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Moyes concedes Liverpool are favourites in ‘biggest game’ Posted: 14 Mar 2014 09:17 AM PDT March 15, 2014 Manchester United manager David Moyes (pic) conceded that Liverpool probably start as favourites to win what he described as "the biggest club game in England" when they meet at Old Trafford on Sunday. Liverpool are second in the Premier League, seven points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand, but 11 points clear of United, who are sixth with no realistic chance of retaining their title. Former Liverpool striker Ian Rush said earlier today that Liverpool go into the match as the clear favourites and Moyes did not disagree. "Their league position suggests they are ahead of us and they possibly do come here as favourites. Liverpool are having a very good season and we will have to do everything we possibly can to beat them." Liverpool, who have won their last four league matches, have not finished above United since 2002 and although they look like doing so this season, Moyes told reporters at his pre-match news conference that United still had plenty to play for. "It would be a big boost for us to win on Sunday," he said. "I think everyone knows the importance of Manchester United v Liverpool games. "I think it is the biggest game in the country. There is great history between the two clubs going back years and I think this is the biggest club game in the Premier League." Liverpool (18) and United (20) have won 38 league titles between them. United, who finished champions five times and runners-up three times in Alex Ferguson's last eight seasons in charge at Old Trafford, have not finished outside the top three since 1991, but they will almost certainly do so this season. Moyes, who has had a difficult introduction since succeeding Ferguson at the start of the season, said there was plenty of positives to take from their recent form, having kept clean sheets in their last three league matches. "We are not in as strong a position as we'd like, but we are normally very good coming into the final furlong and we have big games coming up this month. Our motivation is to make sure we keep progressing," he said. Their only defeat in the last six weeks was a 2-0 reverse at Olympiakos in a Champions League last 16 first leg last month. Moyes added: "With the exception of Olympiakos we have been progressing and improving. I see signs of it in training, the players are looking well and sharp and I am looking forward to it." Striker Robin van Persie appeared yesterday to allay fears that he was looking to move away from Manchester United by saying he wanted to stay beyond the end of his current contract and that he had learnt a lot from Moyes' training sessions. "It's nice of Robin. Robin is happy here and we are very pleased about that," a naturally delighted Moyes said. "He has a couple of years left on his contract and I am sure that's something the board will look at. I have always said we have two outstanding forwards in Wayne Rooney and Robin. "Both of them are capable of winning games on their own and both are pivotal international players for Holland and England and are the sort of players any side in Europe or the world would want in their team. "I am delighted to have them here and that both of them want to be Manchester United players is even better." Winger Nani has returned to the United squad ahead of Sunday's match at Old Trafford, while Rafael, Javier Hernandez and Jonny Evans all have a chance of being involved, Moyes said. – Reuters, March 14, 2014.

Arsenal’s Ozil out for at least three weeks Posted: 14 Mar 2014 08:15 AM PDT March 14, 2014 Arsenal's German playmaker Mesut Ozil (pic) will be out for between three and six weeks, manager Arsene Wenger said today. Ozil, the club's £42 million (RM229 million) record signing from Real Madrid last summer, suffered a hamstring injury in his side's 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, which saw Arsenal eliminated from the Champions League 3-1 on aggregate in the round of 16. "We lose Ozil, who has been injured for Sunday, I don't know how long he will be out but it looks a minimum of three weeks," Wenger said ahead of this weekend's north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur. "When the minimum is three, (then) the maximum is six. I am not specialist enough to know, it is a grade two hamstring (tear), so let's say four weeks." Midfielder Aaron Ramsey's return from a thigh injury has been delayed, and England international Jack Wilshere is sidelined with a broken foot. Sweden international Kim Kallstrom could finally be in contention for his debut after signing on loan from Spartak Moscow with a back injury in January while full-back Nacho Monreal is also available again. Wenger added: "It is of course a blow, but I am confident we have the quality to deal without him (Ozil). We have many creative players who can take over to produce quality performances." – AFP, March 14, 2014.

