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Italy gets one more three-starred restaurant by Michelin Posted: 14 Nov 2012 05:53 PM PST ROME, Nov 15 — The latest edition of the Michelin guide for Italy appears to be turning the page and ushering in a new generation of young, dynamic chefs in the country, with half of the starred recipients aged 35 and under. 'Michelin Guide Italy 2013'— AFP/Relaxnews Described as a "striking development" for the guide's 58th edition, four of the star recipients are mere pups in the food world, ranging in age from 26 to 29 years. "Despite their youth… all of them charmed the inspectors," says Michelin Italy. Meanwhile, the new edition also added one more three-starred restaurant to the exclusive club, giving the country a total of seven triple-garlanded eateries. Piazza Duomo in Piedmont's Alba region earned the distinction for the chef's "highly creative, top quality dishes, deeply rooted in the local tradition." Steering the kitchen is Chef Enrico Crippa, whose CV includes stints under Michel Bras at Laguiole, Ferran Adrià at El Bulli and three years cooking in Japan. In a farm-to-table food philosophy reminiscent of New York's Blue Hill chef Dan Barber, ingredients like vegetables, meat and cheeses are sourced from local producers and menus rotate seasonally. Perhaps one of the country's best known chefs, Massimo Bottura, also retained his three-star status for Osteria Francescana in Modena. In total, three new restaurants were awarded two stars, and 10 restaurants earned their first star. Regionally, Lombardy boasts the most starred addresses at 56, followed by Piedmont which is home to 38 and Campania with 32 starred eateries. The latter is also the fastest-growing area with six new entries this year, and the largest number of two-starred establishments. The Michelin Guide Italy 2013 goes on sale November 15 for €22.90 (RM92). — AFP/Relaxnews

Michelin snubs Grant Achatz’s Chicago restaurant Next — again Posted: 14 Nov 2012 05:06 PM PST CHICAGO, Nov 15 — For the second time, in what can only be a sting for Chicago's resident celebrity chef Grant Achatz, the Michelin guide has snubbed the chef's sophomore effort Next, with nary a mention in the latest edition. The Thai menu at Next restaurant by Grant Achatz. — AFP/Relaxnews The omission in the Michelin Guide Chicago 2013 did notgo unnoticed, given that Achatz's pop-up style eatery has become one of the hottest tickets in town and a model for other restaurants around the world. Every three months, the menu changes completely with themes that have rendered homage to the godfather of modern French cuisine Auguste Escoffier, ethnic cuisines like that of Thailand and a menu built entirely around childhood memories and flavours. Diners must also purchase advance tickets for a seat at the table, much like a sporting event or theatrical show — a concept copied by other world-class chefs like Achatz's own mentor, Ferran Adrià at his tapas restaurant 41° Experience in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Achatz and Next fans have taken to Twitter and Facebook to air their grievances with Michelin, calling the guide irrelevant for overlooking the restaurant. "Michelin Stars have just become overrated in my book," wrote one fan. Wrote another: "Not one single star? What does a tyre maker know about good food?" As of 10am GMT, November 14, meanwhile, Achatz has remained mum about the omission on both his Facebook and Twitter acounts, where fans upbraided @MichelinGuideCH directly — "How in the world does @NextRestaurant not get a single michelin star? @MichelinGuideCH". Meanwhile, Michelin justified its decision in an interview with Bloomberg by saying that because the menu undergoes a complete overhaul every three months, inspectors are unable to determine the level of consistency in the food. Achatz's flagship restaurant Alinea maintains its three-star standing — the only address to boast full honours in Chicago. Other notable movers in this year's edition include graham elliot and L20, both of which were promoted to two stars. The Michelin Guide Chicago 2013 is now on sale for US$18.99 (RM57). Mobile apps and ebook versions are also available. — AFP/Relaxnews

