Moreover, the proposal covers pretty much any scenario — whether the car is moving or stationary and would apply even if a smoker had a window, sunroof, roof, door or other feature open. The fine for such an offense would be 250 Canadian dollars.

Ontario would not be the first to enact such a law as Nova Scotia, Yukon, Arkansas, California, Maine, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, South Australia and Tasmania already have similar legislation in place, according to Canadian Driver.

French Spiderman” Alain Robert, who has become famous for illegally climbing buildings across the world, scaled a top Hong Kong hotel on Tuesday, eyewitnesses said. The 45-year-old urban climber scrambled up the outside of the 46-storey Four Seasons Hotel before being detained when he reached the roof, said one worker in a skyscraper close by who saw him reach the top.

The feat drew onlookers from nearby office buildings, including the neighbouring Two International Finance Centre, Hong Kong’s tallest building, which Robert had been expected to climb once he announced his visit.

Robert was in Hong Kong to publicise his book “With Bare Hands,” which looks at some of his climbing successes, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney Opera House and many of the world tallest skyscrapers.

He has declared his guerrilla climbing activity his “philosophy.” On his website he boasts that he has made it to the top of 70 buildings and monuments around the world in his 12-year career.

Last year, he was deported from China for illegally conquering its tallest building, only to have Chinese officials invite him back in November to legitimately climb a mountain in the center of the country as a tourism attraction.

Sourc: Brietbart

“GM had to back up off of me,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution when asked about the deal. “There are films that I missed out on. Not speaking of, of course, shows. Tours. Tons of business. I’ve probably lost about $10 to $12 million dollars.”

Last month, T.I. pleaded guilty to illegal weapons charges in Atlanta. He was arrested in October while trying to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.

In his first sit-down interview since being arrested, T.I. tells AJC’s Sonia Murray that his patience has grown since being on house arrest for months.

“If I can sit at home all day and wait on people to bring me what I need… wait on getting permission to be able to do this and do that, it’s not as serious as I used to make it sometimes.

“Sometimes it was like, ‘If I don’t get this right now I’m just going to lose it.’ When you’re going 350 miles per hour, it tends to be that way. But when you are stopped – halted, not slowed down, but halted – you figure, ‘Well I could have just slowed down. I didn’t have to be stopped.’

“I thought it was bad just to slow down. Now I see in me being stopped, I could have done this, been this, myself, instead of being forced to do it.”

Check out  Hiphophavoc for all your latest hip hop news

This synchronized global slowdown, which has become increasingly stark in recent months, is hobbling economic growth worldwide, affecting not just homes, but also jobs.

In Ireland, Spain, Britain and elsewhere, housing markets that soared over the past decade are falling back to earth. Experts predict that some countries, like Ireland, will face an even more wrenching adjustment than the United States, with the possibility that the downturn could turn into wholesale collapse.

To some extent, the world’s problems are a result of American contagion. As home financing and credit tighten in response to the crisis that began in the U.S. subprime market, analysts worry that other countries could suffer the mortgage defaults and foreclosures that have afflicted California, Florida and other states.

Citing the far-flung reverberations from the American housing bust and credit squeeze, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast Wednesday for global economic growth this year and warned that the malaise could extend into 2009

“The problems in the U.S. are being transmitted to Europe,” said Michael Ball, professor of urban and property economics at the University of Reading in England, who studies housing prices. “What’s happening now is an awful lot more grief than we expected.”

For countries like Ireland, where prices were even more inflated than in the United States, it has been a painful education, as homeowners learn the American vocabulary of misery.

“We know we’re already in negative equity,” said Emma Linnane, a 31-year-old university administrator. She bought a cozy, one-bedroom apartment in the Dublin suburbs with her fiancé, Paul Colgan, in May 2006, at the peak of the market. They paid €365,000, or $575,000 – at least $100,000 more than it would fetch today.

“I sometimes get shivers thinking about it,” Linnane said, “but I’ll let the reality hit me when I go to sell it.”

That reality is spreading. Once-sizzling housing markets in Eastern Europe are cooling rapidly, as nervous West Europeans stop buying investment properties in Warsaw, Estonia and other former real estate Klondikes.

Even further east, in India and southern China, prices are no longer climbing. With stock markets down sharply after reaching heady levels, people do not have as much cash to plow into property. Sales of apartments in Hong Kong, a recently hyperactive market, have slowed, with prices for mass-market flats starting to drop.

