Funnier hosts, more Seth Meyers, less Kristen Wiig would boost show

“Mad Men” actress January Jones and Jason Sudeikis appear in a sketch from “SNL,” which Jones hosted.

Hot young hosts there mainly to plug failed movies? An utter dearth of great pop-culture parody? No more! See our sure-fire ways to help NBC’s weekend staple raise its game.

Enough with the parade of sexy young startlets!
Buzzed-about twentysomethings with current projects to promote don’t always make the best “SNL” hosts. Instead of a tepid Megan Fox or an abysmal January Jones, why not try Jane Lynch, who’s massively popular on “Glee,” or Mo’Nique, star of sleeper hit “Precious?” Throw Nathan Fillion in there for some geek cred. It’d be less work for the writing staff, too, because these people are…(gasp) actually funny!

Leave the policy dissections to ‘The Daily Show’: ‘SNL’ needs to go wacky and use its imagination in covering politics.
The great political sketches in “SNL’s” history have rarely been biting commentary; instead, they’ve been goofy send-ups (Clinton, anyone?), silly prat-falls (Ford, duh), and over-the-top parodies (Bush, Bush, Gore, and — flashback time! — Ross Perot). Let “The Daily Show” take jabs at Fox News and CNN and bring SNL’s political focus back toward energetic absurdity.

There is, in fact, such a thing as too much Kristen Wiig.
We’ve enjoyed Gilly, Penelope, Suze Orman, Target lady, closeted field reporter, and many of Wiig’s other characters over the years, but even her biggest fans must be hitting a wall of fatigue. How can we appreciate the woman if she never leaves the screen? Not every sketch needs to center around a neurotic character with a verbal or facial tic. “Sorry.”

Give us more frequent and more sharply focused pop-culture parodies.
Spoofs of popular shows and movies — those are the things that ought to be “SNL’s” bread and butter. It a way to tease and be part of the specific cultural moment, plus it’s funnier than yet another Target Lady trainwreck. Exhibit A: That wicked “Twilight” spoof starring Taylor Swift!

A multiplatinum CD shouldn’t be a requirement for musical guests.
We miss the days of having to Google the artists we’d never heard of until just before they started rocking the “SNL” stage. Be a tastemaker, not a follower! The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Regina Spektor: Yeah. U2: Nah. Consider up-and-coming indie acts like Florence and the Machine instead of having the Black Eyed Peas perform three songs. Bonus: You won’t have to fight with “Live With Regis & Kelly” to book the bulk of your bands.

Set Seth Meyers free!
The “Weekend Update” anchor and head writer has, in recent stand-up acts and late-night appearances, offered up would-be “SNL” lines that were too racy or strange to air. Guess what? They’re hilarious. (“According to a new study, college students put on six to nine pounds during their freshman year because of dramatic increases in beer-drinking and decreases in physical activity … which means the rest of your ‘freshman 15’ is probably a baby.”) When “Update”’ gets aggressive, it’s Meyers at his best. Unleash it! Let that jerk flag fly!

Not every black female character can be played by Kenan Thompson.
Ugh, do we even have to explain this one? We’d say the show’s writers could have the guest host play, oh, Beyoncé or Michelle Obama, but only three black women have hosted the show in the last 10 years. Anyone spotting a ridiculous problem here?

The new Twilight vampire movie took a record $26.3m (£15.9m) in midnight showings at North American box offices, studio Summit Entertainment has said.

That beats the previous North American record of $22.2m (£13.5m) for midnight openings, taken by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in July.

Experts have predicted that New Moon will have one of the biggest opening weekends for a non-summer film.

The first movie in the series, starring Robert Pattinson, made $69.6m (£42.1m).

It is expected the sequel will take almost $100m (£60.6m) in the US and Canada over the course of the weekend.

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire holds the current North American weekend record - outside of Hollywood’s May to August summer season - with takings of $102.7m (£62.2m) in November 2005.

The biggest ever opening weekend was for Dark Knight - starring the late Heath Ledger - which took $158.4m (£96m) in July 2008.

The new Twilight film follows the romance between high school student Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, and vampire Edward Cullen, played by Pattinson.

The movie adaptations are based on the series of books by American author Stephenie Meyer.

The books have sold 85 million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

The United States Senate is preparing to hold its first vote on a major bill designed to overhaul US healthcare provision.

The vote, which requires 60 out of the 100 Senate votes to pass, will decide whether Democrat leader Harry Reid’s bill can go forward for debate.

The Democrats need the votes of two independents to make up the 60, as the chamber’s 40 Republicans are opposed.

US President Barack Obama has made healthcare reform a domestic priority.

Mr Reid’s proposed $849bn (£508bn) bill would extend coverage to another 31 million people, or 94% of eligible citizens, he said on Friday.

The legislation, which was outlined in a 2,074-page document, is said by Democratic aides to reduce deficits by $127bn (£76bn) over a decade and by as much as $650bn (£389bn) in the 10 years after that.

But it has been criticised by Republicans as being too expensive. They say they will block it, and debate is expected to be fiery.