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Forget setbacks and aim for World Cup, says Eto’o Posted: 14 Nov 2012 07:39 AM PST Anzhi Makhachkala's Samuel Eto'o (R) fights for the ball with Liverpool's Andre Wisdom during their Europa League Group A soccer match at Lokomotiv stadium in Moscow November 8, 2012. — Reuters pic YAOUNDE, Nov 14 — Cameroon football captain Samuel Eto'o has called on his country to forget recent poor performances and concentrate on qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil. "The failures we have experienced in recent years have been a huge frustration but that's life, with its moments of joy and also its moments of sadness," Eto'o said in an interview with the official daily Cameroon Tribune today. It was the first comment from the four-times African Footballer of the Year since Cameroon missed out on African Nations Cup qualification last month, embarrassingly to the tiny Cape Verde Islands. Once a force in African football, Cameroon have lost form in recent years, to a chorus of consternation in the central African country. "Nowadays, I think that the most important (thing) is the future. We should draw lessons from our mistakes of the past, recover, heal our wounds and move forward," Eto'o said. "I believe deeply that failure can be the foundation of success. We must build on these frustration to find the strength necessary to bounce back," added the 31-year-old striker as Cameroon prepared to take on Albania in a friendly in Geneva today. "The Indomitable Lions are one big family. The players realise the responsibility to the people of Cameroon. It's our duty to live up positively to the expectations. I think we are in the right direction." Eto'o had refused to play in the first leg of the tie against Cape Verde, labelling the set-up around the team amateurish. Last year, he led a boycott of a friendly against Algeria in a row over unpaid bonuses. Cameroon have three points from two matches in their qualification group. They next play Togo at home in March. — Reuters

‘I will win back my Bayern place,’ pledges forward Gomez Posted: 14 Nov 2012 06:21 AM PST Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez answers reporter questions before the German Bundesliga first division soccer match against Bayer Leverkusen in Munich October 28, 2012. — Reuters pic BERLIN, Nov 14 — Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez could return from injury as a substitute at Nuremberg in the Bundesliga on Saturday and despite three months out is ready to reclaim his starting spot. Gomez, Bayern's first choice forward until ankle surgery ruled him out in August, has a fight on his hands to oust Mario Mandzukic, the league's top scorer with eight goals. Claudio Pizarro, on target in the German Cup and Champions League recently, has also raised his stock in Gomez's absence making the German's task that much harder even though coach Jupp Heynckes had said Gomez would not have to queue up again. "There's always this talk that I'm not able to compete but I've been competing for eight years with very good strikers and have managed to come out on top," Gomez told reporters today. The 27-year-old former Bundesliga top scorer played in a friendly against a regional team yesterday evening and netted four of his side's six goals. The Germany forward acknowledged that the weak opponents meant the game was not a serious test but promised to continue scoring in the Bundesliga which Bayern lead by seven points. "People should keep talking about me. It seems I am a player who polarises people. This is what I have to deal with," said Gomez. "But my answer to this has always been to play and score. That will also be the case in the future." — Reuters

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Does wearing a helmet on the slopes promote riskier skiing? Posted: 14 Nov 2012 02:01 AM PST BALTIMORE, Nov 14 — Does wearing a ski or boarding helmet give riders a false sense of security, promoting more dangerous behaviour on the slopes? No, say researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US, adding that strapping on a helmet is the smartest move you can make on the snow. A study finds that wearing a helmet while skiing or snowboarding can lessen the risk of getting injured. — AFP pic According to the researchers, some skiers have argued that wearing a helmet on the slopes lowers visibility, hampers the ability to hear what is going on around them, and encourages risky behaviour, because they feel invincible. Some skiers have also suggested that wearing a helmet increases the torque and whiplash felt when a skier does go down, making neck and cervical spine injury more likely. "These are all just excuses," says head researcher Dr Adil H Haider. "Our research shows none of those theories hold water." For the study, Haider and his colleagues reviewed 16 published studies on injury in recreational skiers and snowboarders. Analysis showed that helmets both saved the lives of snow enthusiasts and did not increase their risk of injury. Nearly 10 million Americans ski or snowboard each year, with some 600,000 injuries reported annually. Up to 20 per cent of those are head injuries, and 22 per cent of those cases are severe, the researchers say. Often the injured were not wearing helmets. Head injuries are the leading cause of death among skiers and snowboarders. The findings, announced Monday, are published in the November issue of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. "There really is a great case to be made for wearing helmets," he adds. "By increasing awareness and giving people scientific proof, we hope behaviour changes will follow." Currently there are no laws in the US mandating the use of helmets among recreational skiers and snowboarders, although in Austria, children are legally required to wear a helmet. Throughout Europe there are efforts to pass similar laws. Also, at least in the US, helmet-wearing is on the rise: data from the 2009 to 2010 National Demographic Study done by the National Ski Areas Association, encompassing more than 130,000 interviews from across the US, found some 57 per cent of skiers and snowboarders wore helmets during the 2009-2010 ski season, compared with 25 per cent during the 2002-2003 ski season. — AFP/Relaxnews

