WORLD INFO 24x7

Cheaters might be an unavoidable reality in multiplayer gaming, but they still stink.

Rockstar Games, though, has an interesting way of dealing with the problem: isolate the troublemakers and force them to play against each other.

"We're aware that a small minority of players are spoiling the Max Payne 3 multiplayer experience for honest players with cheats and hacks, and while certain issues will be dealt with in forthcoming title updates, today we'd like to make it clear that anyone using these nefarious methods will be dealt with," the company said in a corporate blog post.

Rockstar has created an area called the "Cheaters Pool," where it will toss anyone who uses hacked saves, modded games or other shortcuts to gain an advantage -- a group the developer calls "confirmed miscreants." Once confined to that area, they'll only be able to play against others who have used cheats like invincibility hacks, infinite adrenaline or score boosters.

Don't think the infractions will be tolerated even in the pool, though. Anyone in that quarantine zone who's caught cheating a second time will be banished from the multiplayer servers indefinitely.

As for absolution? That remains to be seen. Rockstar said it might allow fallen players back into the game, but isn't promising that it will do so.

To round up the troublemakers, Rockstar is asking players who spot a cheater to email with the platform, Gamertag, description of the violation and a video or a screenshot if possible.

It's a novel approach to a widespread problem. Most developers simply boot those players from the game immediately (something Rockstar is reserving the right to do as well). Blizzard has recently started swinging its ban hammer in Diablo III, suspending or banning thousands of accounts for people who took advantage of exploits in the game.

LONDON  - Spain's 10-year bond yield climbed to a euro-era record of 7 percent on Wednesday as the storm surrounding Europe's debt crisis worsened, with fears over its impact on global growth sending world shares lower.

 U.S. stock index futures pointed to a more mixed start on Wall Street after weak retail sales data and the euro zone's problems had sent shares lower on Wednesday. <.N>

 "The underlying problem of deteriorating confidence in sovereign debt in Europe is continuing to intensify," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

 The rise in Spanish debt yields came as Germany, Europe's most powerful economy, rebuffed calls from other European leaders to help underwrite the region's debt or guarantee deposits in euro zone banks.

 Chancellor Angela Merkel, addressing parliament in Berlin, labeled ideas such as issuing joint euro bonds or creating a Europe-wide bank deposit guarantee scheme as "miracle solutions", and said they were "counterproductive" and would violate the German constitution.

 The apparent tensions at heart of the euro area over how to deal with the crisis did little to shake the single currency out of its trading range however, with many investors sidelined by the approach of Sunday's cliffhanger election in Greece, which could see it leave the 17-member currency bloc.

 The euro has spent the week within a range between a near two-year low set on June 1 of $1.2288 and Monday's three-week high of $1.2672 and was up 0.1 percent on Thursday at $1.2575.

 "The euro has been relatively stable as we head into the Greek election, and that will dictate market direction next week. Investors do not want to take on extra risk at this point," Hardman said.

 The worries about Spain sent its 10-year government bond yields up as much as 25 basis points to a record high of 7.02 percent, just over the 7 percent mark that drove Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek international bailouts.

 The rise followed a three-notch downgrade in Spain's credit rating by Moody's Investors Service late on Wednesday, which took it to within one notch of "junk" status.

 Spanish yields have risen sharply this week after euro zone ministers agreed at the weekend on a rescue plan of up to 100 billion euros for the country's banks that has failed to convince investors it solves Spain's financial problems.

 The yields on Spanish debt later eased back to be around 19 basis points higher on the day at 6.97 percent.

 ITALY IN FOCUS

 Fears that Spain's problems may be repeated on an even larger scale in Italy, Europe's third-largest economy, saw its three-year borrowing costs spike to 5.3 percent at auction on Thursday, the highest since December.

 Italian government 10-year bond yields also rose three basis points to 6.25 percent.

 The gains came despite Germany's strong expression of support for Prime Minister Mario Monti's reforms when he visited Berlin on Wednesday.

 "We are fast approaching the point where both Spain and Italy may have to be removed from the market," said Gary Jenkins, director of Swordfish Research.

 Europe's top shares extended their recent losses, with concerns about Spain and Italy adding to fears the worsening euro zone debt crisis was hurting global growth, crimping appetite for riskier assets like equities.

 "Till there is more calm around Greece and Spain, one should just stay a bit on the sidelines and watch what will happen," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, equity markets strategist at Deutsche Postbank, in Germany.

 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> was down 0.8 percent, at 979.31, while the EUROSTOXX50E implied volatility index <.V2TX>, a crude gauge of investors' fears, was up 3 percent, having more than doubled since mid-March when worries about Spain resurfaced.

