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.