Ferguson Rude to RUUD

Ruud van Nistelrooy did not walk out on Manchester United last weekend he was booted out by Sir Alex Ferguson, it was reported.

The 29-year-old, scorer of 150 goals in 200 starts for United since joining in a 19-million-pound transfer from PSV Eindhoven five years ago, left Old Trafford before United's 4-0 victory over Charlton on Sunday after discovering he'd been left out of the team and his place taken by teenager Giuseppe Rossi.

Initial reports of van Nistelrooy's walk out appeared to indicate that the Dutch international had made the decision himself.

However, Tuesday's Manchester Evening News said that the training ground rows last week between manager Ferguson and van Nistelrooy were so serious that the United boss ordered the striker to go home.

This seems to be a pattern that emerges when Sir Alex Ferguson wants to dispense his star players as seen with the departure of Beckham, Roy Keane and now the feud with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Certainly there would be two sides to any story. But the tactics that Ferguson uses to fire his star players who have done so much for Manchester United, leaves a bitter taste of farewell.

World's Biggest Video Game Trade Show

It's in Los Angeles where the glitz and glam of the movie industry takes a backseat to the almost $10 billion a year interactive world of video games.

In 2005, about 70,000 industry insiders, journalists and various VIPs filled the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the biggest video game trade show in the world.

E3 is known for big announcements from game companies, thanks in no small part to the intense worldwide media coverage.

This year is no different with rumors of a Microsoft handheld gaming system, a PlayStation 3 controller that reacts to player's movement, and what many are calling the darling of the show, Nintendo's Wii.

More info on the expo website.

New Yorkers Cheer David Blaine

David Blaine entered his eight-foot human fish bowl on 1 May. For the next seven days, he was on display outside the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.

Despite the cheers from curious onlookers and fans, Blaine has failed to break the world record for holding his breath underwater falling nearly two minutes short of the record time.

Blaine managed to remove the shackles from his wrists, but as he entered his sixth minute, he began to struggle. After spending seven minutes and 8 seconds underwater, Blaine blacked out and two divers had to free him from shackles attached to his ankles and pull him from the tank.

Blaine had been training in the Cayman Islands since last December.

This guy has indomitable spirits to produce these amazing feats.

Roy Keane As Manchester United's Number 1.

Alex Ferguson has hailed Roy Keane as the best player he ever had at Manchester United.

The split between the pair which resulted in Keane leaving Old Trafford so abruptly has done nothing to lessen Ferguson’s admiration of a player whom he believes will be remembered as a Red Devils great decades from now.

Ferguson admits his glorious 20-year reign as United boss may have encompassed more talented individuals than Keane.

But the Irishman’s indomitable spirit, forceful personality and sheer will-to-win sets him apart from all the rest.

“Taking everything into consideration, Roy Keane is the best player I have ever had at this club,” said the United boss.“He was not as talented as Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, nowhere near it.

“But you come across these once-in-a-lifetime people who have this desire which comes from the heart.

“Roy’s obsession with winning and the demands he put on other players made him the most influential player in the dressing room and a great captain.

Changi Airport wins Best Airport Asia Award for 20th consecutive year

Changi Airport in Singapore continues to be a favourite among its users.

It has bagged the Asian Freight & Supply Chain's 'Best Airport Asia' award for the 20th consecutive year.

The award is based on an annual survey conducted by Hong Kong-based publication CargoNews Asia which polled international shippers, airlines and cargo industry players.

Lessons In Love

What can a 2,000-year-old Indian text tell us about modern love? Deepak Chopra, the renowned spiritual adviser , explains his mission to repopularise the original sex manual .

The Kama Sutra is many things: a manual for lovemaking, a marital aid sneaked furtively into many a bedroom, and to prudes throughout the ages, a scandal. Can it also be described as an inspiring spiritual text? I strongly believe it can, because the truth about sex, and love in general, is that it remains the most powerful spiritual experience that most of us will have in our lifetimes.

