SYRIA UPRISING: Pro-al-Qaeda fighters clash with Free Syrian Army

An al-Qaeda affiliated rebel group overrun a northern Syrian town following heavy clashes with Western-backed opposition forces. The Free Syrian Army says they're engaged in fierce fighting against al-Qaeda linked militants in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border from Wednesday through Thursday. 6 People were killed in the fighting, making Azaz now controlled by the Islamic extremists almost entirely.

Story: NHK WORLD

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: N. Korea holds U.S.$ 6.5 tril. worth of mineral resources

A recent report estimates that North Korea hold 6.5 trillion US Dollars worth of mineral resources. The report by ruling party representative's office says that North Korea has 20 types of economically viable resources and it adds that it has the world's second and third largest reserves of magnesite and graphite respectively.

Story: Arirang News

Luther - Songs and Score from Series 1, 2 and 3

Luther - Songs and Score from Series 1, 2 and 3

A dark and grueling crime drama aired on BBC, Luther centers on the role of DCI John Luther, played by actor Idris Elba, a dedicated but obsessive cop who solves one of the most grueling crimes in Great Britain as well as dealing with his psychological issues. This show started in 2010 and the recent third season was aired earlier in Summer 2013 and boy, this show can't get even more darker and even more grueling than this. Thanks to Idris Elba's dramatic performance, Luther has become one of the BBC's most popular crime drama series and just in time for those who survived through the recent three seasons of the hit TV series, the official soundtrack of BBC Luther is finally here. Yeah, finally, it's finally here for Luther fans to listen to some of the music as heard from the hit TV series, as well as the theme song, Paradise Circus by Massive Attack. So, if you're a Luther fan and enjoyed most of the music tracks heard from the series, this soundtrack is for you especially when it has 22 tracks overall in a single disc. Courtesy of Silva Screen Music.

TRACK LISTINGS:

1. Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
2. Paul Englishby - The First Case
3. The Heavy - Big Bad Wolf
4. Paul Englishby - Carnage
5. Gil Scott-Heron - Me and the Devil
6. Paul Englishby - Luther Does Things His Way
7. Robert Plant - Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
8. Paul Englishby - John Luther
9. Nina Simone - Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
10. Paul Englishby - Unlucky Young Couple
11. Emiliana Torrini - Gun
12. Paul Englishby - Attack In the Attic
13. Suede - She
14. Paul Englishby - The Children
15. Joan As Police Woman - Flash
16. Paul Englishby - Double Crossed
17. Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
18. Paul Englishby - He’s Behind You
19. Hanni El Khatib - I Got a Thing
20. Paul Englishby - Alice
21. Grinderman - Palaces of Montezuma
22. Kasabian - Black Whistler

Revolution Original Television Soundtrack

Revolution Original Television Soundtrack

One of NBC's most talked-about survival action drama from the studio of executive producer J.J. Abrams, Revolution is set in a world where an unknown phenomenon wiped out electricity 15 years ago and highlights on a small group of people who still holds hope that someone will come and light their way. It centers on a story of a young woman named Charlie Matheson (played by Tracy Spiridakos). Ever since her father was killed and when her brother Danny (Graham Rogers) is kidnapped by the militia, Charlie is on a quest to find her estranged uncle Miles (Billy Burke), a former US Marine who now lives a solitary life. With her uncle Miles and a rogue band of survivors, Charlie sets out to save her brother, bring justice to those who have been wronged by the militia, re-establish the United States, and in find a way to restore the power.

The first series aired on NBC since Autumn 2012 until early Summer 2013 for 20 episodes, each filled with grueling twists that thickens the storyline and with the second series coming this month, the soundtrack based on the first series is now up and running for fans who won't forget the pain, the agony, the sorrow, and the courage as seen on the first series of NBC's Revolution. All 35 tracks were composed by Christopher Lennertz and each track really is as gripping as the series itself, from the start of Charlie's story all the way to the Tower where in the end of first series when after the power was restored, Randall Flynn unleashed a military strike in front of our heroes before killing himself.

Revolution returns on September 25 for a second season only on NBC. Check local listings.

