OBAMA TO SPEAK IN BERLIN TODAY: After the conclusion of the two-day G8 summit in Northern Ireland on Tuesday (June 18th), President Obama will be in Berlin today, where he'll deliver a speech at the historic Brandenburg Gate. Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the president will make the case that although the Berlin Wall came down 23 years ago and the threat of nuclear war has been reduced, the type of activism seen during the Cold War needs to be used for current challenges, such as climate change, counterterrorism and the push for democratic values around the world. Obama will also reportedly renew his call to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles, including a proposed one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian arsenals.

• Obama's address is coming one week before the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in the then-divided city of Berlin.

NSA DIRECTOR: SURVEILLANCE THWARTED MORE THAN 50 TERROR PLOTS: National Security Administration director General Keith Alexander told Congress yesterday (June 18th) that the two controversial surveillance programs revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden had thwarted more than 50 potential terrorist attacks since 9/11, including one targeting the New York Stock Exchange. He and other intelligence officials have previously pointed to a plot by Najibullah Zazi to bomb the New York City subways that was also prevented. Alexander said the full list of blocked attacks would be given to members of the House Intelligence Committee, but wouldn't be released publicly, saying, "If we give all those out, we give all the secrets of how we're tracking down the terrorists as a community."

U.S. AND TALIBAN TO START TALKS ON ENDING AFGHAN WAR: The U.S. and the Taliban said Tuesday (June 18th) that they will start talks on finding a political solution to ending the war in Afghanistan. The agreement came as the Taliban met a key U.S. demand by pledging not to use Afghanistan as a base to threaten other countries, but the U.S. said the Taliban must still also denounce al-Qaida. While praising the deal to begin talks, President Obama warned that the process won't be quick or easy, with administration officials saying it will be, quote, "complex, long and messy." The agreement came as the international coalition formally handed over control of Afghanistan's security to the Afghan army and police. That means U.S. and other foreign combat troops won't be fighting directly with the insurgency, but will advise and back up the Afghan forces as needed with air support and medical evacuations.

• Just hours after it was announced that talks would be held, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on Bagram Air Base late Tuesday that killed four U.S. troops.

HOUSE PASSES ANTI-ABORTION BILL, NO FUTURE IN SENATE: The Republican-led House passed a far-reaching anti-abortion bill Tuesday (June 18th) that conservatives saw as a milestone in their campaign against legal abortion, while Democrats characterized it as another example of a GOP war on women. The legislation, which saw only six members from each party defecting to the other side in the 228-196 vote, would ban almost all abortions after the first 20 weeks following conception, defying laws in most states that allow abortions up to when the fetus becomes viable, usually considered to be around 24 weeks, in line with the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. It contains an exception for instances of rape and incest, but requires that a woman prove she reported the rape to police, and also has an exception for when a pregnant woman's life is in danger. The bill will go nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, however, and the White House said President Obama would veto it if it ever reached his desk.

PENTAGON UNVEILS PLANS FOR WOMEN IN COMBAT UNITS: The Pentagon unveiled plans Tuesday (June 18th) for fully integrating women into front-line and special combat roles, including elite forces such as the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. However, some commanders expressed concerns about how women might handle some of the tougher physical demands of combat and how men might view the presence of female troops in tight-knit elite units that have always been male-only. After then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta formally lifted the ban on women in combat in January, top military leadership embraced the concept and goal of completing the change by January 2016, but gave service commanders leeway as to how to get there. Military leaders released individual plans for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and special forces yesterday, and said they would spend the next year evaluating how they should be carried out, saying that it's still to be seen whether women will ultimately be admitted to all combat roles.

CBO: IMMIGRATION REFORM LEGISLATION WOULD REDUCE DEFICIT: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday (June 18th) that the immigration reform legislation currently moving through the Senate would give legal status to about eight million immigrants currently living in the country illegally. The CBO further said that the measure would boost the economy as millions of workers would join the legal workforce paying taxes, reducing the deficit by $197 billion over a decade, and $700 billion in the following 10 years. However, there were also some downsides, with the CBO analysis saying average wages would fall through 2025 as a result of the bill, and unemployment would go up slightly.

U.S. SMOKING RATE FALLS TO 18 PERCENT: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday (June 18th) that the smoking rate among U.S. adults fell to 18 percent in 2012, after years of hovering around 20 to 21 percent following decades of steady decline. The CDC said they haven't yet concluded why the rate dropped, but the health agency launched a graphic anti-smoking advertising campaign last year which triggered an increase of 200,000 calls to quit hotlines. Patrick Reynolds of the Foundation for a SmokeFree America told the Associated Press that the factors he believes contributed to the drop include: rising state and federal tobacco taxes; more spending on prevention and stop-smoking programs; and more laws banning smoking in public.