 Data from the United States showing the recovery in the world's largest economy was at risk from the problems in Europe also undermined sentiment in global share markets sending the MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> down 0.3 percent 300.45.

 Gold benefited slightly from the rising concerns about the impact of the euro zone crisis, regaining some of its safe-haven allure. Spot gold traded up 0.1 percent to about $1,620 an ounce, having already gained over 1 percent this week.

 The turmoil in the euro zone, however, did not prompt the Swiss National Bank to change its cap on the franc of 1.20 per euro at its latest policy meeting.

 The SNB did say it was ready to buy an unlimited quantity of euros to defend the current policy, despite having to buy large amounts of euros in the past few weeks, and was considering other measures, widely seen as a reference to capital controls.

 OPEC EYED

 Oil prices meanwhile traded under $97 a barrel on Thursday with investors and traders reluctant to add to positions ahead of a meeting later in the day of oil producer group OPEC.

 Traders are looking for any change in OPEC's output policy given that some view the market as over-supplied, and after prices have tumbled sharply in the last month.

 Brent crude was down 19 cents to $96.94 a barrel while U.S. crude was up 16 cents at $82.79, after settling at its lowest level since October 6 on Wednesday.

PARIS  - Nokia plans to cut one in five jobs at its global cellphone business as it loses market share to rivals Apple and Samsung and burns through cash, raising new fears over its future.

 In a second profit warning in nine weeks, Nokia said on Thursday that its phone business would post a deeper-than-expected loss in the second quarter due to tougher competition.

 Once the world's dominant mobile phone provider, Nokia was wrongfooted by the rise of smartphones and is struggling to keep up with Apple, Samsumg and Google. It is also losing market share in cheaper, more basic phones.

Chief Executive Stephen Elop is placing hopes of a turnaround on a new range of smartphones called Lumia, which use largely untried Microsoft Corp software. But Lumia sales have so far been slow, disappointing investors.

 "The job cuts and profit warning underline the seriousness of the challenges Nokia is facing, particularly in light of the eye-watering competition from Apple and Samsung," said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

 Nokia, whose cash position is increasingly scrutinized by investors, also said restructuring-related cash outflows would be around 650 million euros in the remaining three quarters of 2012 and around 600 million in 2013.

 Shares in Finland-based Nokia were down 10.5 percent to 1.99 euros, below the psychologically important 2 euros mark last, not seen since 1996. The stock has crashed more than 70 percent since it announced the switch to Microsoft's software in February 2011.

 Analysts have said that even with the dramatic fall in the share price, the worsening outlook made it hard to judge how much lower the shares could go.

 "I won't comment on the stock price anymore, since it's been seen over and over, that there is no definitive bottom," said Evli analyst Mikko Ervasti.

 "People are worried over Lumia sales. I think expectations for the third quarter will be cut," said Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies.

 The job cuts, which include the closure of Nokia's only plant in Finland, bring total planned cuts at the group since Elop took over as chief executive in 2010 to more than 40,000.

 The move will result in additional restructuring charges of around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by the end of 2013.

 The company said it expects its operating margin in the second quarter to be below the negative 3 percent level reported in the first quarter. It previously forecast it would be similar to or below that level.

 Nokia also said it would sell luxury phone business Vertu to venture firm EQT and revamp its management team.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  — As firefighters battle blazes in New Mexico and Colorado that have forced evacuations and destroyed hundreds of structures, the U.S. Forest Service chief is renewing his call to restore forests to a more natural state, where fire was a part of the landscape.

Experts say a combination of decades of vigorous fire suppression and the waning of the timber industry over environmental concerns has left many forests a tangled, overgrown mess, subject to the kind of super-fires that are now regularly consuming hundreds of homes and millions of acres.

The Forest Service is on a mission to set the clock back to zero and the urgency couldn't be greater, Tom Tidwell said. The plan calls for accelerating restoration programs — everything from prescribed fire and mechanical thinning — by 20 percent each year in key areas that are facing the greatest danger of a catastrophic fire.

This year's target: 4 million acres. The budget: About $1 billion.

"We need to understand the conditions we're facing today," Tidwell told The Associated Press in an interview. "They're different than what we used to deal with. We're seeing erratic fire behavior, more erratic weather."

In southern New Mexico, a lightning-sparked fire raced across more than 37,000 acres in recent days, damaging or destroying at least 224 homes and other structures in the mountains outside of the resort community of Ruidoso. Hundreds of residents remained out of their homes Wednesday.

The Little Bear blaze has scorched 58 square miles in the Sierra Blanca range and containment stood at 40 percent after crews used a two-day break in the hot, windy weather to build miles of fire lines and conduct burnout operations.

