Flooding forces Thailand to close one Bangkok airport

Authorities suspended all flights from one of Bangkok's two main airports after flood waters breached its northern perimeter, news agencies reported Tuesday.

The suspension was imposed at Don Muang airport, used mainly for domestic flights. The facility is located in northern Bangkok, the area of the capital most severely affected by the worst flooding that Thailand has seen in decades.

The BBC reported that the landing strip was expected to remain closed for a week.

Photos: Thailand floods

The Suvarnabhumi Airport in eastern Bangkok, which handles most international traffic, was reported to be still operating.

Thailand has been inundated by three months of monsoon downpours that have left more than 360 people dead. Thai officials have warned that the deluge could last several more weeks.

Water from drenched central areas of the country was now running south to the sea and officials were trying to drain it to the east and west, but the immense volume of water had forced them to open sluice gates into the city. Seven districts of the capital were now reported to be at risk of flooding.

The domestic airport was also being used as an evacuation center and as headquarters for the government's flood relief operations, the BBC reported.

In an effort to help people cope with the flooding, Thai authorities have declared a five-day holiday in several provinces, including Bangkok, to run from Thursday through Monday, the news agency said.

Is Occupy Wall Street invading MTV's 'The Real World'?

Seven thousand strangers gathering in the streets under the banner of Occupy Wall Street get picked to live in a house and have their lives taped? Not quite. One, maybe.

The producers of MTV's "The Real World" seem to be taking notice of the recent protests against corporate greed and want to incorporate a participating "Occupy Wall Street" activist in the long-running series. In a posting on Craigslist, the production company, Bunim/Murray, listed this casting call:

MTV's Real World is seeking cast members to tell their unique stories on our show. If you are over the age of 20 and appear to be between the ages of 20-24, and the description below sounds like you, we want to hear from you!

Are you a part of the OCCUPY WALL STREET movement?

If so, please contact realworldcasting@bunim-murray.com. Your subject heading should be YOUR NAME and WALL STREET.

Could the aging reality series be moving from the late-night hot tub sessions to steamy sign-making sessions? Hardly. According to a spokesperson for Bunim/Murray, the casting call is simply a way to cast a wide net in keeping with the show's "tradition" of bringing together an eclectic group of people. An Occupy Wall Street demonstrator is not a definitive role they're looking to fill, the spokesperson said.

A location for the series' 27th season has not yet been determined, but is expected to be announced in early November.

‘Walking Dead,’ ‘Harry Potter’ and more: Drew Struzan’s ‘Oeuvre’

George Lucas. Guillermo del Toro. Frank Darabont. These are just a handful of Drew Struzan’s fans.

Struzan created posters for “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter” “Indiana Jones,” “Back to the Future” and many other iconic franchises during his career of more than 30 years. In his book “Drew Struzan: Oeuvre,” a 320-page hardcover from Titan Books out this month, the prolific movie poster and album cover illustrator turns back the pages on some of his most memorable designs.
Though Struzan’s work still frequently appears in movie theater displays, his paintings may be the last of their kind. Most movie art and design is now created digitally, and Struzan’s contemporaries, renowned illustrators John Alvin and Richard Amsel, have died.

“Most of what passes for movie poster art these days are just Photoshopped pictures of actors striking saucy poses and staring at us like a troop of lobotomy victims,” Darabont told the L.A. Times in 2008. “He crafts a piece of art that honors your film instead of just merely trying to sell it. Seriously, for a filmmaker who really appreciates what poster art means, Drew doing your poster is like getting an award.”

Struzan has illustrated posters for many of Darabont’s projects, including the AMC hit TV series “The Walking Dead” and the Oscar-nominated drama “The Shawshank Redemption.” He also did posters for Del Toro’s “Hellboy” movies and for “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

“What Drew does isn’t really distilling the elements of a movie,” Del Toro told the L.A. Times in 2008. “It’s almost alchemy. He takes images and makes them quintessentially cinematic. His style has been copied so many times in a bad way, people don’t realize until they revisit his posters just how powerful the pure Struzan style is, how purely filmic it is.”