JOURNALIST BEHIND GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL'S OUSTER KILLED IN CAR CRASH: Journalist Michael Hastings, whose explosive 2010 Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal led to his ouster as the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was killed in an early morning car crash in Los Angeles yesterday (June 18th), the magazine announced. He was 33. In addition to being a Rolling Stone contributing editor, Hastings had covered the 2008 presidential campaign for Newsweek, and the 2012 campaign for Buzzfeed. He also wrote three books: The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan, based in part on his coverage of McChrystal; I Lost My Love in Baghdad, about his two years covering the war in Iraq for Newsweek and the death of his girlfriend there in a botched kidnapping; and the recent ebook, Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama's Final Campaign. Hastings is survived by his wife, Elise Jordan, a journalist and former speechwriter to ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

CHINESE SUPERCOMPUTER NAMED WORLD'S FASTEST: A Chinese university has built the world's fastest supercomputer, almost doubling the speed of the U.S. computer that previously held the title. The Tianhe-2 supercomputer, developed by the National University of Defense Technology in China, is capable of sustained computing of 33.86 petaflops per second, the equivalent of 33,860 trillion calculations per second. The U.S. Energy Department's Titan machine had previously been in first place, with computing speed of 17.59 petaflops per second. This is the second time a Chinese supercomputer has been named the world's fastest, after the Tianhe-2's predecessor, the Tianhe-1A, achieved it in November 2010.

BILL AYERS SAYS OBAMA SHOULD BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES: Former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, whose acquaintance with Barack Obama in Chicago had famously led Sarah Palin to charge during the 2008 presidential campaign that Obama, quote, "palled around with terrorists," said yesterday (June 18th) that he thinks Obama should be tried for war crimes for using drones overseas. In an interview with Real Clear Politics, the former University of Illinois at Chicago professor said, "Every president in this century should be put on trial. Every one of them goes into office dripping with blood and then adds to it. And yes, I think that these are war crimes. I think that they're acts of terror."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH POSTS FIRST WEBISODE ON MAKING OF NEW ALBUM: Five Finger Death Punch is posting a series of webisodes online focusing on the making of each individual track on the band's new double album, The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell. The clips will be posted at Loudwire and Noisecreep and will begin with songs from Volume 1 of the set, which is due out July 30th. In the first one, singer Ivan Moody and drummer Jeremy Spencer discuss doing a double album, with Moody saying, "We realized we were sitting on 24 or 25 tracks of music . . . We can shelve a lot of it and put it off for the next album or this album or this that and the other, or we can just make a double album."

P.O.D. SINGER GUESTS ON NEW FLYLEAF TRACK: P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval makes a guest appearance on "Something Better," a new single from the band Flyleaf that appears on its new EP, Who We Are. The EP is due out July 9th and consists mostly of live tracks showcasing new Flyleaf singer Kristen May in addition to the single. "Something Better" is one of the first songs written since May replaced original Flyleaf vocalist Lacey Sturm last year.

• Flyleaf said in a statement, "Having Sonny from P.O.D. on this track was really special. We've been fans of theirs for years, and it was an honor to do this collaboration. We think y'all will love it!"
• Both bands will hit the road together for a co-headlining tour next month, and not to be outdone, P.O.D. has issued a music video for the song "Beautiful," the latest single from P.O.D.'s 2012 album Murdered Love.

ALICE IN CHAINS PINBALL GAME NOW AVAILABLE FOR iPHONE AND iPAD: Alice In Chains has released a new app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch called Alice In Chains Pinball Rocks, a virtual pinball game played to a soundtrack that offers a collection of the grunge group's most popular tracks. According to Audio Ink Radio, the game also features original voiceovers from band members Jerry Cantrell, William DuVall, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez, plus hi-def graphics and a bonus game that unlocks the group's single "Hollow."

• A number of items from the covers of Alice In Chains releases like Jar Of Flies, Music Bank and the band's self-titled 1995 also appear in the game.
• The app is available for $2.99 via iTunes.
• Alice In Chains' new album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, debuted at Number Two on the Billboard album chart earlier this month, selling 61,000 copies in its first week of release. The disc was the band's fifth Top 10 debut.
• Alice In Chains will co-headline the fourth annual Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival with Jane's Addiction this summer, kicking off on August 9th in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

CHECK IT OUT: What are the best iPhone and iPad apps and games of all time? http://tinyurl.com/mkkfjkc

Soundgarden's episode of Live From The Artist's Den has been set to premiere at July 11th on PBS, with the show to be rebroadcast several times throughout the month. The episode was taped at the Wiltern in Los Angeles during the final stop on the first leg of the group's recent North American tour. Other performers appearing on the show's sixth season include Mumford & Sons, The Killers, Ed Sheeran and Imagine Dragons. Check your local listings for airdates and times. (Loudwire)

Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh says that the band's newly released live CD/DVD, Three Ring Circus: Live at the Palace -- October 21, 1995, may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of previously unreleased recordings and footage from the group. Gaugh said, "There's definitely a lot more video footage that we came across. We're going through it a little bit at a time and sorting out . . . We were big fans of 'press record now, no matter what,' so there's a lot of work in there." Gaugh feels confident that some, if not all, of the material will surface eventually, saying, "Why not? Everybody seems to love it still. Why should we hold onto it and hoard it? Let's share the love." (Billboard)

SELMA BLAIR FIRED FROM 'ANGER MANAGEMENT': Lionsgate studio, who produces FX's Anger Management, has announced that Selma Blair has been let go from the comedy series. There has been some tension on set which resulted in Charlie Sheen threatening that he would quit if his co-star wasn't fired. Lionsgate released a statement on Tuesday (June 18th) saying, "We are confirming that Selma Blair will not be returning to Anger Management and we wish her the very best."