To the north, smoke from a fire burning in Colorado was blowing into southeastern Wyoming and smudging the skies above Cheyenne on Wednesday. That blaze, about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, has burned 73 square miles, destroyed more than 100 structures and forced hundreds of people from their homes. The blaze was 10 percent contained late Wednesday.

More than 1,000 firefighters labored to build containment lines as air tankers and helicopters focused on protecting buildings from the High Park fire.

The accelerated restoration effort is focused on several landscape-scale projects, the largest of which is a 20-year plan that calls for restoring 2.4 million acres across four forests in northern Arizona. The Forest Service recently awarded a contract to start thinning the first 300,000 acres.

A similar project is planned in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico, where a historic fire ripped through 244 square miles and threatened one of the national's premier nuclear laboratories just last summer.

Another concern is the 8.6 million acres of standing trees killed by beetle infestations. Restoration projects from Oregon and South Dakota to Colorado are aimed at tackling that problem. One of those, the White River National Forest collaborative project, is expected to result in more than 190,000 tons of biomass through thinning.

Forest officials estimate the cost of fire suppression in some of the areas targeted for restoration could be reduced by up to 50 percent because of the work.

The directive doesn't stop at the landscape level, however. Each forest in the Southwest is part of a pilot project that pools regular watershed and wildlife program funds for restoration. Regional forester Corbin Newman said that amounts to millions of dollars.

In an era of tight budgets and taxed resources, forest officials acknowledged that restoration will be a challenge. They said part of the solution is setting priorities and forming more partnerships with states, municipalities and even water utilities given the impacts catastrophic fires can have on watersheds. Some 66 million Americans rely on drinking water that flows from the nation's forests.

Still, there are millions of acres — wilderness and roadless, rugged areas — where mechanical thinning won't be an option. In those areas, fire will have to take its natural course.

"Everybody has to keep in mind that fire will play a huge significant role in our landscape for the rest of time," Newman said. "Sometimes people think through either restoration or suppression we can just make fires go away. We have to remind folks we're just trying put fire back into its natural processes and cycles as opposed to what we're seeing in today's world."

With more natural fires, experts contend the forest has a better chance of recovering. Severe fires tend to sterilize the soil, destroy any banks of seeds stored in the ground and leave mountainsides primed for erosion.

Newman and other forest officials lamented that educating people about the complexity of restoring forests and fire's natural role will take something more than Smokey Bear, the black bear that became the nation's most successful symbol of fire prevention in the 1940s.

Tidwell said campaigns are under way at the federal and state level to address the benefits of restoration, particularly prescribed fire under the right conditions.

"We're going to have trade-offs of either dealing with smoke at different times of the year or dealing with what we're dealing with now," he said, pointing to the fires burning across the country.

Across the West:

— Utah: Two wildfires blackened 4,000 acres in Fishlake National Forest in southern Utah. Meanwhile, a preliminary report found an air tanker that wrecked June 3 while fighting a wildfire in southern Utah veered off its flight path while following a lead plane moments before crashing into mountainous terrain. Both pilots in the tanker died; they were from Boise, Idaho. The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday it's still investigating the cause of the crash.

— Wyoming: Investigators determined a 2,800-acre fire burning in Guernsey State Park was human-caused. It is 95 percent contained, while a 13-square-mile fire in Medicine Bow National Forest is fully contained. The risk of new fires is high in much of the state because of dry air and expected strong winds.

— Arizona: A 2,600-acre wildfire in the Tonto National Forest northwest of Phoenix is 40 percent contained. It's not threatening any buildings. Crews fully contained a wildfire that had forced the evacuation of the historic mining town of Crown King. Firefighters were also maintaining a perimeter around a 500-acre forest fire outside Grand Canyon National Park. The blaze about 11 miles southeast of Grand Canyon Village isn't expected to deter visitors to the park.

Mitt Romney this week has been highlighting his opposition to Obamacare, telling voters and donors of his eagerness to see the U.S. Supreme Court strike the law down and a willingness to do the deed from the White House if the court does not.

 "You know, regardless of what they do, it's going to be up to the next president to either repeal and replace Obamacare or to replace Obamacare," Romney told a crowd in Orlando on Tuesday.

 But it's Romney's unabashed public opposition to one of the law's most popular provisions - a ban on health insurance company discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions - that is once again stirring the political pot.

 The former governor said this week, reiterating a position he's articulated in the past, that only Americans who have had constant, uninterrupted insurance coverage should be guaranteed access to a health plan, regardless of any pre-existing conditions.

 Asked to clarify his position on Wednesday, Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul confirmed that the former governor does not support the across-the-board consumer protections for pre-existing conditions as written into Democrats' health care law.

