Canalis says Clooney relationship was paternal

Ever wondered what genetically gifted Elisabetta Canalis and George Clooney's relationship was like? Well, now we know ? and it was apparently...paternal?!

RELATED: Inside George Clooney's Latest Breakup

The "Dancing With the Stars" contestant and former Clooney girlfriend reveals in Italian journalist Bruno Vespa's new book "Questo Amore" (This Love) that her relationship with one of Hollywood's biggest hunks was "more of a father-daughter relationship," which she "was unable to clarify...'til now."

Canalis further "clarifies" her feelings towards Clooney as: "the person who valued my feminine side the most" and "one of the best people I have met from a charitable point of view," explaining, "he has been special for me, and very important, just as a father would be."

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MORE: George Clooney and Elisabetta Canalis: Anatomy of a Split

So why the breakup in June?

Canalis denied the marriage-issue rumors as the breaking point, revealing, "George and I never spoke of marriage nor of having kids...I don't put limits to the possibility of having them, but neither George nor I had ever envisaged having kids together. The end of the relationship was not caused by a marriage issue, but instead by our personal needs."

EVEN MORE: After Getting DWTS Boot, Elisabetta Canalis Rebounds with True Blood Hottie

And apparently George's personal needed involved a blonde?!

As for Clooney's current girlfriend, "Dancing" alum Stacy Keibler, Canalis kept it classy with only sincere words for him: "George is a real gentleman even in his private life. I was very much respected both as a woman and partner."

And we respect that post-breakup maturity! But we wonder how "Dad" Clooney will take the fatherly comparison.

CHECK OUT: Big Celebrity Splits

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45095308/ns/today-entertainment/

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Attack near UN guest house kills 4 in Afghanistan

Afghan security men take position during an exchange of fire with armed insurgents next to the site of a suicide bombe attack, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint in a neighborhood near a guest house used by the United Nations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar early Monday. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

Afghan security men take position during an exchange of fire with armed insurgents next to the site of a suicide bombe attack, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint in a neighborhood near a guest house used by the United Nations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar early Monday. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

An Afghan security guard, who was wounded slightly in a suicide bombing, stands at the site, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint in a neighborhood near a guest house used by the United Nations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar early Monday. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

Afghan policemen gather at the site of a suicide bomb attack, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint in a neighborhood near a guest house used by the United Nations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar early Monday. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ? A suicide vehicle bomb struck a checkpoint in a neighborhood housing United Nations and international aid groups' offices and guest houses in the southern city of Kandahar early Monday, killing four people, Afghan officials said. Attacking insurgents broke into the offices of an aid group.

Gunmen rushed into the neighborhood and seized control of at least one building, and were exchanging fire with security forces, Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Razzaq said. NATO said that Afghan troops were "leading the efforts against the attackers" in the city, a traditional Taliban stronghold.

The combined bombing and assault was the second major attack in three days targeting foreigners or NATO troops in the country, and spotlighted the insurgents' ability to continue to carry out major attacks despite a 10-year NATO campaign against them. The U.S.-led coalition is gradually handing over security responsibilities to its Afghan counterparts and plans to withdrawing its combat forces by the end of 2014.

Immediately after the 6:15 a.m. bomb attack, two insurgents rushed into the area and seized control of an animal clinic near the office of the International Relief and Development organization, said provincial police spokesman Ghorzang, who like many Afghans goes by one name.

The insurgents then managed to enter the IRD's office through the neighboring UNHCR building, Ghorzang said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with spokesman Qari Yousef saying the insurgents were targeting what he claimed was a guest house affiliated with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. But UNAMA does not operate a guest house in the area.

The clinic and IRD offices entered by the attackers are, however, near guest houses affiliated with both the IRD and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, Ghorzang said, and the area is also home to several other international NGO offices and guest houses.

Earlier reports said three security guards in the area were killed, but Mohammad Faisal, spokesman for the Kandahar governor's office, said three civilians and one policeman were killed. Three civilians and a Nepalese guard were also wounded, said Faisal.

UNAMA said it was aware of the situation, but that "all our staff, both Afghan and non-Afghan ... have been accounted for," said agency spokesman Dan McNorton.

The attack comes two days after the Taliban launched a brazen midday suicide bombing in Kabul, striking a NATO convoy on Saturday and killing 17 people ? five NATO service members, including one Canadian soldier; eight civilian contractors, including two from Britain; and four Afghans, including a policeman.

Saturday's attack in Kabul underscored the urgency behind the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to expand a security bubble around the city.

With most of the attacks in Kabul blamed on the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, that assault reinforced U.S. and Afghan demands that Islamabad do more to curb militant activity and sanctuaries on its territory. Last month, then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the al-Qaida and Taliban-linked Haqqani network "acts as a veritable arm" of Pakistan's intelligence agency ? an accusation that Pakistan has denied.

