Recently in Notable Category

                               Apple agreed to buy online music company Lala Media Inc. on Friday, possibly showing their attempt to expand its digital music services.
                               Lala differs in its service with Apple's iTune: They let users to pay 10 cents per music for permanent access to play the "Web songs," which is known as the cloud system for Lala users, New York Times reported.  
                               According to Wall Street Journal, the three-year-old company based in Palo Alto, Calif. does not let music to be downloaded into the user's computer or portable device.
                               If Apple incorporates the cloud system into their music service, a user's music library would be playable on any of the Web-connected mobile devices.       
                               An Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling said the company "buys smaller technology companies all the time, and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans."
                               The Washington Post reported Lala recently integrated into Google to let people sample free music through its site, Onebox. Also, Lala made a deal with Facebook to allow its users to give songs as a gift.

 

                            Scientists confirmed Friday there is a water on the moon, stating it is not a dead place.

                            "Indeed yes, we found water," Anthony Colaprete, the principal investigator of NASA said. "And we didn't find just a little bit. We found a significant amount," reported the New York Times.

                             The discovery of water on the moon is huge because it increases a chance that human can survive and live on the moon.

                             Anthony Colaprete, the chief scientist for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission said, "The moon is alive," reported the Chicago Tribune.

                             At Oct. 9, the satellite Lcross crashed into a crater near the Moon's south pole. The 5,600-miles-per-hour impact carved out a 100 feet wide hole and discovered approximately 25 gallons of water in the form of vapor and ice.

                             The $79 million Lcross mission was created to search for a water in June.

                             University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Gregory T. Delory said the discovery is "painting a really surprising new picture of the Moon; rather than a dead and unchanging world, it could be in fact a very dynamic and interesting one."

                            

 

                              South Korean skater Kim Yu-na set a new world record Saturday in the short program at Skate America ISU Grand Prix.

                              A 19-year-old Kim replaced her previous world record 76.12 points from world championships this year, with new record of 76.28 points, Korean Times reported.

                              Kim danced to 007 James Bond medley song using the movie-routine movement near perfection.

                              "I'm trying to do a clean program every time," Kim said after amazing the audiences. "It's not about the score. I don't want to think about the score," reported the Long Island Press.

                              American skater Rachael Flatt was second with 58.80 points, Hungarian skater Julia Sebestyen scored third with 58.54 points, Associated Press reported.

                              Kim's previous short program record of the season was 76.08 points at the Trophee Bompard in Paris.

                            

 

                                 President Barack Obama urged Democrats to "answer the call of history" on Saturday as the House pushed toward a vote on a health care bill which will guarantee all Americans for insurance coverage.

                                 Obama said, "I am absolutely confident that when I sign this bill in the Rose Garden, each and every one of you will be able to look back and say, 'This was my finest moment in politics,'" The Wall Street Journal reported.

                                 The House debated for months about passing the health care bill which will transform the nation's health insurance system, the New York Times reported. The issue of abortion has divided Democrats.

                                 The Miami Herald reported the House voted 242-192 to proceed with debate about the 10-year, $1.05 trillion legislation on Saturday morning.

                                 Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "we will pass health care reform," linking Social Security and Medicare system with the event, reported the Chicago Tribune.

                                 "This bill is change that the American people urgently need," Obama said. "This is their moment, this is our moment to live up to the trust that the American people have placed in us - even when it's hard; especially when it's hard," The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

                                

 

                               The Federal Aviation Administration revoked the licenses of two Northwest Airlines pilots on Tuesday who overflew Minneapolis International Airport by 150 miles.

                               According to the emergency order of F.A.A., revoking the licenses are due to the pilots action for "failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly," reported the New York Times.

                               The New York Times reported the airplane from San Diego to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport flew on autopilot last Wednesday and passed the destination. Police checked for hijacking after plane landed.  

                               The two pilots, Capt. Timothy B. Cheney and First Officer Richard I. Cole said they were using laptop computers, discussing work schedules and didn't monitor instruments, respond to calls or dispatcher messages, Los Angeles Times reported.

                               A former chairman of the National Safety Transportation Board, Jim Hall said: "What the pilots did obviously breached aviation safety and aviation security and reflects badly on the professionalism of fellow pilots," The Washington Post reported.  