Jawbone ‘Up’ fitness wristbands get in shape Posted: 14 Nov 2012 01:37 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 — Wireless earpiece maker Jawbone yesterday released redesigned UP wristbands that combine fashion with smartphone lifestyles to help people along paths to improved fitness. UP by Jawbone - Family. — AFP pic New UP wristbands debuted in the United States with a US$129 (RM395) price tag nearly a year after original models were pulled from the market due to problems caused by moisture fouling up electronics in the "wearable computers." UP presents data in bar graphs and timelines that show patterns and reveal how close people are to achieving fitness goals. The bands can signal people when they have been idle for more than 45 minutes. "We launched to great fanfare, UP was our fastest selling product ever, and then we started hearing about the issues," Jawbone vice president Travis Bogard said while giving AFP a preview of the redesigned model. "We learned a lot out of it," he continued. "The concept of wearable computing really is a totally new space and ultimately a lot of problems needed to be solved." Challenges included making UP wristbands rugged and durable enough to survive everyday life rigors such as showers, dishwater, children, and fitful sleep. Meanwhile, the innards needed to be sensitive enough to tell how well people sleep or how active they are. The bane of the first UP boiled down to miniscule amounts of water, sometimes abetted by oxidation by soap or detergent, corrupting capacitors used in charging systems, Bogard said. "You just go through your day and the wristband is along for the ride," Bogard said of UP, which is to be worn during all waking and sleeping hours and can go for 10 days on a full charge. "If I get splashed at Sea World or someone knocks my elbow at a party and I spill my scotch, the electronics have to survive that." Jawbone did millions of hours of real world trials with UP and abused wristbands in labs with equipment including a "Big Shower 2000" to test the ability to endure relentless ablutions. "It's basically a new product built from the ground up," Bogard said. "It was an opportunity to turn problems into innovations." UP remains true to the original premise that most people want to improve their fitness and could benefit from encouragement along with detailed feedback about their own habits. "Despite wanting to be better there is this big gap between intention and action," Bogard said. "This is really about that personal journey; helping people understand themselves and the decisions they make." UP applications for iPhones and iPod touch devices were redesigned to let people more easily get pictures of activity, sleep, eating, and even their moods on any given day or over time. Software features include being able to get nutrition breakdowns of meals and converting steps taken into calories burned. Jawbone crafted the power-efficient wristbands to look like jewellery to be style statements as well as a fitness tools. UP wristbands track users' level of activity, whether they are exercising, pacing in an office, or snoozing in bed. Sensors also record how long and how soundly UP users sleep. The wristband can be set to wake someone by vibrating gently at an appropriate point in a light phase of sleep, in order to make rising easier. "Apps" are being worked on for other mobile devices, according to Jawbone. The launch of the new UP came shortly after the release of a Pew study showing that more than half of US smartphone owners use handsets to gather health-related information. Meanwhile, 19 per cent of the smartphone owners who took part in the study said they had at least one health "app," with exercise, diet and weight programs the most common. — AFP/Relaxnews

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Actor Channing Tatum dubbed People’s sexiest man alive Posted: 14 Nov 2012 06:17 AM PST Cover of People magazine proclaiming Channing Tatum as 'sexiest man alive'. — All rights reserved. NEW YORK, Nov 14 — Actor Channing Tatum, who set female hearts fluttering in the summer movie hit "Magic Mike", was named the sexiest man alive by People magazine on Wednesday. "My first thought was, 'Y'all are messing with me," Tatum told the magazine after hearing the news. The 32-year-old actor, who is married to actress Jenna Dewan-Tatum, is training to play an Olympic athlete in his upcoming film, "Foxcatcher". The couple, who have been married since 2009, are ready to start a family, according to People. "The first number that pops into my head is three, but I just want one to be healthy and then we'll see where we go after that," he told the magazine. Tatum joins a long list of Hollywood heartthrobs who also have also received the "sexiest man" title from the magazine including Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney and Matt Damon. — Reuters

