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Barca saunter while Milan labour Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:26 PM PDT Barcelona's Messi (left) and Keita celebrate scoring against Bate Borisov in Minsk September 28, 2011. — Reuters pic MANCHESTER, Sept 29 — Holders Barcelona barely broke a sweat in a ruthless 5-0 hammering of BATE Borisov while former champions AC Milan made harder work of finding the net before overcoming new boys Viktoria Plzen 2-0 in the Champions League yesterday. Lionel Messi drew level with Ladislau Kubala as Barca's second highest scorer of all time thanks to a double in a dominant performance on a rainy night in Minsk as the Spaniards went joint top of Group H along with Milan. Seven-times champions Milan needed second-half goals to break the deadlock against Czech side Plzen at the San Siro with Zlatan Ibrahimovic converting a 53rd-minute penalty and setting up Antonio Cassano for the second 13 minutes later. On a good night for former European champions, Olympique Marseille distanced themselves from a poor domestic campaign to demolish Borussia Dortmund 3-0 as the German champions matched their lacklustre early Bundesliga form. "It was not perfect but we've got six points," was the verdict of Marseille coach Didier Deschamps, who watched a sour end to the game when substitute Jordan Ayew was sent off in stoppage time, picking up a second yellow card for diving. Brother and Ghana forward Andre Ayew scored twice for the hosts and France striker Loic Remy got the other as they maintained their perfect start in Group F, where they have a two-point lead over second-placed Arsenal. Arsene Wenger's side enjoyed a better outcome to fellow English club Chelsea in nervy endings to their games, holding on to an early lead to beat Olympiakos Piraeus 2-1 while Andre Villas-Boas' men conceded a late penalty to draw 1-1 in Valencia. While Wenger watched the game from the stands as he served the last match of his touchline ban, teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made a dream start to his European debut with an eighth-minute opener. The injury-hit London side were two up after 20 minutes through Brazilian left back Andre Santos before the Greek visitors got back into the game with a David Fuster header on 27 minutes and from then on Arsenal merely hung on. Many miles away in Belarus, Barcelona made no such meal of their early lead as the champions seemed to barely let their hosts touch the ball. BATE helped Barca on their way with Aleksandr Volodko's 19th-minute own goal and a header from Pedro followed three minutes later. Argentine World Player of the Year Messi headed in just before the break and smashed a fourth high into the net to reach 194 club goals. Still aged only 24, Messi is now only 41 goals behind top scorer Cesar Rodriguez. "As Pep Guardiola said at the weekend (after Messi scored a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid), we are watching history being made so we should try and enjoy it, because we know it will be very difficult to see another player like him," Barca's Javier Mascherano said. David Villa wrapped up the scoring against BATE, who despite effectively playing 10 at the back could not contain Barca's effortless class. Back in Spain, Barca's La Liga rivals Valencia were anything but effortless against Chelsea, looking nervous despite their home advantage and they fell behind to a Frank Lampard first-time strike in the 56th minute. The English side had plenty of chances to go further ahead but instead wiped out all their good work when substitute Salomon Kalou needlessly flapped an arm at a Valencia cross and the referee pointed to the spot with three minutes left. Roberto Soldado struck the ball in low for the equaliser as Chelsea watched the three points evaporate on Juan Mata's return to his old stomping ground. "I think it was more deserved for us to win this game," Chelsea boss Villas-Boas told Sky Sports. "To be so near to win the game and to be in such a good position leaves us a little bit with a feeling we don't like. "It's useless and pointless to go on about it right now. These are referees decisions, it's nothing new for Chelsea." Chelsea lead Group E with four points, one ahead of Bayer Leverkusen who beat visitors Racing Genk 2-0 with Chelsea old boy Michael Ballack making sure of the points with a stoppage-time goal after Lars Bender's first-half strike. In the night's other games, Zenit St Petersburg beat 10-man Porto 3-1 in Group G with Roman Shirokov netting a double in Russia, while in the same group Shakhtar Donetsk drew 1-1 at home with surprise group leaders APOEL Nicosia. — Reuters