                              The Washington Post reported two pilots received separate letters from the FAA administrator that the agency "finds that you lack the qualifications necessary to hold an Airline Transport Pilot certificate." 
                              

 

 

                                  U.S. embassy officials requested an extradition for film director Roman Polanski on Thursday night to the Swiss government in Bern, Switzerland.

                                  According to Agence France-Presse, Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime said "He will not accept the U.S. demand for extradition," reported the CNN.

                                  Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli said, "An arrest is a big operation," reported the Associated Press.  The CNN reported a Swiss court refused a request to release Polanski on Tuesday because of the risk of possible fleeing.

                                  A 76-year-old film director, Polanski have been charged on fugitive warrant for fleeing Los Angeles to avoid his sentence on raping 13-year-old girl in 1977, the Associated Press reported.

                                  The New York Times reported Polanski can return to the United States voluntarily to fight or serve his term.

 

 

                                South Korea's world champion title holder, Kim Yu-na broke her own world record and won the Grand Pix figure skating series in Paris.

                                The Yonhap News reported 19-year-old Kim scored 210.03 at Trophee Eric Bompard. She won the frist title for both short and free skating program of the series.

                                 "When I saw the number 210 on the scoreboard, I was surprised," said Kim. Kim's previous world record of 207.71 in the world championship competition was broken by herself, reported the Korean Herald.

                                Since she won the Grand Pix title in 2006, her name was always on the list of the winner, reported the Korean Herald.

                                Kim used 007 title song for her short program, and she skated to George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F Major at her free program.

                                Kim said, "Honestly, figure skating is not about the score. it's more important to try to present all I have in each competition," reported the Yonhap News.

 

 

                            Landslide and flood killed at least 225 people in the Phillipines on Saturday, authorities said.

                            The raining on Thursday and Friday triggered landslide, the Wall Street Journal reported it as worst flooding in Phillipine more than 40 years.
                            Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council said 93 people are injured, and more than 40 people are missing, reported the CNN.

                            Rocky Baraan, provincial administrator of Pangasinan said 32 towns and two cities of Phillipine is suffering from the flood, reported the CNN. Around 35,000 people are in evacuation centers.

                            The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. troops were conducting medical missions and delivering supplies using the military helicopters.

                            Military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said, "The roads are impassable and the only way to reach Baguio is through air," the Wall Street Journal reported.

                          

 

                        The Koreans are angered by a lighter-than-expected sentence for a offender who brutally raped 8-year-old girl last December.  

                        The Supreme Court sentenced 12 years in prison and wearing an electronic ankley for 7 years to Cho Du-Sun, 57, for beating and raping the girl, the Korean Herald reported.

                        Under the Korean law, court can reduces the sentence for a crime committed by an intoxicated person. Cho was drunk and considered to be "weaker mentally and physically," the JoongAng Daily reported.

                        A victim, first-grade elementary school student, was going to school when she was kidnapped by Cho at Dec.11. Police said Cho took her to the near church bathroom and beat her unconscious, then raped her, reported the JoongAng Daily.

                        The doctor who treated the victim said she lost 80 percent of her anus, genitals, and intestines, Korean Herald reported.

                        Cho appealed to the court complaining the prison term was too long, but the court reject it.

                        Government's web pages are packed with citizens who are resenting and blaming the law for the light-punishment toward the offender. The JoongAng Daily reported 400,000 Korean citizens filed a petition on the internet asking Cho to serve a capital punishment.

                        Even the President Lee Myung-bak said he is deeply saddened by such a horrible case and added he is againt the court's ruling, reported the JoongAng Daily.

                      

              An experimental vaccine reduced some AIDS infections, Thai and U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
              The Los Angeles Times reported only 31% of reduction showed in blocking the virus. But, considering the failures of past vaccine studies, "This is a historic day," Dr. Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise said.
              There is no cure for the AIDS virus yet. The New York Times reported, "The result of the study is a very important step for developing an AIDS vaccine," Thai health minister said.
              According to the Los Angeles Times, the research was conducted in Thailand involving 16,000 volunteers by a team of Thai researchers and the U.S. Army.
              The wide use of vaccine will take more years to develop, including regulatory approval, reported The New York Times.