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Federal officials and police are interviewing a man, believed to be Nigerian, who allegedly was trying to "explode" a powdery substance aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, injuring himself and two other passengers, law enforcement officials said.

Tiger: I Need a 'Kobe Special' Posted Nov 29th 2009 12:15AM by TMZ Staff Tiger Woods had a "Kobe Special" on his brain hours after what looks like a domestic dispute with his wife, Elin Nordegren -- this according to someone who spoke with Tiger on Friday. During the phone conversation on Friday, Tiger told his friend, "I have to run to Zales to get a 'Kobe Special.'" The person on the other end of the phone asked Tiger what a "Kobe Special" was. The reply -- "A house on a finger." During the conversation, Tiger said his wife had...

To celebrate its revival after the 1995 earthquake, the city of Kobe held the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the "life-size" statue of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Tetsujin #28 ("Ironman #28" or Gigantor) robot on Sunday. Minoru Yada, the 78-year-old voice actor of Tetsujin #28's fictional inventor Dr. Shikishima, led the the 28 people who cut the ribbon by yelling out "Tetsujin-28-go!" Yada was holding a mockup of the trademark remote control that the manga and anime's hero, schoolboy Shoutarou Kaneda (Jimmy Sparks), carried to control the robot. MBS News, Jiji Press, and The Kobe Shimbun all posted video reports from the ceremony. The...

Noted Chicagoan and basketballophile Barack Obama appears to be writing off the California vote in 2012, at least the basketball fans around Los Angeles. In a pre-holiday interview with the Associated Press, Obama was asked who was the better player -- six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan or four-time champion Kobe Bryant? Without even a moment's hesitation, the ex-senator from Illinois blurted out, "Oh, Michael!" Then, apparently realizing what he'd just said and the profound impact on any 2012 election, the new president hastened to add: "I mean, Kobe's terrific. Don't get me wrong. But I haven't seen anybody match up...

L.A. Lakers fans celebrated their NBA championship victory Sunday night (June 14) by rioting outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Eyewitness reports said that the police officers at the scene were being belted with rocks and bottles. There are also reports of fans starting fires, although it isn’t clear at this stage whether those fires included buildings or vehicles. One unconfirmed report says that at least one police vehicle has been set on fire.

Japanese scientists said Thursday they had successfully cloned the ancestral bull of a luxurious brand of beef, possibly opening the way to distribute cloned beef. At the start of the Year of the Ox, researchers announced they had kept frozen for 13 years the testicles of a bull named Yasufuku, the progenitor of the expensive Hida-gyu brand of beef in central Gifu prefecture. The researchers at Kinki University and Gifu's livestock research institute said they had cloned four Yasufuku calves between November 2007 and July 2008, although two of them died afterward. "Yasufuku's testicles were frozen for a decade without...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnMe-mRG_fY

NBC Questions Kobe Bryant’s Pride of Being on Team USA 2008-08-17 -By Warner Todd Huston In a recent interview with USA Olympics basketball team member Kobe Bryant, NBC Sports reporter Chris Collinsworth seemed to question Kobe’s patriotism when the player said that he was proud to wear the team USA uniform. Wondering if it was “cool” to be proud of being on Team USA, Collinsworth seemed to surprise even Bryant with the temerity of the question. Why Collinsworth wouldn’t think it would be “cool” to be proud to be on the American Olympic basketball team is anyone’s guess. In a...

Assorted TV commentators keep opining that the Olympics are all about the brotherhood of man, rather than national ambition or patriotism. But don't tell that to the fanatically nationalist Chinese -- or to Kobe Bryant, the NBA star who is playing with Team USA in Beijing. In an interview Friday on NBC, the world's most famous basketball player told Chris Collinsworth how he got "goosebumps" when he received his Olympics uniform. "I actually just looked at it for a while. I just held it there and I laid it across my bed and I just stared at it for a...

Four years, two teams and a championship later, Shaquille O'Neal is still ripping Kobe Bryant. Video on TMZ.com shows the Phoenix Suns center doing a freestyle rap in a nightclub on Sunday night in which he puts down his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate. "You know how I be," Shaq rapped. "Last week Kobe couldn't do without me." Bryant led the Lakers to the NBA Finals this season, but they were beaten 4-2 by the Boston Celtics. O'Neal and Bryant last played together during the 2003-04 season, when the duo led the Lakers to the Finals. They lost to the...