Rising teen star shoots Arsenal to victory Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:20 PM PDT Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates his goal against Olympiakos at the Emirates Stadium in London September 28, 2011. — Reuters pic LONDON, Sept 29 — Teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain offered Arsenal fans a glimpse of a bright future as he became the club's youngest English goalscorer in the Champions League yesterday, netting the opener in his side's nervy 2-1 Group F victory over Olympiakos. Signed for a reported £12 million (RM58 million) from Southampton in August the 18-year-old is already being compared to Theo Walcott who followed the same route to north London in 2006. England winger Walcott was one of a number of Arsenal players absent through injury on a balmy night at The Emirates but Oxlade-Chamberlain made the most of his first appearance in the Champions League, firing the opener after eight minutes. Brazilian left back Andre Santos put Arsenal 2-0 up after 20 minutes but after Olympiakos, who had lost all their previous nine away fixtures in England, reduced the deficit after 27 minutes through Spaniard David Fuster it was an anxious night for the home fans. Vassilis Torossidis, the only Greek in Olympiakos's starting 11, came within a coat of paint of levelling with an exquisite curling effort that cannoned off the crossbar in the second half but Arsenal hung on to put themselves in a healthy position with four points from their opening two games. Marseille, who Arsenal visit next, top the standings after recording their second win by beating Borussia Dortmund. Olympiakos's 10th defeat from 10 matches on English soil left them still looking for their first point in the group and manager Ernesto Valverde cursing a poor start which had left a "bitter taste" in his mouth. The visitors had 15 goal attempts compared to the home side's 10 and Arsenal's coach Pat Rice, patrolling the technical area in the absence of manager Arsene Wenger who was completing his Uefa touchline ban, admitted his relief. "They came and waited for us and broke us up in the middle of the park and in fairness you have to say they did well," Arsenal's long-serving number two told reporters. "Needless to say we are very happy with the three points." Rice said Oxlade-Chamberlain's performance had been one of the major plus points and was cause for comfort among the north London club's fans who have watched Arsenal's worst start in the Premier League in the reign of Wenger. "He is a very strong boy and listens to what people say," Rice said. "Arsenal fans are going to see a lot of this boy but he has a very strong challenge trying to get in front of Theo." Oxlade-Chamberlain was the only English starter for Arsenal who had 11 different nationalities represented in their line-up, including fellow teenager Emmanuel Frimpong who recently pledged his loyalty to Ghana. Talisman Robin van Persie was left on the bench as Wenger looked ahead to Sunday's Premier League clash with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur but his absence was quickly forgotten as Arsenal surged ahead with a fast start that is their trademark on Champions League nights at The Emirates. Oxlade-Chamberlain showed a touch of class when he chested down a flighted ball from Alex Song, got a lucky rebound off Ivan Marcano and finished clinically past the unsighted Franco Costanzo for Arsenal's 200th goal in the group phase of the Champions League. Olympiakos showed plenty of adventure going forward and almost levelled when Rafik Djebbour poked a shot goalwards but Mikel Arteta performed a last-ditch clearance off the line. Arsenal doubled their lead when left back Santos wriggled into the area through some half-hearted challenges and calmly placed a shot past Costanzo. Even with a two-goal cushion, however, Arsenal never looked completely secure at the back and the frailities that have seen them concede 14 goals in six league games so far were exposed when Fuster, one of three Spaniards in the visiting line-up, climbed unmarked to a head beyond Szczesny. There were more jitters in the Arsenal defence when Djebbour fired in a shot that was turned over by Szczesny soon afterwards. Arsenal had chances to restore the two-goal margin after the break and had one penalty appeal turned down but it was Olympiakos, backed by a vocal army of fans, who often looked the more likely to score. Kevin Mirallas hit a looping shot just wide before Torossidis went agonisingly close to ending his side's long wait for a first ever point on an English ground. "We came to get a point at least," said Valverde, who said he was disappointed at the reaction of Belgium's Kevin Mirallas when he hauled him off in the second half. "But we gave away to early goals and you can't do that against a side like Arsenal away in the Champions League." — Reuters

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Middle Malaysia Posted: 27 Sep 2011 04:31 PM PDT SEPT 28 — Middle Malaysia is elusive but it is clear that whichever coalition that is able to win across the traditional fault lines of race, religion and regions takes Federal power.  Barisan Nasional is now the world's oldest elected government still in office. Its predecessor, the Alliance party, first won the Federal election for self-government in 1955.  BN's longevity in government can be attributed to successful manipulation of the carrot and stick. Carrots range from contracts for big tycoons to rural patronage for the Umno base while the sticks are really big – dissenters can be put behind bars without trial for years while the mass media are muzzled.  But there is something deeper: there is no alternative.  Or more precisely, the ultimate use of the carrot and stick is to ensure that no BN-clone is allowed to exist.  