Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) could claim victory in Sunday's House of Councillors elections. The House of Councillors is the upper house in the bicameral National Diet of Japan. Of the 242 seats, DPJ went from 82 to 109 seats, making it the largest party in the House of Councillors.
This gain came largely at the expense of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which went from 119 seats to 83. Also losing seats was LDP's coalition partner, New Komeito Party (NKP), which lost 4 councillor seats and now holds 20.
Japan's Prime Minister S
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Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, a filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, died today at his home on Fårö, Gotland, Sweden. He was 89. The exact cause of death is not known.
"It's an unbelievable loss for Sweden, but even more so internationally," Astrid Söderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, told Associated Press.
"This is an enormous loss, not only for artistic Sweden but because he was one of the most well-known Swedes in the world," Jon Asp, a spokesperson for the Ingmar
A Taliban spokesman has stated that a South Korean hostage has been executed after a deadline had passed on Taliban demands to the Afghan government.
"We shot dead a male captive because the government did not listen to our demands," Qari Mohammad Yousuf, Taliban spokesman told Reuters news agency by phone. "We killed one of the male hostages at 6:30 this evening because the Kabul administration did not listen to our repeated demands," he continued.
AFP have quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying, "Finally tonight at 8:30 we killed one of the K
Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson reports that he raised US$3 million in June for his all-but-certain White House bid. According to the Associated Press, this sum falls short of the $5 million goal set for June, which was the first month he set out to fundraise.
The $3 million dollars was more than what several other Republicans raised, but falls well short of the $6.5 million raised by Mitt Romney in a single day in January in his first month of exploring a bid.
The reported figure does not include collections from several large fundraisi
Citing "league sources," both CNN/SI and the Boston Globe are reporting that Kevin Garnett is going to the Boston Celtics in a trade involving at least six players. This transaction in the United States' premier professional basketball league NBA, which is contingent on a contract negotiation, would be considered major.
The forward, known as "Big Ticket", who has spent his entire twelve season career playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, will join fellow all-stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to give Boston a boost in the Eastern Conference.
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Disney studios have pledged to leave all forms of smoking out of their family films in a bid to discourage the habit.
In a letter to US Congressman Edward Markey, Chief Executive Robert A. Iger stated that smoking in Disney brands will be "non-existent" from now on. He also stated that DVD's that show cigarettes will now carry anti-smoking messages.
Mr Markey said that he is pleased that "Disney is embracing a policy that is consistent with the long-term public health of the nation", and called the move by the media giant "groundbreaking".
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Alberto Contador of Spain has won the 2007 Tour de France general classification. He won by 23 seconds over Cadel Evans of Australia. Third place went Contador's team mate Levi Leipheimer of United States, 31 seconds behind. As a young rider, Contador also gets the white jersey to go with his yellow.
Tom Boonen of Belgium wins the green jersey points classification over Robert Hunter and Erik Zabel.
Mauricio Soler of Colombia wins the King of the Mountains classification over Contador and Yaroslav Popovych.
Discovery Channel Pro C
Texas congressman Ron Paul defeated fellow Presidential hopefuls Giuliani, McCain and Romney at the Georgetown County Straw Poll yesterday. Paul placed second after unofficial candidate Fred Thompson despite being the predicted victor.
Unlike most other county convention straw polls, the Georgetown County Straw Party Poll does not require you to be a registered voter in the county to cast a ballot. You merely need to purchase a $10 ticket and be 18 or older by November 2008 to vote in the poll.
"Coming right before the big Iowa straw poll, I th
Thirteen people have died in Russia after two accidents, one with an airplane and one with a helicopter.
An Antonov An-12 cargo airplane crashed early Sunday morning in the Moscow airport Domodedovo, leaving no survivors. According to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Emergencies, the airplane "fell four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the runway and caught fire. There were eight people on board, including crew and passengers." Five crewmembers and three passengers were on their way from Moscow to the cities Bratsk and Omsk, in Siberia.
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The four stars of Bratz appeared Thursday in Toronto on the television series MuchOnDemand, to promote their new film.
While a great deal of computer animated, direct-to-DVD Bratz films have been made, as has a relatively successful television series, Bratz: The Movie is the first time the characters have appeared in live action.
The film centres around four "BFF"s, best friends forever, Yasmin (Nathalia Ramos), Jade (Janel Parrish), Sasha (Logan Browning) and Cloe (Skyler Shaye). Each has a distinct personality, talents, and fashion sense, w
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The Empire State Games is an annual Olympic-style competition for amateur athletes from the state of New York, United States, encompassing several divisions allowing athletes of all ages to compete. In 2007, it is hosted by Westchester County and takes place July 25–29, 2007. In all, some 6,000 athletes are expected to participate.
"I think the Empire State Games is one of the best things that's happened to Westchester County," Buster LaBarbera, 74, of New Rochelle said. "It's good for the economy and it's just a great thing."
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Australian prosecutors have dropped charges against Dr Mohamed Haneef, the Indian doctor held in Australia in connection with last month's attack on Glasgow airport.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Bugg, said on Friday that a review he carried out found that there was insufficient evidence to support the charges of providing material support to terrorism laid against Dr. Haneef and that "embarrassing" mistakes were made.
Dr Haneef was released from gaol and into "residential detention" until Immigration Minister Kevin A
