2005 Beauty Shop Soundtrack

The Spa at Personal Choice has once again been recognized for entrepreneurial excellence, nominated for a Global Salon Business Award and a spot in Salon Today's Top 200 Salons and Spas, according to a news release from The Spa at Personal Choice.The Global Salon Business Award is given each year to 50 out of 2,600 nominated businesses in the world that raised the bar for industry business practices in areas of leadership, community service, entrepreneurial pursuits and customer service initiatives, the release stated. The Spa at Personal Choice won the award in 2006 and owner Sue Santsche said she is honored to be a nominee again in 2007 for the 2008 award. In gearing up for this year's event, The Spa at Personal Choice was featured in the international trade magazine Esthetica as an example of a business that has used its award positively.

Paris And Nicky Hilton Jet To Tokyo

Paris Hilton may not be ready for her planned charity work in Rwanda, but she was up for judging a beauty contest in Tokyo.Hilton, 26, and her younger sister, Nicky, each chose one finalist for the Miss Universe Japan contest. A dozen or so more will be selected next month."I love Tokyo," Hilton said Tuesday. "The shopping is great."Hilton has promised to improve her bad-girl image since she finished a jail term this June for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. She had announced plans to do charity work in Rwanda this month for the Playing for Good Foundation, but the trip was postponed until next year.Her appearance at a Tokyo fashion boutique to judge the contest packed the room with photographers and TV cameras. Gawking bystanders lined the street outside.Japan has the reigning Miss Universe, Riyo Mori, the first Japanese to win the pageant since 1959.

Weekly Recap Of Global Events

US State Department investigators have promised Blackwater bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's killing of 17 Iraqi civilians at the Nisoor Square in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Mansour in Baghdad. The move is likely to infuriate Iraqis who have been demanding that Blackwater pay $8 million in compensation to families of each of the 17 bereaved families. However, in theory, the government can still prosecute, but would have to prove that its evidence was not derived from statements Blackwater guards gave to the State Department'sBureau of Diplomatic Security.

Meanwhile, several hundred US diplomats are protesting the State Department's decision to force foreign service officers to accept postings in war-torn Iraq. Nearly 300 diplomats likened the largest diplomatic call-up since the Vietnam War to a "potential death sentence." Many have also questioned about the ethics of sending diplomats against their will to work in a war zone.

Nintendo Producing 1.8 Million Wiis Monthly, Shortages Still Expected

More Wii consoles than ever, but still hard to find, says Nintendo After one year since the launch of the Wii, Nintendo is unable to keep up with customer demand. While some conspiracy theorists believe that Nintendo may be creating a shortage as a sales tactic, it's more plausible the game maker underestimated demand for the Wii. With the hot holiday buying season here, Nintendo fully knows that demand for its Wii console is higher than ever. Speaking to Next-Gen, Nintendo marketing chief George Harrison said that production rate of Wii is now greater than ever. "We're at a rate now worldwide of about 1.8 million Wiis produced every month, and that's going to sustain itself until we get on top of this," said Harrison. "We're trying to make decisions on almost a weekly basis about which market to ship the product to, because in Japan it's a big success, and same in Europe ...

Good news and bad for SNP: He's popular - but independence isn't

THE SNP won the Scottish Parliament election in May because people trusted Alex Salmond to be a good first minister, not because they wanted an independent Scotland, according to a major new piece of research published last night.