 "Governor Romney supports reforms to protect those with pre-existing conditions from being denied access to a health plan while they have continuous coverage," she said first in a statement to the Huffington Post later obtained by ABC News.

 As for Americans with pre-existing conditions who may not have had continuous insurance coverage or spent a period of time without, Saul said Romney "supports reforms that empower states to make high risk pools more accessible by using cost reducing methods like risk adjustment and reinsurance," but suggested there would be no guarantees.

 "Beginning on his first day in office, Governor Romney is committed to working with Congress to enact polices like these that protect Americans' access to the care they need," she added.

 Democrats have seized on the position to cast the former Massachusetts governor, who authored a landmark state health law that mandated individual insurance coverage, as grossly out of touch. A New York Times/CBS News poll in March found that 85 percent of Americans support the law's pre-existing conditions protections.

 "Mitt Romney just clarified the choice in this election - he'd put insurance companies back in charge," said deputy Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter. "People living with pre-existing conditions from asthma to breast cancer are on their own if Mitt Romney is elected president and millions more would lose their health insurance."

 Romney's position - protecting people with pre-existing conditions so long as they've always had insurance - has been law since 1996, experts say. It does not immediately address people who have never had private health insurance, or who have had insurance but spent some time without, often because of financial circumstances and unemployment.

 The governor believes in an incremental, market-based solution to boosting coverage and helping states develop ways to help those with difficulty obtaining insurance or care.

 Romney's comments this week are not the first time he's publicly defended his approach. In March, the candidate had a lengthy exchange with "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno on the topic of pre-existing conditions.

 LENO: "What about pre-existing conditions in children? That - I mean, I know people who could not get insurance up until this Obamacare and now they're covered. Their pre-existing condition is covered. …It seems like children and people with pre-existing conditions should be covered."

 ROMNEY: "Yeah. Well, people who have been continuously insured, let's say someone's had a job for a while but insured, then they get real sick and they happen to lose a job, or change jobs, they find, gosh, I've got a pre-existing condition, I can't get insured. I'd say, no, no no. As long as you've been continuously insured, you ought to be able to get insurance going forward. See, you have to take that problem away. You have to make sure the legislation doesn't allow insurance companies to reject people."

 LENO: "So you would make the law stand for children and people with pre-existing conditions?"

 ROMNEY: "Well, people with pre-existing as long as they'd been insured before, they're going to be able to continue to have insurance."

 LENO: "Well, suppose they were never insured before?"

 ROMNEY: "Well, if they're 45 years old, and they show up and they say 'I want insurance because I've got a heart disease,' it's like, hey, guys, we can't play the game like that. You've got to get insurance when you are well. And so and then if you get ill, then you're going to be covered."

 LENO: "Yeah, but there a lot people that - see I only mention it because I know guys that work in auto industry and they're just not covered because they work in brake dust and could get it - so they've just never been able to get insurance. And they get to be 30, 35, they were never able to get insurance before, now they have it. That seems like a good thing."

 ROMNEY: "Well, we'll look at circumstance where someone was ill, and hasn't been insured so far. But people have had the chance to be insured. If you're working at an auto business, for instance."

 LENO: "Right."

 ROMNEY: "The companies carry insurance. They insure all their employees. You look at the circumstances that exist. But people who have done their best to get insured are going to be able to be covered. But you don't want everyone saying, 'I'm going to get back until I get sick,' and then go buy insurance."

 LENO: "No, of course not. Of course. Of course."

 ROMNEY: "That doesn't make sense. But you have to find rules that get people in that are playing by the rules."

Mumbai, June 14  The family of slain Right to Information (RTI) activist Shehla Masood Thursday demanded a fresh probe into her cold-blooded killing at her house in Bhopal, madhya Pradesh.

They said there were several gaps and unanswered questions in the probe conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) so far.

 Majeed Memon, the Bhopal-based family's lawyer here, said there were gaps and unanswered questions in the investigation.

Masood was shot dead in her car at her house in Bhopal Aug 16 last year as she was leaving for a meeting of India Against Corruption.

"The central character in the entire matter, Dhruv Narain Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Madhya Pradesh, has been left out of the purview of the probe by the police so far," Memon told reporters here.

Memon, a well-known criminal lawyer and vice-president of the Nationalist Congress Party, was accompanied by Shehla's father Masood Sultan, brother Rajil and family lawyer Siraj Ali.

Pointing out that the main accused, Zaheda Parvez had claimed that if the legislator was given a clean chit by the CBI, she too should be given a clean chit, Memon said the polygraph test reports of Singh had not been filed in the court.

Even the call records of Masood's number, which could have thrown light on the case, had not been filed before the court, he said.