DIMENSION FILMS POSTPONES 'SIN CITY' SEQUEL: Fans who have been eagerly awaiting the sequel to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's sequel to Sin City will have to wait a bit longer. Dimension films has moved the release date of A Dame To Kill For from October 4th, 2013 to August 22nd, 2014.

JOHNNY DEPP TRAMPLED BY HORSE: A new featurette released to promote The Lone Ranger reveals that Johnny Depp was trampled by a horse while filming scenes for the film last year. The video shows Depp being thrown from his horse and getting pulled directly underneath the animal whose back hooves land directly on him. Johnny wasn't injured too badly -- he stood up after the incident and said, "Can I tell you what the positive thing is? That my coccyx didn't take it. Chicks dig a few broken bones."

Soundgarden's episode of Live From The Artist's Den has been set to premiere at July 11th on PBS, with the show to be rebroadcast several times throughout the month. The episode was taped at the Wiltern in Los Angeles during the final stop on the first leg of the group's recent North American tour. Other performers appearing on the show's sixth season include Mumford & Sons, The Killers, Ed Sheeran and Imagine Dragons. Check your local listings for airdates and times. (Loudwire)

APP PAYS YOU TO SPOT ILLEGALLY PARKED CARS: A new mobile phone app rewards tattling with money. SpotSquad allows users to report illegally parked cars and receive a cut of the fine paid as a reward. The app works by taking a photo of the car and using optical character recognition to read and record the license plate number. The app also automatically uses GPS to tag the location where the photo was taken, and the user then chooses the type of infraction they observed from a list. The app then sends the infraction information to the operator of the lot or local law enforcement if it's on public property. The app was invented by a technology startup in Canada, and one company co-founder, Chris Johnson, tells Fox News that the photos themselves will not be submitted as evidence in court, at least not at this stage. (Fox)

RUMORS ABOUT A POSSIBLE FACEBOOK VIDEO SERVICE CIRCULATE: Tech watchers are reporting that Instagram and Facebook are planning to let users take and share short videos in order to compete with Twitter's Vine app. It's rumored that the two companies will unveil this new capibility at a tech event on Thursday (June 20th). Instagram's videos would reportedly be limited to a length of five-to-ten seconds, which is similar to the six-second time limit for Vine videos. Vine launched last October and has reportedly overtaken Instagram when it comes to sharing on Twitter. (UPI)

U.S. AND RUSSIA REMAIN DIVIDED ON SYRIA AT G8: As the leaders of major world economic powers met for the first day of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland Monday (June 17th), President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin remained divided over Syria, with the U.S. committed to Obama's recent decision to arm the rebels and Russia standing by its weapons sales to President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Although economic issues are the main focus of the G8, the Syrian civil war is getting a lot of attention there, with Obama reportedly having a tough time convincing Britain and France to also send arms to the Syrian rebels. After meeting with Putin for two hours, Obama said, "We do have differing perspectives on the problem. But we share an interest in reducing the violence; securing chemical weapons and ensuring that they're neither used nor are they subject to proliferation; and that we want to try to resolve the issue through political means, if possible."

OBAMA DEFENDS NSA SURVEILLANCE: President Obama defended National Security Agency surveillance programs as legal and transparent in an interview with PBS' Charlie Rose that aired last night (June 17th) after being taped a day earlier. Questioned about the two programs disclosed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, one that gathers U.S. phone records and the other that's designed to track the Internet use of foreigners with possible links to terrorism, Obama said, "It is transparent. That's why we set up the FISA court," referring to the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that authorizes the programs. The president said they programs were legitimate counterterror tools and completely noninvasive of the privacy of people with no terrorism ties. Obama also said that he's set up a privacy and civil liberties oversight board to help in the debate over the extent of government surveillance, which he says he wants to happen. ["The reason I'm saying that is, we're going to have to find ways where the public has an assurance that there are checks and balances in place, that they have enough information about how we operate, that they know that their phone calls aren't being listened into, their text messages aren't being monitored, their emails are not being read by some Big Brother somewhere. They've got to feel that confidence, and that it's not potentially subject to abuse because there are sufficient checks and balances, while still preserving our capacity to act against folks who are trying to do us harm."] SOUNDCUE (:37 OC: . . . do us harm.)

