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Sydney Pollack, Academy-Award winning American film director, producer and actor has died today at his home in Los Angeles, California at the age of 73. The cause of death was announced as stomach cancer. He was born on July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, United States. He directed films such as The Way We Were, Tootsie, and Out of Africa. Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire Griswold and 3 children.

Dima Bilan has won the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, the 53rd, for Russia with his song Believe. The song was developed by US R&B artist Timbaland. The song won the competition with 272 points; 42 points ahead of Ukraine's Ani Lorak in second place with 230 points for the song Shady Lady. Third was Kalomira for Greece with Secret Combination The voting for the competition came from 43 countries across Europe, but with 25 countries competing, the others having failed to get through the semi finals. Russia has never won the contest before, Bilan

Toronto FC ended their 6 game undefeated streak after conceding 2 late goals in the 2nd Half. D.C. United also ended their 4 game losing streak. Danny Dichio scored on the only two shots in an excellent 1st half for Toronto FC. However, Toronto FC gave up 2 goals in 2 minutes in the 2nd Half. Toronto FC continued the pressure in the 20th minute but were not able to capitalize on a 4-on-2 counterattack that was started by Guevara and culminated with a shot from Guevara himself that was deflected away by Namoff. D.C. United scored an equalize

Germany's FFC Frankfurt became the 1st team to win a 3rd UEFA Women's Cup after a competition record 27,640 fans in attendance. The attendance record is more then double then any previous game in tournament history. A 1-1 draw in Sweden between the tournament's only multiple-time winners had set up this return under at Commerzbank Arena. Conny Pohlers opened the scoring in the 7th minute, before finding the target again in the 2nd Half. Lisa Dahlqvist pulled one back with a converted penalty shot. Petra Wimbersky regained Frankfurt's 2 goal l

Jean-Pierre Bemba, one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) former vice presidents and militia leaders, has been arrested in Belgium on charges of war crimes. This comes as United Nations (UN) peacekeepers discovered three mass graves in the nation containing an estimated total of 100 bodies. Reports say that the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) included at least two counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes which he allegedly committed in the "Central African Republic from 25 October 2002 t

Eleven days, or 266 hours after an earthquake in Sichuan Province in China which killed over 60,000 people, a survivor has been rescued from the rubble of his own house in the city of Mianzhu. Xiao Zhihu, 80, who is said to be in stable condition at a local hospital, was paralyzed prior to the earthquake and was found underneath a pillar that once held up his house. Officials said that the only reason he survived so long was because he was being fed by his wife. At least 30,000 people are missing as a result of the magnitude 7.9 quake on Ma

A front page editorial in South Africa's largest weekly newspaper, The Sunday Times, criticizes President Thabo Mbeki's "incompetent" handling of the country's ongoing anti-immigrant violence, and urges him to resign from office. "Either he will not lead or he cannot lead. Whichever is the case, the conclusion is the same: he must go," the editorial reads. "And so we appeal to President Mbeki: Stand down in the interests of your country." In the past two weeks, mob attacks against foreigners have spread across the capital of Johannesburg and

A Boeing 747 cargo plane has broken in two after crashing off the end of the runway at Brussels Airport near Zaventem, Belgium. Some reports say four of the five crew were slightly injured when the Kallita Air jumbo jet failed to takeoff on a flight to Bahrain, but others state no injuries. Press images show the aircraft, which did not catch fire, broken immediately behind the wings, with the forward section level and the front end of the back section raised in the air. The right hand door has been opened and the emergency evacuation slide dep

A video has surfaced online that appears to show at least two Russian missiles flying out of control after the Lodeynoe Pole air force base caught fire in St Petersburg on May 23. The video, which was broadcast by BBC News is about 45 seconds long and shows at least two out of control missiles being launched from within the base as the fire rages on and landing nearby. No one was killed or injured when the missiles were set off, but witnesses report that several missiles "were flying over" their heads as they watched the blaze. Russian militar

J. R. Simplot, french fry "king" & founder of the J. R. Simplot Company, an agricultural supplier specializing in potato products has died today in Boise, Idaho. He was 99 years old. He was born John Richard "Jack" Simplot on January 4, 1909 in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. By World War II, the J. R. Simplot Company had become the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the nation. By the early 1960s it was the primary supplier of french fries to McDonald's; by 2005 it supplied more than half of all french fries for the fast food chain. Simplot a

New legislation in Victoria, Australia will provide for greater compensation for victims suffering from effects of exposure to asbestos. The legislation is called "Bernie Banton law", after the late campaigner for asbestos-related issues. The law will remove a restriction which prevented asbestos victims from making another claim after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Banton contracted mesothelioma after working for the Netherlands-based company James Hardie, and died in 2007. Prior to the Banton law victims of asbestos exposure could

After travelling in-person to Myanmar, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, has announced that international aid-workers will be granted access to the cyclone-ravaged country. Ban, who met with Senior General Than Shwe — considered the head of Myanmar's military junta — told reporters, "I had a very good meeting with the senior general, particularly on these aid workers." "He has agreed to allow all the aid workers, regardless of nationality. I urged him that it would be crucially important for him to allow aid worke