Instead of fighting a single opposition, BN perpetuated a structure which has two flanks — PAS for the Muslims and DAP for the non-Malays — and styled itself as the indispensable pseudo "centrist" coalition that caters for the interests across racial, religious and regional boundaries.  Without a clean and fair electoral system and an unbiased mass media, the moment a moderate centrist coalition emerges it is destroyed without mercy.  Elections in 1964, 1974, 1982, 1995, and 2004 saw a general swing of all ethnic groups in favour of Barisan Nasional for various reasons. Elections in 1978 and 1986 witnessed Barisan Nasional winning across the races but losing heavily among ethnic Chinese voters.  A general anti-establishment swing across races in various degrees towards the Opposition occurred in elections in 1959, 1969, 1990, 2008 while the 1999 election was an oddity with Malays swinging massively towards the Opposition while more than 50 per cent of the supposedly more anti-establishment voted for the ruling coalition out of fear of the Islamic state claim and copycat violence a la Indonesia's anti-Suharto days.   The de facto centre plus two flanks structure was almost broken in the 1990 general election until the final days of campaign when BN depicted Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as a traitor to the Malays for wearing a Kadazan headgear with a symbol that looks like a cross. At the time, the majority of the ethnic Chinese and nearly half of the Malays were psychologically ready for a change of government.    Since the 2008 general election, BN's formula to win the next election is not to recognise the two-party reality that it received only 51 per cent of popular votes. In fact, only 49 per cent in peninsular Malaysia voted for BN.   Instead, apart from starving the Opposition of material resources and fair mass media coverage, the strategy is three-pronged – to destroy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's credibility as the alternative prime minister at all costs, to lure PAS' leaders into the Malay/Muslim exclusivist discourse and to paint DAP as an extremist villain.  It is no small feat that for the last three-and-a-half years since the formation of Pakatan Rakyat as a consequence of the March 2008 election, it has so far been able to hold Middle Malaysia.  The alternative media channels are more mature compared to two decades ago while 70 per cent of Malaysians are now living in the urban areas which allow greater exposure and access to alternative views. In 1980, only 35 per cent of the population live in urban areas.  Umno has also effectively ceded Middle Malaysia to the Opposition since the waving of the keris by Hishammuddin Hussein in July 2005. Its right wing is now dictating policies.  And, to the credit of Pakatan Rakyat, it has stayed in Middle Malaysia all this while.    * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

The Raya that was Posted: 27 Sep 2011 04:27 PM PDT SEPT 28 — It started with my seeing from afar, a friend of my mother's, with a bag of multilevel marketing products, at the gate of a link house. MLM marketers are not an uncommon sight, but seeing a woman, close to her 70s, selling supplements, was a jarring sight. One could say that she was a symbol of industry, for even at her age, she was still active and working. Didn't work stave off Alzheimer's? But the point is precisely this: at her age, shouldn't she be resting and enjoying the fruits of her labour? What a sombre Raya. I see some friends of my parents and older relatives, not just depending on their children's charity, but having to do small businesses, selling this and that. Quite a number have resigned themselves to the fact that they will die in debt, despite insurance. Old age, and health woes are their constant worry, and lack of money is their bedside companion. The main question at the few open houses I attended was this:  Are we Malaysians destined to just survive financially? And that to earn an income more than RM8,000 a month would mean that there would be no work-life balance? When you hit your 40s, all this comes to the forefront, and you wonder, as you observe the moneyed and beautiful young, and rich, whom a friend calls The Concession Generation... you wonder if you and your friends will have that comfortable life or end up in your 60s trying to sell madu tualang to your neighbours. My friends and I — we come from every race and economic class — wonder if our efforts are enough. It's never enough. There's a child to feed, a parent to care for and yourself to clothe and feed. Living in KL and Malaysia is not about gathering wealth. It is about surviving. Sustenance. Perhaps we may not even be comfortable in our old age. Who's to know? Friends in the media have opted for the public relations route, and let their lives sap away as they burn through even more hours meeting deadlines and dealing with one crisis after another. Some have joined the corporate world, but in private, shake their heads at the ethics. For us women, no matter how educated we are, how high we rise, in the end, some of us take that easier route: By dating well-to-do men, who often than not, are married. But