Earlier in the day, Snowden, who's still believed to be in hiding in Hong Kong, held an online chat hosted by The Guardian newspaper, to whom, along with The Washington Post, he gave his leaks. Snowden accused administration officials of exaggerating their claims about the success of the data gathering programs, and contended the U.S. government had, quote, "immediately and predictably destroyed any possibility of a fair trial at home" by calling him a traitor. While some members of Congress have called Snowden a traitor, members of the administration have not. Snowden also declared, "The U.S. government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me," and denied that he was spying for China, saying, "Ask yourself: if I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn't I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now."

HUGE PROTESTS IN BRAZIL: As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities on Monday (June 17th) in the biggest protests in two decades, with people expressing widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption. The mostly peaceful marches blocked streets and stopped traffic in more than six cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, where demonstrators climbed onto the roof of the Congress building and then stormed it. The marches began earlier this month with an isolated protest in Sao Paulo against a small increase in bus and subway fares, but the movement quickly gained support and spread as police used heavy-handed tactics against the demonstrators. President Dilma Rousseff said the protests "legitimate" and called peaceful demonstrations a, quote, "part of democracy."

OBAMA'S JOB APPROVAL FALLS: President Obama's job approval dropped over the past month from 53 percent to 45 percent, according to a new CNN poll out Monday (June 17th). That fall comes after Obama has been buffeted by a series of controversies, most recently about the NSA surveillance programs. On that particular issue, 61 percent said they disapprove of the way Obama is handling government surveillance of Americans, with only 35 percent approving. The president also took a hit on his ratings for being honest and trustworthy, which have traditionally been good for him. The new poll found that 50 percent now say Obama isn't honest and trust-worthy, up from 41 percent in May, while 49 percent say he is, down from 58 percent.

NOTHING FOUND SO FAR IN NEW HOFFA SEARCH: The FBI began investigating yet another tip on the fate of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa yesterday (June 17th), using excavation equipment to dig into a field in suburban Detroit. The FBI was acting on a tip from reputed Mafia captain Tony Zerilli, who said the remains of Hoffa, who was last seen alive when he left for lunch with two mobsters 38 years ago, were buried in the Oakland Township field. The 85-year-old Zerilli told Detroit TV station WDIV in February that he knew the location of Hoffa's remains. Zerilli was in prison when Hoffa disappeared, but said he was told about the location of Hoffa's remains after he was released. The search was stopped for the day at around 7 p.m. last night, with plan to resume today.

CNN'S ANDERSON COOPER INSPIRED HEAVY METAL SONG: http://tinyurl.com/lozkabo

WOMEN WHO WAS ONCE YOUNGEST SENTENCED TO DEATH RELEASED: A now 43-year-old woman who was once the youngest person on death row in America was released from jail in Indiana yesterday (June 17th) after serving 26 years behind bars. When she was 15 years old, Paula Cooper killed a 78-year-old woman during a robbery by cutting her 33 times with a butcher knife. While her three other similarly young companions got lighter sentences, Cooper, who carried out the murder, was sentenced to death when she was 16, becoming the youngest person on death row in the U.S. Human rights activists around the world protested her sentence, and then-Pope John Paul the Second made a plea for clemency. Two years after her 1986 sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an unrelated case the executing young people who were under 16 at the time of their offense was unconstitutional. Indiana then passed a law raising the death penalty minimum age to 16, and the state's high court set Cooper's death sentence aside in 1988, ordering her to serve 60 years in prison. The Supreme Court has since outlawed execution for anyone under 18. Cooper's 60-year sentence was reduced due to her behavior in prison, where she earned a bachelor's degree.

HALF OF NEWEST ASTRONAUT CLASS ARE WOMEN: NASA has announced a new class of eight astronauts, four of whom are women, the highest percentage of female candidates ever in class. The space agency said the eight were chosen from among 6,100 applicants, but stressed that it chooses its astronauts based only on skill. Public affairs officer Jay Bolden told CNN, "We have great female candidates in the poll this year. The selection is about qualifications. It has nothing to do with their genders." The group will begin their training in August at Houston's Johnson Space Center. This class of eight is the first NASA class since 2009.

STUNNING SEAL PHOTO WINS AMATEUR UNDERWATER PHOTO CONTEST: Winning photo in the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science's contest http://tinyurl.com/lgth2ya\

WORLD'S LAST TELEGRAM TO BE SENT IN INDIA ON JULY 14TH: The world's final telegram will be sent somewhere in India on July 14th, the Christian Science Monitor reports, 144 years after Samuel Morse sent the first telegram in Washington. Western Union closed down its telegram services in the U.S. seven years ago, but some 5,000 of the messages are still sent every day in India, where an official of state-owned telecom company BSNL told the Monitor that telegrams are favored for their, quote, "sense of urgency and authenticity." But BSNL decided to shut down the telegram service because, despite its use, they were losing $23 million a year as cell phones have made the messages obsolete

BRUINS DEFEAT BLACKHAWKS 2-0, TAKE 2-1 STANLEY CUP FINALS LEAD: The Boston Bruins blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 last night (June 17th) at home to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. Boston's two goals were scored in the second period by Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron. Game 4 will be played Wednesday night (June 19th) in Boston. [Look in "Last Night's TV Audio" for sound from the game.]