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Tokyo police make arrest in Anne Frank diary vandalism case Posted: 14 Mar 2014 12:32 AM PDT March 14, 2014 Japanese authorities arrested the suspect accused of vandalising copies of Anne Frank's biographies in public libraries in Tokyo. – AFP pic, March 14, 2014 A man was arrested today for vandalising copies of Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" in Tokyo libraries, police said, a case that has sparked alarm over a rightward shift in Japanese politics. More than 300 copies of the diary, or publications containing biographies of Anne Frank, Nazi persecution of Jews and related material had been torn at many public libraries in Japan. Police on Friday did not supply a motive for the crime, or identify the suspect, whom they said has admitted to the vandalism. Japanese authorities often refrain from naming a suspect when there are questions over the individual's mental competence. "The suspect is a 36-year-old unemployed man who lives in Tokyo," the Tokyo metropolitan police department said in a statement. It added that the investigation was still ongoing to find a motive for the crime and to confirm if the suspect was responsible for damaging other copies. "The suspect allegedly got into libraries in Suginami Ward on February 5, 2014, and ripped pages off 23 books by Anne Frank," police said. Suginami ward alone found at least 121 damaged books at 11 of its 13 public libraries, according to the local office. In response, the Israeli embassy in Japan has also donated 300 copies of the diary to Tokyo libraries. The Anne Frank House, a museum dedicated to the German Jew born in Frankfurt in 1929 and who later died in a Nazi concentration camp, also donated 3,400 copies of its catalogue to Japanese libraries. Anne Frank's diary documented her family's experiences hiding in concealed rooms during the German occupation of the Netherlands where they settled in 1933. They were caught and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Anne and her sister died of typhus in 1945. Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" was added to the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's Memory of the World Register in 2009. – AFP, March 14, 2014

Love story, chronicle of Hurricane Katrina win US book prizes Posted: 13 Mar 2014 08:32 PM PDT March 14, 2014 A love story that examines modern attitudes about race, a chronicle of the days after Hurricane Katrina and a biography of Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift won National Book Critics Circle awards yesterday. The prizes presented at the New School in New York City honour books published in the United States in the past year and are selected by the group's 24-member board of directors. The prize for fiction went to "Americanah," the third novel by Nigerian-born author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about childhood sweethearts who move to different countries. American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sheri Fink's "Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital", was awarded the prize for nonfiction, and Leo Damrosch's "Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World" won for biography. In the autobiography category, Amy Wilentz collected the top prize for "Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter from Haiti," based on her years of reporting from Haiti. Italian scholar Franco Moretti's "Distant Reading" claimed the criticism award and Frank Bidart's "Metaphysical Dog" took the poetry prize. Founded in 1974, the National Book Critics Circle is comprised of nearly 600 critics and book reviewers. The group selected Anthony Marra's novel "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" as the recipient of the John Leonard Prize for an outstanding first book in any genre. Leonard was a founding member of the NBCC. Katherine A. Powers, who writes reviews for newspapers, won the 2013 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, a professor of literature at the University of Texas, Austin, and author of the Klail City Death Trip novels, was selected for the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. – Reuters, March 14, 2014.

