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Belgian chocolate and Croatian love meet in sweets shop Posted: 19 Nov 2011 05:34 PM PST Christine Scholtes Covic shows box full of fresh made truffle and plum taste pralines in her tiny production facility in small town of Rakovica, south of Zagreb. — AFP pic RACOVIKA, Croatia, Nov 20 — Christine Scholtes Covic went to Croatia's Lika region drawn by its stunning scenery and ended up with a husband and a new career combining Belgian chocolate with nature's bounty.  "Chocolate is the food of gods, something really noble," said the Belgian native at her tiny production facility in a village nestled among the green hills and valleys of central Croatia.  The 37-year-old had found a new home in the Lika region, famous for its well-preserved forests, mountains and crystal clear rivers and lakes, and there turned her passions for nature and chocolate into a business making truffles and bonbons.  "I always loved to cook but pastries were my speciality. As a six-year-old I was making my own birthday cakes. "My grandmother had a restaurant so I'm like an Obelix who fell into the magic potion," she said with a grin, referring to the character from the French comic book series Asterix as she explained her "chocolate addiction".  Years later she obtained a diploma in France in bakery and pastry from the Institut National de la Boulangerie et Patisserie, and opened a small pastry shop back in Belgium.  But after discovering the beauty of Lika and its Plitvice Lake national park with 16 cascading lakes and spectacular waterfalls, she fell in love with the place and a local man and moved to Croatia in 2009.  "I was looking for a house and got a husband with it," said the short-hair brunette, smiling warmly.  When the chocolate 'addict' first spoke of setting up a luxury chocolate shop in the Lika area, picturesque but hard-hit by Croatia's 1990s independence war and with over 20 per cent unemployment, the locals were surprised, even sceptical.  But she eventually won over the people in the town of Rakovica.  "It was a great idea but it was something completely new for me," said Ankica Baric, a local woman who helps out in the shop.  "When Christine asked me what I know about chocolate I replied that I only knew how to eat it," she added, bursting into laughter.  After struggling with a slow and often confusing amount of red tape and bureaucracy, the shop Lika Chocolate finally started with the production of truffles and chocolates in October 2010.  "It really combines the best of both worlds — finest Belgian chocolate enriched with excellent Croatian ingredients — butter, cream — and local flavours such as honey, nuts, lavender, or local wines," Scholtes Covic said.  Her shop worker Baric gushed that the truffles with locally produced plum brandy were an "absolute hit".  Visitors are greeted by the seductive warm smell of chocolate and spices when they enter the small production facility, located on the ground-floor of a building in the centre of Rakovica.  At the entrance small packages of sweets are laid out while the main part serves as a kitchen dominated by a giant granite table and a fridge — Scholtes Covic's 'treasure chest' — filled with handmade truffles and chocolate.  She produces some 20 varieties of chocolate and truffles — around 150 kilos monthly.  For the time being her products can be ordered through the Internet at www.lika-chocolat.com, but Scholes Covic wants to expand to the capital Zagreb where truffles would be sold in delicatessen shops.  Sales at the shop in Rakovica are brisk during the summer when people stop on a road connecting Zagreb and the Adriatic coast, as the reputation of Lika Chocolate has been spreading by word of mouth.  Chocolates cost some €2 (RM9.60) a piece and truffles around €33 for a kilo.  "I like the idea and the chocolate is really excellent," said Nikola, a man in his 50s, who stopped at the shop while driving to the capital.  