Click through the gallery above for a peek at some of the artwork featured in “Drew Struzan: Oeuvre.” Be sure to turn the captions on.

The Find: King's Burgers/Got Sushi?

Truffles shaved onto wild-caught yellowtail sashimi or kanpachi nigiri splashed with black caviar might begin your omakase at Got Sushi? Or the chef might enrobe supple ribbons of pristine snapper in creamy cured uni brightened with the sharp citrus snap of yuzu and house-made soy sauce. Close your eyes and for a moment it's easy to forget that this tiny sushi bar is squeezed into a corner of King's Burgers, a fully operational burger joint in Northridge.

With its vintage beige leatherette tuck 'n' roll booths and faux wood grain Formica tabletops, the classic setting is visually perfect for a place known for enormous breakfast burritos and fully loaded pastrami burgers.

These gut-busters still draw a loyal crowd to King's. But so does a wild array of raw fish creations fashioned by the owner's son, sushi chef Jun Y. Cha. Cha, an alumnus of Sushi Roku, Katana and a handful of other high-profile sushi havens, agreed to help his dad spiff up King's menu about three years ago.

He didn't envision then that he would be adding a full sushi bar offering sake and beer and a separate staff to handle the raw fish. As things evolved, Cha also drew on the European cooking techniques he'd acquired in local classes, integrating them into an impressive breadth of Asian-influenced dishes that he calls "modern Japanese cuisine."

These days, customers have several menus to choose from: the American-style King's Burger menu posted on a board above an ordering counter, a standard sushi selection and a list of modern Japanese sashimi plates and exotic rolls, along with Cha's Asian American-inspired fast food — bowls, burgers, salads and lunch plates — that he has recently created for King's.

The changes didn't seem to faze King's regulars, who apparently were already blasé about pop-up restaurants and gourmet food served from trucks. But unlike those ventures, Got Sushi?'s success came about less by design than by a whim of fate. And now, without the glitz of Hollywood or the restraints of a corporate umbrella, Cha can let his imagination run wild. And he does.

He's come up with more than 20 sashimi plates and other raw fish-based items: Seared pepper-encrusted tuna slices surround a salad of Granny Smith apple and arugula heightened with the merest splash of balsamic vinaigrette. Tender octopus under a scattering of crunchy tobiko caviar and cilantro comes in a sweet-spicy emulsion. Barely seared slices of Cajun-spiced tuna splayed out around a little mound of still-warm sautéed spinach and enoki mushrooms are drizzled with a creamy peppery sauce. The heat and sweet and creaminess ricochet around your palate in a high-wire flavor balancing act.

If the restaurant has a shortcoming, it's that it can take a while to read through all those menus. But the place is nothing if not democratic. At the top is Cha's omakase (still modestly priced, considering the quality, at $60 and up). In the middle are sassy rolls that are models of glorious excess — in the best possible way (the lemon roll, for example, starts with spicy tuna and asparagus, is draped outside with tuna sashimi and avocado and then subtly garnished with lemon zest and pine nuts secured by tiny drops of olive oil).

Then there's that Asian-inspired fast food menu. True L.A mongrels, these dishes include the wondrous Fire tuna bowl, a cubed raw tuna salad — somewhere between spicy ceviche and Hawaiian poke — tossed with avocado, baby tomato, tiny fingers of crunchy gobo and a shower of microscopic-size masago roe, all lightly bathed in a sauce bursting with sweet-tart chile-infused flavor. Alongside, warm rice topped with a scattering of tenkasu — tempura batter crisps — adds warm textural contrast.

Another fast-food inspiration, the obihiro bowl, holds two seared pork steaks glazed with an eel bone broth/soy sauce reduction. Served over rice, the juicy grilled meat is accented with crisp nori flakes, pickled red pepper and a soft-cooked egg that nearly mimics the perfection of the "60-degree" version at, say, New York's Momofuku.

