Borat Might Become A Repeat Offender With Second Flick

Just when you thought it was safe to help that pleasant but vaguely lost-looking tourist asking about your strange American customs ... he's back. Well, not back quite yet. But Borat, the most famous pseudo-Kazakhstani in the world, may indeed one day return to movie screens, its producer told MTV News exclusively.

Borat debuted November 3 and, in its opening weekend, scooped up a jaw-dropping $26.4 million on only 837 screens (a fraction of a typical wide release). And ever since that happened, you can bet that 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the surprise hit, has been salivating for more. Now, according to Borat producer Jay Roach, there is hope. "We've talked a lot about [a sequel]. We have talked about ideas to try different stuff," he said cryptically.

What those ideas are, Roach and the hard-to-crack Borat creator, Sacha Baron Cohen, are keeping to themselves. But it also seems likely that the creators simply have not yet devised a natural progression for the character. The key stumbling block for Borat, if he were to continue wreaking havoc on the big screen, is how does he maintain his anonymity? It would seem the game is over if people recognize Borat from a mile away.

Flight Readiness Review Set to Begin

Space Shuttle Discovery behind the rotating service structure at Launch Pad 39B.
Image above: The rotating service structure is in place around Space Shuttle Discovery at Launch Pad 39B, leaving only the top of the external tank and boosters visible. Image Credit: NASA
+ View More STS-116 Photos

On Nov. 28 and 29, NASA managers will hold the traditional Flight Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The review is a two-day assessment of preparations for Discovery's mission and is designed to produce a number of key decisions about the assembly flight, including selection of an official launch date.

If the decision is made to proceed for the opening of the launch window, the seven-member crew will arrive for launch at the Shuttle Landing Facility the afternoon of Dec. 3 for launch on Dec. 7.

The STS-116 mission will be the 20th flight to the International Space Station.

From Nasa.gov

Annan: Iraqis 'almost' in civil war

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday that Iraq is close to civil war, as the Bush administration stepped up diplomatic efforts to stabilize the war-torn country.

Annan talked to reporters in New York as members of the Iraq Study Group were to discuss recommendations for changes in U.S. war strategy. President Bush left for a NATO summit in Europe, but much attention was directed toward a meeting he'll have later in the week with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan.

Asked by reporters at the U.N. if Iraq is in a civil war now, Annan replied, "I think given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact we are almost there."

Alicia Keys Tries To Cast A Spell On Hollywood With Witchy Remake

She'll be an assassin in Smokin' Aces and a best friend in The Nanny Diaries, but with two supporting roles that hasn't reached the big screen, Alicia Keys has yet to cast a spell on Hollywood. That might change with the singer's first lead role, as a witch in a remake of Bell, Book and Candle.

Keys can't wait to take on the part of Gillian, played by Kim Novak in the 1958 original, mostly because she relates to the more realistic side of this witch's life. Though the character is a witch, she mixes with modern society -- she went to college and runs a shop in New York's Greenwich Village. But she also has a secret life that involves hanging with other witches and warlocks, mostly at jazz clubs. That "underground society" interested Keys the most, since it's "the kind of thing you never really think about." The story, a predecessor to Bewitched, explores what happens when witches and mortals get mixed up with one another, or even accidentally fall in love.

My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, Surprise 'Idol' To Rock Bamboozle '07

In previous years, organizers of the Bamboozle festival have gone out of their way to book acts that seem, well, rather out of place among the sea of girl jeans and guyliner.

Take, for example, the 2006 edition of the fest, when Method Man shared the stage with Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday and a host of other MySpace faves. Or earlier this year, at the inaugural Bamboozle Left, when California MC Murs performed on a bill that included Dashboard Confessional and Cute Is What We Aim For.

