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JERUSALEM — An influential Israeli rabbi known for his vitriolic pronouncements against Arabs says Palestinians and their leader should "perish from this world."

Israel Army Radio quoted Ovadia Yosef Sunday as saying the Palestinians were "evil, bitter enemies of Israel" and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should be struck with a plague. He made the remarks in a Saturday night sermon.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are to resume this week.

The 89-year-old rabbi is a respected religious scholar among Jews of Middle Eastern descent. He is also spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas political movement – part of Israel's coalition government.

Yosef has upset many over the years with declarations against Arabs, secular Jews, liberals, women and gays, among others.

Elisabeth Moss seems determined not to let her recently reported split with 'Saturday Night Live' star Fred Armisen get in the way of having a great time during her triumphant Emmy weekend.
The 'Mad Men' star, 28, made her first public appearances since the announcement of the split, gracing two glittering pre-Emmy parties on Friday night.
But by all accounts Moss, up for a best supporting Emmy this weekend, made for a stunning (and ringless) image at both Entertainment Weekly's Women in Film party and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Performers Nominee Reception.
"She looked great," says one guest at the nominees reception. "She was wearing a sexy, tight off-the-shoulder dress with a long zipper along the back. It was definitely a new look for her. This was not Peggy Olson, for sure."
"And she was definitely not wearing her wedding ring."

Moss seemed unaffected by the recent news that her 10-month old marriage to Armisen is on the rocks and recent reports that he's getting cozy with fellow 'SNL' star Abby Elliot.
She laughed frequently and spent significant time with a girlfriend at a table near the bar through much of the nominees party. Though the party was sponsored by Grey Goose, she bucked the 'Mad Men' trend and avoided cocktails, preferring another vice: smoking cigarettes outside.
"She spent much of the night in conversation, sometimes intense, with the friend at the table," says the guest. "But she definitely had time to share some laughs."
Moss even started a Happy Birthday song for 'Breaking Bad' star, and fellow nominee, Aaron Paul from the party's stage. It was a return favor to Paul, who had cheered wildly for the actress when she took the stage earlier.
"She looked right at home chatting with the other nominees on the stage," says the onlooker. "She looked entirely comfortable. And her dress was a knock-out."

BENGHAZI, Libya — In the outskirts of this city, Libya's second largest, row after row of sand-colored concrete apartment blocks and villas are sprouting from the desert. Hundreds of kilometers away, construction cranes dot the Mediterranean skyline of the capital, Tripoli.

The multibillion dollar construction frenzy taking place is the latest and most visible sign of Libya's drive for growth. It's a push that largely ignored the global financial meltdown that left other oil-rich Arab nations stumbling over the last couple of years, and reflects how Libya is tapping its oil wealth to reshape a country isolated for years by sanctions and international disdain.

Libya is "really trying to become, for lack of a better term, a new Dubai." said Carlos Caceres, a representative of the Los Angeles-based engineering giant AECOM working in Benghazi. He was referring to the United Arab Emirate sheikdom whose stratospheric rise was rivaled only by its staggering debt woes.

AECOM is overseeing a $80 billion project to build 160,000 housing units throughout the country, about a quarter of which will be in Benghazi, and refurbishing sewage and paving roads there. Overall, however, Libya plans to spend $500 billion over the next decade on a host of projects.

New universities are being planned, Tripoli's shabby airport is being overhauled, new Toyota and Honda sedans abound in the streets and trendy cafes dot street corners.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts Libya's economy will grow by 5.4 percent this year, while the U.N. said foreign direct investment into the country quadrupled from $1 billion in 2005 to $4.1 billion in 2008.

"It's absolutely the boom country at the moment," said Richard Barber, a British supervisor with HanmiParsons, a South Korea-based construction management company. "So many engineers from Dubai and the rest of the Mideast are coming here now and finding work, including me."

The country's surge sits in stark contrast to the Libya of just over decade ago, when it was struggling under international and U.S. sanctions linked to Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's support for terrorism and the country's weapons of mass destruction program.

Gadhafi's decision to renounce terrorism, hand over the two suspects wanted for the 1988 airline bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and pay compensation to the families of the 270 people killed in the attack paved the way for Libya's re-entry into the international community. The U.S. restored relations and reopened its embassy, American and European oil firms have flocked to the country, home to Africa's largest proven oil reserves.

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It appears the ‘Dirty Dancing’ star will be putting on her dancing shoes 23 years after her iconic role as Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman!
It looks like the cast for the new season of Dancing With The Stars is filling out well before ABC’s public announcement on Aug. 30, as it has just been reported that Jennifer Grey and Margaret Cho would be joining the reality program. EOnline reports, “Margaret Cho and actress Jennifer Grey are also among the celebrities who will be tangoing across the DWTS floor this year.”

Jennifer and Margaret will be joining a cast that is said to include Rick Fox, Michael Bolton, Audrina Patridge, Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, Brandy, Florence Henderson, David Hasselhoff, and the one and only Bristol Palin.

Producers had long hoped to snag Dirty Dancing actress Jennifer as well as her costar Patrick Swayze before he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in September of 2009.