Available at: Amazon.com

TRACK LISTINGS:

1) Revolution Opening Theme

2) Charlie's Theme

3) Ben's Death

4) Life After Iphones

5) The Plane Gang

6) Road to Wrigley

7) Magic of the Pendant

8) Showdown - What Now

9) Reflection - Randall's Visit

10) Grace's House

11) Truth About Miles

12) Rachael Kills Strausser

13) Matheson Adaigo

14) The Lighthouse

15) Maggie Dies

16) Maggie's Elegy - Neville Transforms

17) Rachael Draws

18) We're Saving This One

19) Hairless Ewoks

20) Pendant in the Open

21) Blowing It Up

22) Family Reunited

23) Helicopter

24) Danny Down

25) Requiem

26) Charlie Thanks Miles

27) Revelation

28) Strategizing - General Matheson

29) The Drone

30) Aaron and Priscilla

31) Fly Away

32) Entering the Tower

33) Dark Tower

34) Meeting the Others

35) Genesis of Power

SYRIA UPRISING: $1B, 1 year needed to destroy Syria's chemical weapons

Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad promised he would surrender Syria's chemical weapons but warned that it would take at least a year to do so and cost one billion dollars. His latest appearance came as the UN envoys debated a draft resolution that would encourage the US-Russian plan to secure and neutralize his banned weapons in international law.

Story: INTERAKSYON.COM

Let's Do The News! (September 19, 2013)

Mimes blocked your path? Here are some moments that you had missed.

- Just before this week's Tokyo Game Show 2013, Microsoft announced that the XBOX One will be released in Japan next year. Not sure when but let's recap; in November 22, X1 will be available in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States for $499. The Playstation4, on the other hand, will launch in the United States and Canada on November 15, in Europe and Latin America on November 29, and in Japan on February 22, 2014 for hundred dollars less.

- Iran, once a sinister country for their nuclear regime, is also one of a few places where people love to surf. Get this, an Irish woman, named Easkey Britton, is the first ever woman to surf through Iranian tidal waves.



- Some reports regarding the Washington Navy Yard mass killings described that the man responsible for the bloodbath, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis as "obsessed with violent video games" and played them for "hours on end". Fox News interviewed University of Missouri associate professor of psychology Bruce Bartholomew who said, "More than any other media, these video games encourage active participation in violence. From a psychological perspective, video games are excellent teaching tools because they reward players for engaging in certain types of behavior. Unfortunately, in many popular video games, the behavior is violence." Wall Street Journal reported that one of Alexis' pals said he undergone marathon sessions of FPS while The Telegraph reported that he played Call of Duty and Biohazard (Resident Evil) for up to 16 hours and friends believed it could have pushed him towards becoming a killer.

- Today is the day Apple's new iOS7 went public and this latest operating system for Apple is available only to 5th generation iPod touch, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad with Retina Display, iPad Mini, as well as new models like the 5S and the 5C. So, what do you guys think of the new design? Refreshing or revolting?

- It's been less than a year when Frederator Studios' CARTOON HANGOVER went online but by the statistics, here's what Frederator Studios' CARTOON HANGOVER crunched up by the numbers;

170,000,000 minutes viewed +24%
1,000,000 subscribers +16%
60,000,000 video views +28%
14,000,000 unique visitors +27%

Providing web cartoons like Bravest Warriors, Rocket Dog, Bee & Puppycat, Superf*ckers, and others, it seems that CARTOON HANGOVER is off for a promising start with a long list of supporters everywhere for a thing that is Too ____ For TV. Well done, Frederator, another milestone passed.

- Moving on to the Zamboanga Stand-off, as recently there were two soldiers and an official were killed in a middle of a stand-off between the MNLF rebels against the military forces. The clearing operation from the military troops continues as expected.

- Here's a very sad story somewhere in Tokyo, Japan, which is the venue for the 2020 Olympics. There was once a senior Japanese man in the name of Kohei Jinno who was onced moved out from his Tokyo home ahead of the 1964 Olympics to make way for construction of the main stadium. Now, he has to move again because the public housing complex where he and his wife live, close to the stadium and the site of his former home -- currently a parking lot -- is slated to be destroyed as part of construction of a new stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The New Range Rover Sport

The Range Rover Sport, if my memory serves me correctly, the Range Rover Sport is a premiership footballer's favorite SUV but sadly, even though it's a Range Rover, it isn't a real Range Rover because in the past, what's underneath is just components from the Land Rover Discovery, so this is nothing more of a faux Range Rooney rather than a real one. Sadly though, it feels a bit more of a commoners' car rather than a rough-and-tumbling beast that loves to play with Mother Nature, before this one consign to the history books, good news! There's a new model coming up!