EX-NFL STAR CHAD 'OCHOCINCO' JOHNSON RELEASED FROM JAIL: Former NFL star Chad Johnson -- who played as Chad Ochocinco -- was released from jail Monday (June 17th) in Florida after he apologized in court to Broward County Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh for disrespecting her. Johnson had been in court last week for a probation violation in a domestic violence case, and when McHugh asked him if he was satisfied with his attorney, Johnson slapped the lawyer on his backside football-style. That incensed McHugh, who sentenced Johnson to 30 days behind bars. But after Johnson's apology yesterday, McHugh released him from prison after only a week. The former football star told reporters after his release that he was thankful to McHugh because she was the first person to get him to slow down and think about the path his life was taking. He said, "No one has been able to do it, not even my parents. I thank her. Everything she did was justified."

BENGALS TO STAR IN HBO'S 'HARD KNOCKS' AGAIN: HBO announced Monday (June 17th) that the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals will star in the popular training camp documentary show, Hard Knocks, for the second time in five seasons. The Bengals last appeared on the show in 2009. The eighth season of Hard Knocks will premiere on August 6th, with five episodes to air through September 3rd.

ROB ZOMBIE UNLEASHING ‘GREAT AMERICA NIGHTMARE’ IN OCTOBER: Rob Zombie will unveil his "Great American Nightmare" this fall in California, combining state-of-the-art haunted house attractions with a music festival featuring artists in the heavy rock, alternative, electronic dance and other genres. The event will take place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting on October 10th and ending on November 2nd at the Fairplex FEARplex in Pomona, just outside Los Angeles.

• Zombie said in a statement, "This is it! The ultimate badass Halloween experience! No one will walk away disappointed. I am thrilled to bring the 'Great American Nightmare' to California and begin a reign of bloody terror!"
• The rocker and filmmaker is teaming on the project with preeminent haunted house producer Steve Kopelman.
• The "fully immersive" haunted house experience will feature three attractions based on Zombie's own horror films: "Lords Of Salem Total Black Out," "The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto 3D" and "Haunt Of 1,000 Corpses."
• All three attractions will feature animatronics, visual effects, a claustrophobic maze and a combination of chills, thrills and humor.
• Among the acts slated to perform during the 15 nights of music being offered are Andrew WK, BL3ND, Blood On The Dance Floor, Dirtyloud, Dirtyphonics, Goldfinger, Kottonmouth Kings, Ozomatli, Reel Big Fish, The Used, Twiztid and many more, including yet-to-be-announced headliners.
• A midway will offer outdoor screenings of classic horror films, a DJ, food vendors, beer, wine and spirits, and more.
• Zombie will hit the road later this month behind his fifth solo album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor.
• He's teaming up with Five Finger Death Punch to co-headline the 2013 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, which kicks off on June 29th in San Bernardino, California.

CHECK IT OUT: Tickets for "Great American Nightmare" start at $30 and will go on sale Saturday, June 29th at www.GreatAmericanNightmare.com.

• Blink-82 drummer Travis Barker's side project The Transplants are streaming their new album in its entirety at RollingStone.com. The disc, titled In A Warzone, is the outfit's third effort and first since 2004's Haunted Cities. The trio, which also includes Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Death March's Rob Aston, are on tour now and next play in Silver Spring, Maryland on Wednesday (June 19th). In A Warzone arrives next Tuesday (June 25th).
• The Offspring have been announced as the headliners of the fifth annual Epicenter Festival, scheduled for September 21st at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California. Other acts confirmed to appear include Bad Religion, A Day To Remember, Pennywise, Pierce The Veil, All Time Low, Falling In Reverse and more to be added in the weeks ahead. Tickets for the fest will go on sale Friday (June 21st) at noon PT through Ticketmaster or Live Nation. (Loudwire)

SONY SETS DATES FOR TWO MORE SPIDER-MAN MOVIES: Sony Pictures has announced the release dates for two additional Spider-Man films being released over the next five years. After The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters on May 2nd, 2014, part three is slated to be released on June 10th, 2016 and part four on May 4th, 2018.

'KUNG FU PANDA 3' WILL START PRODUCTION IN AUGUST: Now that Dreamworks animation has moved up the release date for Kung Fu Panda 3 from 2016 to December of 2015, production for the film will start in August. One-third of the movie's production will be done in China.

JOE FRANCIS' SEX TAPE SOLD TO VIVD: Steve Hirsch of Vivid Entertainment was the winning bidder for a sex tape featuring Girls Gone Wild honcho Joe Francis and his girlfriend. Steve purchased the tape for an undisclosed amount and then handed all footage to Joe along with the promise that he will never release the tape. Hirsch told TMZ they didn't involve police "because of the time-sensitive nature of the situation I made a decision to expedite the process and return the movie to its original owner.