"It seems that the CBI has investigated the case with a view to protect Singh, who was the central character in the entire episode. But he was not even listed as a witness in the charge sheet," Memon said.

The lawyer said he would seek the case's trial to be conducted in Bhopal and not Indore.

"It is strange that she was killed in Bhopal and the trial is being conducted in a different city, which has no territorial jurisdiction over the issue," he said.

Memon also said that even the records placed before the court did not seem to reflect the entire truth.

"It is quite evident that certain vital aspects are being suppressed, twisted and thwarted," he said.

More than 145 witnesses have been named in the CBI charge sheet.

Islamabad, June 14  Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said there is consensus with India over finding out solutions to all pending issues.

Gilani said Wednesday that there was consensus with India over "carrying out" all outstanding issues, such as the core issue of Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek, in a peaceful, honourable and harmonious manner, as decided in the secretary-level talks, Daily Times reported.

The prime minister told reporters after an educational conference that the government enjoyed good relations with judiciary and his meetings with Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry were not objectionable.

LONDON - Prime Minister David Cameron faced a televised grilling over the nature of his relationship with Rupert Murdoch's press group on Thursday at an inquiry that has turned into a slow-motion political disaster for the British leader.

 Cameron's day-long appearance at the Leveson Inquiry comes after months of embarrassing revelations on his friendships with people at the heart of Murdoch's News Corp including two former newspaper editors now facing criminal charges.

 Cameron's judgment has also come under attack over his backing for a minister accused of discreetly championing News Corp's bid for full ownership of pay-TV firm BSkyB at a time when he was supposed to be an impartial overseer.

 One of the themes now dominating the inquiry is a widely held view that generations of British politicians cultivated powerful media figures, especially Rupert Murdoch, in a tacit agreement to look after each other's interests.

 "The idea of overt deals is nonsense. I also don't believe in this theory that was sort of a nod and a wink and some sort of covert agreement," Cameron told the inquiry.

 Cameron set up the inquiry into media standards himself last year after a phone-hacking scandal erupted at one of Murdoch's British tabloids, but he has found himself increasingly under its glare.

 His decision to agree to spend a whole working day at Leveson, at a time when he is under intense pressure over an economic recession, the euro zone crisis and other pressing matters, is a measure of how much the fallout from the Murdoch saga is dogging his premiership.

 He was well prepared and gave evidence fluently. He clasped his hands and frowned in concentration as he listened to questions from lawyer Robert Jay, and when speaking jabbed his hands left and right for emphasis.

 It contrasted with his usually relaxed, spontaneous style, reflecting the pressure on the prime minister to appear statesmanlike and authoritative.

 "I think this relationship (between politicians and journalists) has been going wrong for, you know, it's never been perfect. There have always been problems. You can point to examples of Churchill putting Beaverbrook as a minister," Cameron said.

 In what many will consider a flattering comparison, Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill controversially appointed press baron Lord Beaverbrook to his cabinet in 1940.

 "LOL"

 Cameron's own dangerous liaisons include a close friendship with Rebekah Brooks, a close confidante of Murdoch and former executive at his British business, and the hiring of Andy Coulson, also a Murdoch ex-editor, as his trusted spokesman.

 Cameron used to sign his frequent text messages to Brooks with an affectionate "LOL", which he thought stood for "lots of love", according to Brooks.

 He hired Coulson in 2007, a few months after he resigned as editor of the News of the World because one of the Sunday newspaper's reporters was jailed for hacking into the phones of close aides of members of the royal family.

 The revelation last year that News of the World reporters had hacked into many other phones over the years, including that of a murdered schoolgirl, prompted Murdoch to abruptly shut down the paper last July and set off the chain of events leading to Cameron's Thursday appearance at Leveson.

 Cameron set up the inquiry to fend off accusations from the Labour opposition that he was fearful of holding the Murdoch press to account because he valued its support.

 But the decision to set up Leveson and give it a broad remit to question not only journalists but also policemen and politicians has come back to haunt Cameron.

 The prime minister has been embarrassed by his association with the so-called "Chipping Norton" set, a high-powered social scene centred around the picturesque market town in Oxfordshire. Cameron, Brooks and Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth were among the high-flying friends with luxurious country homes in the area.

 Brooks and her husband Charlie, an erstwhile horse-riding partner of Cameron, have been charged with perverting the course of justice by allegedly hiding evidence from police investigating phone-hacking.

 Coulson has been charged with perjury over evidence he gave during a court case related to the phone-hacking affair.

 For his part, Cameron is under fire for shielding Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative minister, who is accused by Labour of being far too helpful to News Corp  while in charge of ruling on the company's bid for BSkyB .

