BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 648 people were killed in a
stampede on a bridge when panic engulfed a
Shiite religious procession amid rumors that a suicide
bomber was about to attack. It was the
single biggest confirmed loss of life in Iraq since
the March 2003 invasion.

Scores jumped or were pushed to their deaths into the
Tigris River, while others were crushed in the crowd.
Most of the dead were women and children, Interior
Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.

A Taliban celebration of cheer over God's condemning
the US with massive destruction from Hurricane Katrina
ended in tragedy when twenty eight militants singing
and laughing in a base in the mountains of Uruzgan
province, fell to their death when the upper floor of
house collapsed do to the weight of dancing and laughter.

George Clooney is putting a sizable chunk of his own
money into a proposed $3 billion development called
Las Ramblas to be built just east of the heart of the
Las Vegas Strip.

The project will include more than 4,400 condominium
and hotel units in 11 high-rise towers, along with
shops and a 48,000-square-foot casino — about half the
size of the sprawling gambling floors found in the
city's others megaresorts.

So far, Clooney said "Ocean's Eleven" co-star Brad
Pitt and his other Hollywood pals have not committed
to buying into the development. But he's hoping
they'll come around.

"You bet, I'd love them all to be there. We've talked
with Brad. We are having Brad design one of the
buildings," Clooney said.

The main reason for the box office slump is the
quality of the movies themselves, according to a
survey of moviegoers' opinions found in Internet chat
rooms and posted on message boards.

44% of Internet chatters on the subject of the box
office slump cite bad movies as their reason for
shunning theaters, and among those citing other
reasons, the quality of films is usually their second
or third reason. He also said that the data indicates
that even movie stars don't have the same cache as
they once did.

Burger King's recently launched BK Chicken Fries
marketing plan has run afoul of Slipknot, which is
evidently willing to declare its likeness to men in
chicken suits.

Now the two are talking turkey in court.

At the center of the controversy is faux metal band
Coq Roq, featured in TV spots for Chicken Fries. That
Coq Roq resembles Slipknot in the visuals department
has ruffled the latter's feathers.

Coq Suqers!