Anything less than 60 votes for the initial measure will leave the bill vulnerable to Republican delaying tactics.

Efforts to get it passed have focused on three centrist Democrats - Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana - who have expressed doubts about the bill.

Senator Nelson has said he will support his party in the test vote, while Senator Landrieu has also hinted that she will back it.

Senator Lincoln, who faces a difficult re-election battle next year, has made no public comment either way.

Correspondents say that if the measure fails at the first hurdle, it might not be the end of the bill but would push it well into next year.

It would also cast doubt on whether the Democrats will be able to find any genuine consensus on a final bill, they say.

The House of Representatives narrowly passed its own version of the reforms earlier this month.

Medicare cuts

Mr Reid opened the session by presenting highlights of the plan. A vote is not expected before 2000 local time (0100 GMT on Sunday).

Under his bill, most Americans would have to have health insurance, while private insurers would be banned from refusing to provide insurance because applicants had pre-existing medical conditions.

Prosecutors have asked for life imprisonment for the pair accused of murdering British student Meredith Kercher in Italy.

Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her bedroom two years ago. Her throat had been cut.

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini asked a jury in Perugia to convict Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence.

Miss Knox, a US student, and her former Italian boyfriend deny the charges.

The prosecutor argued that Miss Knox, Mr Sollecito and a third man, Rudy Guede, who was convicted in a separate trial killed the British student during a drug-induced sex game.

Guede, 22, was jailed for 30 years for murdering the British student.

Guede, who is originally from Ivory Coast, always denied any wrongdoing and has launched an appeal against his conviction.

Miss Knox, addressed the court in Italian, saying that the accusations against her were “pure fantasy”.

“Meredith was my friend, I didn’t hate her,” she said.

Prosecutors told the court Miss Knox hit the British student’s head against a wall, then tried to strangle her, as Mr Sollecito held her and Guede sexually assaulted her.

Mr Mignini said Miss Knox “harboured hatred” for the Briton and was the driving force behind a drug-fuelled sexual assault against her that became “an unstoppable crescendo of violence”.

Meredith Kercher was on a student exchange programme in Italy

In his reconstruction, the prosecutor alleged that Guede held Miss Kercher down while Mr Sollecito and Miss Knox inflicted fatal wounds to her neck.

“The murder and the sexual violence were carried out for futile reasons. Meredith will never come back,” he said.

Police found the Briton’s semi-nude body in a pool of blood with her throat cut.

Miss Knox shared a flat in Perugia, central Italy, with Miss Kercher, a Leeds University student who was on an exchange programme.

Mr Sollecito, a 25-year-old Italian, is Miss Knox’s former boyfriend.

The American student and her ex-boyfriend both deny allegations of a drug-fuelled sex game.

Miss Knox, who is from Seattle, says she spent the night of the murder at Mr Sollecito’s house elsewhere in the Umbrian town.

Mr Sollecito says he was at home working on his computer that night and does not remember whether Miss Knox spent the whole night with him or just part of it.

A verdict is expected in the first week of December.

A gas blast at a coal mine in China has killed 42 people and left 66 trapped, state media reports.

Xinhua said that 528 workers were in the mine in Heilongjiang province at the time of the blast and that rescuers were searching for those trapped.

More than 400 other miners reportedly managed to escape the mine, in the region bordering Russia.

China’s coal mines are notoriously dangerous despite tighter government regulations aimed at upgrading safety.

Last year alone, more than 3,000 people were killed in mining accidents.

The latest blast happened at 0230 local time on Saturday (1830 GMT on Friday), said Xinhua.

Deep underground

Most of the workers managed to escape the pit, but many were still trapped about a third of a mile (500m) underground, Chinese media report.

China’s coal mines are notoriously dangerous despite regulations

Many of the injured were being treated at the Hegang Mining Bureau Hospital, which said all 800 of its medical workers had joined the rescue operation, Xinhua reported.

Wang Xingang, a 27-year-old electrician who suffered head injuries, said he was knocked out by the blast as he was entering the mine.

“I passed out for a while,” Xinhua quoted him as saying. “I found I was shrouded by heavy smoke when I regained consciousness. I groped my way out in the dark, and called for help.”

The mine is operated by the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group.

State-run mines are generally considered safer than private collieries, whose lax safety standards contributed to a high rate of accidents.

Most are blamed on a failure to follow safety guidelines, often in an attempt to cut costs and meet an increasing demand for fuel.

The Chinese authorities have been trying to deal with the dangers by closing smaller mining operations and forcing local authorities to regulate the industry, says the BBC’s Michael Bristow in Beijing.

The government closed some 1,000 small mines in a recent safety drive, and says the number of miners killed has been halved as a result.

But miners are still dying at a rate of six a day, and independent labour groups say many accidents are covered up in the drive for profit and coal.

In February, more than 70 workers were killed in an explosion at a mine in Shanxi province.

Make fun of OSU coach all you want, but he owns rival, wins Big Ten titles

Unless Michigan upsets No. 9 Ohio State on Saturday, the Wolverines will go a second straight season without a bowl under coach Rich Rodriguez