Colombo, June 14  Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka said Thursday that he aimed to topple the government and create a new political culture, ruling out any possibility of working with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Speaking at the first press conference since his conditional release from jail May 12, Fonseka was upbeat about his role and insisted that he would work with a common opposition to defeat the government, Xinhua reported.

"There is a corrupt government and a corrupt political culture so we have to first get rid of the corrupt government. If we want to benefit from the new political culture I am talking about, we will have to topple the government and then we have to come into power and implement this new political culture," he said.

Talking to the media, he also categorically ruled out joining the government or working with President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he said the president "could not be trusted". He called on the opposition to unite and accept a leader that will be picked by the people.

Though under the conditions of Fonseka's release he cannot contest in an election for seven years, he said that with people's support he would be able to overcome this hurdle.

The relationship between Fonseka and the government became strained after he retired from the military in late 2009 and announced his candidature for the presidential election.

Fonseka contested as the leader of an opposition coalition but lost the election. He was later arrested and jailed over various charges, including illegal arms deals, harbouring army deserters and making allegations to the media that soldiers had shot unarmed rebel cadres.

Fonseka was freed from prison last month on a presidential pardon but still faces trial in a case involving harbouring of army deserters.

She's half human, half vampire, and entirely adorable -- in a stoic, bloodthirsty sort of way. Bella and Edward's first offspring Renesmee has been revealed as she makes her big screen debut -- in a talking role -- in "Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2" (in theaters November 16).

Renesmee, seen peeking through in this photo released by Entertainment Weekly, is played by 11-year-old Mackenzie Foy -- and yes, she has grown up quite quickly since she was born in "Part 1." (To be fair, Foy did make a brief appearance as Renesmee in "Part 1" during a flash forward scene depicting the thoughts of Jacob -- played by Taylor Lautner.)

Comedian Jerry Lewis had a serious health scare. The funnyman was apparently rushed to the hospital just before he was to present Tom Cruise with a legendary Friars Club award.

The New York Post reports that the 86-year-old collapsed from low blood sugar before he was about to go onstage at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria. The publication added that a Friars Club official informed the audience that Lewis had fallen ill shortly before the event and had been taken to the hospital, but was expected to recover.


According to the Post, the showman was believed to have been released from the hospital and was resting at a Manhattan hotel.

The Friars Club show did go on, hosted by Alec Baldwin. Cruise, who had brought son Connor and daughter Suri to the event, was presented with the legendary Entertainment Icon Award, which has been given to only three others: Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, and Douglas Fairbanks.

The 49-year-old's "Jerry Maguire" co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. and NBC's Matt Lauer stepped in to present the award to the "Rock of Ages" star.


Lewis himself had been scheduled to receive the Applause Award.

Cruise reportedly told the crowd, "I am sorry Jerry couldn't be here tonight." He added, "but I know he is going to be fine."

A spokesperson for Jerry Lewis declined to give a statement.

What's the first thing you do when you wrap the most popular television show on the planet? You sign on to play an evil corporate head in a big budget Hollywood remake. That's what you do.

Hugh Laurie, 53, has just agreed to play the CEO of Omni Corp in the remake of 1987's "RoboCop."And while audiences are well accustomed to Laurie playing a grump, they may be surprised to see him as someone who is evil-to-the-core.

First played by Oscar-nominated Irish actor Daniel O'Herlihy, the evil CEO role will yet again belong to a U.K.-born actor. (Laurie is from Oxford, England.)

Laurie's long-running television show "House," also the name of his dark-yet-brilliant lead character, ended in May. The show, watched by 81.8 million people in 66 countries, becoming the most-watched television program in the world in 2008, won five Emmys during its eight-year run and earned Laurie two Golden Globes, two SAG awards, and other awards except for an Emmy for his performance. (Perhaps he will finally pick up his Emmy this year -- this is his one last chance!)


"RoboCop" is due in theaters next year and has an approximate budget of $100 million.

The role of the infamous cyborg RoboCop, first made famous by Peter Weller in the film franchise that endured through the early '90s and even spawned a television series, will be played by Swedish-born actor Joel Kinnaman -- who currently stars in AMC's "The Killing."


Oscar-nominated actors Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson have also signed on to the film as has Abbie Cornish. Oldman plays the scientist who creates RoboCop, Norton, Jackson plays a media mogul (we hear he's a good guy) and Cornish plays Norton's wife.

Laurie also stars in war drama "Mr. Pip," based on a best-selling novel of the same name. Its release date is not yet determined.

Surprising absolutely no one, it seems that Apple's social music network Ping doesn't have the userbase that it needs in order to push onward. Therefore — according to AllThingsD — the company will officially kill Ping in the next official iTunes release.