While there is no specific information linking Saturday's convoy attack to the Haqqani, investigators say they soon will have evidence the bombing was "Haqqani-related," a western diplomat said Sunday.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said it was "very possible" the Kabul attack was the work of Haqqani fighters.

At least 11 of about 15 major attacks in the capital this year can be blamed on the Haqqanis, according to a senior official with the coalition who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss undisclosed investigative reports on the incidents.

The Haqqanis were the focus of two military operations this month that involved tens of thousands of Afghan and NATO troops.

The operations were conducted over nine days in several provinces along the border with Pakistan, More than 200 insurgents were killed or captured. At least 20 of them had ties to the Haqqani group, including 10 identified as leaders of the network.

Marine Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press that the operations against the Haqqanis were conducted in preparation for next year's plan to step up operations to keep insurgents from infiltrating across the Pakistani border and into the capital, especially from the south.

The United States has stepped up criticism of Pakistan and its counterterrorism cooperation, but at the same time has worked to cajole the increasingly angry and resistant Pakistanis into doing more to squeeze militants on its side of the border.

During her visit to the region last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered an unusually blunt warning to the Pakistanis, saying they "must be part of the solution" to the Afghan conflict.

Clinton said the Obama administration expects the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services to "take the lead" in not only fighting insurgents based in Pakistan but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society.

___

Associated Press writers Tarek El-Tablawy, Deb Riechmann and Amir Shah contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-10-31-AS-Afghanistan/id-123453d0e83743beb4943807cba8cfd7

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'Expendables 2' Stuntman Dies In On-Set Accident

Explosion, which injured a second stuntman, occurred while sequel was filming in Bulgaria.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Sylvester Stallone in "The Expendables"
Photo: Lionsgate

Tragedy has struck the Bulgarian set of the star-studded action sequel "The Expendables 2."

A stuntman was killed when an accident occurred involving a rubber boat and an explosion. Two stuntmen were involved in the scene, which was filming around 7 p.m. local time on Thursday night. The second man suffered serious injuries, but he is now said to be in stable condition.

No information has been released yet as to the identities of the men involved in the incident. A representative from the production company behind the Sylvester Stallone-produced film, Nu Image/Millennium Films, released a statement, saying, "It is with great regret that we confirm this unfortunate accident. Our hearts go out to the families and those on the production affected by this tragedy. The filmmakers are working closely with the authorities in responding to and investigating this accident."

The accident occurred while the second unit filmed at the Ognyanovo dam in Bulgaria. None of the film's stars were present during the incident, as the first unit was filming at a resort more than two hours away.

"Expendables 2" is scheduled to hit theaters next August and stars Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. It is the sequel to the hit 2010 action film written and directed by Stallone. The sequel reunites most of the cast, while adding Simon West as director and adding Norris and Van Damme to the lineup.

Check out everything we've got on "The Expendables 2."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1673345/expendables-2-stuntman-killed.jhtml

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Brazil's Silva has cancerous tumor in larynx (AP)

SAO PAULO ? Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will undergo chemotherapy to treat a cancerous tumor in his larynx, doctors said Saturday.

The tumor was detected Saturday during an examination at Sao Paulo's Sirio Libanes Hospital, the hospital said in a statement, which added that Silva will begin outpatient treatment in the coming week.

Oncologist Artur Katz, one of the doctors attending Silva, told reporters that the former president is in "very good condition."

He said the tumor was not very big and that Silva's chances of a full recovery are excellent.

Katz said it was not possible immediately to say what caused the tumor, adding it could have been sparked by the small cigars Silva used to smoke, or even a virus.

Jose Crispiniano, spokesman for the "Lula Institute," a nongovernmental organization founded by the 66-year-old Silva after he left office, said the former president went to the hospital for a checkup because his throat was hurting him. He said Silva is expected to begin chemotherapy on Monday.

Paraguayan Foreign Minister Jorge Lara Castro, whose country is hosting the 23-nation IberoAmerican Conference in the capital of Asuncion, called the news "very sad."

"Those of us participating in this summit can only lend our solidarity and be there for him during his treatment," he told a news conference.

Silva, known as "Lula" in Brazil and abroad, was elected president of Brazil in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Under his leadership, Brazil experienced solid growth: The country's international reserves ballooned from $38 billion in 2002 to $240 billion by the end of 2009, inflation was tamed, 20 million people were lifted from poverty and nearly 40 million moved into the middle class.

Unemployment in Brazil hit a record low under Silva, and the currency more than doubled against the U.S. dollar. He also helped the nation win the right to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, the first-ever to be held in South America.

Silva left office with an 87 percent approval rating and managed to get his hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, elected in 2010 to take his spot.

"President Lula is a leader, a symbol and an example for all of us," Rousseff said in a statement. "I am sure that his strength, determination and capacity to overcome all sorts of adversities will help him win this new challenge."