He learned about Lika Chocolate in a television reportage. "This should be available in Zagreb," he added after tasting and buying a box of plum truffles. — AFP-Relaxnews Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Nadal returns in unfamiliar role of underdog Posted: 19 Nov 2011 07:57 AM PST LONDON, Nov 19 — Rafa Nadal returns to action at the ATP World Tour Finals tomorrow hoping to issue a timely reminder of his powers. The Spaniard, out of action for a month, has had a lean year by his high standards and has not captured a title since winning the French Open for a sixth time in June. Nadal and girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello arrive for the ATP World Tour Gala at Battersea Power Station in London November 17, 2011. — Reuters pic His number one ranking has been snatched away by man-of-the-year Novak Djokovic while all serious money for the London title is heading the way of in-form Swiss Roger Federer and home favourite Andy Murray. The 25-year-old, whose last competitive match was a shock defeat by Germany's Florian Mayer in Shanghai in October, was not fretting over his lower profile as he prepared for his Group B opener against American Mardy Fish. "I don't feel like (the forgotten man)," Nadal told reporters when it was suggested to the world number two that he had had slid into the shadow of the other members of the top four. "Maybe you have this feeling, but I don't." "I played in the final of the last three Grand Slams and I've had a good season. I lost a few important matches this season, but I won a few ones too. I'm happy about my year. "I didn't have a perfect year, but I've had a very good year. I've been out of competition for a little while and that's probably why the focus is on others," added the Mallorcan who will lead Spain in the Davis Cup final next month against Argentina. Djokovic, despite his shoulder problems, will be the man to beat in London, having won three of the years four grand slams and the Masters Series events in Canada, Rome, Madrid, Indian Wells and Miami. But Nadal says he is not desperate to re-assert his authority over the Serb who until this year he had beaten in 16 of their 23 matches. "It's probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw," Nadal said of Djokovic who has beaten him in six finals this year on three different surfaces. "But I'm not working every day thinking about Novak. I'm working and thinking about what I need to do to keep improving, to be a better player. That's what I've done all my career and what I want to keep doing. "Novak had an unbelievable season. What he did is very difficult to repeat. His level of tennis was very, very high. He beat me and he was playing better than me. That's why he was able to win almost every match during the season." Nadal will face great rival Federer for the first time in round-robin play next week — a repeat of last year's final at the O2 won by the Swiss 16-times grand slam champion. Federer is seeking a record sixth title at the season-ender, to move him clear of Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras. He opens play tomorrow against Joe-Wilfried Tsonga, but his clash with Nadal will be one of the highlights of the week. "I always enjoy playing against Rafa," Federer said. "It goes without saying that I enjoyed that match (last year's final) but I also enjoyed the matches I lost like the Wimbledon finals, the Rome finals. We've had some epic battles against each other and I'm happy that we have another one here." Djokovic has a Monday start against Tomas Berdych. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Bundesliga match called off after referee fails to show Posted: 19 Nov 2011 07:51 AM PST File photo of Bundesliga soccer referee Babak Rafati (left). — Reuters pic BERLIN, Nov 19 — A Bundesliga game between Cologne and Mainz 05 was postponed today after the referee failed to show up, with German media reporting he had attempted to commit suicide. "The referee, Babak Rafati, did not show up and it was impossible to find a replacement at short notice," Cologne spokesman Tobias Schmidt said. The reports said Rafati, 41, had attempted to commit suicide earlier today. Cologne sports director Volker Finke told reporters the game, due to kick off at 1430GMT (2130 Malaysian time), had been called off due to an accident. The German football association could not be immediately reached for a comment. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Sharon Stone stars in another Linda Lovelace biopic Posted: 19 Nov 2011 03:51 AM PST Sharon Stone will play the mother of the adult film actress in 'Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story'. – AFP pic LOS ANGELES, Nov 19 – With two Snow White films, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, vying for audiences' attention next year, as well as dueling Wizard of Oz movies, now there will also be a pair of biopics about porn star Linda Lovelace. Sharon Stone has signed on to play the mother of the adult film actress in Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story. The film is based on the book Ordeal: An Autobiography by Linda Lovelace with Mike McGrady. The film will