Cha, for his considerable efforts, may not get the buzz of a chef backed by well-connected investors with access to a PR machine. But a group of admiring fans has been finding its way to King's Burgers, where Cha is realizing his dream in a way that he never expected.

Caught on camera: Baby Lisa's mother and mystery man buying baby wipes and wine just hours before her daughter disappeared

Surveillance video of the mother of missing Lisa Irwin buying baby wipes and wine with a mystery man five hours before her daughter was last seen has been released.
The footage shows Deborah Bradley and the unidentified man, thought to be in his twenties, shopping at a Festival Food store at around 5pm on the day that the 10-month-old disappeared.
The supermarket is around a mile and a half from the home in Kansas City, Missouri, where Bradley says her daughter was abducted.
The release of the video comes as a private investigator has been hired by a mystery benefactor to work with the family to help find their missing daughter.
Bill Stanton , a well-known investigator and former NYPD officer who is known as 'Wild Bill', and his team will start their search today.
Mr Stanton said he would be working on the case for an undetermined amount of time and that he was 'hopeful this child is safe and alive.'
He would not identify who hired him but said it was not the child's family.
It is thought that he has been hired by a wealthy family.
Police said he would not have access to investigative files. 'He will have access to anything the general public has access to,' a spokesman said.
Police were today scouring a new wooded area with all-terrain vehicles and search dogs just east of the family's home, though they said the efforts weren't prompted by a tip.
On Tuesday, police searched a nearby abandoned home and cistern, while more than 30 detectives pursued additional leads.
Police spokesman Captain Steve Young has said police are pursuing all leads and taking a no-holds barred approach to the investigation.
'I challenge you to name something, and I can assure you we have done it twice,' Mr Young said earlier in the investigation.
Lisa Irwin vanished a week ago in Kansas City, Missouri, after Bradley claims she put her to bed at 10:30pm on Monday night.
But later that night, when Lisa's father Jeremy Irwin checked on the child when he got home from work, the baby was gone, and she was reported missing by her parents early Tuesday.
Irwin and Bradley claimed someone must have crept into their home while the child's mother and brothers slept and snatched the baby girl, saying that the front window had been tampered with.
Police have searched the couple's home, nearby wooded areas, an industrial park, landfills and sewers.
They've checked out more than 300 tips, including at least one report of suspicions about a couple with a child near Lisa's age.

Nothing's too good for my goddess: Naomi Campbell's billionaire boyfriend has apparently offered to build her luxury island home... in the shape of an the Eye of Horus

It's always a bind shopping for the girlfriend who has everything, but it appears Naomi Campbell's billionaire beau Vladislav Doronin has the problem cracked.
According to The Sunday Mirror, the generous real estate entrepreneur has reportedly offered to build his sweetheart a 25-bedroom luxury island house in the shape of the Eye of Horus as her 41st birthday present.
The one-of-a-kind pad designed by architect Luis de Garrido would apparently be built on the island of Sedir off Turkey.
Naomi and 49-year-old Vlad have been together for three years, and it is believed they are engaged.

