Figuring out the magic of Woodstock

(CNN) — What is it about Woodstock?

The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival was arguably more influential and, like Woodstock, spawned a terrific film, D.A. Pennebaker’s “Monterey Pop.” The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival in England, two weeks after Woodstock, included the elusive Bob Dylan.

And there were several other gatherings during the late-’60s and early-’70s festival frenzy, including the ill-fated Altamont festival in 1969 and the record-setting Watkins Glen festival in 1973.

But nobody talked about a “Monterey Nation” or a “Wight Nation” or, God forbid, an “Altamont Nation.” No other festival prompted Charles M. Schulz to name a “Peanuts” character after it. No other festival has maintained a viable name for four decades.
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Apple’s Snow Leopard: A flurry of changes

According to rumors, the release of Mac OS X 10.6, Apple’s operating system also known as Snow Leopard, might arrive a bit early. Though Apple announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June that Snow Leopard would hit stores in September, tech blogs became overly excited when it was whispered that it might be ready to debut on or about August 28.

How much does it matter that it could arrive five whole days before September officially begins? It doesn’t. Regardless of when the operating system ships, here’s what to expect from Snow Leopard, and why it might matter to you.
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Cargo ship near Cape Verde, official says

(CNN) — A missing Russian cargo ship is in international waters north of Cape Verde, according to Portugal’s state news agency, which quoted Cape Verde’s defense director.

“The ship is now about 400 nautical miles north of Sao Vicente, outside the exclusive economic zone of Cape Verde,” Pedro Reis said Friday.

Earlier, Russia’s ambassador to Cape Verde, Alexander Karpushin, denied a report that the Arctic Sea, which vanished last month, had been spotted near the island nation.

The Russian military has been searching for days for the cargo ship, the Arctic Sea. The 15-member crew’s last known communication with authorities came a few days after they reported that masked gunmen posing as drug-enforcement agents boarded their ship in the waters off Sweden.
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Australian quadriplegic granted right to starve to death

(CNN) — An Australian high court ruled Friday that a quadriplegic man has the right to refuse food and water and can be allowed to die, a rare legal finding that some see as a major victory for right-to-die campaigners.

The ruling means that the nursing facility in which Christian Rossiter has lived since November 2008 cannot be held criminally liable for allowing the patient to die, the Supreme Court of Western Australia said.

“I’m happy that I won my right to die,” Rossiter, 49, said afterward. But he added that he will further consult with a doctor because he may change his mind.

A leading Australian right-to-die advocate called the ruling a significant victory.
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Colonial BancGroup, 4 Other Banks Shut

Regulators on Friday shut down Colonial BancGroup Inc., a lender in real estate development, in the biggest U.S. bank failure this year, and also closed four banks in Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

The closures boosted to 77 the number of federally insured banks that have failed in 2009.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the banks: Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial, with about $25 billion in assets; Community Bank of Arizona, based in Phoenix; Union Bank, based in Gilbert, Ariz.; Community Bank of Nevada, based in Las Vegas; and Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, located in Pittsburgh.
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Gaza clashes between Hamas, Islamist radicals kill 13

GAZA CITY : Hamas police stormed a mosque in Gaza on Friday where radicals had declared an Islamist “emirate,” sparking clashes that left 13 people dead and injured at least 100, emergency services said.

Shooting continued after dark, witnesses said, after clashes began in the afternoon following weekly prayers in the southern city of Rafah, which straddles the Egyptian border.

Among the dead was Mohammed al-Shamali, head of the Hamas military unit for southern Gaza, emergency services said, adding that bodies of some other victims could not be reached because of the intensity of the fighting.
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SKorean president calls for arms talks with NKorea

SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak Saturday called for talks with North Korea aimed at ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons as well as making cuts in conventional weapons.

“Nuclear weapons do not guarantee North Korea’s security. They only cloud its future,” Lee said in a speech to mark Korea’s 1945 liberation from Japanese rule.

“Together with the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, reduction of conventional weapons of the North and the South must be discussed,” he said, urging the North to enter talks.

Lee reiterated that the South would help Pyongyang end its isolation and prosper if the communist state gave up its atomic weapons.

“If the North comes to such a decision, the (South Korean) government will push for a new programme for peace on the Korean peninsula,” Lee said.
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Taiwan flood death toll could top 500, says President Ma

CHISHAN, Taiwan – Rescuers struggled Friday to save thousands trapped in villages across southern and central Taiwan as the island’s embattled leader warned the flood’s death toll could jump to 500.

More than 50,000 troops fought against time, crossing raging rivers and fallen bridges to reach victims, many of whom have been without food and water since Typhoon Morakot struck nearly a week ago.

President Ma Ying-jeou — accused of bungling the government’s response to the disaster — warned the island-wide death toll of 118 would likely increase more than fourfold.
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Hollywood sees win in China WTO case as first step

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood scored a win with the World Trade Organization as it seeks inroads into China, but rampant piracy in the market means the WTO ruling is just a first step in a long slog for the U.S. entertainment industry.

The WTO said China broke international trade rules by restricting the imports of movies, music and books and other audiovisual content. The current system hinders studios, filmmakers, musicians, videogame makers and authors from marketing works at competitive prices, it said.

China has said it will evaluate the decision and had not ruled out an appeal.

Hollywood has sought for years to crack the world’s third-largest economy, but has failed due to restrictions on getting films into theaters and a torrent of pirated media content, with DVDs going for $1 on most street corners.
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Soft Drinks Get Softer: New Niche Aims to Quench Stress

Every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, or so the laws of physics say. Push and pull. Proton and electron. Gravity and levity.

And now, Red Bull and Drank.

Drank falls in an emerging category of “relaxation beverages,” concocted to soothe the overextended, overbooked and overworked masses that have been hopped up on energy drinks for the past decade. Drank’s slogan? “Slow your roll.”

“I wasn’t the only person speaking 50 miles per hour,” said Peter Bianchi, who invented Drank. “It was my personal quest to relax the world.”
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