Understand Kama Sutra in it's different forms as explained by Deepak Chopra here.

Tom Hanks cracks Da Vinci Code

Tom Hanks is a favourite actor to many. Think about 'Cast Away' and many others and now 'The Da Vinci Code.'

In the fictional novel The Da Vinci Code, this controversial subject is fused together with the legend of the Holy Grail.

The result? The ultimate conspiracy theory, and an instant global phenomenon.

The Da Vinci Code premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17. The cinematic version of Dan Brown's controversial bestseller directed by Ron Howard stars Hollywood actors Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou and Ian McKellen.

With a plot that has charged the imagination of readers across the globe, Hanks gave his own opinion on The Da Vinci Code success.

"It is a fabulous scavenger hunt about a very powerful stuff—and that combination is really irresistible. By and large, everybody knows some aspect of their religious theology, that the book deals with. So that alone, makes everyone feel smart," Hanks said.

The Da Vinci Code is tipped to be the blockbuster of the year but the film is cloaked in so much secrecy that not even the Australian head of the studio behind it has seen it yet. With just 10 days until its world premiere at Cannes, the film, from Sony Pictures, is already being used to sell everything from phones to religion.

The Da Vinci Code has already become a high paying brand name, and whether the film makes money or not, the film is already declared a blockbuster.

Religious leaders have already publicly condemned The Da Vinci Code for its claim of a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene but the churches are also cashing in. Churches all over the world have launched websites to contest claims made in the book and to attract new members. The Anglican Church in New South Wales, Australia is spending $50,000 on a cinema advertising campaign debunking some of the book's more contentious claims.

'Time travelling' elephant performs in London

A giant mechanical elephant trudged through a London parade-ground Friday as part of a travelling art exhibit, drawing gasps and cheers from spectators and spraying them with water on a hot, sunny day.

"The Sultan's Elephant," a 12-meter-tall contraption constructed mostly of wood and metal, was created by the Nantes, France-based theatre group Royal de Luxe to tell the story of a forlorn sultan beguiled by visions of a young girl whom he believed was travelling through time.

Desperate to find her, the sultan builds a time-travelling elephant to lead him on a journey to find the girl, who is represented by a giant marionette towering over five meters high.

Click here to find out more about this spectacle.

A UFO In Penang, Malaysia?

Could the object in the picture be an Unidentified Flying Object? These are among the questions raised after the object was captured on film by a guest at the Paradise Sandy Beach Resort in Tanjung Bungah on Tuesday.

The Australian tourist was photographing the sunrise around 8am from the balcony of his hotel room when he caught the object on film.

The tourist, who wished to remain anonymous, only realised the presence of the object a day later, when he was checking out.

Upto now, most people in this part of the world may have not have developed a deep interest in the UFOs or the unidentified flying objects or their related conspiracy theories that are more familiar in the west.

Well, now it looks the UFOs have appeared on the unsuspecting horizons to capture the human imagination into believing what is impossible to be proved upto now.

GQ pix put Jacko on attacko

The onetime King of Pop is demanding an apology from GQ magazine and its corporate parent, Conde Nast, over a look-alike photo in its May issue.

The real Michael is "furious" with photos in the men's magazine that show a fake Michael slogging through a desert, and sitting in a movie theater in the company of children.

" The Jackson camp is demanding an apology saying that the person in these photographs is an imposter."

Actually, responded GQ in its own statement Friday, the person in the photographs is "an imitator."

Michael Jackson is a supremely gifted entertainer but has of late been bogged down by attacks on his personal conduct. His fans are hoping that the king will reappear again putting these unwelcome clouds of anguish behind him.

Poverty Asia's most 'daunting' problem: ADB chief

Asia's most "daunting" problem is poverty and the Asian Development Bank is focussed on its elimination, ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda said.

"Poverty, in all its aspects, remains our regions most daunting problem," Kuroda said at the opening of the agency's annual governor's board meeting.

More than 3,000 delegates including finance ministers, business leaders and representatives from global organisations are attending the ADB's 39th annual board of governors meeting to focus on Asian development challenges.