My top five (listed in alphabetical order) Tim Duncan Kevin Garnett Lebron James Kobe Bryant Chris Paul

MEMPHIS, Tenn. An Arkansas man filed a federal lawsuit against N-B-A star Kobe Bryant claiming the Lakers guard deliberately elbowed him during a game last year against the Memphis Grizzlies. Bill Geeslin was a spectator in the stands when the Lakers played the Grizzlies in Memphis last November. His three-page lawsuit filed Tuesday claims that Bryant came off the court during play, landed on Geeslin and "without provocation" committed assault and battery when he violently struck Geeslin with his elbow. Geeslin claims seeks more than 75-thousand dollars in damages for unspecified injuries that required medical attention. Geeslin's attorney, Robert Coleman,...

The month of September is officially Shameless Self-Promotion Month. And we care enough to honor that promise of self-promotion with stunning, unparalleled commitment never before seen in the world. Our competitors may shrink back in shy impotence like the girly boys they really are. But we shall never faulter. We're the best, most profitable, least worrisome, highest quality, perfect credit to our gender, brightest, silliest, nicest smelling, best dressed, most comfortable with small dogs, most talented, elite, A-list, baddest mofos, with the firmest body contours this side of Beverly Hills in all cyberspace. You have our word on it.

The U.S. basketball team will have to work on its internal chemistry if it wants to perform well at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Kobe Bryant said Thursday.

A man is accused of rape. Even if he is innocent, his reputation is forever smeared. Bettina Arndt examines whether either party should be named in sexual assault cases. There is a businessman in Toowoomba who's had a very lucky escape. He's just suffered the horror of being accused of rape but at the end of his trial last month he was acquitted by the jury. The alleged victim in 1998 reported the man to her church and five years later to the police, claiming he'd had sex with her 17 years earlier, when she was 14. But his real...

<p>Koby Bryant scored 81 points tonight, the second highest ever in an NBA game. Wilt Chamberlain, then of the Philadelphia 76ers, scored the all-time high of 100 points in a game.</p>

MABANK — For the first time in four years, a gourmet extravagance — authentic Japanese Kobe beef — is allowed back into the United States. The question is whether anyone will care. An American Kobe-style brand has taken its place on restaurant menus. Wagyu cattle began arriving in the United States in the 1990s, often flown over from Japan. They are fattened longer than the average American breed; they live about eight to 14 months longer than U.S. beef cattle. U.S. ranchers often crossbreed them with Angus cattle. The glossy black cows on Meliton Rincon's ranch in Athens are not...

/begin my translation Big Earthquake to Hit Tokyo in 6 Months Japanese Asahi TV aired 'earthquake prediction' programominous signs: deep-sea creatures surface, and continual earthquakesIn the worst case, 10m-high tsunami could hitTokyo, correspondent Sun Woo-jung su@chosun.com 2005.07.05   Mega Earthquake Definitely Comes ! Uncovering X-day of Direct Hit on Kanto At 7pm, July 2nd, Saturday, Asahi TV, a major commercial TV network, devoted 2 hours of prime time segment to air a shocking program. It was titled, 'Mega Earthquake Definitely Comes! Uncovering X-day of Direct Hit on Kanto'(photo.)  Kanto refers to the area around Tokyo Bay including the capital Tokyo with 12 million residents.   Its conclusion is obvious. In the program, Uda Shinich,...

Kobe-less Lakers still beat LeBron, Cavs LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lakers star Kobe Bryant sustained what the team called a severely sprained right ankle midway through the first quarter of Thursday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and had to be helped off the court. X-rays were negative, but Bryant will have an MRI on Friday, team spokesman John Black said. Bryant, the NBA's second-leading scorer with a 28.2-point average, was injured when he landed on Ira Newble's right foot while going for a rebound under the Cavaliers' basket. Newble was called for a foul on the play. Bryant immediately...

We're having four couples over for beef tenderloin over the holidays. My question is: Is Kobe beef all that they claim it is? I don't mind paying more if it really is much better. Help, please?