Bradley Cooper mines Philly childhood in ‘Silver Linings’ Posted: 14 Nov 2012 02:24 AM PST Actor Bradley Cooper poses at the 16th annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, California October 22, 2012. — Reuters pic LOS ANGELES, Nov 14 — Bradley Cooper may be best known for his role in the hugely successful comedy franchise "The Hangover," but the American actor is gaining positive reviews for his role as a bipolar former teacher in "Silver Linings Playbook." In the film, which will be released on Friday and won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Cooper plays Pat Solitano, who has just been released from a mental institution and is trying to put his life back together. Directed by David O. Russell and based on the novel by Matthew Quick, "Silver Linings" sees Cooper's character move back home with his parents, played by Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver, with hopes of reconciling with his ex-wife. Things get complicated when an abrasive widow, actress Jennifer Lawrence, enters the picture. Cooper, who is shooting a third instalment of the "Hangover" films, spoke to Reuters about his role, why it is unlike anything he has done and what he thinks of all the Oscar talk. Q: You were born and raised in Philadelphia. Did you use your childhood experiences growing up there to create the character? A: I upped the Philadelphia accent a little bit. Everything about it is where I come from. So yeah, I was able to mine what I'd grown up with. For example, Lenny Roberts was a guy in high school that dressed like the way we decided Pat would dress like. And my grandfather had an art deco face of Christ on a necklace, which we made Pat wear. Q: Is this the first time you've played a character from your home state? A: It's funny because when I was doing the role I thought, I don't know how I'm going to be able to pull this off. We were shooting one day and my mother was (visiting the set). We had just shot a really demented scene and she said, "Oh my God, Bradley, it's like you're not even acting!" I thought, "What do you mean, that Pat Solitano is me?" Q: The film deals with mental illness, yet there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Was it a fine line straddling the two? A: Well, any traumatic event that's happened in my life was riddled with comedic circumstances, from my father's death (in 2011) and everything. Any great tragedy has a lot of humor in it. So it wasn't that hard, really. If you play it real, comedy will come, especially if you're playing extreme situations with an extreme character, but playing it real. Q: You're primarily known for your work in comedies like "The Hangover" franchise and action films like "Limitless." Is this role unlike anything you've portrayed before? A: On film, for sure. No question about it. This character has to go from A to Z in the emotional landscape, which is heaven for an actor. I've never been able to do these kinds of things on film, so it was a huge opportunity. Q: What kinds of things are you referring to? A: To play a character that's telling the viewer the story - right there that's an honour to be able to take on that responsibility. Secondly, to play a character who is emotionally colourful and dynamic. Pat Solitano has no filter, for example. To get under that skin, to play somebody who has a trigger and can create an emotional response outside the box, that's very gratifying. Because you get to explore a lot of things in yourself with your imagination that you never get - that I don't normally get to do. Q: Do you feel typecast by Hollywood as a particular type of actor that only does certain genres? A: I don't feel that. I do theatre so I've always felt fulfilled in the acting jobs I've gotten. But perhaps I was naive to the fact that maybe people did think I just do one thing. Since doing this movie, people are like, "Oh, he actually is an actor," and not just think I show up to the "Hangover" set and that it's not a character." Q: Your performance certainly is making people stand up and take notice, and there has been some early Oscar buzz. Are you feeling that excitement around you? A: I don't. What I feel is excitement and hope that people go out and see this film and love it. I really hope the movie lives. That's all I think about. In terms of all that Oscar stuff, honestly that would be absolutely insane. I very much doubt that it would happen. But it would be insane. — Reuters

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Gorbachev reveals love story of his marriage in memoir Posted: 14 Nov 2012 01:46 AM PST MOSCOW, Nov 14 — The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, recalled his love for his wife Raisa, from their first kiss to her death from cancer, in an intimate memoir that he presented yesterday. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev (2L) signs autographs during the presentation of his new book "Alone with Myself" in Moscow on November 13, 2012. — AFP pic Gorbachev, 81, signed copies of the book, "Alone with Myself," at a central Moscow bookstore. Dedicated to his late wife, it shows him sitting in front of his wife's portrait on the cover. Unlike the wives of other Soviet leaders, Raisa Gorbacheva refused to remain in the background. Her elegant outfits and active public appearances irritated many in the Soviet Union but made a good impression in the West. Gorbachev has always stressed that his love for his wife was the driving force in his life and he experienced deep grief at her death in 1999 after a short battle with leukaemia. "When Raisa was alive, I used to often say half-joking, half-seriously, that she got lucky with her husband. She was of the opposite opinion: that I got lucky with my wife," he wrote in Russian. The course of their true love did not run smoothly, Gorbachev revealed in the book. He and Raisa met at Moscow State University, where she at first paid him little attention. "I felt I was losing my head. I wanted to see Raisa and be wherever she was," he wrote, but Raisa was getting over a painful breakup and told him she did not want to date him. "I told her that I could not fulfil her request, that for me it would just be a catastrophe. That was my confession of love," he said. They first kissed in a Moscow park, when they went swimming in a lake and a thunderstorm suddenly struck. "I remember Raisa's face in a flash of lightning, her scared, questioning eyes. I hugged her and clumsily but passionately started kissing her." Even then Raisa stood out from other students with her love of nice clothes, including a hat with a little veil, Gorbachev wrote. "She had a natural aristocratic manner. She was a person with a great sense of her own worth," he wrote. After their marriage they moved to Stavropol, where he began a rapid rise in the Communist Party that made him the youngest member of the Politburo, at age 49, by 1979. In 1985, Gorbachev was elected general secretary of the Communist Party, taking over the world's biggest state and second superpower. "All my life, wherever I was, Raisa and I did not stop our dialogue. When I became general secretary and president, I would call Raisa two or three times a day or she would call me." Gorbachev said he still could not forgive himself for his wife's death and wondered if he could have done anything differently. "I return again and again to the last days in Raisa's life and the tortures that she had to go through. What more could I have done, or not done, in my life to avoid this terrible fate?" After she died in a German clinic, he wrote: "I had never felt so lonely in my life." "I hope that we will meet again... We were happy together." Gorbachev is revered in the West for triggering the demise of the USSR and allowing Eastern Europe to peacefully exit Soviet rule. He was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. But he is widely despised in Russia for presiding over the breakup of an empire and has never regained any significant political influence despite continuing to support liberal causes. — AFP/Relaxnews