The 39th Annual General Meeting of the Asian Development Bank is taking place in Hyderabad, India which is a founder- member of the Asian Development Bank.

Golf's Top Dad Earl Woods Dies At Age 74

Earl Woods, the first black baseball player in what is now the Big 12, an ex-Green Beret and the father of Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, died yesterday at age 74.

Earl will be remembered most for introducing to his 10-month-old son a sport he himself hadn't picked up until middle age, then instilling in Tiger a love for the game and making absurd declarations about his son's potential that have largely been proven true. He was the most famous and accomplished sports parent in history.

Giving a snapshopt of the most famous father-son relationship, Tiger Woods said, "My dad was my best friend and greatest role model," Tiger Woods said in a statement published on his web site. "He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend. I wouldn't be where I am today without him."

Watch Out For Desert Fox in 2006 World Cup.

HAVING scored 14 goals during qualification, defenders at the 2006 World Cup have been served fair warning that Mexico's Jared Borgetti is a menace who has to be closely marked. No other player has scored more goals on the road to Germany.

Borgetti holds the record as Mexico's top ever international goal scorer, passing the 36 scored by Carlos Hermosillo and Luis Hernandez, with his 37th in a 2-0 win over Costa Rica in August 2005.

Borgetti is a wily opportunist rather than a workhorse, his most lethal weapon being a bullet-like header. One such memorable goal came in the 2002 World Cup against Italy when he headed past Gianluigi Buffon in a 1-1 draw.

Borgetti has the uncanny knack of bagging match-winning goals against Brazil, the latest coming in the 1-0 win in the Confederations Cup in Germany 2005. He did the same in the 2001 Copa America and the 2003 Gold Cup.

The ‘Desert Fox’, as he is known in Mexico, had missed a penalty in the 2005 Brazil match before getting a 59th minute winner, which says volumes about his never-say-die attitude.

"I don't crumble easy," Borgetti said afterwards. "I have great confidence in myself."

A quality that should serve him well when he returns to Germany next month.

David Blaine Begins A Week Underwater

Illusionist David Blaine is in a world of his own for his next stunt. Literally. Blaine has sunk himself into a 2.5m acrylic sphere in New York as part of his most recent attempt at the outrageous. Blaine intends to stay underwater for 7 days before attempting his most daunting challenge to date: Holding his breath for almost 9 minutes.

In the past, David Blaine has been buried alive for seven days, he has been frozen in a block of ice for 61 hours, he has perched himself up a 90 pole for 35 hours, and more recently, has suspended himself in a glass box over the River Thames for 44 days.

Economist Kenneth Galbraith dies at 97

Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who focused on core issues like the distribution of wealth, has died at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 97.

Citing the late economist's son, Alan Galbraith, the newspaper said Galbraith was one of the most widely read authors in the history of economics.

Among his 33 books was "The Affluent Society", one of the rare works that forces a nation to re-examine its values, the obituary said.

Professor Galbraith was born in Canada in 1908 but moved to the US in the 1930s and became an American citizen in 1937. He was a follower of the British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued governments could smooth the cycles of boom and bust by spending more in bad times and raising taxes when economies picked up. In 1948 he was appointed a professor at Harvard.

In the 'Affluent Society" he argued economies were dominated by corporations which decided what to produce and then used advertising to persuade consumers to buy things they did not need rather than build socially useful projects such as schools, roads and hospitals.

The Cost Of Road Accidents

It’s debatable if life is really cheap in India. At any rate death is not. It might come easy as the old folksong goes but it isn’t cheap if it comes before its time.

There are many methods of estimating costs from the death of a citizen of working age. Under any of these methods, India loses vast amounts because too many people of working age die untimely deaths.

One standard method of figuring out such costs is to estimate lost output - if a 25-year-old dies, we may assume that he or she would have worked another 33 years on average and amortise the estimated loss of productivity.