Katelyn Faber refiled her sexual assault lawsuit against Kobe Bryant in federal court Thursday, using her real name. The lawsuit is virtually identical in every other respect to the one she filed Aug. 10 as "Jane Doe." Lawyers for the 21-year-old Eagle woman had asked Colorado U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch to let her remain anonymous. They said she had received death threats after her highly publicized claim that she was sexually assaulted by the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star. But Matsch, after Bryant's attorneys and the Rocky Mountain News objected separately, ruled that Faber's lawsuit would be retitled on...

A Freeper responds to Grandmother's response to a Blog reader's question "Isn't Bush as Bad as CBS?" And an update on Kobe Bryant with more unpublished Kobe scoop. Some space to respond to comments and follow up to the prior week posts Update-Kobe Bryant Case======================Last week Grandmother went into some detail about the Kobe Bryant case. This week, more information turns up. Seems there’s reams of evidence against ole Kobe and more to come out. According to the AOL NEWS service: During his interview with detectives, Bryant said the woman told him she had hoped he would have sex with...

I was look at some of the articles on Kobe and girl that has no legal name at this time. Doing a Google I found the site kobewatch.org. Earlier in the day I wanted to see the "Prince Video" and had to down load the AOL active X plugin to see it. Kobewatch.org had a similar warning pop on the screen so I said ok. After 30 seconds nothing was on the screen but lots of hard drive and network activity. I looked at the processes that were running and there is was, webrebates.exe was running and infecting my PC...

deny,deny,deny

DENVER -- Kobe Bryant's attorneys abruptly dropped a bid to permanently seal evidence in the NBA star's rape case Monday, saying details will be leaked anyway and releasing everything would reveal just how unprofessional the prosecution really was. In a scathing court filing, defense attorney Pamela Mackey accused law enforcement officers and prosecutors of "unlawful or improper conduct" throughout the case, including the suppression of evidence suggesting Bryant was innocent. She said still-sealed Eagle County records include material "highly damaging to the prosecution" because they back Bryant's claim that he had consensual sex with a Vail-area resort employee last year....

Geneva Says, ‘I Quit’ Poynter Online is a website for news people that says it’s “everything you need to be a better journalist.” Well, our old friend Geneva Overholser, who always wants to be a better journalist, has a big-time issue with Poynter Online. In the event you’ve forgotten who Overholser is, let me refresh your memory. She made some news herself when she was editor at the local paper a few years ago. While Overholser was editor, the managing editor was Dave Westphal, Westphal had been one of the sports editors with whom I worked in my earlier writing...

LOS ANGELES - The way NBA star Shaquille O'Neal sees it, he's still the big cat, Kobe Bryant's not where it's at, and he's got the rap to back up the fact. And the Miami Heat center isn't crazy about the Detroit Pistons' Ben Wallace or rapper Skillz either. O'Neal, when he hasn't been dominating basketball games, has dabbled in hip-hop over the years. His latest effort is a collaboration with DJ Vlad on the CD "Hot in Here Part Five." On "You Not The Fightin' Type," O'Neal sets out to even scores with several people: Bryant, who he believes...

What is the moral to Kobe Bryant story? By Leonard Pitts Jr. This will be the first thing I've written about the Kobe Bryant trial -- passing references aside -- in over a year. I put a moratorium on Kobe columns after writing two such pieces which suggested to me in hindsight that this was the rare subject on which maybe I didn't know my own mind. Bryant was a guy I admired, playing for a team -- the Lakers -- I've followed since 1979. Now he stood accused of raping a 19-year-old hotel worker in Eagle, Colo., so I...

Prosecution will file motion to dismiss case.

After months of sparring, media spinning and nearly unanimous predictions that the trial would never happen, jury selection began last Friday in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case in Eagle, Colo. SI has seen previously undisclosed documents, which, in conjunction with court transcripts and interviews, are the basis for this report of how the trial may unfold.

EAGLE, Colo. — Multi-colored scribble clutters most of the white chalkboard calendar in the local sheriff's office. But only two words cover the last few days of August and the entire month of September. Eagle County cops aren't the only ones clearing their plates for the culmination of the sexual assault case against Kobe Bryant. Lawyers have spent 14 months battling over evidence. Nearly 1,000 county residents have been asked to report Friday for jury duty. And after weeks of indecisiveness by Bryant's accuser, there now are strong indications that she is prepared to testify, which is essential to the...