Apple officially unveiled Ping on September 1, 2010 as a major feature of the then-brand-new iTunes 10. The pseudo social network was designed as a way for fans to keep track of the comings and goings of their favorite music makers, while sharing the tunes they love with other Ping users. At first, music lovers seemed enthusiastic about Ping, and in order to drum up support, the company had several high-profile artists — including Lady Gaga and Chris Martin of Coldplay — hop on board early.

Unfortunately, nothing could save Ping from eventually being a "me too" social network, with nearly all of its features easily replicated on already established social hotspots. Now that Apple is officially partnered up with both Facebook and Twitter, there seems to be no room in the company's portfolio to maintain it.

If you're a devote Ping user, you may take some comfort in the fact that the next major iTunes update probably won't take place until this coming fall, so you'll have at least a few more months to say goodbye.

From Bob Barker in "Happy Gilmore" (1996) to Billy Idol in "The Wedding Singer" (1998), Adam Sandler has made a hilarious habit of highly unlikely cameos in his films. However, Sandler may very well have topped himself with the inclusion of the one and only Vanilla Ice in "That's My Boy," opening this Friday, June 15.


Though Vanilla Ice, aka Rob Van Winkle, plays himself in the film, to call the part a cameo is really an injustice. The poster-boy for early 90's fashion faux-pas plays an integral part in the R-rated comedy, which stars Sandler as a washed-up child star, Donny Berger, who became famous for having a son, Han Solo, with his older (and hotter) middle school teacher. Han, played by Andy Samberg, grew up awkwardly, changed his name to Todd, disassociated himself from his terrible father, and got engaged to Cape Cod catch, Jamie (Leighton Meester).

To reconnect with his son, Donny calls on the help of his good buddy Vanilla Ice.  And honestly, what could be funnier than that? When you think of the early 90's white rapper, with his zigzag hairdo and his Z-Cavaricci pants, I implore you not to snicker -- which is likely what Sandler had in mind when he cast Rob.


But while many cameos are worth laughing at, Ice is perfectly comfortable laughing along with us. When I spoke to him at the junket for the film, I found a man extremely comfortable in his own skin, quick to laugh, and proud of where he's been. When I asked him where he found that pride, his answer was downright philosophical: "Why am I hating on all this? This is the best thing that ever happened. We are who we are because of who we were."

We haven't heard much from Ice since he sold over 11 million copies of his 1990 debut album, "To the Extreme." But with his role in "That's My Boy," Ice may very well be back. His real-estate reality show "The Vanilla Ice Project" is a DIY channel staple, he released an album last year, and he  may have have found a future musical partner with a lot of pull: Sandler himself. When I asked Ice about a possible musical collaboration between he and the man who performed the greatest Hanukkah song ever, Ice smiled his infectious grin, and told me to "wait and see."

Henry Hill, whose mob exploits and his subsequent entry into the Witness Protection Program was immortalized in Martin Scorsese's epic masterpiece "Goodfellas," has died in Malibu, California. The cause of death has not been released.

The news was confirmed by a statement on his website, www.goodfellahenry.com. "Henry passed away in an L.A. hospital Tuesday. He leaves friends and family behind who enjoyed (?) his roller coaster vigor and enthusiasm for life and laughs. He will be missed."

Ray Liotta played the role of Hill in the movie, which earned six Academy Award nominations and wound up on numerous lists, including Yahoo! Movies' "100 Movies to See Before You Die," for being one of the best movies ever made.


The basis of the film was the nonfiction book "Wiseguy" by journalist Nicholas Pileggi, which highlighted Hill's escapades with the Lucchese crime family under capo Paul "Paulie" Vario. He was involved in a $420,000 theft from Air France at Idlewild Airport, did a stint in prison for extortion, and pulled off the breathtakingly audacious 1978 Lufthansa heist -- the biggest robbery in American history -- netting $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewels.

Drugs and paranoia, however, proved to be Hill's downfall. He was arrested for trafficking in 1980 and eventually turned police informant when he became convinced that his former mob associates were going to kill him. Hill's testimony eventually resulted in many of the wiseguys, including Vario, receiving long prison sentences.


He and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Karen, entered the Witness Protection Program, but anonymity didn't really suit a personality as outsized as his. When the movie came out, Hill became a minor celebrity, and he seemingly couldn't resist appearing in the media. That, plus getting arrested for another drug-related charge in 1987, got him thrown out of the program in the early '90s.

Yet, instead of swimming with the fishes as many mob snitches had in the past, Hill became a regular guest on "The Howard Stern Show." He appeared in multiple documentaries about the Mafia. He sold paintings on eBay. He opened a restaurant called Wiseguys in New Haven, Connecticut, where he sold his own line of tomato sauce. And he was even inducted into the Museum of the American Gangster in New York City.