‘Omnishambles’ declared UK’s word of the year Posted: 13 Nov 2012 03:26 PM PST The British word of the year was coined by BBC TV's satirical political series "The Thick of It". LONDON, Nov 14 — "Omnishambles" was named Britain's word of the year yesterday after being coined by BBC TV's satirical political series "The Thick of It" to describe a badly mismanaged situation. The word has become a synonym for British government blunders, and it was tweaked to "Romneyshambles" by Twitter users to describe US presidential candidate Mitt Romney's gaffe-strewn visit to Britain before the London Olympics. It has been named the word of the year by the publishers of the Oxford dictionaries, which defined it as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations." But Oxford University Press (OUP) said the decision does not mean the word will automatically take its place in all new Oxford dictionaries, explaining that it would have to "stand the test of time" before it was included. The word beat off competition from a shortlist including "Mobot", a word describing the celebratory gesture performed by the British long-distance runner Mo Farah on winning two Olympic gold medals. Another contender was "mummy porn", the term for the publishing phenomenon sparked by the sado-masochistic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey." OUP spokeswoman Susie Dent said: "The Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year is a word, or expression, that we feel has attracted a great deal of interest during the year to date. "In the case of omnishambles, we also recognised its linguistic productivity: a notable coinage coming from the word is 'Romneyshambles', coined in the UK to describe US presidential candidate Mitt Romneys views on Londons ability to host a successful Olympic Games." Winners of OUP's UK Word of the Year award over recent years have included "chav", "bovvered", "credit crunch" and "big society". The OUP's American word of the year is "GIF," short for graphics interchange format, a compressed file format for images on the Internet. — AFP/Relaxnews

