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This adaptation of the video game stars Mark Wahlberg as a narcotics agent whose thirst for revenge over the deaths of his family and partner hurls him into a seedy underworld of conspiracy and supernatural hallucination. The movie comes in both its theatrical cut and an unrated version, accompanied by commentary with director John Moore. A “Special Edition” DVD and the Blu-ray release also have a digital copy, plus a making-of segment and an animated graphic novel. - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28802035/

Rising temperatures and the resulting drought are causing trees in the West to die at more than twice the pace they did a few decades ago, a new study has found.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/23trees.html?ref=science

In a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto analyzed the vitamin D intake of 759 breast cancer patients and 1,135 women without breast cancer, accounting for both dietary intake and vitamin D production from exposure to sunlight.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025397.html

Three cups of tea a day could help keep breast cancer at bay among younger women. Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida discovered an increased intake of tea reduced the risk among ladies under the age of 50 by up to 37 percent.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481453,00.html

A charity has called for a change in the law so doctors can tell patients if they have inherited gene mutations which give them a high risk of developing the cancer. Current confidentiality laws mean it is the duty of family members to tell relatives they could possess the inherited gene mutations, BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Women coping with difficulties in their marriage have a harder time recovering from treatment for breast cancer, researchers have found. Breast cancer survivors involved in an ongoing but distressed marriage or long-term relationship “showed not only a slower recovery in overall physical functioning but also more side effects from treatments,” Dr. Hae-Chung Yang told Reuters Health.

http://www.cancerpage.com/news/article.asp?id=13026

Digital music downloads reached a milestone in 2008, exceeding 1 billion songs purchased online, according to a newly released report from Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales. That represents a 27% gain over the previous year.

But the soaring popularity of the 99-cent download is not enough to offset continued declines in CD sales, which still account for the bulk of the music industry’s revenue. Physical disc sales fell nearly 20% to 362.6 million, the seventh decline in eight years, according to SoundScan.

Overall album sales — including CDs and the digital equivalent — dropped 8.5% compared with 2007. Every musical genre, including alternative rock, Christian, gospel, new age and rap, reported across-the-board declines in album sales. Holiday sales — hello recession — were off by a steep 19%.

In an effort to cope with changing technology and the threat of Internet piracy, the recorded music industry has been exploring new sources of revenue. Royalties from satellite and Internet radio and so-called 360 deals with artists, in which the label shares in concert ticket and merchandise sales, contribute to the labels’ bottom line. Video games such as “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” also generate licensing fees.

Nielsen doesn’t track those alternative revenue streams, which are not yet large enough to offset the decline in CD sales.

Universal Music Group remained the industry’s big dog, with a nearly 32% share of the album market, followed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment at 25%. Warner Music Group claimed 21% of sales, and the smallest of the major labels, EMI Music, saw its market share drop slightly to 9%.

Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” was the bestselling album of the year, and country crossover artist Taylor Swift was the top solo artist.

The ’70s heavy-metal rock group AC/DC — a group that long labored in the shadow of such contemporaries as Led Zeppelin — was the bestselling group.

Citigroup plans to announce a new executive compensation system in which the top executives at the firm will see sharp reductions in their yearly pay packages if the firm’s fortunes continue to sour, people close to the firm tell CNBC.

The plan comes just weeks after Citigroup (NYSE: C) receive a second, $20 billion injection of capital from the federal government and promises to cover more than $300 billion of the megabank’s exposure to toxic mortgage-backed securities.

Investor fears about Citigroup’s balance sheet recently sparked a runt on Citigroup’s stock that sent shares reeling to close to $3, before recovering to just above $6 following the bailout from the Feds.

Under the plan, CEO Vikram Pandit will receive no bonus for the 2008, nor will chairman Win Bishoff, based on Citi’s dismal performance this year, where the firm announced multiple quarters of losses stemming from its bad bet on mortgage debt.

The plan calls for Citi’s most senior executives, including the CEO, to take the biggest hits in compensation when the firm’s bottom line suffers. Senior executives will receive much of their future cash and stock bonuses in a deferred fashion that is “vested” in three years time when the executive can claim ownership to the money.

The plan will also feature a clawback provision where the firm can recoup money from top executives if the performance of the firm sours after a big payday, in addition the top five executives at the firm will receive no severance if and when they leave.

Citigroup officials say the plan was developed internally by Pandit himself, but they confirm that they have been discussing executive compensation reforms with officials in the federal government, which have been increasingly more involved in Citigroup’s operations since the big bank asked for its most recent bailout.

Wall Street executives have been under tremendous pressure from Congressional leader to scale back bonuses paid to top executives since the federal government made direct capital infusions into the nation’s biggest banks and brokerage firms that have been teetering amid the financial crisis.

It’s unclear if other firms will follow Citi’s example, which will be more fully described in a public filing this afternoon, but already CEOs of big firms like Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: ms) John Mack and Goldman Sach’s (NYSE: gs) Lloyd Blankfein have said they won’t take bonues this year.

Both Goldman and Morgan announced fourth quarter losses; for Goldman it was the first quarterly loss since it became a public company in 1999.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed three Australians have been injured in a fire in a Bangkok nightclub which killed 60 people.

The Australian Embassy in Bangkok says a 29-year-old woman, her 30-year-old brother and a 49-year-old man are being treated in hospital.

DFAT says their next of kin have been notified.

The New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Santika nightclub went horribly wrong when a fire broke out near a sound stage on the upper floor, causing panic among the hundreds of clubbers packed inside.

Witnesses told the local media that flames rapidly spread to the lower levels.

Many people died from smoke inhalation, and others were crushed as they tried to escape through the only exit on the ground floor.

Many of the victims were Thai, but it is not known how many foreigners were inside at the time.

Investigators are on the scene trying to determine if the fire was started by fireworks or an electrical fault.

Fireworks of often questionable quality are used liberally to celebrate New Year in Thailand.

Andrew Jones, a teacher in Bangkok, was outside the club shortly after the fire started and says the front door was the only exit from the building.

“Some of the people were badly burnt, probably about 90 per cent burns,” he said.

“It’s a really bad scene here in Bangkok right now.”

He says there was only one exit from the building.

“There were a number of people who were trapped inside the toilet,” he said.

“There were no fire exits in the toilets, no exits at the rear of the building, just one main exit at the front.”

- AFP