TORI SPELLING'S HUSBAND AGREES TO MMA FIGHT: Tori Spelling's husband, Dean McDermott, got into a heated argument with a guy named Anthony Bracco on Twitter over the last week which ended with both parties agreeing to bring their fight to the ring. Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman got involved in the argument and successfully convinced Dean and Anthony to wait until October to fight it out. Jose Canseco also jumped into the conflict by offering to train Dean which he gladly accepted.

NEW STUDY SHOWS KIDS ARE BEING CRUSHED BY TOILET SEATS: A new study has revealed that falling toilet seats have started to injure children. In 2010, 1,707 people were admitted to the emergency room with related injuries. 97% of them were boys under the age of eight. 100% of them were boys. The study's author Benjamin Bryer suggests that number could be "just the tip of the iceberg" because many parents do not take their children to the emergency room following the injury. Bryer suggests that parents replace heavy seats with "slow close" or "slow fall" seats to avoid injury. (BJU International)

BEAR MAULS MAN WHO FED IT BARBECUE MEAT: An Alaskan man was mauled by a black bear after he provoked the animal by throwing pieces of meat at it. The man had been drinking before he went for a bike ride during a church picnic at Eklutna Lake Campground. According to officials, the bear ate the first piece of meat and didn't attack until the man threw a second piece. Park officials found the man bloodied and washing himself at the campground. The man was treated for wounds to the jaw and back. The unidentified man might faces charges for feeding wildlife. (UPI)

WHALE SHARK BECOMES BOOGIE BOARD FOR FLORIDA TEEN: A Florida teenager jumped on a whale shark and rode on the shark's dorsal fin until the shark decided to dive. Chris Kreis spotted the 30-foot-long, 50,000-pound fish on Saturday (June 15th) as it swam near a boat off the coast of Florida. Kreis said he decided to go for the ride because, "I might not be able to do it ever again." Whale sharks are not considered a dangerous to humans as they only feed on tiny plankton. Riding a shark is not illegal, but human contact can cause damage by removing a protective slime. (ABC News)

MONDAY FOUND TO BE THE MOST RELAXING DAY OF THE WEEK FOR WOMEN: A new survey from the UK finds that Monday is the most relaxing day of the week according to women. To find this, face mask brand Montagne Jeunesse surveyed two-thousand British women. They found that seven in ten women said Monday is not the worst day of the week, and 73-percent said the weekends are usually at least as stressful as the weekdays. Many women said Sundays are busy and full of chores, and 60-percent said they look forward to Monday evenings as a time to relax. The least popular day of the week was found to be Wednesday. (Daily Mail)

GENIUS ALARM CLOCK SHREDS A DOLLAR IF YOU LET IT RING TOO LONG: http://tinyurl.com/kqgtcg9

PEOPLE WHO STARE AT FACES ARE BETTER AT REMEMBERING NAMES: A new study finds that people are better at remembering the names of other people if they study their faces. To find this, researchers tracked the eye movements of 40-people as they were shown random faces and names. They found that both men and women looked at the eyes, nose and mouth when viewing a face for the first time, but that women spent longer scanning the features of the face, and in turn were 12-percent more likely to correctly recall the name corresponding to the face. Researchers say this may happen because the more time one spends studying the face the more landmarks they have in their memory to remind them of who they are looking at the next time. (Men's Health)

ANTI-BALDNESS DRUG MAY CAUSE MEN TO LOSE INTEREST IN ALCOHOL: New research from George Washington University reveals that men who take and anti-baldness drug often experience a side effect of a disinterest in alcohol. Researchers say they found that men to take finasteride (known as Propecia) to stop their hair from falling out tended to drink less alcohol and have a low sex drive. In a study of 535 men taking the medication it was found that of the 63 men who consumed at least one alcoholic drink per week prior to starting the drug, 65-percent noted a decrease in their alcohol consumption, even after they stopped taking the drug. Researchers think this may happen because the drug blocks the brain from making certain hormones that have been linked to an interest in alcohol. (Daily Mail)

ELECTRONIC LICENSE PLATES MIGHT BE INTRODUCED SOON IN ONE STATE: Imagine having an electronic license plate that could display words like "STOLEN" or "UNINSURED." It turns out a license plate like this might be in use soon. The plates would have an "Electrophoretic" display-- the same technology that is used on many e-readers and has come to be known as "E Ink." The technolgy requires very little power, and the electronic license plates would gather that power from the movement of the car over the roadway, or soal energy. The electrophoric plates are currently at the beginning stages of being considered for use in South Carolina. (Pop Sci)

G8 SUMMITS BEGINS TODAY IN NORTHERN IRELAND: President Obama will be in Northern Ireland today (June 17th) for the start of the G8 summit, which will also be attended by the leaders of Britain, Canada, Russia, Germany, France, Italy and Japan, as well as the 27-nation European Union. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he expects formal agreement to begin negotiations on a European-American free trade agreement, and that a pact to cut tariffs on exports would boost employment and growth in both regions. Foreign policy issues will also be discussed, particularly Syria's civil war and the increasingly conflicting positions of the U.S. and Russia about it. Obama is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Syria.