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Pertukaran YDP Selayang tiada kaitan dengan kerajaan, kata wakil BN Posted: 14 Nov 2012 03:12 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR, 14 Nov — Pemimpin kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) menafikan pertukaran Yang Dipertua Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS), Datuk Zainal Abidin Aala ke Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) mempunyai kaitan dengan projek pembinaan kondominium kontroversi di Batu Caves. Zainal Abidin dilapor menerima notis pertukaran berkenaan yang dikeluarkan oleh timbalan pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) melalui emel kepada MPS. "Perkara ini sepatutnya tanya YDP sendiri, ia bukan urusan kerajaan. "Kerajaan BN takkan masuk campur dalam hal pertukaran ini, ini bukan kerja kami (kerajaan)," kata bekas ahli majlis MPS, Senator A Kohilan Pillay. Kohilan sebelum ini dibidas ahli majlis mesyuarat kerajaan negeri, Ronnie Liu kerana dikatakan berlakon tidak tahu tentang projek kondo, Dolomite Park Avenue tersebut. Sementara itu, seorang lagi pemimpin BN iaitu P Kamalanathan dari MIC pula enggan memberi sebarang komen mengenai perkara tersebut memandangkan tidak menyedari tentang isu tersebut. "Saya tidak mengetahui mengenai perkara terbabit, sebab saya sekarang di Hulu Selangor menyambut Deepavali. "Jadi, saya tidak boleh memberi komen untuk isu tersebut," kata ahli parlimen (MP) Hulu Selangor itu. Dalam perkembangan lain, Liu berkata beliau telah menerima satu surat tuntutan daripada Kamalanathan berhubung dakwaannya sebelum ini yang mengaitkan MP BN itu dengan projek pembinaan kondominium 29 tingkat di Batu Caves. Seorang Ahli Majlis MPS yang dihubungi The Malaysian Insider, Lee Khai Loon mengesahkan pertukaran YDP tersebut, namun beliau juga memaklumkan masih belum menerima butiran lengkap berhubung perpindahan mengejut tersebut. "Saya sendiri baru terima berita ini ...  (butiran) secara terperincinya, saya belum dapat. "(Tapi) sudah sah Datuk YDP (Zainal Abidin) akan dipindahkan ke INTAN bermula esok atas satu notis hari ini yang dikeluarkan timbalan pengarah JPA melalui emel," katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider. Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak ketika rumah terbuka MIC di Batu Caves semalam berkata kerajaan BN akan membatalkan projek berkenaan sekiranya parti pemerintah itu berjaya merampas Selangor daripada Pakatan Rakyat (PR) dalam pilihan raya umum ke-13 akan datang. Najib turut mengumumkan akan menjadikan kawasan Kompleks Batu Caves itu sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia Unesco menjelang 2015, sebaik sahaja masalah teknikal berhubung perkara itu diselesaikan. Pembinaan kondominium yang dirancang sejak 2007 itu kini berhadapan tekanan terutamanya daripada pihak jawatankuasa kuil yang kini memperoleh sokongan daripada pemimpin MIC yang turut sama membantah pembinaan itu. Oktober lalu, ratusan penganut agama Hindu dan aktivis badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) menyertai himpunan di perkarangan Kuil Sri Subramaniar Swamy di Batu Caves bagi menyatakan bantahan ke atas pembinaan kondo tersebut yang dikatakan akan memberi ancaman kepada alam semulajadi bukit itu. Malah, bekas Menteri Kerja Raya, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu turut sama menyertai protes tersebut dan memberikan ucapan di hadapan kira-kira 300 orang ramai yang hadir. Projek Dolomite Park Avenue oleh pemaju Dolomite Properties Sdn Bhd di Batu Caves itu dianggap sensitif memandangkan kawasan tersebut merupakan kawan tumpuan bagi aktiviti keagamaan masyarakat Hindu dan meliputi sejumlah 170,000 kaum India yang merupakan kumpulan utama pengundi di kawasan bandar Selangor.

Jabatan, agensi KPKK perlu beri liputan berita adil kepada semua wakil rakyat Posted: 14 Nov 2012 02:53 AM PST KOTA KINABALU, 14 Nov — Jabatan dan agensi di bawah Kementerian Penerangan Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan (KPKK) di Sabah, khususnya Jabatan Penyiaran, dinasihat supaya memberi liputan berita secara adil kepada semua wakil rakyat di negeri ini. Pegawai Tugas-tugas Khas kepada Menteri Penerangan Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan, Datuk Mohd Nazri Abdullah berkata Menteri KPKK Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim mahu semua wakil rakyat, sama ada di peringkat negeri mahupun Parlimen diberi liputan berita secara adil. "Menteri (Rais) prihatin dengan kita di Sabah kerana banyak tempat seperti pulau dan kawasan pedalaman kurang mendapat liputan sedangkan wakil rakyatnya bekerja keras untuk rakyat. "Kita jangan asyik mengeluarkan berita atau gambar orang yang sama sahaja. Kita ada ramai wakil rakyat, menteri dan pembantu menteri yang memainkan peranan penting dalam membangunkan rakyat," katanya pada majlis penyerahan tiga unit kamera kepada Jabatan Penyiaran Sabah di sini hari ini. Mengenai penyerahan kamera tersebut yang dikhususkan untuk Unit Berita Ehwal Semasa (BES), Nazri berkata Rais sentiasa prihatin dengan masalah dihadapi oleh Jabatan Penyiaran Negeri dan sering mengutamakan perkara yang perlu disegerakan. Oleh itu, beliau berharap unit BES memanfaatkan kemudahan yang disediakan dengan sepenuhnya dengan menghasilkan berita berkualiti. Terdahulu, Ketua Pengarah Penyiaran Datuk Norhyati Ismail berkata Rais sedar keperluan Jabatan Penyiaran untuk bersaing dalam bidang penyiaran supaya setaraf atau lebih baik dengan pengamal penyiaran lain. Beliau berharap warga jabatan itu sentiasa memberi komitmen bukan sahaja dalam menghasilkan rancangan berkualiti, tetapi juga mencari pengisian rancangan yang mempunyai nilai komersil. "Kita sebagai peneraju penyiaran di negara ini sekarang berhadapan dengan persaingan hebat daripada stesen-stesen penyiaran swasta. "Kita perlu bersedia meningkatkan amalan kita supaya tidak ketinggalan dengan perkembangan semasa," katanya. — Bernama