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Perancis tawar bantuan siasat kehilangan pesawat MH370 Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:02 AM PDT March 14, 2014 Tentera udara Singapura terlibat dalam operasi mencari dan menyelamat pesawat MH370. – Gambar fail.Kerajaan Perancis hari ini menawarkan bantuan kepada Malaysia untuk menyiasat kehilangan pesawat MH370 yang dalam penerbangan dari Kuala Lumpur ke Beijing. Perdana Menteri berkenaan Jean-Marc Ayrault, dalam suratnya kepada Perdana Menteri Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Razak, berkata Pejabat Penyiasatan dan Analisis bagi Keselamatan Penerbangan Awam Perancis bersedia memberikan bantuan kepada Malaysia. Surat Ayrault yang ditulis dalam bahasa Perancis dengan versi terjemahan dalam bahasa Inggeris dihantar menerusi e-mel kepada Bernama oleh Kedutaan Perancis di Kuala Lumpur hari ini. Sambil menyatakan rasa sedih dan simpati di atas kehilangan pesawat Malaysia Airlines itu, Ayrault berharap pesawat itu dapat ditemui dengan segera. "Saya ingin memberi jaminan kepada anda, Yang Amat Berhormat Perdana Menteri, tentang pertimbangan tertinggi saya (terhadap usaha ini)," kata beliau. Laporan awal menyatakan terdapat empat penumpang Perancis dalam pesawat itu, yang membawa 239 penumpang termasuk 12 anak kapal. Misi mencari dan menyelamat pesawat itu sudah memasuki hari ketujuh dengan kawasan pencarian diperluaskan ke Lautan Hindi selain dilakukan di Laut China Selatan dan Selat Melaka. – Bernama, 14 Mac, 2014.

Kedah catu air jika cuaca kering berterusan sehingga akhir bulan Posted: 14 Mar 2014 02:50 AM PDT March 14, 2014 Kedah akan melaksanakan catuan air bulan depan jika keadaan kering dan kemarau sekarang berlanjutan sehingga akhir bulan ini. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir (gambar) berkata mengikut ramalan cuaca, hujan dijangka turun akhir bulan ini namun jika ia tidak berlaku, kerajaan negeri akan melaksanakan catuan air. Setakat ini, katanya paras air di semua empangan masih mampu bertahan namun orang ramai digesa membuat catuan di rumah atau di premis dalam usaha menjimatkan penggunaan air. " Mada (Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Muda) dan agensi-agensi terbabit juga giat memantau paras air di empangan-empangan dan mendapati ia tidak di bawah paras 50%...ia masih mencukupi," katanya kepada pemberita ketika ditemui pada majlis Solat Istisqa dan Solat Hajat di Masjid Zahir di Alor Star hari ini. Beliau juga menasihatkan rakyat Kedah supaya melakukan catuan sendiri memandangkan pembenihan awam yang dirancang untuk menghasilkan hujan setakat ini tidak boleh dilakukan kerana tiada awan kumulus untuk proses berkenaan. Pada program itu, Mufti Kedah Datuk Syeikh Muhamad Baderudin Ahmad mengimamkan Solat Hajat manakala Imam Besar Masjid Zahir Datuk Syeikh Roslan Abdul Halim mengimamkan Solat Istisqa. Program itu turut dihadiri Exco-exco kerajaan negeri dan Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Kedah Datuk Mohd Puad Mohd Ali. Solat Istisqa itu bertujuan memohon diturunkan hujan manakala Solat Hajat bagi memohon keselamatan penumpang dan anak kapal pesawat Malaysia Airlines MH370 yang masih hilang. Kira-kira 1,000 orang menunaikan solat berkenaan. – Bernama, Mac 11, 2014

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Raja Bomoh needs to be brought down Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:46 PM PDT March 14, 2014 Zan Azlee is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer, New Media practitioner and lecturer. He runs Fat Bidin Media www.fatbidin.com Malaysian Christians who are practising an Abrahamic faith, as is Islam, are forbidden to use the Arab word "Allah", which means "God", because it might confuse Malay Muslims. The reasoning for this is because the word "Allah" has been used so much by the Malay community that in Malaysia, the word is almost considered a Malay word. This will confuse Malay Muslims because they might think that the God that the Christians are referring to is the same God as the ones they refer to. All the ultra-Malay political groups and NGOs aggressively protested against non-Muslims in Malaysia using the word "Allah", even bordering on violence. Those non-Muslims who don't comply are dragged for investigations and even to court for only practising their freedom of religion. I totally disagree with this because I think a word is just a word, no matter what language it is. For example, the English word "yellow" is the same as the Malay word "kuning". Also, of course there is the jarring fact that the God that the Christians refer to is in fact the same God that the Muslims are referring to (and the Jews, too). If the Malay Muslims in Malaysia don't realise this, then they obviously don't understand their religion well enough as they should. What religion did Islam evolve from if not Christianity? And what religion did