Justin Timberlake And Gnarls Barkley Triumph At The 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards

Copenhagen, 2 November 2006: Global superstar Justin Timberlake and Atlanta mavericks Gnarls Barkley were the biggest winners at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), both taking home two awards from the explosive, star-studded spectacle in Copenhagen, Denmark on 2 November 2006. Broadcast around the world to an potential 1.4 billion viewers, the EMAs also boasted a groundbreaking live mobile TV simulcast event accessible to more than 20 million European 3G users, and a parallel live triple stream online viewing experience including a web chat show hosted by Juliette Lewis and her band The Licks, a second stream featuring full-length sets from the Rådhuspladsen event in Copenhagen’s main square, and the main show.

Blair proposals under Iraq cloud

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain's Tony Blair unveiled a raft of proposals on Wednesday to tackle crime, terrorism and illegal immigration, seeking in his last months as premier to reverse some of the damage done to his legacy by Iraq.

Accused by opponents of being a lame duck leader of a government that has run out of steam, Blair presented plans to give police greater powers to tackle offences ranging from low-level nuisance behavior to international organized crime.

Blair, in his 10th year in office, also promised new laws to fight terrorism if a review exposes gaps.

He will seek more tools for police to secure the country's borders and ways to make it easier to track and deport foreign criminals.

The government also confirmed it would restore the link between rises in the basic state pension and earnings and would put into law long-term goals on cutting carbon emissions thought to cause global warming. There may also be interim targets.

Vista will be release

Rumour has it the official release date has already been decided for Windows Vista - and you can expect it to be ready in time to make an appearance late next year.

According to a report by Windows IT Pro, the official date for a full Vista release will be 7 December 2006, with the second beta of the product being released to testers late this year.

The report, which claims to be based on "very recent internal Microsoft documentation", said the first release candidate of the operating system, RC0, will appear on 19 April next year, with the second release candidate due on 28 June 2006.

Britney Spears Files For Divorce - It's Official

November 08, 2006

Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline on Tuesday (November 7) in Los Angeles. The singer cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

In documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Spears checked a box that asks the court to grant her both legal and physical custody of the couple's two children, 1-year-old Sean Preston and 2-month-old Jayden James. She also asks that Federline get visitation rights.

The couple, who married in September 2004, have battled public disapproval over the union since they first began dating in April of that year. At the time, Federline's ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson was pregnant with their second child, Kaleb. Even though Federline insisted that relationship was over by the time he and Spears began dating, Jackson said he cheated on her. "He cheated, he lied, he left," Jackson told MTV News.

GAZA CITY -- Hamas leader and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniya suggested Friday that he would not head a proposed unity government if stepping aside would help to bring back Western aid.
Speaking to worshippers gathered for Friday prayers at a Gaza City mosque, Haniya said the West did not want him to be a part of the new administration and would not lift its embargo unless he is replaced as leader.
"[They have] one condition, that the siege will not be lifted unless the prime minister is changed," Haniya said, according to Reuters. "When the issue is like this, the siege on one hand, the prime minister on the another ... I prefer the siege be lifted and the suffering ended."
The loss of direct international aid to the Palestinian government has caused an economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza. The unity government is seen as a bid to resume the flow of aid, which is the government's main source of funding.

(CNN) -- Gerald Levert, the R&B singer whose hits included "I Swear" and "I'd Give Anything," as well as chart-toppers with the groups LeVert and LSG, has died, according to his label, Atlantic Records. He was 40.

Levert died of a heart attack Friday at his Cleveland, Ohio, home, according a statement from Atlantic.

"He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer," the statement read. "Above all, he was an exceptional human being whose warmth and grace inspired us all."

Levert, the son of O'Jays member Eddie Levert Sr., first hit it big with his sibling Sean and friend Marc Gordon as the trio LeVert in the mid-'80s. The group's hits included the 1987 song "Casanova," which hit the Top Five on the pop charts.

Gerald Levert went solo in 1991. His hits included a duet with his father, "Baby Hold On to Me."

In 1997 he and singers Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat formed LSG. The group's self-titled album sold more than two million copies, and their hits included "My Body."

More recent albums by Levert included 2002's "The G Spot" and 2004's "Do I Speak for the World."

His most recent album was 2005's "Voices."

Levert had four children.