Another method is to extrapolate costs from insurance (life, medical and vehicle) claims. A third method is to estimate "willingness to pay": how much would the dead person's dependants have paid to keep him or her hale and hearty? That's a proxy for output loss.

Read Devangshu Datta's analysis, to uderstand this distressing story.

Sleep eating: A behavioral food fight

Imagine waking in the morning with food smeared on your face and hands, or smashed into your sheets, or scattered around your kitchen.

A break-in? A prank?

No. Sleep eating. It's a rare but documented disorder.

Sleep eaters are comparable to sleepwalkers in many ways.

More on this disorder here .

Teaching The Art Of Feeling Good

WAKE up and smell the happiness in the air. The armies of wellbeing are on the march.

These are not the usual gurus of feelgood, the strife coaches or emotivational speakers. These are high-flying academics who believe the time has come not just to pursue happiness but to teach it.

They include psychologists at Harvard and Cambridge, and economists in both the US and Britain. Even the great British public school, an institution that has traditionally sought the meaning of life in ancient Greek, rugby and cold baths, is joining the quest.

"This (teaching happiness) isn't just psycho-babble or mumbo-jumbo," said Anthony Seldon, the Head of Wellington College who remains committed to academic excellence as well as his wider mission. "When I heard that Harvard and Cambridge were taking it seriously, that this was something you could teach, I thought it was very interesting."

Gamers may soon control action with thoughts

Someday soon, video gamers may be able to use their heads, literally, to get better scores in their games.

At least two start-ups have developed technology that monitors a player's brain waves and uses the signals to control the action in games. They hope it will enable game creators to immerse players in imaginary worlds that they can control with their thoughts instead of their hands.

NeuroSky, a fabless semiconductor/module company, has developed a non-invasive neural sensor and signal processing technology that converts brainwaves and eye movements into useful electronic signals to communicate with a wide range of electronic devices, consoles, and computers.

``Research on brain waves is well known,'' said NeuroSky Chief Executive Stanley Yang. ``But we have worked on a way for detecting them with a low-cost technology and then interpreting what they mean. We think this will have broad applications.''

Sensors in the head gear -- whether headbands, headsets or helmets -- measure electrical activity in the brain that scientists have studied for decades. Using NeuroSky's chip technology, the system can distinguish whether a person is calm, stressed, meditative or attentive and alert. Beyond games, the system might be useful for determining whether drivers are so drowsy that they need an alarm to awaken them.

NeuroSky's chief technology officer and co-founder, Koo Hyoung Lee, is a South Korean scientist who for years studied how athletes concentrate. He formed NeuroSky in fall 2004. The company has raised seed money and is raising its first round of venture capital now.

Lee's team of researchers figured out how to detect signals with simpler sensors than the devices used to monitor coma patients in hospitals. NeuroSky is selling the components for the monitoring as well as the software for interpreting the brain signals. Its customers and partners could include makers of game peripherals as well as developers who create games.

The goal is to create game console add-ons costing less than $100. Some of the game play features can be conscious -- such as forcing someone to concentrate in order to drive a car faster or toss something at an enemy. Others can be subconscious. The game could slow down, for instance, if the sensors pick up an increase in anxiety, Lee said. The company hasn't set a timetable for the product launches of its customers.

``It's a very cool idea,'' said Dean Ku, vice president of marketing at Sunnyvale game company RedOctane. ``We are looking at applications for video games, like controlling cars or airplanes. It might take time. But there are possibilities.

Nintendo goes 'Wii'

Goodbye Revolution. Hello Wii.

Japan's Nintendo announced Thursday that its new gaming console -- known during development as "Revolution" -- will be called "Wii" and will be unveiled next month.

"Wii", the replacement for Nintendo's "Gamecube", is scheduled to be launched by the firm on its home market and in North America in late 2006 to compete with Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's XBox 360.

The name deliberately sounds like "we" to emphasise what the firm hopes will be its universal appeal, Nintendo said. "Wii will break down the wall that separates video game players from everyone else," it said in a statement.