Christianity evolve from if not Judaism? And all these religions teach its followers that it comes from the one God. So, what happens when a group of Malay Muslims come out in public using the word "Allah", but obviously practising something that is so detached from the actual teachings of Islam? Yeah, that Raja Bomoh guy (Ibrahim Mat Zin) who says he can see where the missing MH370 plane is at currently by using a method he claims is Islamic. Acting out a scene involving coconuts, bamboo, a mat and incessant chanting of the word 'Allah', he and followers attracted a lot of attention at KLIA. Rather than looking like anything spiritual, it was more like a scene out of a comedy movie. A P. Ramlee comedy movie "Laksamana Do Re Mi", to be exact. First of all, I don't think I need to even begin to explain how what this Raja Lawak (oops ... slip of the tongue) is doing contradicts so much the teachings of Islam. This group of people are the actual ones who are confused with the word 'Allah' and not the Christians who are, if I may remind you readers, referring to the same God as Islam. Second, he is insulting all the family members and friends of the passengers of the ill-fated flight MH370 who are facing such a hard time right now trying to come to terms with what has happened. So I call upon all the ultra-Malay political parties and NGOs to protest aggressively what the Raja Bomoh and his group are doing. Stand up for the Malays, as you so passionately claim to want to do. And to the authorities, don't just sit quietly and ignore this. Haul them up for investigation and drag them to court for insulting the word "Allah". – March 14, 2014.

Raja Bomoh needs to be brought down! Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:46 PM PDT March 14, 2014 Zan Azlee is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer, New Media practitioner and lecturer. He runs Fat Bidin Media www.fatbidin.com Malaysian Christians who are practising an Abrahamic faith, as is Islam, are forbidden to use the Arab word "Allah", which means "God", because it might confuse Malay Muslims. The reasoning for this is because the word "Allah" has been used so much by the Malay community that in Malaysia, the word is almost considered a Malay word. This will confuse Malay Muslims because they might think that the God that the Christians are referring to is the same God as the ones they refer to. All the ultra-Malay political groups and NGOs aggressively protested against non-Muslims in Malaysia using the word "Allah", even bordering on violence. Those non-Muslims who don't comply are dragged for investigations and even to court for only practising their freedom of religion. I totally disagree with this because I think a word is just a word, no matter what language it is. For example, the English word "yellow" is the same as the Malay word "kuning". Also, of course there is the jarring fact that the God that the Christians refer to is in fact the same God that the Muslims are referring to (and the Jews, too). If the Malay Muslims in Malaysia don't realise this, then they obviously don't understand their religion well enough as they should. What religion did Islam evolve from if not Christianity? And what religion did Christianity evolve from if not Judaism? And all these religions teach its followers that it comes from the one God. So, what happens when a group of Malay Muslims come out in public using the word "Allah", but obviously practising something that is so detached from the actual teachings of Islam? Yeah, that Raja Bomoh guy (Ibrahim Mat Zin) who says he can see where the missing MH370 plane is at currently by using a method he claims is Islamic. Acting out a scene involving coconuts, bamboo, a mat and incessant chanting of the word 'Allah', he and followers attracted a lot of attention at KLIA. Rather than looking like anything spiritual, it was more like a scene out of a comedy movie. A P. Ramlee comedy movie "Laksamana Do Re Mi", to be exact. First of all, I don't think I need to even begin to explain how what this Raja Lawak (oops ... slip of the tongue) is doing contradicts so much the teachings of Islam. This group of people are the actual ones who are confused with the word 'Allah' and not the Christians who are, if I may remind you readers, referring to the same God as Islam. Second, he is insulting all the family members and friends of the passengers of the ill-fated flight MH370 who are facing such a hard time right now trying to come to terms with what has happened. So I call upon all the ultra-Malay political parties and NGOs to protest aggressively what the Raja Bomoh and his group are doing. Stand up for the Malays, as you so passionately claim to want to do. And to the authorities, don't just sit quietly and ignore this. Haul them up for investigation and drag them to court for insulting the word "Allah". – March 14, 2014.