In 2009, Rousseff had a malignant tumor removed from her left armpit at the Sirio Libanes Hospital. She underwent chemotherapy treatment and was given a clean bill of health in August 2010.

(This version CORRECTS the number of people who moved into the middle class to 40 million. )

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111029/ap_on_he_me/lt_brazil_former_president

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In Pakistan, a militant deal sours

(AP) ? The deal saw one of Pakistan's most feared militants walk from jail apparently in exchange for his commitment to nonviolence, help in reining in other fighters and possibly delivering the votes of his followers.

Supporters showered Malik Ishaq with rose petals when he left the prison in the eastern city of Lahore in July. Days later, he was preaching murderous hatred toward minority Shiites to crowds of cheering Sunnis, energizing a network whose members have joined al-Qaida for terror strikes. That was too much for Pakistani authorities, who arrested him again last month.

Pakistan has a well-documented history of trying to coopt or strike deals with militants of various causes, and a close examination of the Ishaq case shows how that can play out.

It's a cautionary tale, perhaps, for U.S. officials who are urging Pakistan to bring to the negotiating table Afghan militants who enjoy safe havens in the country's lawless border regions.

Fifteen years ago, Ishaq founded Laskhar-e-Jangvi, or LeJ, which allies itself with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The LeJ is blamed for scores of attacks on Shiites, regarded as infidels, and on Pakistani and U.S. interests.

Ishaq was arrested in 1997 and accused in more than 200 criminal cases including the killings of 70 Shiites.

But the state could never make the charges stick ? in large part because witnesses, judges and prosecutors were too scared to convict.

Frightened judges treated him honorably in court and gave him tea and cookies, according to Anis Haider Naqvi, a prosecution witness in two cases against Ishaq. One judge attempted to hide his face with his hands, but Ishaq made clear he knew his identity in a chilling way: He read out the names of his children, and the judge abandoned the trial, he said.

Despite the lack of convictions, Ishaq remained in prison for 14 years as prosecutors slowly moved from one case to the next.

Ishaq proved his usefulness to the army in 2009, when he was flown from jail to negotiate with militants who had stormed part of the military headquarters in Rawalpindi and were holding hostages there, said Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, who used to advise the Punjab provincial government on religious matters.

A behind-the-scenes effort by the government to co-opt the leaders of militant outfits and bring them into mainstream political life, or at least draw them away from attacking the state, helped Ishaq secure his July 15 release, according to Ashrafi.

"I met Ishaq several times in prison," Ashrafi said, emphasizing that Ishaq assured him that he wanted to contribute to peace. "If someone wants to get back to normal life, yes, why not, we do help him," said Ashrafi. "These are our own men." He said he was disappointed to see him back in jail.

Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan denied there was any deal behind Ishaq's release, but said extremist leaders were free to join politics if they eschewed violence. "We are in touch with those who have become, or want to become, useful citizens," he said.

The Punjab is the key battleground between the ruling party of President Asif Ali Zardari and the party of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, currently in power in that province.

Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, the head of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, or SSP, LeJ's parent sectarian group, told a rally last year that Nawaz's brother, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, had promised that Ishaq's release "would be settled in meetings" with him.

"After that meeting, the time is not far when the prison door would break open and Malik Ishaq would be released," he said.

LeJ and other militant groups can muster significant support in Punjab and parts of Sindh province through their schools and mosques, making them an important political force. Mainstream politicians have shown no hesitation in courting them despite their links to violence.

Local SSP leader Mohammad Tayyab said a recent SSP-backed candidate for a regional assembly seat in southern Punjab got 17,000 votes.

"That is what Zardari's party and Sharif's know very well," he said.

Khaled Ahmad, an expert on Pakistani militant groups in Punjab, said there is "no doubt" that the SSP and Sharif's party would cut deals as they have done in the past. "It is dangerous now because the group and its offshoots are in alliance with al-Qaida."

Government intelligence reports obtained by The Associated Press show Ishaq made threats in his public appearances after his release from prison.

He urged his supporters not to be afraid of Pakistani laws or prisons, and told them to "get on the streets and crush publicly the Shiites who abuse the Prophet Muhammad's companions."

"We know how to kill and how to die," he told a gathering near Rahim Yar Khan on Sept. 4, according to one report.

Ishaq's aides denied he made such remarks.

The government suspected Ishaq of coordinating meetings in recent months of 50 or so alleged terrorists, said Khan, the law minister. Some of the men Ishaq visited directly after his release had allegedly been involved in terrorism and were being watched by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, said the government reports.

LeJ's stronghold is south and central Punjab, a neglected, blisteringly hot part of the country that has long been the recruiting ground for state-sanctioned jihadi groups. Wealthy families, disproportionately Shiite, own large swaths of land where tenant farmers grow cotton, sugarcane and wheat and work at mango orchids.