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Speak no evil? Posted: 13 Nov 2012 03:45 PM PST NOV 14 — It's been interesting watching as Nurul Izzah Anwar was publicly 'flogged' for 'insulting Islam'. So much self-righteousness! I half-expected someone to suggest she be tied to a stake and stoned in a public square. In a way, she was. The difference is that the stones had names written on them: Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian. PAS, her so-called defender, pleaded she be excused for her 'mistake' as she was but a child! Last I checked, Nurul is in her 30s? I could write an entire column on PAS' track record on being incredibly condescending towards women and anyone who does not agree with their interpretation of Islam. But it's not just PAS. It's Umno. It's religious authorities. It's people like the Selangor MB who happily threw Nurul under the bus without even hearing her side of the story. She must answer to JAIS, he says (I'm paraphrasing). Where was the part where someone said she should answer to God? That's how broken religious discourse is in our country. Never mind that the facts are murky. Never mind that Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian were not actually witness to what she supposedly said. Never mind that some of the articles written about the event are suspiciously skewed towards the bias (on both sides) of the writers. The message is basically Nurul has no authority to say anything on religion that is not the accepted norm. She is also a woman, which makes her even less qualified to speak about religion! The Muslims could be confused! You need to save them from confusion! Reading all the "Save the Muslims from being confused" sounds a lot like the rhetoric used about the opposition. "Do not listen to the opposition lies! They mean to disunite the people! The rakyat will be confused!" Malaysians seem to be an easily confused lot. What I'm really confused about is the utter lack of compassion shown anywhere in this scenario. Isn't religion about goodness? Isn't compassion somewhere in the narrative when you mention God? Instead all I see are a bunch of politicians and "authorities" standing high on pedestals passing judgement on someone saying something they were not, in the first place, even a witness to. No investigation. No looking for evidence. Just a very public stoning. No compassion. No fact-finding. No attempt at fairness. Is this justice? Is this goodness? Is God going to look kindly on you for your self-righteousness? Or was all this a display, sacrificing Nurul on the altar of politics? The biggest fallacy is that all this was about God, when it was all really about men and winning an election. It's a shame they had to forfeit their souls in the process. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