• Obama is beginning his trip with a speech in Belfast on sustaining Catholic-Protestant reconciliation 15 years after the U.S.-brokered Good Friday peace accord.

U.S.: ELECTION WIN BY IRANIAN MODERATE COULD BE HOPEFUL SIGN FOR NUKE DISPUTE: The White House said Sunday (June 16th) that the surprise Iranian presidential election win by moderate Hassan Rohani over the weekend is a, quote, "potentially hopeful sign" for resolving the dispute over Iran's nuclear program. However, U.S. officials and analysts also cautioned that Rohani, a cleric and former nuclear negotiator, doesn't have the power to enforce changes, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains Iran's supreme leader and sets its nuclear policy. Additionally, Rohani has made it clear he is committed to Iran keeping its nuclear program, which the Islamic state insists is for peaceful purpose, a claim the West doesn't believe. The election result was considered a rebuke of hardline outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after his eight years in office, and four years after his disputed re-election led to weeks of protests before there was a government crackdown.

PUTIN DENIES STEALING SUPER BOWL RING FROM PATRIOTS OWNER: In a bizarre dustup, Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday *(June 16th) denied the contention from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft that he stole Kraft's Super Bowl ring, which is currently on display in the Kremlin, saying it was a gift. Putin was reacting to a New York Post story quoting remarks made by Kraft at an awards gala last Thursday (June 13th) about his 2005 meeting with Putin as part of a U.S. business delegation, including: "I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin]. And he put it on and he goes, 'I can kill someone with this ring.' I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out." At the time, Kraft said he gave the diamond-encrusted ring worth about $25,000 to Putin as a gift. But the Post quoted Kraft as saying that he'd wanted the ring back, but the Bush White House intervened and said it would be in the interest of U.S.-Russian relations to claim it was a gift. When asked about the Post story, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the Associated Press, "Back in 2005 I stood behind the president's back and I saw how that ring was presented to him. All that talk about some kind of pressure that was exerted on [Kraft] should be the subject of a detailed talk with psychoanalysts, I think. At the same time, I am aware that this gentleman is feeling such a horrible pain about the 2005 loss. The president will be ready to send him another ring as a gift, which [Putin] can buy with his own money." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the holding company for Kraft's business ventures said the Post article shouldn't be taken too seriously, stating, "It's a humorous, anecdotal story that Robert retells for laughs. He loves that his ring is at the Kremlin... "

JET CARRYING EX-PREZ GEORGE W. BUSH MADE EMERGENCY LANDING: A private jet with former President George W. Bush on board made an emergency landing Saturday night (June 15th) after the smell of smoke was reported in the cockpit. No one was hurt. The Federal Aviation Administration said the jet had been flying from Philadelphia to Dallas and was diverted to Louisville, Kentucky. Bush spokesman Freddy Ford, who was on board, said he never saw or smelled smoke, and that the plane continued to Dallas after a brief stop. Bush is honorary chairman of The First Tee, which supports youth education programs through golf, and was returning home after attending a Philadelphia event.

MISS CONNECTICUT ERIN BRADY WINS MISS USA PAGEANT: Erin Brady, a 25-year-old accountant from Glastonbury, Connecticut, was named the winner of the Miss USA pageant at the Planet Hollywood casino and resort in Las Vegas last night (June 16th). Coming in second place was Mary Margaret McCord of Alabama. As part of the competition, the finalists have to answer a question from the judges, and Brady's was about the Supreme Court's recent decision upholding DNA swab tests for people who are arrested. Brady said she agreed with the decision, stating, "If someone is being prosecuted and committed a crime, it should happen. There are so many crimes that if that's one step closer to stopping them, than we should be able to do so." Brady will represent the U.S. at the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.

POPE BLESSES HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES: In an unexpected joining of different worlds, Pope Francis yesterday (June 16th) blessed thousands of Harley-Davidsons and their riders who'd converged from around the world in Rome for a celebration of the American manufacturer's 110th anniversary. The main events were Sunday's Vatican blessing and a parade a day earlier past the Colosseum and other historic landmarks. Earlier in the week, Harley Davidson gave the pontiff two white classic Harleys for the Vatican police force to use.

'TANNING MOM' SENT TO DETOX: Patricia Krentcil, the New Jersey woman known as the "Tanning Mom," was sent to a temporary detox facility after she was allegedly found to be intoxicated at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last Thursday (June 13th). Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan told ABCNews.com that police received a call about an intoxicated passenger at the Delta ticket counters, and the 45-year-old Krentcil was taken to a temporary detox facility after police decided that she wasn't able to take care of herself. Hogan said Krentcil, who wasn't arrested, was in Minneapolis on a layover, but he didn't know where she was traveling to or from.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH SINGER PLANS SIDE PROJECT: Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody revealed in a new interview with Metalshrine that he plans to launch a side project after the band finishes its upcoming album cycle, Asked if he writes music that is not suitable for Five Finger Death Punch, Moody replied, "Most definitely. I'm actually going to do a side project after this next album cycle. I've already got a few guys on the line that I'm really proud to say I'm gonna work alongside with. I talked to the guys (in the band) and after doing five records like this, it's time to take a little bit of space from each other and that way, when we come back to do the next album, it'll be fresh to us again."