Visitors to Ishaq's house in Islam Nagar in the southern Punjabi city of Rahim Yar Khan are greeted by an SSP member with an automatic rifle, against a backdrop of flags and banners glorifying the group.

"My father's mission is a true one," said his son, Malik Usman. "We will seek our reward from Allah."

___

Associated Press Writers Aqeel Ahmad in Mansehra, Pakistan, Khalid Tanveer in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-28-AS-Pakistan-Militant-Bad-Deal/id-c8cb323c32474244af7ffeb1393a442b

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EU banks to hike capital buffers by June (AP)

BRUSSELS ? European governments will force their largest banks to quickly and significantly increase their cushions of capital in order to ride out market turmoil brought on by the debt crisis, officials announced Wednesday.

By the end of June, the banks will need to have a 9 percent core tier 1 capital ratio ? which measures how much good capital a bank holds compared with its risky investments.

The bank recapitalization is an important first step in the grand plan Europe needs to pull the continent back from the brink and prevent another global recession.

With an agreement in place on insulating the banks from turmoil, the leaders can now move on to the sticky question of how big banks' losses on Greek bonds should be ? so the country has a fighting chance of digging out from under its debt burden ? and how to ensure that the crisis doesn't swallow any more countries.

The requirement announced Wednesday evening after a meeting of the leaders of the European Union's 27 countries represents a significant increase over this summer's stress tests, which passed banks that had a ratio of 5 percent.

The new rules will even require banks to fully account for all sovereign debt they hold. The banks' capital levels will be calculated only after banks mark down the government bonds they held as of Sept. 30 to a value closer to the market price. That presumably is to dissuade banks from suddenly dumping the bonds.

In the July tests, they had been allowed to assume that at least some government debt would be paid in full.

That will clearly not be the case, with leaders working on a plan to ask banks to lose as much as 60 percent of their investment in Greek bonds, much more than they had previously agreed to take.

Losses on Greek debt and the market turmoil caused by the crisis more generally prompted European leaders to ask banks to shore up their balance sheets.

The rules mean that large European banks will satisfy international banking guidelines known as Basel III years ahead of the 2019 schedule.

Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski, who announced the decision after a summit in Brussels, said banking regulators would later announce how much banks will have to raise to meet the new rules since it's still unclear how much their losses on Greek debt will be.

European officials had earlier said the new rules would force banks to raise just over euro100 billion ($140 billion).

Rostowski said the more stringent ratio would be temporary ? banks would only have to prove once that they met the standard. That's an indication that the leaders hope the rest of their package will make such safeguards unnecessary in the future.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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The 'hilarious' TSA note about a woman's vibrator (The Week)

New York ? After packing a sex toy in her luggage, a woman allegedly opens her suitcase to find a note from the TSA reading, "GET YOUR FREAK ON." Cue the jokes

The TSA's full body scanners have prompted privacy and modesty concerns, but one woman alleges that the TSA violated her privacy in a far more overt way. Feminist blogger Jill Filipovic says that after flying from Newark to Dublin, she opened her suitcase to find a special note from the TSA. Scrawled across the agency's official search form was a message: "GET YOUR FREAK ON." (See a picture of the note here.) I "guess they discovered a 'personal item' in my bag," Filipovic tweeted. "Wow." The item in question was a small, inexpensive silver bullet vibrator from the sex toy chain Babeland, chosen because Filipovic thought it "wouldn't raise any flags at TSA." Now "I'm grossed out,"?says Filipovic, "but it's also hilarious." The TSA says it's investigating the incident. Meanwhile, bloggers are cracking wise. Here, a sampling:

Conservative agenda?
"Is self-pleasuring really considered 'freaky' by anyone's standards these days?" asks John Del Signore at Gothamist. "Or is Newark airport subcontracting out their security screening to Focus on the Family?"

Mission accomplished
"As part of its ongoing efforts to make air travel as uncomfortable as possible,"?says Dan Amira at?New York, "the TSA is now, apparently, leaving behind little creepy notes about the personal items it finds in your checked luggage."

Just saying
"Given that 'groping' leaps to many people's minds the minute the TSA is mentioned,"?says Anna North at?Jezebel, "it might behoove agents to exercise a little discretion when going through people's stuff."

Touchy subject
Is this "hilarious or horrifying?" asks Lauri Apple at Gawker. "I'm gonna go with 'horrifying lite' ? if only because there's the chance that the agent(s) touched the 'item' without washing his/her/their hands, or wasn't paying attention to other potentially freaky things," like, say loaded guns.?

The lesson
"On your next business trip,"?says John Giuffo at?Forbes, "you might want to leave your more private possessions at home ? unless getting your luggage handled is how you 'get your freak on.'"

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111025/cm_theweek/220703

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