Plans of the building reportedly show that the 'eyeliner' portions of the property consist of solar panels to power Naomi's home.
Water would  be pumped through hot volcanic rock via a state-of-the-art geothermal system  to heat it, and sewage is to be treated on-site.
The eye's 'pupil' is said to be the main three-storey house, including five reception rooms and an indoor garden. It has been designed as a glass-covered dome.
Although the greenhouse effect promotes natural heating, certain measures – such as landscaping and tilted louvers – will apparently ensure that the heat is bearable during the summer time. It will also have plenty of ventilation.
In addition space is said to be spared for Vlad to store his yacht.
The site boasts on of the world's most famous beaches, allegedly built by Mark Anthony for his lover Cleopatra.
The Egyptian Queen is said to have refused to walk on anything but Egyptian sand- and every grain on the beach is meant to be a perfect sphere.
One slight hiccup in the couple's plans is the fact that Vlad is still married- though it is assumed he is planning to divorce his wife Ekaterina, with whom he has a teenage daughter.
Ekaterina was reportedly furious when her husband started seeing Naomi in 2009. She has been married to Vlad for over 18 years.
Naomi was recently seen on the cover of the most recent issue of Lurve magazine, for which she appeared to have shaved her eyebrows.
She has been busily at work on the fashion circuit recently, attending shows in London, Milan and Paris, where she had lunch with fellow celebrity pal Uma Thurman.
The tempestuous supermodel seemed in high spirits, after recently admitting she was 'a work in progress.'
On the show, CNBC Meets, Campbell recently spoke of her personal battle against cocaine and said: 'The challenge was to go back and face things I hadn’t dealt with, [it’s] scary for anyone to go and look at themselves in the mirror and deal with them, leave that baggage there and move forward.'
[It's a] Work in progress.
'I’ve apologised, accepted responsibility, I did my community service.'
'I didn’t feel good. I didn’t want to work. I lost many friends.
'I was emotionally and physically drained. I don’t look back on it in a negative way.
'

Raffaele Sollecito's father offers sympathy to Kercher family as Amanda Knox is reunited with boy she left behind (who resembles Italian lover)

The father of Raffaele Sollecito, who was acquitted of murder alongside ex-girlfriend Amanda Knox last week, said he was overjoyed when his son was freed from jail, but he also tried to comfort Meredith Kercher's family - whose daughter wouldn't be coming home.
Francesco Sollecito said that he attempted to speak to the Kercher family shortly after his son Raffaele's murder conviction was overturned, but the family’s lawyer stopped him.
He told the Guardian: 'I understand that it was a splendid day for us but not for them.
'All I can say is that if they need to contact me, I will always be here.'
Mr Sollecito's comments came as Amanda Knox's former boyfriend David Johnsrud, whom she left in the U.S. when she travelled to Italy, was pictured on Wednesday leaving her mother's Seattle home.
And he bears more than a passing resemblance to someone else - Raffaele Sollecito.With the same pale skin, glasses and straight mousey hair, Amanda appears to favour the geeky look in her men.
Maybe it's the inspiration of Amanda's pale-skinned, bespectacled father Curt.
Amanda sought comfort by secretly meeting with David almost immediately after she returned to America.
Mr Knox, however, said they had not yet rekindled their romance.
Speaking outside the family home, he said: 'She has been around DJ yeah. I think it’s a little early to be dealing with that romance.'
Mr Knox added that other friends and relatives have been visiting Amanda constantly.
But she still feels like she’s a prisoner because of the media interest in her.
Mr Johnsrud was Amanda’s boyfriend with whom she broke up when they left the University of Washington to travel on exchange programmes.
He went to China, she to Perugia. Amanda, along with Sollecito, were convicted of fellow student Meredith Kercher.
Now she's back in America, her father stressed was not about to dive straight back into a relationship.
He said: 'No, you have to understand when Amanda develops a friendship it’s not a superficial friendship. 
'This concept of boyfriend and girlfriend, no, I mean - to kind of give you an example a lot of the friends that have been visiting her from her university have known her longer in prison then they know her at college.
'That is kind of recognition of the type of friendships she develops. Just because it’s a male or a female does not mean boyfriend or girlfriend, I mean it’s a friendship and that’s what it is.'
But asked if Mr Johnsrud was happy to see her, he said: 'Absolutely, everybody was glad to see her.
Everybody’s desire was for her to come home, knowing she had nothing to do with this, that has been the focus and now people are getting the opportunity to reconnect with her face to face, which is really nice.'
Knox and Sollecito were arrested a few days after Miss Kercher's body was discovered in a pool of blood on November 2 2007 in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia.
They were convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively. A third defendant, Rudy Hermann Guede, was also convicted and had his 16-year prison sentence upheld by Italy's highest court.
Following Monday's acquittals, Guede remains the only one in prison for the death. His lawyer has said he wants the case reopened, given that Italy's high court determined Guede did not act alone.
Mauro Chialli, who was one of eight jurors who on Monday ordered the release of Knox, said there were several elements of the prosecution's case that did not convince him, primarily the lack of a motive and uncertainties about the precise time of Miss Kercher's death.

