Paramount following Warner out the HD DVD door?

The Financial Times is reporting that Paramount is preparing to use a get out clause in its HD DVD exclusivity deal, and go back to Blu-ray, about 4 months after ending its dual-format release schedule. The move would be a result of Warner’s switch to Blu-ray, using a “get out” clause in Paramount’s promotional agreement with the HD DVD camp. No details on what it might take to rip up the contract and make Michael Bay very, very happy, but if the rumor proves true this could make the slow death he predicted for HD DVD a very, very fast one.

-Engadget.com

2 U.S. Fighter Planes Crash in Persian Gulf; No Injuries Reported

Two U.S. warplanes crashed over the Persian Gulf Monday, although the pilots were able to eject and have been pulled to safety, Pentagon officials said.

The F-18 fighter jets were stationed aboard the U.S.S. Harry Truman aircraft carrier, which is the lead boat in the carrier group stationed in the Persian Gulf.

One fighter was a one-seater, the other was a two-seater. Officials said all three pilots were recovered from the water and are reportedly safe aboard the Truman.

The two planes apparently collided.

The incident comes less than 48 hours after a tense standoff in the Strait of Hormuz involving three U.S. Navy vessels and five Iranian boats believed to belong to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

-FoxNews.com

Iranian boats ‘harass’ U.S. Navy, officials say

Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats “harassed and provoked” three U.S. Navy ships early Sunday in international waters, the U.S. military said Monday, calling the encounter a “significant” confrontation.

An Iranian official, however, said it was not a serious incident, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.

U.S. military officials said the incident occurred early Sunday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel leading in and out of the Persian Gulf.

They said that as the guided missile destroyer USS Hopper, the guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal and the guided-missile frigate USS Ingraham were entering the Persian Gulf, five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and swarmed them.

The Iranian boats made “threatening” moves toward the U.S. ships and in one case came within 200 yards of one of them, the U.S. officials said.

The U.S. Navy also received a radio transmission that officials believe came from the Iranian boats. The transmission said, “I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes,” the U.S. military officials told CNN.

When the U.S. ships heard that radio transmission, they took up their gun positions and officers were “in the process” of giving the order to fire when the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said.

After the radio transmission, one of the Iranian boats dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships, the officials said. It was not clear what was in the boxes, the officials said.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

-CNN.com