Tiger Woods prepares for return

Tiger Woods will play for the first time since his father's death in May when he starts the first round of the 106th United States Open at Winged Foot tomorrow.

The last time he played was at the Masters tournament more than two months ago.


Tiger Woods walks off the 18th tee after a practice round at the Winged Foot Golf Club in New York on June 14, 2006. AP photo from Yahoo News.

Woods told the press that he had a hard time getting back on the golf course for practice because of the memories it brought back of his father. But as he continued, he found that he "always had a smile" on his face remembering the lessons his father taught him through "the game of golf."

This is not the first time Woods has come back from a long idle period. After knee surgery in 2002 and last winter, he took long breaks but was able to come back fresh and win.

Ang Lee casts spy thriller in Taiwan

Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee was in Taipei last week casting his new film Lust, Caution scheduled to start shooting in September.


Film director Ang Lee in Taipei on January 19, 2006. AP photo from Yahoo News.

According to his younger brother Lee Kang, the elder Ang met with Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun, who won the best actress title at the last Hong Kong Film Awards.

Based on a novel by late author Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution, the film is set in Shanghai during World War II.

Lee will shoot the film in Taipei and Hong Kong.

China pulls Da Vinci Code

China pulled The Da Vinci Code from theaters in an apparent business move to make room for local films.

Despite protests from China's Catholic Church, the country permitted the movie's release, which predated even the 'official' premiere at the Cannes film festival.


A scene from 'The Da Vinci Code' which is still going strong in international markets. Reuters photo from Yahoo News.

Da Vinci Code is now Sony's biggest international money-maker ever pulling in close to $600 million in global box office sales, despite the growing number of countries banning the movie.

In Japan and more than a dozen European countries, Da Vinci Code still leads the charts in ticket sales.


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