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SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. and South Korean militaries will stage their second joint exercise in less than a month from Monday, fuelling tensions with the prickly North and angering regional power China. The annual exercise comes a week after Seoul completed its own drills near a disputed maritime border off the west coast that prompted the North to retaliate by firing a barrage of artillery shells in the same area. Responding with the same rhetoric as it has in the past, the reclusive North said the latest exercise was a "dangerous act to light the fuse of a new war". Pyongyang has often turned to sabre-rattling to make a point but analysts say it is unlikely to risk a full-blown war which would pit it against the combined might of the U.S. and South Korean militaries. But U.S. officials have said further provocations by the North are possible in coming months, especially as Pyongyang tries to build political momentum for the succession to leader Kim Jong-il, expected to ...

US President Barack Obama has staunchly defended controversial plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Opponents have protested against the construction of an Islamic cultural centre and mosque several hundred feet away from the site of the Twin Towers. Mr Obama acknowledged "sensitivities" surround the 9/11 site, but said Muslims have the same right to practise their religion "as anyone else". "Our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable," Mr Obama said. Continue reading the main story Since a New York developer announced plans to build a 13-storey Islamic community centre and mosque about two blocks from the former World Trade Center site, prominent Republican politicians and a host of conservative pundits have attacked the project. Some relatives of people killed in the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 are also opposed to the plan. 'Stab in the heart' In a speech at a White House dinner celebrating Rama...

Mercedes reserve driver Nick Heidfeld has been singled out as the preferred choice of development driver by new Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli. The Italian manufacturer will replace Bridgestone as F1's sole supplier from 2011 onwards, and plan to develop their new rubber over the coming months. Heidfeld, who contested 169 grand prix between 2000 and 2009, has spent the 2010 season as the Mercedes team's third driver, but could be set to leave the role to work for Pirelli if the marque have their way. "Before the last race in Abu Dhabi we'll do six tests with an F1 car from 2009," Pirelli's chief of competition Paul Hembery said this week. "We need an extremely experienced but also very fit driver, who can do 500 miles a day and not collapse afterwards. Heidfeld fits this profile very well and would be an ideal candidate." However it remains unclear as to whether Heidfeld will be allowed to take the role on, with the German having been ruled out ea...

Not too far in the future, civilisation as we know it is no more. World wars have ceased, but the fighting and killing goes on. The ravaged world is ruled not by governments, but by powerful mega-corporations. The greatest of them all, Tekken, controls large territories which include the former United States. Within the protective walls of Tekken City, the rich and famous strut the corridors of power. Outside, however, the oppressed civilians are gripped by fear and despair. Living conditions leave much to be desired and resources are scarce. The Jacks, Tekken’s highly-efficient masked robotic security units, patrol the area, capturing and killing the huddled masses at will. In The Anvil, one of the slums outside the walls, Jin (Jon Foo) watches the Jacks kill his mother (Tamlyn Tomita). The young man, who makes a living by running through danger zones (think desolate ruins, bright search lights and whizzing bullets) to deliver contraband, vows to avenge her untimely death. Armed with ...

Gerhard Berger says that nobody would have complained about Michael Schumacher's move on Rubens Barrichello if it happened in his day. Berger, who raced against uncompromisingly hard drivers such as Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Schumacher himself, says the racing was much tougher back in the 80s and 90s. "We drove harder and more brutally," Berger told Austrian newspaper Tiroler Tageszeitung. "Three times a lap we drove each other into the walls without complaining. This was just part of it. We would have thought nothing of an action like Michael's against Barrichello." Although Berger initially backed Schumacher to add to his tally of seven drivers' titles, he now doubts the German will add to his record haul. "Before the season I would have answered this question with a resounding yes. Today I have to say no. His teammate Nico Rosberg clearly has his nose in front. Michael is trying to counter Nico's youth...

Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russia will start loading a nuclear reactor in Iran with fuel next week, moving the project closer to being complete, both nations said Friday. The August 21 arrival of fuel at the Bushehr facility, which Iran says will create atomic energy but other nations fear could be used for nuclear weapons, marks a key step toward its completion, Russia said. "This event will symbolize that the period of testing is over and the stage of physical start-up has begun," said Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency. The head of that agency will visit Iran next week, said the semi-official Fars News Agency. A Russian group is already in Iran to make the necessary arrangements for his arrival. The reactor in the western Iranian port city of Bushehr will be operational by the third week of September, Fars said, though Novikov said the plant will not be ready to produce energy for another six months. "All the installations and tests a...

RIM has updated its BlackBerry Curve line with a feature-rich yet affordable mobile device called the BlackBerry Curve 3G (9300). The device sports RIM's much-loved full-Qwerty keyboard, an optical trackpad, BlackBerry Messenger, a removable battery, GPS, WiFi, a 320 x 240-pixel LCD display, and a 2-megapixel camera. The BlackBerry Curve 3G can be upgraded to RIM's newest operating system, BlackBerry 6. The device is set to be released in the United States and Europe this month. As yet no prices have been announced. - Relaxnews source- http://techcentral.my