He also struggled with addiction, entering rehab twice. The second time, in 2007, he did so at the behest of Ray Liotta, following a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly.

Hill is survived by his partner and manager, Lisa Caserta, who told CBS News earlier today that he "went out pretty peacefully, for a goodfella."

JOHANNESBURG  - South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Wednesday.

 The 15-man squad is identical to the touring side that beat New Zealand 1-0 in a three-test series in March.

 The Proteas are currently ranked number two in the world behind England and convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson believes consistency and depth of squad have been the key ingredients to the team's success.

 "The players fully deserve a vote of confidence after the outstanding manner in which they outplayed New Zealand away from home," Hudson said in a statement.

 "Consistency has also been one of the key pillars of our selection policy and this is also contributing to our success on the field. We are now building up excellent depth in both the batting and bowling departments."

 Opening batsman Graeme Smith will again captain the side after recovering from ankle surgery.

 "Graeme has been outstanding both as our leading run scorer and as captain during our last two test tours of England and I have every confidence he will continue that form," Hudson added.

 The South Africa squad boasts a formidable pace attack spearheaded by the world's top-ranked test bowler Dale Steyn, backed up by Vernon Philander, who has taken 51 wickets in just seven tests, and Morne Morkel.

 The test series begins at the Oval on July 19 before moving to Headingley in Leeds on August 2. The series concludes with the final test at Lord's starting on August 16.

 Following the tests, England and South Africa will play a five-match one-day series and three Twenty20 internationals.

 Test squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, Marchant de Lange, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Robert Salo, 18, didn't think twice about following his gut when he plunked down $2 to play New York Lottery's "Win for Life" scratch-off game last week.

No one could have guessed he'd beat the 1 in 7,896,000 odds to become the game's youngest winner.

After coming forward Tuesday, the high school senior is $1 million richer and all set to receive $1,000 payments each week for the rest of his life.

What sets Salo apart from most of the lotto winners we've covered on this site isn't his age, but the fact that he plans to put the money toward one of the smartest investments out there.

"I'm definitely going to use it for college," Salo said in a recent interview with the NY Daily News, adding that he plans to attend an out-of-state school. "I'm going to invest in myself."

Perhaps some would argue with that decision, pointing to soaring tuition costs and well-paying jobs that don't require a degree. But others, like Shawna Machado, 40, are so convinced a degree is worthwhile that even homelessness couldn't hold them back.

"I panicked knowing that I wasn't degreed in anything," she told Your Money reporter Mandi Woodruff of her decision to earn a degree in Psychology. "I didn't know how I'd be able to get another job. I applied for everything, medical jobs and retail jobs ... I was called for about three interviews."

Salo, who lives in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn with his single mother, a sibling and an uncle, wasn't sure himself if he'd ever afford college. Like many students forced to take out large loans, Salo may have had to settle for studying near home or at a community college that didn't align with his goals in order to save money.

But thanks to the lottery, his dream of pursuing a career in electrical engineering seems to be coming true. Maybe scratch-off tickets aren't such a waste of money after all.
Now see what to do when you win the lottery >

Chennai, June 13  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday urged the central government to remove from a Class 12 NCERT textbook a cartoon about the anti-Hindi agitation that rocked the state in 1965 as it defames Dravidian movement leaders like Periyar, C.N. Annadurai and others.

The cartoon by famed cartoonist R.K.Laxman appears in the Class 12 Political Science textbook prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

In a statement issued here, Jayalalithaa said: "Contrary to the photograph that is published in the book that shows the true nature of the anti-Hindi agitation, the cartoon is published hurting the sentiments of the Tamil people."

She said the cartoon defames the leaders of the Dravidian movement like Annadurai and Periyar and others.

According to her, photographs were better to teach students about the Dravidian movement and condemned the publication of the cartoon.

Recalling that the anti-Hindi agitation was one of the reasons for the change of rulers in the state, Jayalalithaa said the cartoon denigrates the protest.

On Saturday, DMK president M. Karunanidhi had also urged the central government to remove the anti-Hindi agitation cartoon from the NCERT text book as it hurt the (Tamil) people's sentiments.

In May, a 'dalit' party from Tamil Nadu, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a UPA ally, and the Tamil Nadu unit of the CPM had kicked up a furore over a cartoon in the NCERT's political science text book showing Jawaharlal Nehru "whipping" B.R. Ambedkar over the slow progress of the framing of the Constitution after Independence.

The cartoon was first published in 1949 and now reproduced in school textbooks. It whipped up a storm in Parliament with Tamil Nadu and opposition members disrupting proceedings and demanding that the cartoon be removed from textbooks. Two NCERT advisers N. Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar resigned over the issue.