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German court sentences Bayern boss Hoeness to jail for tax evasion Posted: 13 Mar 2014 08:31 AM PDT March 13, 2014 Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeness arrives for the verdict in his trial for tax evasion at the regional court in Munich today. – Reuters pic, March 13, 2014.A German court convicted Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness of tax evasion today and sentenced the man who turned the football club into one of the world's most successful sports dynasties to 3-1/2 years in jail. Judge Rupert Heindl ruled that Hoeness's voluntary disclosure that he had failed to pay taxes had been incomplete and thus did not meet a vital requirement needed for amnesty under laws designed to encourage tax evaders to come clean. Hoeness has admitted evading 27.2 million euros (RM124.13 million) in taxes on income earned in secret Swiss bank accounts, but the football club executive was hoping for leniency in one of the most closely watched tax evasion cases in German history. "The voluntary disclosure is not valid with the documents that were presented alone," said the judge. He said the confession was riddled with mistakes and that Hoeness had failed to submit other documents requested by tax inspectors on time. The 62-year-old Hoeness, who also owns a Bavarian sausage factory, bowed his head and stared at the floor when the verdict was delivered, his face turning red as he struggled to retain his composure. He left the court in silence, avoiding reporters. The case hinged on the question of whether Hoeness, who as a player helped West Germany win the 1974 World Cup, cooperated fully with his voluntary disclosure. His case shocked the nation and prompted thousands of tax dodgers to turn themselves in. Hoeness's defence lawyers immediately announced they would appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. "The high court will decide if his voluntary disclosure was valid, or partially valid or botched," said lawyer Hanns Feigen. "That's the interesting point. The key point is the way a taxpayer is being treated – as if he hadn't turned himself in." The maximum sentence for tax evasion is 10 years and the prosecutors, citing Hoeness's cooperation, had sought a 5-1/2 year sentence. Hoeness was first charged with evading 3.5 million euros in taxes. But when the trial began on Monday he stunned the court by admitting he had actually evaded five times that amount – or 18.5 million euros. That figure was raised further to 27.2 million euros on the second day of the trial based on testimony by a tax inspector. Hoeness's defence team acknowledged the higher figure. Hoeness, whose team won last year's Champions League and dominates the German Bundesliga, apologised to the court and pleaded for leniency. The club's earnings have soared under his stewardship, which has lasted 35 years in various posts. With more than 220,000 members, it is one of the world's biggest football clubs. "I deeply regret my wrongdoing," he said on Monday. "I'm doing everything I can to put this unhappy chapter behind me." Tax evasion is a serious crime in Germany. Peter Graf, the late father of tennis champion Steffi Graf, was sentenced in 1997 to three years and nine months for evading 12.3 million marks (6.3 million euros). He was released after 25 months. Hoeness, once one of Germany's most admired soccer executives, alerted tax authorities in January 2013 about his bank account and undeclared income. He said the Swiss account was a personal account created for financial market trades. Some 55,000 tax evaders have turned themselves in over the last four years and paid a total of about 3.5 billion euros in back taxes, according to the taxpayers association. The number of voluntary disclosures rose four-fold in 2013 from 2012. Hoeness had been a friend of Chancellor Angela Merkel and a popular TV talk show guest. He spoke out for higher taxes and railed against tax evasion. His case has led to calls to change German laws that allow tax evaders to avoid prosecution if they turn themselves in before an investigation starts. It is unclear if Hoeness can remain chairman of Bayern Munich's supervisory board. The club said its boards would deliberate the matter but would not decide immediately. FC Bayern Munich AG is privately owned. Major German companies Adidas AG, Allianz and Audi AG , all of which are based in Bavaria, each have an 8.3% stake in the club. Deutsche Telekom AG is the club's main advertising sponsor. Members of the supervisory board include Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn and Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges. – Reuters, March 13, 2014.