depict Lovelace's infamous breakthrough in the 1972 film Deep Throat and her turbulent relationship with her husband/manager Chuck Traynor, to be played by Matt Dillon (Crash). Malin Akerman (The Proposal, Watchmen) replaced Lindsay Lohan in the title role. The other biopic, titled Lovelace, will star Amanda Seyfried (In Time), with Peter Sarsgaard (An Education, Green Lantern) in talks to play her husband. Stone will shoot Inferno after portraying Aphrodite in Gods Behaving Badly with Christopher Walken and John Turturro and the thriller The Mule with Billy Zane (Titanic). – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Taylor Swift feels responsibility in stardom Posted: 19 Nov 2011 02:46 AM PST Taylor Swift performs at the 45th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 9, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. – Getty Images/AFP WASHINGTON, Nov 19 – Taylor Swift, at 21 one of the biggest stars in country music, says she considers her fame to be an awesome responsibility almost from the minute she wakes up. "I definitely think about a million people when I am getting dressed in the morning," the singer-songwriter with the supermodel looks told the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" in an interview to be telecast tomorrow. "That's just part of my life now. I think it's my responsibility to know it and to be conscious of it." She added it would be all too easy, as a star, to deny any impact on her audience: "The truth of it is that every singer out there with songs on the radio is raising the next generation – so make your words count." Swift – who collected her second career entertainer of the year trophy at the Country Music Awards last week – scores her eighth top-10 debut in the Billboard singles charts this week with "If This Was a Movie." Her first concert album, "Speak Now World Tour: Live," recorded during the early stages of an ongoing world tour that kicked off in Singapore in February this year, is due out Monday. CBS posted a snippet of her "60 Minutes" interview Wednesday on its news website (www.cbsnews.com). – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Japan’s quake-hit regions promote disaster tourism Posted: 19 Nov 2011 07:36 AM PST Bakery and cake shop "Eclair" serves customers in the tsunami-hit city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture after it reopened following the March 11 tsunami and earthquake disaster. — AFP/Relaxnews pic TOKYO, Nov 19 — Companies and communities in Japan's disaster-stricken northeast are devising schemes to earn a living from their misfortune, eight months after their livelihoods were wiped out by the biggest natural disaster to strike the nation in living memory. Those efforts received a boost this week when the foreign ministry announced that foreign tourists who visit Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima — the three prefectures worst affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami — will not have to pay for a visa from next week. The scheme will run until at least November 2016, the ministry said, and travellers will be required to show transport tickets or proof of their accommodation to be exempt from paying for a tourist visa. The visas cost ¥3,000 (RM123) for a single entry and ¥6,000 for multiple entries and the scheme is aimed at visitors from countries such as China, Thailand and Malaysia. Travellers from a number of countries are already not required to pay for a tourist visa. Some 77,000 tourists visited the three prefectures in 2010, but numbers have been significantly lower since March 11, falling 88 per cent in Fukushima and 90 per cent in Iwate during the second quarter. But people who earned a living from the tourism industry in the affected areas are devising their own schemes to attract visitors. A group of residents of the port town of Otsuchi, for example, is inviting visitors to stay in their homes and experience fishing and farming in the community. They are also creating a tourism centre to show the history of the town and the damage that the earthquake and tsunami caused, while they also plan to train local guides and produce souvenirs from the town. Elsewhere, Sanriku Railway Co. started tours of disaster areas as early as May and has so far taken more than 1,000 people through some of the hardest hit parts of Iwate Prefecture. JTB Tohoku Inc. introduced similar tours of Rikuzentakata in October. Another proposal is to create a Japanese version of Germany's famous Fairytale Road the length of the coast of Iwate Prefecture. The route would take