Jury selection is in the sexual assault case pending against NBA superstar Kobe Bryant is slated to begin on August 27. Given the time pressure, you might think prosecutors would be busy lassoing last minute witnesses, marshaling their evidence, and generally making final preparations in such a high profile, high stakes case. After all, the single charge facing Bryant could land this celebrity husband and father behind bars for life. But if you thought that, you'd be wrong. Despite thirteen months of preparation -- which included nearly twenty days of pre-trial hearings, as well as over seven hundred filed court...

In another setback to the prosecution in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, the Colorado Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal of a key ruling that allows the NBA star's attorneys to tell jurors about the accuser's sex life.District Judge Terry Ruckriegle last month ruled that the defense can use information about the woman's sexual activities in the three days before her hospital exam, which occurred 15 hours after her encounter with Bryant. In their one-page order, justices did not explain why they decided against considering the appeal. The order was released as Bryant's final pretrial hearing got...

DENVER - Prosecutors have asked the judge in Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case to put the trial on hold indefinitely, saying courthouse gaffes have crippled the chances of seating an unbiased jury and suggesting the accuser is not ready to testify against the NBA star. Legal experts say the request could be the first step toward dropping the case altogether now that the accuser has sued Bryant in civil court for monetary damages. They said the civil case will hurt prosecutors because the defense can argue that the 20-year-old woman is simply after Bryant’s money. “If prosecutors are looking for...

According to Harvey Levin ("Celebrity Justice") from sources connected with both sides in Eagle, Colorado: 1) Kobe accepts a plea bargain for a non-sex crime misdemeanor such as Third-Degree assault. (misdemeanor, Kobe might get probation, wouldn't have to register as sex offender). 2) Kobe settles the civil case. Pays a financial settlement. Gives letter of apology saying, "that even though Kobe Bryant belived that he was doing nothing wrong, that she felt she had been assaulted in the hotel room, and for that he was sorry." No plea deals struck, but parties talking about it.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Key DNA evidence shows that the 20-year-old woman who accuses Kobe Bryant of rape had sex with another man in the hours after her encounter with the Los Angeles Lakers star, a defense expert has testified. The expert also rejected a prosecution theory that the DNA -- found on swabs from the woman's inner thighs, vagina and cervix -- ended up there only because the young woman put on a pair of previously worn panties. The testimony by DNA expert Elizabeth Johnson came during a closed-door courtroom hearing in Colorado in June but was kept secret...

Kobe Bryant Ruling a Step Towards Equity in Rape Trials By Glenn Sacks A Colorado judge issued a highly controversial decision late last month on a matter that should not be controversial. Judge Terry Ruckriegle ruled that Kobe Bryant, who is facing four years to life in prison for an alleged rape he claims was consensual sex, can introduce evidence that his accuser had other sexual encounters in the 72 hours before her medical examination for the alleged assault...

EAGLE, Colo. - A courtroom apology from the judge in the Kobe Bryant rape case for mistakes that included revealing the accuser's name was described by the woman's lawyer as "self-serving" and "insulting." At a hearing Friday, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle told the woman's parents that he is treating the gaffes — among them putting her name on the Internet twice — as a learning experience. The accuser's lawyer, John Clune, wasn't at the hearing but later said the judge's "self-serving generic apology was insulting to the victim and her parents." Clune said Ruckriegle should have personally contacted his client...

EAGLE, Colo. - With the parents of the alleged victim in the courtroom, the judge in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case apologized Friday for court mistakes that led to the release of sealed information. During the brief public hearing, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle told the parents he would treat the mistakes as a learning experience. "For all of those who come through these doors, victims and defendants alike, whose names are never known and never sought, I can only assure you I have learned lessons from these mistakes, and that we will give our best human effort not to...

DENVER - In a huge victory for Kobe Bryant's defense, the judge in the NBA star's sexual assault case ruled Friday that his accuser's sex life during the week of their encounter can be used against her at trial. District Judge Terry Ruckriegle said details of the woman's sexual activities in the three days before her July 1, 2003, hospital examination are relevant to help determine the cause of her injuries and the source of DNA evidence. He also said the credibility of the accuser was a factor. One legal expert called the decision a stunning defeat for prosecutors that...

Bryant Case: Prosecutors Give Up On DNA Retesting Pretrial Hearing In Case Set For Monday UPDATED: 10:46 am PDT June 18, 2004 LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors in Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case have given up on efforts to retest certain DNA evidence. They're accusing defense attorneys of wasting so much time that testing would unnecessarily delay the trial. The retesting has been the subject of sharp exchanges between prosecutors and defense attorneys. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert has said that the evidence was tested by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and then by an independent laboratory hired by the defense --...