David Cameron has no ideas how to boost the economy

WITH Britain plunging towards a double-dip recession, it was the ideal chance for David Cameron to deliver his master plan to get the country back on its feet.

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But the clueless PM failed to come up with a single idea on how to arrest the alarming slide towards further financial disaster as growth shudders to a halt.

Instead of telling the nation how he would lead us out of the mire, Mr Cameron resorted to stating the obvious, paying homage to past Tory leaders and even made a pathetic attempt at a -Churchillian rallying cry.

But there was not one new economic policy in the 50-minute speech – given, much to the PM’s embarrassment, to a hall with hundreds of empty seats.
And while he did finally admit -Downturn Britain was facing a crisis, Mr Cameron -stubbornly refused to ditch the crippling ConDem cuts that are costing thousands of jobs and stunting growth.

Outlining what the whole country already knows, he said: “The threat to the world economy, and to Britain, is as serious today as it was in 2008 when world recession loomed.

“The eurozone is in crisis, the French and German economies have slowed to a standstill; even mighty America is being questioned about her debts.”

He warned the recovery could take “years”. But without explaining how, he insisted: “We can turn this ship around.”

And in the most obvious statement made by a PM during a financial meltdown, he said Britain needed a “growth plan” but failed to reveal one.

He spoke as the Office for National Statistics revealed that growth in the first half of this year had ground to a halt and household spending plummeted by 0.8% in the three months to the end of June.

And ONS figures showed the economy expanded by just 0.1% in the three months to the end of June, half its estimate.

Union leaders and fed-up business chiefs demanded a concrete economic policy from the PM and branded his speech to the Tory conference “hot air”.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “If the Prime Minister really felt the nation’s pain, he would change course. Our economic difficulties have gone well past the point where can-do optimism can make a difference.

“We need policies for jobs and growth and help for -families suffering the biggest fall in living standards in a generation.”

Chamber of Commerce boss John Longworth added: “The -immediate task facing the Prime Minister is to lay out the route to recovery, with alternative paths at the ready in case of further shocks from foreign shores. -Business wants to know what specific, direct measures will be put in place to encourage investment, grow exports and nurture jobs growth.”

John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, warned the PM: “Saying is not the same as doing and we need to see clear action to match the rhetoric.”

Unison union chief Dave Prentis said: “David Cameron is out of touch with the reality of many working people’s lives. Thousands of families in the UK struggle to make ends meet, and many are worried about losing their jobs. Millions are out of work, with young people hit especially hard. This speech offers them no hope.”

Shadow business minister Chuka Umunna hit out at the PM for refusing to ditch his savage and dangerous public sector cuts. The PM had told -the faithful: “Our plan is right and will work.”

But Mr Umunna said: “On the day figures confirmed the economy has stagnated, Mr Cameron told Britain he would keep an austerity plan which is hurting but not working.”

A croaking PM looked pale and tired as he gave his speech in Manchester. In his most shameless passage, he also repeated his claim that the Tories were the “party of the NHS”.

It came the day after more than 400 doctors and health professionals warned his reforms could do “irreparable harm” to the health service and recent figures showed -thousands of nurses were set to be axed in the next four years.

Mr Cameron also resorted to David Brent -management speak, saying there was too much “can’t do -sogginess” around.

Some activists left within five minutes of him speaking. Then, trying to rouse the audience with a rallying cry in the style of Winston Churchill, he declared Britain “needed to show some fight”.

He added: “You know, we’ve been told we were finished before. They said when we lost an empire that we couldn’t find a role. But we found a role, took on communism and helped bring down the Berlin wall.”

His only new policies were plans to make it easier for white couples to adopt black kids and gay marriage laws .

His biggest applause came when the PM attacked the unions, the European Union, praised Margaret Thatcher and lashed out at health and safety laws. Same old right-wing Tories then.