The former reality star admits she’s gone too far with her G-cup boob job!
Heidi Montag seemed so content with the 12 surgeries she endured, hoping to attain a perfect body — until now. The former reality star, who has escaped Hollywood and is currently living in Costa Rica, finally opens up about the isolated life and excruciating pain she put herself through, telling Life & Style, “I’m desperate to go back to normal.” Heidi says surgery has taken a toll on her personal relationships, claiming she never speaks to her once close-knit family anymore. She says her surgery is also responsible for breaking up the marriage with Spencer Pratt. “He begged me not to get the first surgery, and it almost broke up our relationship. Then he begged me not to get the second one, and it did break our relationship.”

While Heidi plans to downgrade her “painful” G-cup boobs to a D or double D, she says, “I really like the rest of my surgeries, though. I’m really happy, and I think I look great.” Although she claims to be happy, Heidi says the surgeries have taken a toll on her everyday life, saying it’s impossible to work out, hug her dogs, and can only wear sweats on an everyday basis! While she may appear healed, the star has tape on her nose 24 hours a day since November, saying her nose is so delicate she wouldn’t be able to have it fixed again. “It’s done, so I have to be really careful. I feel like a porcelain doll.”

It turns out her breasts aren’t the only parts of her body still going through adjustments, the former reality star says she’s still in recovery. “It’s going to be at least five more months until the swelling completely comes down in my face and in the rest of my body. The nose always takes a year, and breasts also take a lot of time,” she said.

WASHINGTON — It will likely be a few years before Afghanistan is secure enough for the U.S. Marines to leave, Commandant Gen. James Conway said Tuesday, adding his voice to a growing chorus of military leaders warning of a long fight ahead.

Afghan war commander Gen. David Petraeus and other senior officers have recently said that considerable time will be needed before Afghan troops can take over the fight.

But Conway's blunt assessment was the first of its kind to come from a service chief since President Barack Obama announced that U.S. troops will begin leaving Afghanistan in July 2011. Last fall, Obama said that security conditions will determine how many forces can leave and how fast.

Conway also said intelligence intercepts suggest that Taliban fighters have been encouraged by the talk of the U.S. beginning to withdraw troops next year.

"In some ways, we think right now it's probably giving our enemy sustenance," Conway said of the 2011 deadline. "We think that he may be saying to himself ... 'Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.'"

But, Conway quickly added, the perception that the U.S. is pulling out completely is likely to work in America's favor after the deadline passes, when Marines are still fighting insurgents. Taliban morale is likely to drop when "come the fall we're still there hammering them like we have been," he said.

"I think it could be very good for us in that context, in terms of the enemy psyche," he said.

The Marines have been at the forefront of America's toughest fights in the Afghanistan war, including attempts to oust the Taliban from the farming hamlets of Marjah in Helmand province.

Conway, known for his candor, is planning to retire this fall after 40 years in the Marines.

Miley Cyrus gets sexual, drugged out and even flashes her Brazilian wax at onscreen mom Demi Moore in her new movie 'LOL: Laughing Out Loud.'

Hollywood Life has seen the script of the English-language remake of the French hit and reports that Miley's character loses her virginity, smokes pot, gets wasted and kisses two girlfriends on the lips.

"You're my daughter," Demi tells Miley at one point, "And I won't let you turn into a porn star!"

Demi told MTV News that in real life Miley is "incredibly grounded" and nothing like her character.

"[Miley] is a true professional, and she truly has a wonderful family," she said. "It really shows."

Considering the trajectory of Lindsay Lohan's career after her 'Georgia Rule' blow job, teen sex shock antics haven't proven a surefire way to be taken seriously as an adult actor.

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WASHINGTON — The moon may be shrinking.

Not to worry though, lovers and crooners, it won't be disappearing any time soon.

New research indicates cracks in the moon's crust that have formed as the interior has cooled and shrunk over the last billion years or so. That means the surface has shrunk, too, though not so you'd notice just from gazing at it.

Scientists have identified 14 landforms called lobate scarps scattered over the surface of the moon, explained Thomas R. Watters of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Watters and colleagues describe their find in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

The scarps had previously been noted at the moon's equator, but this is the first evidence in other areas, indicating they result from a global process.

The study calls the scarps "evidence of recent thrust faulting on the moon." But this is planetary science, where "recent" can mean a billion years ago.

The scarps, or cliffs, extend across some small craters, and small craters tend to be obliterated over time, Watters explained in a telephone interview. In addition, there are no large craters imposed on top of the scarps, another indication they are relatively recent, in planetary terms, he said.

"One of the really cool parts of this ... the faults are so young-looking that you can't escape the possibility that this contraction occurred recently, and could indicate that the moon is still active," Watters said.

The size of the scarps indicates a shrinkage in the size of the moon of about 100 meters (328 feet), which wouldn't be nearly enough to be noticed with the naked eye. The moon is about one-fourth the size of the Earth in diameter.