Kobe Bryant's Defense Team Wins Access to Text-Message Records The Associated Press Published: Jun 17, 2004 EAGLE, Colo. (AP) - A judge has granted Kobe Bryant's attorneys access to cell phone text messages sent among three people - including the woman accusing the NBA star of rape - in the hours after the alleged attack. "The materials contain information that is relevant for discovery," state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle said in a decision released Thursday. He ordered Bryant's defense team and Eagle County prosecutors to keep the messages and an accompanying letter from AT&T Wireless Communications sealed for now. Legal...

Bryant's lawyers want jurors told police botched investigation   JON SARCHE Canadian Press Wednesday, June 09, 2004 DENVER (AP) - Kobe Bryant's defence team said Wednesday it wants the judge to tell the NBA star's jury that investigators did not collect certain evidence that could have suggested he is innocent of rape. In a court filing, Bryant's lawyers asked the judge to instruct jurors at the upcoming trial that the lost evidence, including bathroom towels and the contents of trash cans, could have cleared their client had it been collected. Defence lawyer Hal Haddon also criticized prosecutors for an...

Judge in Bryant Case Warns of Possible Sanctions for ProsecutionBy P. Solomon Banda Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 4, 2004 DENVER (AP) - The judge in the Kobe Bryant sex assault case warned prosecutors Friday they may face sanctions for not following a court order to include a defense witness at any testing of DNA evidence. In a court filing, Judge Terry Ruckriegle gave prosecutors until Tuesday to explain why they did not comply with an order issued after months of legal wrangling. Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan declined comment. Earlier in the week she had blamed lab policies for barring...

<p>DENVER (Reuters) - Crime laboratory evidence shows the 19-year-old woman who has accused Kobe Bryant of rape had consensual sex with another man hours after she said the basketball star raped her, MSNBC reported on Wednesday.</p> <p>The DNA evidence from the prosecution's own laboratory could be introduced in court as early as Thursday when the Los Angeles Laker will be back in an Eagle, Colorado, courtroom for a pre-trial hearing, the cable TV report said.</p>

-- Judge in Kobe Bryant case rules accuser's previous medical, psychological records not admissible in trial. Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com for the latest news.

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors dropped charges of solicitation to commit murder against a man who allegedly offered to kill Kobe Bryant's accuser. In exchange, Patrick Graber, 31, pleaded no contest to one charge of grand theft before Superior Court Judge Katherine Mader, the district attorney's office said. He faces up to three years in state prison when he is sentenced May 13. "His main goal was to get money," said Deputy District Attorney Marguerite Rizzo said. "We felt this was an appropriate plea in this case." Prosecutors dropped one count each of solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to dissuade...

The teenager who accused Kobe Bryant of rape faced him in a courtroom yesterday for the first time since the alleged attack - and had to reveal details of her sex life in a closed-door hearing. The 19-year-old accuser, still tan from a recent stay in a Florida drug rehabilitation center, appeared composed after she testified for four hours about the most intimate details of her life in a courtroom packed with strangers. Judge Terry Ruckriegle, who will decide whether a jury should hear about the woman's sex life when the case goes to trial, barred reporters from the hearing....

Youth A severed the head off 11-year-old Jun Hase and placed it on the front gate of an elementary school. Slowly does it when you're lining up to buy your next Big Mac ... that young guy in front of you could well be one of Japan's most vicious, brutal and shocking killers, according to Weekly Playboy (3/30). His real name can't be released, because when the now 21-year-old who referred to himself as Seito Sakakibara went on his bloodthirsty rampage, he was only a 14-year-old schoolboy. Instead of being locked away behind bars for the rest of his life,...

DENVER -- Rejecting a prosecution appeal, the Colorado Supreme Court has cleared the way for Kobe Bryant's attorneys to ask the 19-year-old woman accusing him of rape detailed questions about her sexual past. The court denied the appeal without comment Thursday. That means the woman will testify behind closed doors during a two-day hearing that begins March 24. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert acknowledges the Supreme Court rarely gets involved in such appeals. The defense is expected to ask the woman about previous sexual partners in hopes of backing up their claim that she had a "scheme" to sleep with the...