A question of faith Posted: 13 Nov 2012 03:41 PM PST NOV 14 — I have been mulling over the same question over the past two months: Is Islam the topic of discourse overdone, and do we need another conversation about it? Covering Islam and Muslims is not for the faint-hearted. Especially if you are a Muslim woman writing in a Muslim country, and have not been schooled in religious studies, and looks like everything that is the opposite of what a Muslimah should be. Once upon a time, I wrote a book, which was really a compilation of articles I wrote for Malaysiakini.com, titled I Am Muslim. It was written and published when I was in my 30s.  I am now writing about believers of a faith in Malaysia in a column for this website, titled Holy Men, Holy Women. As I conduct research, meet with people of varying and different faiths, I collide with that world I wrote about once. I read with awe, humour, embarrassment about all things religion which appear in the Malaysian media. That book was not a personal journey that so many readers felt and assumed it was. It was really stories about Muslim life, which centred around the city, though I did embark on excursions out of Kuala Lumpur. People kept asking me to do another IAM. There were failed attempts to get others to contribute to a book, but sadly, submissions were angst riddled. Confessions of sins which are now redeemed. There were not enough essays to make a book. I created a website. That tanked too. My publisher told me to take a break. I did for three years and came up with Holy Men, which has to be resuscitated soon! My editors told me to think again. Write about the Muslim experience around Malaysia. My family and friends told me to pursue the idea. I conducted a straw poll. I counted my age and wondered whether I was stark raving bonkers to even think about attempting this. When you hit your 40s, you ache everywhere. In spite of the exercise and foods you put in, age reminds you that you're not as young as before. Islam in Malaysia, post publication of my book, has become more politicised, and angry. But it can be also kinder and inspiring, with ustazes such as Dr Asri Zainal Abidin and Dr Juanda Jaya. Social media has created a boom among young Muslims in Malaysia. Child marriages, inter-faith wars, how can you not cover this? Kuala Lumpur's brand of Islam is not the same as that in Penang, Sarawak or Perlis. In the five years since IAM was published, many things have happened, and many more writers, intellectuals and activists have come to the fore, representing diversity in Muslim conduct, thought and lives. It's been exciting to see all this, and it's also been exhausting to observe too. "But you're already travelling and meeting these people along the way, anyway," friends said. I plan to cover a family's journey from the Middle East to Java to Malaysia in Holy Men the book, so why not expand the theme? While do I want to cover and revisit again, will the voices I plan to write about be as important when already you have A-list intellectuals and writers who have assumed the role (of ambassadors of Islam?) They're sexier. The people I write about are normal Muslims, who have dreams, hopes, challenges, and they're not sexy. Unless there's a cause attached to them. For example, a makcik in Kelantan will only be attractive if she's relevant to an issue: child marriages etc. Who wants to know what she thinks or dreams about? Everything about Islam and Muslims these days is KL-centric, and angry. Perhaps I should sit on this first. Maybe there is no need to even write about the Rest of Malaysia, when the media covers KL-centric stories most of the time. Why should I anyway, when it's easier and less stressful to not do so. Right. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Catering 2.0 meets underground, pop-up dining in ‘Kitchensurfing’ Posted: 13 Nov 2012 05:05 AM PST Kitchensurfing is a new concept for food lovers. —shutterstock.com pic NEW YORK, Nov 13 — You could call it catering 2.0, a concept that pairs a community of online chefs with dinner party hosts looking to throw an intimate meal for friends and family. Based out of New York, Kitchensurfing launched this spring as a way to connect chefs without kitchens with gourmands looking to host an intimate, authentic, restaurant-grade meal. Less than a year after its launch, the concept has been exported to Berlin where it launched this fall, in a city filled with adventurous expats and a young, dynamic food scene, said company co-founder Chris Muscarella in an interview with food blog Fine Dining Lovers. It's a win-win situation: chefs who may spend their working days preparing the same repetitive recipes get to exercise their culinary creativity while prospective hosts can choose from a roster of chefs with different specialties and different price points ranging from $45 to $100 an hour. Hosts can look for chefs who specialize in everything from breakfast and brunch menus, vegetarian fare, Spanish to Senegalese menus. In addition to providing a more intimate and quieter venue for larger dinner groups, the concept also works well for diners with specific food intolerances, allergies or for those looking for specific, customizable menu requests, says Kitchensurfing. Once the event is over, hosts then leave a public review for other users to see. Another interesting digital dining experience is to pair menus with musical soundtracks. From celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, to wineries and websites, playlists inspired by menus or vice versa are being created to help set the dining mood. For example, both Oliver and California winery Concannon Vineyard used free digital music service Spotify, while  husband and wife music writer and chef team at Turntable Kitchen pair use their respective expertise to come up with food and music pairing suggestions, not unlike matches made for food and wine. — AFP-Relaxnews

Obama to get re-election gift weighing more than a kilo Posted: 12 Nov 2012 11:25 PM PST Acqualagna's mayor Andrea Pierotti (right) holding in his hands a 1,012kg white truffle together with the head of Eataly Brno Urbani (centre) and Bruno Urbani, November 10, 2012. — AFP/Relaxnews ROME, 13 Nov — A small Italian village renowned for its white truffles announced Saturday it would give US President Barack Obama a record specimen weighing in at more than a kilo as a re-election present. "A 1.012-kg truffle from Acqualagna will be gifted to the President of the United States Barack Obama to celebrate his re-election," the local authorities said in a statement. The truffle, a rare subterranean mushroom prized in haute cuisine, is to be delivered to the United States on November 18 and Acqualagna officials said they hoped Obama would show up in person to pick up his gift. "The first American president to receive an Acqualagna truffle was Harry Truman in 1956. The latest dignitary to have received it was Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the town's mayor, Andrea Pierotti, said. The price per kilo of white truffles has recently shot up to around €3,000 (RM11,670). In 2010, a South Korean wine critic bought a 900-gramme truffle for €105,000 at a charity event. Macau billionaire and casino baron Stanley Ho in 2010 paid more than US$300,000 for two pieces of the precious tuber at another charity auction. Local legend has it that the largest-ever find came in 1668 when a man by the name of Filippo Cortesi unearthed a pair of truffles weighing 13 and 18 kg respectively. — AFP/Relaxnews

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