Former Kuala Lumpur player takes FAM to court over life ban Posted: 13 Mar 2014 08:09 AM PDT March 13, 2014 The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is ready to face any eventualities in a suit brought by former Kuala Lumpur player, Hafizi Roslee against the association on allegations that he was involved in match fixing. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the FAM was helpless as the player had taken the case to court even though the association had barred any individual or association from doing so. "As he is suing us, there's nothing we can do... I understand we have received the letter from his lawyer. We will appoint a lawyer to handle the case and wait for the decision," Taufik told reporters after chairing a disciplinary committee meeting at Wisma FAM, Kelana Jaya, in Petaling Jaya today. Hafizi, 29, who was represented by counsel Kevin De Rozario, said the case was filed through Tetuan Khairuddin Ngiam & Tan at the High Court Registrar's office in Petaling Jaya on March 6. He named FAM as the first defendant and the Kuala Lumpur Football Association as the second defendant. In the originating summons, Hafizi is seeking a court order for the decision of a life ban from any football activities sanctioned by FAM on him to be revoked. He is also seeking a declaration that the FAM disciplinary code was unconstitutional, arbitrary as well as contrary to justice and public policy and the court has the jurisdiction to revoke the code. Apart from that, Hafizi is also seeking a declaration that he was not bound by the charge letter and hearing handled by the first defendant in his absence on December 20, 2013. The court fixed March 17 for case management before Judicial Commissioner Rosilah Yop.     Hafizi was among five Kuala Lumpur players who were banned for life and fined RM20,000 by the FAM after being found guilty of corruption and match-fixing. The four other players who received the same punishment were Jeremy Danker, Khairul Anuar Shafie, Fadhlullah Yunsifar and Phoo Kai Lun. Apart from the five, Kuala Lumpur chief coach, Stanislav Lieskovsky of Slovakia; assistant coach Rosli Omar and team officer Saari Jani were also found guilty by the committee and received the same punishment. – Bernama, March 13, 2014.

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‘Breaking Bad’ actor changes gear in ‘Need for Speed’ Posted: 12 Mar 2014 07:27 PM PDT March 13, 2014 Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul attend DreamWorks Picture's 'Need For Speed' screening hosted by The Cinema Society and Bushmill's after party at Jimmy At The James Hotel in New York City. – AFP pic, March 13, 2014.Fresh from the success of "Breaking Bad," Aaron Paul has plunged into a very different role in high-octane action movie "Need for Speed," swapping crystal meth for straight adrenaline. Adapted from the video game of the same name, the film is Paul's first since he shot to stardom alongside Bryan Cranston in the hit TV show about a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin. "I literally started this film the day after I wrapped 'Breaking Bad,'" Paul – who played Jesse Pinkman alongside Cranston's Walter White for five seasons – said before the movie's US release tomorrow. "They had a charter plane waiting for me, I got on the plane, flew to Mendocino and I started at 6:30 in the morning the next day," added the 34-year-old. Paul already had a long list of big-screen supporting role credits. But it was "Breaking Bad," which ended in September that almost certainly earned him the leading role in "Need for Speed." In the film, directed by Scott Waugh and produced by Steven Spielberg, he plays Tobey Marshall, an honest mechanic who joins a cross-country race to avenge a friend's death and save his garage from bankruptcy. The role is in stark contrast to that of Pinkman, who makes and deals in crystal meth in New Mexico. "That was the goal, to try and do something as far away from Jesse Pinkman as possible. And then my next thing, I wanna do something far away from Tobey Marshall," he told reporters. "Jesse never really found his footing until he was becoming really who he was toward the end of the series. But Tobey Marshall in 'Need for Speed' is a very strong guy, very grounded and very passionate." Stunt driving lessons The actor, who will be in Ridley Scott's "Exodus" later this year, said he hopes "Need for Speed" will lead to a sequel or sequels, to "dive deeper into the past of Tobey Marshall." That would seem a distinct possibility, given the box office success of similar high-speed car films like the "Fast and Furious" franchise, which has made $2.3 billion (RM7.6 billion) over the six movies so far. Waugh, an ex stuntman who made the powerful 2012 film "Act of Valor" about Navy SEALS, said "Need for Speed" was inspired by films from the late 60s and early 70s and from that era's icon, Steve McQueen. And unlike an increasing number of films, he foregoes computer-generated effects in favour of old-school driving and stunt skills. "I really wanted to make sure that everything was real. I'm a huge fan of the 