The Hobbit

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Middle Earth mania in New Zealand 

A press conference was held at Te Papa Museum. From left to right, Aidan Turner, Cate Blanchett, Sir Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Martin Freeman.

 

 

 

 A Hobbit themed Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Philippines refuses to stamp Chinese passports

The Philippines said Wednesday it would refuse to stamp Chinese passports containing a map showing most of the China South Sea as belonging to China, as it stepped up protests over the controversial move. 

The new passports have provoked angry reactions from around the region, with Vietnam, Taiwan and India all expressing their objections amid an ongoing row over Beijing's territorial claims.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that immigration personnel would stamp "a separate visa application form" instead of the Chinese passport.

"Through this action, the Philippines reinforces its protest against China's excessive claim over almost the entire South China Sea," the department said.

Stamping the Chinese passport could be "misconstrued" as legitimising China's claim over vast parts of the South China Sea, which are also claimed in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

President Benigno Aquino's spokesman also said Wednesday the Philippines welcomed a recent US State Department statement that it planned to raise concerns over the new Chinese passports with China.

Last week, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario sent Beijing a formal protest letter, calling the passport maps "an excessive declaration of maritime space in violation of international law".

Foreign governments became aware this month that China had begun issuing passports with maps showing a "nine-dash line" that runs almost to the Philippine and Malaysian coasts.

Vietnam has also refused to stamp the passports while India, angered that the map claims Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai China as Chinese territory, is stamping its own map on visas given to Chinese visitors.

Source: msn.com

Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and David Guetta take home American Music Awards 2012

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The fans have decided, and they’ve chosen this year’s most popular artistes at the AMAs held Sunday night.

Justin Bieber didn’t let his break-up from Selena Gomez dampen his night at the 2012 American Music Awards. Not only did the Canadian pop star bring his mum as his date, he also won Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Album in the Pop/Rock category. 

Bieber gave a shout out to his haters during his acceptance speech, "This is for all the haters who thought that maybe I was just here for one or two years, but I feel like I am going to be here for a very long time.”

Taylor Swift also sealed her status as the Favorite Female Artist in Country, taking home her 11th AMA. Think that’s a lot of trophies to collect? Usher also picked up his 13th AMA, winning Favorite Male Artist for Soul/R&B.

See below for the full list of winners and click through the thumbnails for photos from the 2012 American Music Awards.

Winners list:

Favorite Male Artist - Pop/Rock: Justin Bieber

Favorite Female Artist - Country: Taylor Swift

Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded by Nicky Minaj

Favorite Artist - Alternative Rock: Linkin Park

Favorite Male Artist - Soul/R&B: Usher

Favorite Male Artist - Country: Luke Bryan

Favorite New Artist of the Year: Carly Rae Jepsen

Favorite Electronic Dance Music: David Guetta

Favorite Album - Pop/Rock: Justin Bieber

Source: msn.com

Ice cream lady in Austrian murder trial

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A woman dubbed the "ice killer" by the Austrian media confessed in court on Monday to murdering two men and setting their sawn-up body parts in cement in the cellar of her ice cream parlour.

At times breaking into tears, Goidsargi Estibaliz Carranza Zabala, who has joint Spanish-Mexican citizenship, told the hearing in Vienna how she shot and sliced up with a chain saw her ex-husband in 2008 and then in 2010 her new partner.

At first freezing the body parts in the apartment that also served as a store room for the ice cream parlour, she concealed them in chunks of concrete that she mixed up in the cellar of her "Schleckeria" shop in the Austrian capital.

The grisly remains were discovered by chance during maintenance work in June 2011. After going on the run to Italy, Carranza was captured several days afterwards and later extradited.

Carranza shot ex-husband Holger Holz -- who she said was violent, lazy and a bully who refused to move out after their divorce -- at close range with a .22-calibre Beretta pistol three times in the head as he worked on his computer.

Obama Visits Myanmar

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US President Barack Obama headed to Myanmar on Monday for a historic visit aimed at encouraging a string of dramatic political reforms in the former pariah state.

Obama will be the first serving US president to set foot in the country also known as Burma, in the starkest illustration yet of its emergence from a long period of isolation and repression.

He is expected to praise President Thein Sein for ending a dark era of junta rule and for welcoming opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into mainstream politics, but also to prod the former general to go much further towards genuine democracy. 

Obama will use a major speech at Yangon University to hail "the flickers of progress" in Myanmar, the White House said.

"Today, I have come to keep my promise, and extend the hand of friendship," Obama will say, according to excerpts of his address. "But this remarkable journey has just begun, and has much further to go."

You Vs Yourself

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Gretchen Ho, Matteo Guidicelli, Coach Rio Dela Cruz and JC Intal gear up to challenge their toughest opponent: themselves. 

Check out the #YouVsYourself Video by Safeguard Active! 

Take the #YouVsYourself Timeline Challenge and get a chance to train with the best and win more prizes!