• The first half of Five Finger Death Punch's new two-record set, The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, arrives on July 30th, with the second half coming in the fall.
• The CD features guest appearances from In This Moment singer Maria Brink, Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera, Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta and Judas Priest singer Rob Halford, who sings on the first single, "Lift Me Up."

CHECK IT OUT: Listen to a clip of a new Five Finger Death Punch song, "Burn MF":

'WORLD WAR Z' TO OFFER $50 MEGATICKET: Paramount Pictures has such high hopes for Brad Pitt's World War Z that they are offering fans in five U.S. cities a "mega ticket" for $50 that will allow them to see a 3D version of the film two days prior to its official release date, one small popcorn, a pair of custom RealD 3D glass, a limited-edition movie poster, and an HD digital download of the film when it becomes available. Participating theaters are located in Orange County, Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.

'SCANDAL' UPGRADES SCOTT FOLEY TO SERIES REGULAR: Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes has promoted Scott Foley to series regular for the show's upcoming third season. Foley released a statement saying, "I'm thrilled to join such a talented, enthusiastic and professional group of people. Shonda and company have created a troupe of layered, complex characters, and to be able to be part of that is both exciting and humbling."

DISCOVERY BEING SUED IN WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT: Discovery Communications is being sued by the family of a woman who was killed when pyrotechnics malfunctioned during filming a reality show called Brother in Arms in 2011. The lawsuit reads, "Discovery and Anthropic utilized two pyrotechnic devices that Discovery and Anthropic knew had not been manufactured by a licensed and experienced manufacturer of pyrotechnic devices. Neither Discovery nor Anthropic had sought or obtained any permit from the proper governmental authority authorizing the use of pyrotechnic devices during the production of the Brother in Arms pilot."

FOUR CAST MEMBERS JOIN 'GREY'S ANATOMY' FULL-TIME: Camilla Luddington, Gaius Charles, Jerrika Hinton, and Tessa Ferrer have been promoted to series regulars for the upcoming 10th season of Grey's Anatomy. Fellow cast member Tina Majorino is reportedly not a part of that list because she is tied to the upcoming TNT drama Legends.

ASSAULT SUSPECT FOUND HIDING IN SOFA: An assault suspect was arrested after he was found hiding in a sofa storage compartment in Seattle. Following the Saturday morning assault, the suspect ran away after the victim called 911. Two hours later, police received another call from the same apartment, but the call was disconnected. After initially not being able to enter the apartment, officers found the suspect in a storage bin in the sectional couch when they finally got in. (Kiro Seattle)

BROKER ACCIDENTALLY POSTS PENIS ON RENTAL LISTING: A New York real estate accidentally posted a picture of his penis on a posting for an Upper West Side apartment on Friday (June 14th). However the agent denied that the picture was his or that he posted it, and The New Yorker claimed that the account was hacked.

11-YEAR-OLD FATHERS A SON AFTER SEX WITH FRIEND'S MOM: http://tinyurl.com/lfancrk

MEN MAY HAVE CAUSED MENOPAUSE IN WOMEN: A new scientific theory proposes the men may actually be the cause of menopause in women. The theory was published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, and says that women experience menopause because men have consistently preferred younger women in recent evolutionary history. Study co-author Rama Singh, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University in Canada said, "If mating is with younger women, any deleterious mutations which affect women's reproduction later in life will accumulate because they are not being acted on by natural selection." Researchers say most other animals do not go through menopause, but that female humans may because of the grandmother hypothesis-- that menopause allows a grandmother who is done rearing her own kids to help rear the young of her children, and thereby increase the odds of survival of her grandkids. (Fox)

MICROSOFT OFFICE NOW AVAILABLE FOR IPHONE: As of Friday (June 14th) iPhone users have the option of reading and editing text documents and spreadsheets from their iPhone. iPhone users can access Microsoft Office through the Office Mobile app, but an Office 365 subscription is required to use it. The subscription costs 100-dollars a year and allows a subscriber to use Microsoft Office on up to five Mac and Windows computers. Microsoft says that documents will not be formatted to fit an iPhone screen, but that the app will preserve charts, animation and comments among other key properties. Microsoft is not expected to make the app available for Android or iPad users. (Yahoo)

COULD MOVIE TICKET COSTS VARY BY MOVIE SOON? Director Steven Spielberg is predicting the movie industry could soon move to a two-tier pricing structure that would charge consumer a premium to see summer blockbusters. Spielberg was speaking with fellow director George Lucas at the new media center at the University of Southern California when he told students about his theory. Lucas suggested future movies might follow more of a "Broadway play model" in which fewer movies are released but will stay in theaters longer and have higher ticket prices. The directors said soon less action-packed movies, like Lincoln, won't make it to theaters at all, but instead be shown on premium TV channels such as HBO. (Daily Mail)