60s and the 70s and the 80s car movies, 'Vanishing Point,' 'French Connection,' 'Grand Prix' (and) 'Bullitt,'" Waugh said. "They did everything in camera, it was all real and the actors drove," he added. "In the last decade, we really relied on CG and a lot of time, I don't understand why because we can still do it practically. "I understand if you have to deal with space or gravity, I get it. But not in a car movie." To land the role, Paul therefore had to attend stunt driving school. The actor didn't hesitate for a second. "I jumped at the opportunity. We did a crash course, to learn how to drive these cars in a very aggressive way. By the end of first day, I was doing 360s. Anyone can do this crash course, it's so much fun," Paul said. "Once you understand the mechanism of the emergency break, it's super simple. It's a lot easier than you would think." – AFP, March 13, 2014.

Bollywood to dance into final frontier: America Posted: 11 Mar 2014 07:02 PM PDT March 12, 2014 Indian movie actress Vidya Balan (CL) and IIAF organizers at a press conference to promote the upcoming 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and Awards which will take place in Tampa, Florida. – AFP pic, March 12, 2014.Bollywood is promising a song-and-dance extravaganza as Indian cinema throws its awards ceremony in the US for the first time, looking to tap into a mature but lucrative market. The International Indian Film Academy said "House of Cards" and "American Beauty" star Kevin Spacey would appear in an acting workshop during the April 23-26 program in Tampa, Florida, part of an effort to woo an American audience. Hoping to show Bollywood's global appeal, the prolific industry's answer to the Oscars has never been held in India since its inception in 2000. Instead, the awards have travelled to Britain, Canada and Australia but never the United States, the home turf of globally dominant Hollywood. "It was high time, really. I don't know what has taken us so long," said leading Indian actress Vidya Balan, who will also appear at the awards. In what may be a hopeful omen for Bollywood's chances stateside, Vidya said she unwittingly held up the airport's passport control line as the US officer explained to the actress her fondness for India's "uplifting" films. Vidya, who is known for portraying strong women and served last year on the Cannes Film Festival's jury, said US audiences were beginning to ditch stock images of Indian cinema as just formulaic song-and-dance routines. "I think some had the idea that Hindi film was esoteric or all a one-off spectacle," she told AFP. "I think they are now ripe to see that Hindi cinema has far more to offer." Promoting Indian culture Nonetheless, the awards plan a heavy dose of glitz with music, dancing and leading names for the main April 26 gala organizers predict will pack the 66,000-capacity home stadium of American football's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The event will feature performances by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani singer of qawwali spiritual music whose work has appeared in both Bollywood and Hollywood films. He is the nephew of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who gained an international audience through his collaborations with Western musicians including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Organizers said that Tampa had courted the Bollywood awards and that the industry chose the city off the Gulf of Mexico for its record at holding major events including American football's Super Bowl and the 2012 convention of the Republican Party. Kiran Patel, an Indian American health care mogul in Tampa who helped bring the awards to the city, said that Bollywood played a "tremendous role" in the world by appealing to moviegoers regardless of religion, race or other dividing factors. "It is not only entertainment that it is doing, but it is introducing our culture, our heritage to mainstream America," he told a news conference in New York. "This is a way of showcasing our culture in a very different way and at a level that has never been witnessed in this country." The awards will kick off with a free party for the Tampa public complete with Indian food, music and dancing. An economic boost Bollywood already has natural inroads in the United States, where nearly three million people are of Indian descent. The industry is also not short of viewers, estimating its films sell 5.3 billion tickets each year around the world. But organizers said that the awards would bring additional economic benefits, with some 130 Indian chief executives jetting to Tampa to look at business cooperation on the sidelines. "We have seen at the back of an IIFA, Indian companies going out there and investing in that economy," said Sabbas Joseph, director of the International Indian Film Academy. Past award ceremonies have also brought surges in tourist numbers, which have risen by up to 195 percent during the event, he said. "You have the East and West coming together, you have businesses coming together and you have tourism coming together." – AFP, March 12, 2014.