In New Delhi and other parts of northern India, prices have fallen 20 percent over the past year. Sanjay Dutt, an executive director in the Mumbai office of Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm, described it as an erosion of confidence.

Much of the retrenchment can be attributed to the basic laws of gravity: What goes up must come down. With low interest rates helping to inflate housing bubbles in many countries, economists said, the confluence of falling prices was predictable, if unsettling.

How this will affect the broader fortunes of countries differs radically. Ireland and Spain are shuddering, while growth in India this year is expected to slow only a percentage point or so from its recent pace of 9 percent. In China, the effect may be even more limited.

Continue reading the 3 page artical by Mark Landler at International Herald Tribune

The joint venture will be called Tag Records, a nod to Procter & Gamble’s's Tag body sprays. It will be run by Island Urban president Jermaine Dupri, who helped produce the latest sales disappointment by his girlfriend, Janet Jackson.

Tag Records will unveil its first signing in May, and is promising a marketing budget 10 times the going rate of $1 million or so for most artists.

“My goal is to find artists that have longevity written all over their face,” said Dupri, adding that TAG is expected to launch two artists per year during the course of the three-year deal.

Jackson’s “Discipline,” meanwhile, is currently at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 in its sixth week.

Reuters/Billboard

HEATH Ledger is stealing the spotlight from beyond the grave in one of Hollywood’s most anticipated blockbusters of the year.

Chilling promotional images of Ledger portraying the Joker from the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, have been released - nearly three months after the Perth-born actor was found dead in New York.

In one scene from the film, Ledger is dressed in a white nurse’s uniform, wielding a gun and wearing a surgical mask.

In another, his face painted with the Joker’s trademark evil grin in red, he points a gun directly at the camera.

These are just two of the many images film company Warner Bros is using to promote The Dark Knight, to be released in Australia on July 17.

From the movie’s promotional material to the trailer, Ledger appears to be the main attraction, with Christian Bale, who plays Batman, taking a back seat.

One poster for The Dark Knight features only Ledger as the Joker, creepily peering through a frosted window with the catchphrase: “Why so serious?” written in blood.

The film also stars Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Bale _ reprising his role as Batman.

Ledger’s role as the smudge-faced villain is tipped to be his greatest performance, prompting early buzz that he could be nominated for an Oscar award.

“Heath was an incredible actor and he brought a very, very scary Joker to life,” said Bale. “Heath shocked us as the Joker and his death shocked all of us.”

Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment on January 22 after an accidental overdose.

The Dark Knight is the last feature film he completed before his death. He was filming Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus days before he died but wasn’t able to finish the film.

Ledger had big shoes to fill by taking on the role of the Joker, which was made famous by Jack Nicholson.

During filming, Ledger said the darkness of the role had troubled him.

“He’s just out of control - no empathy, he’s a sociopath, a psychotic, mass-murdering clown,” Ledger said of the character before his death.

Veteran Michael Caine has also spoken highly of Ledger’s Joker portrayal.

“Jack (Nicholson) was like a really scary old, nasty uncle with a funny face,” Caine said. “Heath’s like the most murderous psychopath you’ve ever seen on the screen.”

By Jonathon Moran, Daily Telegraph

These guys have been doing work!!! LA The Darkman is back with vengeance. Recent mix-tapes include Notorious LAD with DJ Drama and Dead Presidents with DJ Drama. His real life younger brother Willie the Kid seems to have inherited his brothers’ rap skills; check out his mix-tape Divide and Conquer with DJ Drama and Big Mike. La the Darkman was first seen on the scene back in the mid 90′s as a Wu-Tang Affiliate… He worked extensively behind the scenes with RZA and put out a classic album “Heist of the Century”  with classics like Lucci, Fast Life, and the self titled track. NOW after years he’s back on his own… with Affiliates and Embassy Entertainment he established. All together there known as the Come Up Boys (CUB) and the Sing Sing Regime (SSR) and heavily rep AMG (Affiliates Music Group or “A is for the big chain on my neck, M is for money, G is for gun-rule).  It also has been reported that 50 Cent and G-Unit records will be doing a collabo with DJ Drama/ gangsta grillz/AMG. La is reported to be having an official album released soon, unknown title…I really hope there is some sort of  WU presence somewhere on it. They’ve been busy doing videos as well, with the one posted above and another they filmed in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Check out www.grandgood.com for all your hip hop news and exclusives.