The movie follows the ¡°Twilight¡± series¡¯ playbook in casting a high school outsider as an otherworldly character. In this case, he¡¯s an alien* from outer space who changes schools the way normal kids change T-shirts because other aliens are out to destroy him.

Young English actor Alex Pettyfer, the hunk* of the moment for teen girls, stars as the misunderstood alien. He has a perfect body, but his acting ¡ª moodiness relieved only by flashes of anger ¡ª leaves a hole in the movie. The rest of the cast is more eye-catching, especially Dianna Agron as a teen absorbed in photography, Callan McAuliffe as a geeky* guy into UFO stories, and fellow Australian Teresa Palmer, who adds plenty of sex appeal and athleticism* to the role of another, much more self-confident alien.

A brief action sequence that opens the movie establishes the fact that a handful of good aliens from the doomed planet of Lorien are being hunted on Earth by evil ones called Mogadorians. They are eliminating* nine good Loriens in numerical order; Number Three meets his fate in the opening, thus letting the target fall to Number Four (Pettyfer).

Number Four and his protector (Timothy Olyphant), posing as his father, flee* their identities in the Florida Keys for brand-new ones in the small town of Paradise, Ohio. (The movie was in fact filmed in and around Pittsburgh.) As ¡°John Smith,¡± Number Four enters a stereotyped high school. A male clique* surrounding the school¡¯s star quarterback (Jake Abel) bullies* a geek who believes in UFOs; and a beautiful cheerleader only wants to escape these thick-headed jocks*.

Number Four is ordered to keep a low profile by his protector, which is hard to do when your hands glow like lightbulbs and you can toss around football players and police cars like matchsticks. So Number Four has a very hard time staying off YouTube, which is why the Mogadorians, led by a hammy Kevin Durand, are hot on his trail.

The movie is mostly a missed opportunity. The film plugs into some genuine* teen angst* and identity confusion* that might have joined nicely with its sci-fi elements. Instead, these two realities, a high school with its many melodramas and aliens chasing each other around the country, operate on parallel tracks.

A SHOOTOUT in front of a Walmart in Washington state in the United States left two people dead and two sheriff¡¯s deputies wounded Sunday afternoon, a sheriff¡¯s spokesman said.

    Meanwhile, a gunman opened fire inside a Detroit police precinct Sunday, wounding four officers including a commander before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.

    One of the dead in the Walmart shooting was a man who shot at deputies, said Scott Wilson of the Kitsap County Sheriff¡¯s Office. The other victim was a young woman who died after she was taken to a Tacoma hospital, he said.

    Details were sketchy Sunday evening, but the sheriff¡¯s office received a call about a suspicious person at the store in Port Orchard, Wilson said. The man ran and started shooting when three deputies tried to talk to him, he said.

    The deputies, including the two men who were wounded, returned fire, Wilson said.

    In Detroit, the gunman walked in through the precinct¡¯s revolving door shortly after 4 p.m. and opened fire indiscriminately at officers, police said. The officers fired back, killing the gunman.

    ¡°Utter chaos and pandemonium took place,¡± Police Chief Ralph Godbee said at a news conference. ¡°We have a number of officers who are shaken up.¡±

    Godbee said the gunman has been identified but it was ¡°too early to characterize¡± him while the investigation was ongoing.

    The chief said along with the commander, two sergeants and an officer were wounded, but none appeared to have life-threatening injuries.

    The one-story brick building is on the main street in what is a predominantly business district.

ROGER FEDERER sent a timely reminder to Rafael Nadal on Sunday, out-gunning the world No. 1 to win the ATP World Tour Finals with an irresistible display of attacking tennis.

Federer, overshadowed this season by the phenomenal Nadal, won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in front of 17,500 fans at London¡¯s O2 Arena for a record-equaling fifth title at the year-ending finale, matching the feat of Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

Nadal, who won this year¡¯s French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles to knock Federer off the top of the rankings, looked jaded after his epic semifinal against Andy Murray on Saturday.

Federer fired down 32 winners in the one hour, 37 minute contest to Nadal¡¯s 11 as he beat the Spaniard for only the second time in two and half years.

Nadal now leads 14-8 in their series dating back to 2004 but Federer¡¯s form since his shock defeat by Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon suggests the 24-year-old will be challenged hard for the sport¡¯s majors again next year.

In going through the round-robin tournament undefeated Federer also added US$1.6 million to his considerable bank balance, although notching another victory over his great rival, and regular nemesis, was satisfaction in itself.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion roared with delight as he looped a forehand on to the baseline and, after a slight hesitation, Nadal opted not to challenge the call and began walking to the net to shake hands.