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Pint-sized tyrannosaur was king of the Arctic Posted: 12 Mar 2014 08:01 PM PDT March 13, 2014 A new genus of Tyrannosaur Nanuqsaurus hoglundi also known as the 'polar bear lizard' was found in Alaska. - AFP graphic, March 13, 2014.A pint-sized tyrannosaur braved the frigid Arctic and feasted on fellow dinosaurs 70 million years ago, according to a report published yesterday on a new species identified from fossilised skull bones in Alaska. Scientists have crowned the fierce creature the "polar bear lizard," or Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, and they say it stood as tall as a modern man but was half the size of its very close cousin, T. rex, the "lizard king." An analysis of several skull bones and teeth are described in the journal PLoS ONE by Anthony Fiorillo and Ronald Tykoski of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Texas. Roving across land that was dark for half the year and prone to rainy, snowy and frigid spells, the miniature tyrannosaur likely had a strong sense of smell and may also have had sharp vision to hunt prey at night. It was also just as big as another common meat-eating dinosaur found in Alaska, the Troodon, Fiorillo told AFP. "To us that is a really cool thing because it is telling us, we think, that there is something about the Arctic environment of 70 million years ago that selected for an optimal body size for a successful predator." Skull fragments tell a story The bones were found on a bluff above the Colville River in northern Alaska. Remains of the much larger T. rex have typically been found further south, scattered across the western United States where the climate would have been warmer. The area inside the Arctic Circle where the dinosaur bones were found was not as cold 70 million years ago, and was probably on par with modern day Seattle, Washington, or Calgary, Canada. The tyrannosaur's skull fragments were found in a hole along with a horned dinosaur it likely killed and tried to eat, based on the tooth-size gashes in the plant-eater's bones, researchers said. At the time of publication, researchers had four bone pieces, some of which were crucial because they showed the head growth of an adult, rather than a juvenile, and allowed scientists to estimate the overall skull size. Since then, more fragments have been unearthed, Fiorillo said. "We have a pretty complete picture of the skull roof now. The beauty of that is that the sediment that filled it in preserves the shape of the brain and we can see that this animal also had a well developed sense of smell." University of Chicago palaeontologist Paul Sereno, who was not involved in the research, described the jaw and skull fragments as "pretty exciting." When fossils of dinosaurs were first found in the Arctic three decades ago, they were initially mistaken for whale bones. Early on, some experts believed the dinosaurs may have migrated, or that juveniles would have been unable to survive there, but more recent discoveries have debunked those ideas. "We couldn't get ourselves to believe that they lived up there in the darkness," Sereno told AFP, adding that recent discoveries have changed that way of thinking. "They must have been managing somehow. We know that reindeer change their diet to eat all sorts of strange things." The new species' name, Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, is a nod to the Inuit name for polar bear, Nanook, and the natural gas tycoon Forrest Hoglund who helped fund the Texas museum where Arctic dinosaur bones are displayed. – AFP, March 13, 2014.

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