in the key points of the towns of Otsuchi, Kamaichi and Hanamaki — which served as the backdrop for many of the poems and fairy tales that were written by Kenji Miyazawa. The organisers hope to imitate the route that has been created in Germany to follow the tales of the Brothers Grimm and attract both domestic and foreign visitors. — AFP/Relaxnews Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Swiss museum clinic tries to cure information junkies Posted: 19 Nov 2011 07:24 AM PST BERN, Nov 19 — The Libyan war, the Greek debt crisis and the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal have all been rich fodder this year for news junkies — but is today's information overload healthy? A Swiss clinic has set out to help those who feel overwhelmed by such excess with an unusual exhibition that runs until July 15, 2012 at the Museum for Communication in Bern. On arrival the visitor walks into a darkened room with 12,000 books lined up on shelves, in an illustration of the sheer amount of information individuals are bombarded with daily. The Communication Clinic section of the "Attention, communiquer nuit" ("Beware, communication hurts") exhibition in Bern. — AFP/Relaxnews The exhibition explains that if all the inhabitants of the Earth came together to process all the data released worldwide, they would each have to read about 12,000 books like this a day. "In principle, communication is important and can be something that gives pleasure, but nowadays there is a flood of information," museum director Jacqueline Strauss told AFP. She likens it to food. "You can eat too much, you can always eat the same thing (...). That's not good, but if you have a healthy and balanced diet, that is pleasurable and comfortable." An average person can read a 350-page book in a day if he or she has nothing else to do, according to experts from Bern University who participated in the exhibition. But the volume of information and communications broadcast and published round the world by Internet, e-mail, telephone, the press, radio and television is estimated in the exhibition to amount to about 7.355 billion gigaoctets — the equivalent of billions of books. Faced with this surfeit of information, "there are cases where people become ill and there are certain risks, like burnout," said Strauss. But if one takes charge of oneself, 'overload' illness can be avoided. The Communications Clinic, which she has set up in the exhibition, is meant primarily to "raise awareness". 'Are you stressed out?' On a television, installed at the entrance to the clinic, a woman warns visitors: "Advertisements pile up in our letter-boxes, spam chokes our e-mail boxes" and "cable companies offer us 200 channels". "Are you stressed out, overwhelmed, exhausted?" she asks. If the answer is "yes", the visitor is invited into a "check-up room" where he fills out a questionnaire that will enable the compilation of his or her Personal Communications Index and lead to the offer of suitable treatment. The visitor is then told by coaches which door they need to go through. The green door is for those with no problem. The yellow door is for those who are only mildly troubled by the excess of information and mail, and it opens on to a space where the visitor can get counselling on how to sort out his or her e-mails. For the really "sick", there are two more intensive treatments. The red door opens into the meditation room, also described as "inner light". Comfortably seated on black cushions, the visitor relaxes, a red light forces him to close his eyes and a woman's voice urges him to let go. The orange room, known as the "balanced formula", offers the visitor a walk in the wild, between wooden walls and on floors of pebbles. Visitors can pick them up, collect them, write on them and listen to the sounds of a flowing stream and of songbirds. At the end of the tour, an automatic distributor delivers a supposed medicine called "Comucaine". Packaged in a white box, Comucaine is actually an instruction leaflet which summarises the advice given during the exhibition to help people to de-stress from the information overload. For those who are really hooked on the news, the clinic offers online support on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/svanbelkom. But above all, the museum's director stressed, we must not forget that "one is not only a victim, one is also guilty" because "everybody is a producer of information". — AFP/Relaxnews Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Muhyiddin: BN fokus semua negeri untuk menang PRU-13 Posted: 19 Nov 2011 01:47 AM PST LABUAN, 19 Nov – Barisan Nasional (BN) tidak hanya bergantung pada dua negeri iaitu Sabah dan Sarawak untuk menang dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang, tetapi juga pada negeri-negeri lain di Semenanjung. Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin berkata walaupun kedua-dua negeri dan juga Labuan telah disifatkan sebagai deposit tetap bagi BN, gabungan itu sepatutnya berupaya memenangi semula negeri-negeri lain yang jatuh ke tangan pembangkang pada pilihan raya umum lalu. "Kita sepatutnya berupaya menawan semula negeri-negeri lain yang kini diperintah pembangkang pada pilihan raya umum akan datang," katanya dipetik Bernama Online. Muhyiddin berkata fokus dan perhatian sama rata diberikan kepada semua negeri termasuk yang ditadbir pembangkang kerana menurutnya kerajaan BN sentiasa mengamalkan sikap adil. "Kami akan terus mengekalkan pendekatan `touch point' dalam membantu rakyat. Kami mahu rakyat tahu yang kami prihatin dan ikhlas dalam membantu mereka," katanya pada sidang akhbar di sini selepas melakukan lawatan sehari ke Labuan hari ini. Terdahulu Muhyiddin yang juga Timbalan Pengerusi BN mengadakan perjumpaan tertutup dengan Umno Labuan dan parti-parti komponen BN negeri dan diberikan taklimat mengenai persediaan pilihan raya oleh pemimpin Umno. "Saya berpuas hati dengan taklimat yang diberikan. Isu perpaduan yang pernah dibangkitkan sebelum ini tidak harus dipersoalkan lagi. Semuanya baik, saya tidak melihat sebarang masalah mengenai perpaduan di pulau ini," katanya. Dalam pada itu ketika menghadiri majlis bertemu rakyat di Kampung Sungai Labu di sini, Muhyiddin berkata, kenaikan kos sara hidup akan terus menjadi agenda utama yang akan ditangani sejajar dengan matlamat kerajaan untuk menambah baik tahap hidup rakyat. Muhyiddin berkata kerajaan telah pun menyusun perancangan untuk melihat matlamat itu dicapai. Beliau berkata belanjawan yang dibentangkan baru-baru ini oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang memberi tumpuan kepada peningkatan tahap hidup rakyat dan meringankan beban kewangan mereka membuktikan sikap prihatin kerajaan yang memerintah. "Bagaimanapun di sebalik pelbagai usaha kerajaan untuk membawa pembangunan kepada rakyat selama bertahun-tahun, kami masih dituduh berbohong oleh pembangkang," katanya. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Menteri: Tiga juta pemilik rumah dapat tong sampah percuma Posted: 19 Nov 2011 12:38 AM PST ALOR SETAR, 19 Nov – Seramai tiga juta pemilik rumah yang menjelaskan cukai pintu mengikut jadual akan dihadiahkan tong sampah beroda, kata Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung hari ini. Beliau berkata tong tersebut disediakan oleh tiga syarikat konsesi yang diberi kontrak memungut sampah dan sisa pepejal di Kedah, Perlis, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka dan Johor. Syarikat tersebut ialah Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd (di Kedah dan Perlis), Alam Flora Sdn Bhd (Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Putrayaja, Pahang) dan SWM Environment Sdn Bhd (Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor). "Pemberian tong secara percuma ini adalah selaras dengan penguatkuasaan Akta Pembersihan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersihan Awam yang dikuatkuasakan secara rasmi pada 1 September lepas," katanya kepada pemberita selepas melancarkan majlis penyerahan tong sampah percuma di Taman Lumba Kuda di sini. Pemberian itu akan dilakukan sehingga 31 Ogos 2014 yang bermula di ibu negeri dan diikuti di kawasan Majlis Perbandaran dan Majlis Daerah. Dipetik Bernama Online, Chor berkata 300,000 unit tong akan diedarkan di Kedah dan 30,000 di Perlis. Beliau berkata penerima tong sampah itu perlu menjaga tong berkenaan dan melaporkannya kepada polis serta syarikat konsesi jika tong-tong berkenaan yang diletak nombor siri hilang. Laporan kehilangan atau kerosakan tong boleh juga dibuat melalui talian bebas tol 1-800-88-7472. Tong-tong tersebut yang berharga RM120 satu unit boleh menampung 120 liter sampah. Pengarah Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd, Azmanuddin Haq Ahmad berkata penggunaan tong tersebut akan memudahkan sistem kutipan sampah dari rumah ke rumah serta mengurangkan masalah longgokan sampah dan pembuangan sampah haram. Katanya syarikat itu akan turut mengedarkan risalah yang menerangkan cara  menguruskan sisa pepejal di rumah dalam usaha mengekalkan kelestarian alam sekitar. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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