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KANDAHAR: A Taliban spokesman denied any responsibility Wednesday for a major bombing that killed dozens of people in southern Afghanistan's largest city, saying that the militant group condemns the attack.The explosion ripped through a central area of Kandahar city just after nightfall, killing at least 43 people and wounding 65, according to the Interior Ministry. It flattened buildings and sent flames shooting into the sky on the same day that the first preliminary results were released from last week's landmark presidential vote.Rescue workers were still pulling out injured people on Wednesday."There are some people still trapped in the buildings and we are trying to get them out," Mohammad Darwish, one of the rescue workers.The thundering blast occurred in a district that includes U.N. facilities and an Afghan intelligence office.Kandahar is the spiritual home of the Taliban and the city was hit by rockets on the morning of election day as Taliban militants made...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 LOS ANGELES: An upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly will include what's being billed as the first video advertisements ever in a print magazine. According to a local news agency, a video player with a 2-inch screen will be embedded on heavy-stock paper -- similar to what's used by greeting cards that play bits of music -- and inserted into the magazine.And as in those cards, the video will start up as soon as the insert is opened. The first ads will be for CBS and Pepsi -- they'll appear in the magazine's mid-September TV preview issue -- but not in all copies. The magazine, which would not disclose the cost of the ads, said the insert will only be distributed in the Los Angeles and New York areas.The video player, made by the L.A. company Americhip, also includes a little speaker. The ads will open with the cast of the show "The Big Bang Theory" joking about the video and explaining how the reader can bring up clips from the net...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 WASHINTON: NASA was planning to launch the space shuttle Discovery early Friday after thunderstorms and a hydrogen fuel tank valve postponed two previous attempts. The shuttle and its crew of seven astronauts were preparing for a 13-day mission to supply the orbiting International Space Station (ISS).Ahead of the next planned launch attempt, engineers will evaluate a liquid hydrogen valve that became problematic when technicians began fueling Discovery on Tuesday, mission management team chairman Mike Moses told reporters.It was the second scuttled launch in a 24-hour period. A first launch attempt early Tuesday was scrubbed due to stormy weather.Moses said detailed test data about the valve would be examined before the shuttle's fuel tank is filled with propellant ahead of the planned launch shortly after midnight.If engineers cannot determine the exact nature of the problem or if the vlave must be replaced, he warned, "then we will probably not be...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 WASHINGTON: US Senator Ted Kennedy, a lion of the American left and the last of the brothers who ruled US politics for years, has died of brain cancer, his family said Wednesday. He was 77. "Edward M. Kennedy the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port," Massachusetts, the Kennedy family said in a statement."We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever."

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 AMSTERDAM: Thirteen-year-old Laura Dekker wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, and her parents think that's a great idea. But the Dutch Council for Child Protection is so concerned about the dangers of the marathon voyage it has asked a court to grant it temporary custody of Laura so it can do what her parents refuse to: Halt the trip. Judges at Utrecht District Court were to announce Friday whether they will scupper Laura's record-breaking plans. In the meantime, the legal battle has ignited a wide-ranging debate even in this traditionally seafaring nation about the role that parents should play in their children's risky adventures. Speaking recently to a Dutch children's news show, Laura said she had been sailing solo since she was six and began dreaming of sailing around the world when she was 10. "I asked my parents if I could please start now," she said. "In the beginning, they asked if I was s...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 BRUSSELS: A new attraction in Belgium has been dubbed the Deathride for good reason.Daredevils have the chance to jump off the tallest landmark in Brussels with only a cable zip line to hold onto.The 100 meter free fall lasts about twenty second and is so fast the wind carries away the screams of adventurers. Deathride is open to anyone brave enough to try it until the end of the month.