problems stemming from a Christmas Day fight with wife Brooke Mueller, reportedly wants out.

People magazine reported Thursday that after seven seasons, Sheen is ready to call it quits after this season's final taping on April 9.

"He wants to move on," a friend of the actor told the magazine. "Leaving is 100 percent his idea."

Sheen's rep Stan Rosenfield told ABCNews.com today, "While he has told friends that, he has made no announcement, made no statement or addressed any aspect of this story."

A source close to Sheen told The Associated Press that Sheen has tired of the weekly demands of a sitcom and wants to focus more on movies. He will star in the upcoming film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," a sequel to the 1987 "Wall Street" in which he also starred.

"Two and a Half Men," which co-stars Jon Cryer, is television's top-rated comedy and an important part of CBS' Monday night lineup. Last year, the network renewed the show for three years, through the 2011-12 season, but Sheen's contract is up at the end of the current season.

Sheen reportedly turned down an offer to sign a contract for an eighth season. Rosenfield told People that Sheen's deal is only through the current season.

But such reports could be part of a bargaining strategy by Sheen to get more money. TMZ reports that Sheen, who currently makes $825,000 an episode, is asking for $1.5 million. Warner Bros., which produces the show, is offering around $1 million an episode.

TMZ and Warner Bros. are both owned by parent company Time Warner.

Also, Sheen, who recently completed a stint in rehab and could be facing a possible jail sentence, may not be willing to walk away from a show paying him that much money.

Last month, the actor appeared at an arraignment hearing in an Aspen, Colo., courtroom to plead not guilty to felony and two misdemeanor charges stemming from his Christmas Day arrest for allegedly assaulting Mueller.

Sheen looked calm and confident upon his arrival at the courthouse, flashing a peace sign to swarming papparazzi. His lawyer, Richard Cummins, entered the plea. A trial date has been set for July 21.

Bone Thugs