For the first time since 1986 the world¡¯s top two players in the ATP rankings contested the final match of the season.

Though the match lacked the drama of their previous one in London ¡ª Nadal¡¯s unforgettable 2008 Wimbledon final defeat of Federer ¡ª it still provided a feast for a sell-out crowd as both players traded blows.

Nadal had the first sniff of a chance at 3-3 when he had Federer down 0-30 on serve but he was helpless as the Swiss reeled off four perfect points.

In the next game, Federer earned a break point with a forehand winner and converted it when he rolled a backhand beyond the reach of Nadal.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the Swiss had moved a set ahead but Nadal, playing in the final of the season-ender for the first time, leveled the match after breaking Federer¡¯s serve in the fourth game of the second set.

Predicting a winner at that stage looked impossible but Federer struck the decisive blow to move 3-1 ahead in the decider when Nadal hit a tired-looking backhand wide.

Nadal got to deuce on the next game but Federer slammed the door shut with an ace to move 4-1 ahead and there was no way back for the Mallorcan.

INDIAN fishermen and navy were searching yesterday for dozens missing after a boat crowded with Muslim pilgrims capsized in the Bay of Bengal, killing at least 18, police said.

More than 100 people were packed onto the 60-capacity motorized boat when it was toppled by a wave from a passing ship Saturday afternoon in the mouth of the Hooghly River, West Bengal¡¯s deputy police director Surajit Kar Purkayastha said.

Local boatmen rescued 40 people and recovered 18 bodies, including three young girls, before rescue efforts were called off due to darkness. Thirty of the survivors were hospitalized, Purkayastha said.

Fishermen and the Indian navy resumed the search yesterday.

The pilgrims had been returning to Kakdwip town aboard the boat ¡°Ma Durga¡± after offering prayers at the Hijli shrine in East Midnapur. The accident occurred near Ghoramara island, about 200 kilometers south of the state capital, Calcutta.

This is the second major boat tragedy in little more than two months in the Bay of Bengal.

In August, about 20 people died when an overcrowded village transport boat capsized in a small river in the Sunderbans wildlife reserve.

ÒÖôdÖ¢|Carpet Tile|ugg boots|

AN official meeting and a grand fireworks display will be held today to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, according to a government release.

The Metropolitan Channel of Shenzhen TV will live broadcasts the meeting from 9:52 a.m.

The fireworks display is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at the southern square of the Citizens¡¯ Center in Futian District.

More than 100,000 fireworks will be set off, some of which would reach a height of 250 meters, according to the urban management bureau, which is in charge of preparations.

All fireworks were supplied by a fireworks factory in Liuyang in Hunan Province, which is known as the home of fireworks in China.

The factory had supplied fireworks for more than 400 grand events at home and abroad including the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the APEC Summit in Shanghai, the bureau said.

Tonight¡¯s special-effects will be environmentally friendly, leaving no odor or residue, according to the supplier.

A computer program will ignite the fireworks instead of technicians.

Police will cordon off a 200-meter area to isolate the firing zone as a safety precaution.

Police, firemen and medical staff would be on standby as well as more than 200 buses if a need for evacuations arises, the bureau said.

In addition to the southern square of the Citizens¡¯ Center, the government had recommended to spectators the area to the north of the center, parts of Lianhua Hill Park and Central Park, the two sides of the Shennan Thoroughfare near the ignition zone, Zhongxin Road 4 and 5, and the northern square of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

Residents in central Futian can watch the show from their communities or offices.

Hot, overcast weather had been forecast for today.

luxury briefcase|tudou|ÐÂÄﻯŠy

CHINA has set up an electric vehicles association in its latest effort to encourage wider commercialization of the costly technology.

The new group made up of State-owned automakers and other related manufacturers will promote common standards and accelerate research, Li Rongrong, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commissions, said Wednesday.

The 16 manufacturers and research institutes belonging to the new group include major automakers China FAW Corp., Dongfeng Motor Corp. and China Changan Automobile Group. Others include State-owned battery makers and main electricity distributor State Grid Corp.

Developments in the electric vehicle area so far have come through joint ventures with foreign automakers, such as General Motors Corp., or through independent automakers, like BYD Auto, a dominant battery maker that has successfully branched into carmaking.

China has sought to gain control over technology innovation through a slew of policies, and the new group appears to represent an attempt by the government to join forces to exert greater control over electric vehicle development.

It also could enable automakers that lack the wherewithal to launch electric vehicles on their own to benefit from collaboration with State companies that dominate battery making and electricity distribution.

¡°The message is that the government really wants to boost the new energy car industry,¡± said Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing.

cheap ugg boots|Internacional claims Libertadores title|Gome leadership struggle heating up