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

This is the all new Range Rover Sport. It costs about over 20,000 less than the normal Range Rover, and on paper, the new model is now the most dynamic and the most sportiest in the Range Rover lineup. It maybe a new model but with it stay true to its promises by its name? Remember; RANGE ROVER SPORT. The words "RANGE ROVER" determines its true off-road potential while the "SPORT" determines its...well, sportiness. Does it stay true to its promises? Well, don't get to hasty because let's start with the basics.

Like its normal Range Rooney, the Range Rover Sport now sports an all-aluminum chassis, which benefitted 400kg of weight loss. That seems to be rather impressive, indeed, to have its 400kg weight lost but still, good job for those working behind the scenes. In terms of engine choices, you can have either a 3.0-litre LR-TDV6 diesel that accelerates from 0-60mph in 7.1 seconds, a 3.0-litre LR-SDV6 diesel engine that accelerates from 0 -60mph in 6.8 seconds, and for the more hardcore enthusiasts, a 5.0-litre LR-V8 supercharged petrol engine that accelerates from 0-60mph in 5.0 seconds. Well, that was unexpected, there were two diesel engines and one supercharged Jaguar engine available for the RR Sport but there's more to it than that because this car has been through a lot of challenges. In Pikes Peak, the Range Rover Sport set the record for the fastest ascent in a production SUV, which is good then but that's just the tip of an iceberg because the with the Range Rover Sport, it promises to conquer the deeper, higher, and colder challenges thanks to its cunning performance figures that really stand out against its rivals.

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Like the Range Rover, the new Sport comes with the new generation Terrain Response which adapts the vehicle’s settings to suit the terrain automatically. It's becoming one of the most intelligent offroaders ever made and it's pretty much the same as the normal Range Rover that our Springer Spaniel drove against a self-driving military truck and won against it. Ooh, yes. That new Terrain Response really is worth the smart and oh, there's even that part where it detects the water level as well, which is great if you're trying to monitor the RR Sport's progress in the water levels. For offroading, the new Sport really is worth bearing the Range Rover name.

So, what about the Sport name? Does the new model still bears the Sport in the Sport Utility Vehicle name? Well, you remember the part where The Stig drove this and see if its faster against the Mini JCW GP in a time attack. Even though it's just an SUV made for offroad purposes, the new Range Rover Sport can also be a perfect track-day car and judging from its dynamic performance, when you set this one on DYNAMIC MODE, it feels like it wants to give a Porsche Cayenne a run from its money. It feels like blowing a lovely bunch of watermelons with TNT or blowing up sacks of flour with naphthalene. Ding dong.

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport interior

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport interior

Like the Range Rover, the Sport still features tons of luxury equipment and for an added treat, there is now a third-row seating at the back, which means the new model became the first-ever Land Rover model to come with third-row seating which allows you to seat two kids at the back and yes...expect the whole "ARE WE THERE YET?" questionnaire which annoys most parents all the time. Good thing you can shut them up with a fair bit of entertainment but sadly, entertainment stuff goes to the 2nd row seating.

But still, no matter the outcome, the new Range Rover Sport is becoming a British equivalent of the uber-ugly Porsche Cayenne and even though it's becoming a performance-oriented super SUV, it still hangs on to the promises. It has the right to bear the name Range Rover Sport.

The SE model (available from January 2014) will costs about 51,550 GBP up to 74,995 GBP for the Autobiography Dynamic, with additional costs from options and accessories.

Available Colors: Fuji White, Indus Silver, Ipanema Sand, Scotia Grey, Nara Bronze, Corris Grey, Firenze Red, Aintree Green, Loire Blue, Santorini Black, Luxor, Causeway Grey, Chile, Mariana Black, Barossa, Havana, and Barolo Black.

Photo: Jaguar Land Rover