Video and News Bunched Up

JERUSALEM, July 21 – Germany, France and Sweden on Tuesday joined a widening group of Western nations pressing Israel to stop building settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank

Polenz, head of the German parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, further told the Rheinische Post daily that “Israel is overlooking the fact that neither Palestinians nor Arab states will agree to a solution without East Jerusalem.”

Israel is facing international pressure over its settlement activity, with both the European Union and Russia saying such activity threatens the chance for Mideast peace.

Israel’s deputy prime minister said Tuesday the Obama administration’s call to freeze West Bank settlement construction undermines past agreements between the US and Israel and damages American credibility.

Israel is planning to remove 23 “illegal outposts” from the West Bank in the course of a single day in response to mounting US demands that it halt all settlement activity, it was reported today.

France has summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris to demand a halt to Jewish settlement building in east Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday, following similar US action.

In BERLIN – A senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party on Tuesday urged Israel not to build more settlements, warning it risked political suicide if it continued to do so.

The solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 will be the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting at most 6 minutes, 39 seconds.[1] It has caused tourist interest in eastern China and India.

Eclipse will be visible from a narrow corridor through northern Maldives, northern Pakistan and northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

Totality will be visible in many large cities, including Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Dinajpur, Guwahati, Chengdu, Nanchong, Chongqing, Yichang, Jingzhou, Wuhan, Huanggang, Hefei, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Huzhou, Suzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo and Shanghai, as well as over the Three Gorges Dam. According to some experts, Taregana in Bihar is the “best” place to view the event.

A partial eclipse will be seen from the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbra, including most of Southeast Asia (all of India and China) and north-eastern Oceania.

This solar eclipse will be the longest total solar eclipse that will occur in the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. Totality will last for up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds, with the maximum eclipse occurring in the ocean at 02:35:21 UTC about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of Japan. The uninhabited North Iwo Jima island is the landmass with totality time closest to maximum, while the closest inhabited point is Akusekijima, where the eclipse will last 6 minutes and 26 seconds.

Economic Times : Google on Monday updated its popular mapping software Google Earth with a complete map of the moon that allows you to explore craters, historic sites and human artefacts. The programme even allows you to fly over the surface like a would-be astronaut.

cnet : Speaking at an Apollo celebration at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, Neil Armstrong enjoyed a standing ovation before sharing his view of the achievement that carried him to the moon, concluding with a simple, heartfelt “Apollo was a good thing to do.”

“Thank you so much,” he said from the stage. “Whenever I come to this city, if I have 20 minutes to spare, I come to this building. Not necessarily to look at craft hanging from the ceiling and sitting on the floors. But to absorb, by osmosis or radiation or some unknown mechanism, some of the history that resides here. And it must have worked, because as one young man recently said to me, ‘Pop, you’re history!’

Michael Jackson

I remember growing up as a little brown boy wanting to be just like Michael Jackson. As the stick of dynamite that sent the Jackson 5 blazing across the charts – and into our hearts – he seemed to have it all, and his music transcended everything a little boy could hope to transcend.

It was clear, even then, that Michael was no mere kid act. Listening to the memorable opening of “Who’s Lovin’ You,” you heard the soulful urgency of a young man far beyond his years. But then, like a flash of those dimples, he could turn that boyish charm around on songs like “Never Can Say Goodbye.” And who else but Michael Jackson could make you so completely believe in the love he felt for a rat on “Ben”?

As great a career as the young Michael had at Motown, though, the best was yet to come. His 1979 solo classic, Off the Wall, paired him with producer Quincy Jones and began to rewrite the book for R&B and pop artists. Hits like “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You” have clearly been studied long and hard by today’s stars like Usher, Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo.

Still, it was 1982’s Thriller that would prove to be Jackson’s biggest triumph. And though I would argue that Off the Wall was the better record, there’s no denying the global impact of those brilliant songs, those groundbreaking videos and those killer moves. That moonwalk across the stage during his performance of “Billie Jean” at Motown 25 was like watching man land on the moon.

Source : People.com

After Michael Jackson’s death on Thursday, an autopsy has been scheduled for Friday (June 26), reports CNN. The results are expected by the afternoon, the Los Angeles coroner’s office said.

But the coroner’s office also told the Chicago Tribune that the exact cause of death may not be determined for six to eight weeks, depending on the tests that are ordered. The Tribune report added that toxicology tests can take several weeks to complete.

The exact circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death continue to remain unclear. Jackson’s brother Marlon told CNN that Michael was not feeling well Wednesday night, and a doctor was called to his home in Holmby Hills. On Thursday, he reportedly collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest. A doctor present at the time of the incident performed CPR on the singer but could not revive him. He was not breathing and had no pulse when paramedics arrived after a 911 call around 12:26 p.m. PT. They administered CPR and took Jackson via ambulance to UCLA Medical Center but were unable to revive him.

Source : MTV