The scarps range up to 10 meters (a little over 30 feet) high and a few kilometers long, he said. By comparison, the planet Mercury has much larger scarps indicating considerably more shrinkage over time.

The moon's not going to disappear and its shrinkage won't affect the Earth in any way, Watters stressed.

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MOSCOW — The poisonous smog that contributed to a higher death rate in Moscow last week returned to Russia's capital Sunday, officials said.

The concentration of carbon monoxide in Moscow air early Sunday was more than five times what is considered normal, said Alexey Popikov of weather monitors Mosecomonitoring.

In addition, "The level of hydrocarbon emissions – the substances that give the air this unpleasant smell – was 5.5 times higher than the usual Moscow level this morning," he told The Associated Press. He added, however, that by Monday winds will disperse most the smog.

Acrid smoke from forest and peat bog fires blanketed Moscow until early this week, nearly doubling the number of recorded deaths and grounding planes in airports.

Emergency officials said the number of wildfires outside Moscow stood at 16 early Sunday.

Muscovites expressed disappointment with official efforts to stop the fires.

"I thought this nightmare was over, but here we go, it's back," said 28-year old graphic designer Mikhail Talalikhin. "Our mayor once pledged to stop snowfall, why doesn't he start by making rain?"

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said in October that he would use planes to intercept advancing storm fronts and hit them with dry ice and silver iodine particles.

Officials warned that fires still rage in a national park near one of Russia's largest nuclear research facilities in Sarov, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow.

"The fire threatens Sarov as long as the Mordovsky (national park) is burning," the head of the national nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, told RIA Novosti news agency. He added, though, that some 3,000 firefighters working in Sarov made sure that the danger is "no longer critical," RIA Novosti reported.

This summer is the hottest since records began in Russia 130 years ago. Daily highs have reached up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), compared with the usual summer average of 75 F (24 C).

Wildfires have raged across central and western Russia. More than 50 people have died in the wildfires and more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed.

Fires together with drought have cost Russia a third of its wheat crop, prompting authorities to ban wheat exports.

Scientists say the heatwave reflects the global climate's increased volatility.

Driver from www.huffingtonpost.com

IT’S an indelible image of summer: lemonade and cookies on a folding table on the sidewalk, a jar crammed with dollars, passers-by smiling politely.

A 40-year-old man selling lemonade.

Whether a sign of recession, regression or both, a handful of adults in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn have gotten into the lemonade-stand business this summer. Add it to the list of childhood pursuits that grown-ups now take seriously, along with cupcakes, T-shirts and the Transformers.

Michael Orobona, a restaurant consultant who celebrated his 40th birthday this month, has been setting up a table outside his apartment on Union Street near Fifth Avenue every weekend this summer. He said he originally intended to strike a partnership with some neighborhood children in a mutually beneficial joint venture, but refused to let their lack of interest dissuade him.

“I’m getting to know my neighbors and my community,” he said on a sweltering Saturday afternoon, selling what he said was organic lemonade to a woman in a floral dress ($4 for a 24-ounce cup). “I don’t just sell them lemonade, I tell them about my life.”

Mr. Orobona, a stocky, gregarious man with black leather sandals, sells three kinds of lemonade, plus iced coffee, iced tea, Rice Krispies Treats and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (two for $1). There is a tip jar for customers looking to further reward his pluck.

A few blocks to the east, in the shadow of the food trucks parked along Grand Army Plaza, sat Jim McMahon, a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island. His colorful homemade sign read, “College Tuition Smoothies, $4.”

Mr. McMahon, a lanky Park Slope native, has set up shop on the stoop of his family’s brownstone every weekend afternoon since early July with a blender, some fruit and a sunny disposition.

“I love smoothies, my parents love smoothies,” Mr. McMahon said in a phone interview. “Everyone loves smoothies.”

The blurring of childhood and maturity has long been a theme in Park Slope. It was here in 2008 that parents raged against a local bar that tried to ban strollers during happy hour. And good luck telling the difference among members of the X, Y and Z generations based solely on their taste in sneakers or skateboards.

Pop-up refreshment stands have some history here, as well. When the New York City Marathon runs along Fourth Avenue every year, residents on adjacent streets frequently set up tables with hot chocolate and bagels to profit from the gathering crowds.

But enough to quit your day job? “I realized that if I sell three an hour, I’ll be making more than I was at Staples,” said Mr. McMahon, referring to the summer job he quit last week. Now, he focuses on the smoothie trade full time.

Mr. Orobona is branching out, too. His first “franchisee” — a 16-year-old boy who prefers to remain anonymous — opened for business on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens this month. And Mr. Orobona plans to install a table on the corner of Ninth Street and Eighth Avenue soon.

“If I tell you how much I make, people won’t want to buy from me anymore,” Mr. Orobona said.

But even in Park Slope, the sight of a grown man seriously engaged in child’s play will draw attention. As the customer in the floral dress walked away, a young woman on a bicycle wearing a bikini top and a skirt registered her impression. “Elaborate lemonade stand,” she said to Mr. Orobona.

“Thank you,” he shouted back. Then, quietly to himself, “Everyone has a comment.”

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