can you blame them? Judge them? Kuala Lumpur can be such a cruel place to be in. It is not your ethics and morals that will take you places. It is your connections, your status, your power and if you have it, beauty. When you have all that, you can do whatever you want, to the point of destroying others, but you are forgiven, because that is how it is here. Hard work? Don't be stupid. It doesn't get you anywhere. It is at times like this that we question ourselves. Are our morals just too antiquated? After all, there seems to be no karma for the ones who erred. They're the ones who will lead a comfortable life. Not like us, who will slog to our deaths. Ramadan has been a truly interesting month. A friend who has worked so hard to attain the little she had, lost everything except her looks. A good girl, as we say. Faced with a family to support, she asked me what I thought of her becoming a mistress to a wealthy man. When I was in my 20s, I would have cut her off from my life. I am now in my 40s and have seen enough. "Whatever you decide, don't tell me. You're a big girl now," I said. I am not god. Who was I to judge, when if fate may play a joke on me and I may face similar circumstances? Well-meaning friends tell friends and me this. You got to learn to position yourself, play the game. You can't think of the other person's family; your family comes first. Kill. You have some face, flirt je lah. Apa susah? Bukan you tidur dengan dia pun. Late at night, our Blackberries ping messages. We discuss our work, debts, savings, everything. A friend texted to say he prayed so hard, his forehead was getting black. He didn't think his prayers would be heard in Malaysia. "Kita cakap je Malaysia ni negara Islam, tapi tengok lah! Aku tak minum, aku tak zina, aku kerja keras. Tapi aku bodoh, tak reti office politik. Sebab tu aku berhutang, jaga family aku." Ethics. Most of us walk away from what is not right. But is it to our personal detriment? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Halal: Hanya logo Jakim sah mulai 1 Januari Posted: 28 Sep 2011 02:59 AM PDT PUTRAJAYA, 28 Sept — Mulai 1 Januari depan, hanya logo halal yang dikeluarkan Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) boleh digunakan dan diiktiraf. Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob berkata langkah itu susulan penguatkuasaan Akta Perihal Dagangan 2011 yang diluluskan Parlimen Julai lepas dan akan berkuat kuasa 1 November. "Bermakna premis makanan, restoran, hotel dan pihak-pihak lain yang sebelum ini menggunakan logo halal bukan dikeluarkan Jakim, perlu membuat permohonan baru kerana selepas tarikh 1 Januari, logo halal sedia ada adalah terbatal. "Mana-mana pihak lain juga tidak boleh lagi memperakukan atau mengeluarkan sijil halal ataupun membuat pengisytiharan sendiri berhubung status halal," katanya dipetik Bernama Online. Ismail Sabri berkata selepas tarikh itu mereka yang masih menggunakan logo halal lain boleh didenda sehingga RM250,000 bagi pertubuhan perbadanan dan sehingga RM100,000 bagi orang perseorangan atau tiga tahun penjara atau kedua-duanya sekali. Ismail Sabri berkata bagi pihak industri pula, tempoh setahun diberikan untuk menukar semua produk keluaran mereka dengan logo halal Jakim. Bagi barangan yang diimport pula, pihak yang memasarkan barangan itu boleh mendapatkan perakuan atau sijil halal melalui 53 badan pensijilan halal luar negara yang diiktiraf Jakim. "Semua pihak terbabit dinasihat membuat permohonan awal menerusi Majlis Agama Islam negeri masing-masing kerana Jakim sudah memberi kuasa kepada semua majlis agama Islam negeri bagi melicinkan proses permohonan," katanya. Dianggarkan 1,500 termasuk premis perniagaan seperti restoran, gerai, hotel dan pihak industri seperti kilang tidak menggunakan logo halal daripada Jakim.

Jais: Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor mohon balik tauliah kuliah agama Posted: 28 Sep 2011 02:53 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 28 Sept — Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) Marzuki Hussin hari ini berkata pihaknya sudah menerima permohonan baru daripada Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor Dr Abdul Rani Othman untuk mendapatkan tauliah menyampaikan ceramah di masjid dan surau di negeri itu. "Kami telah berjumpa semalam dan telah berbincang mengenai permintaan mereka," katanya ketika pada Majlis Rumah Terbuka anjuran Jais di sini hari ini. Mengulas berkenaan permohonan tersebut, katanya, Jais akan memproses permohonan itu. Jais tidak memperbaharui tauliah yang dikeluarkan kepada Dr Rani, yang juga Adun Meru, bulan lalu. "Ada dua, tiga pemohon, kami menerima permohonan mereka dan kita akan mempertimbangkan... mereka boleh memohon, tetapi jawatankuasa yang terlibat akan berbincang dan mempertimbangkan mengikut peraturan dan enakmen yang sedia ada," ujarnya. Tambah beliau, pemohon juga akan dipanggil untuk ditemu duga oleh pihak Jais dan sekiranya jawatankuasa terlibat memberikan sokongan, pihaknya tidak mempunyai sebarang masalah untuk meluluskan permohonan mereka. Baru-baru ini, Jais berkata tidak akan mengeluarkan tauliah kepada ahli politik yang ingin berceramah dan menyampaikan tazkirah di 380 masjid dan lebih 1,000 surau serta premis awam di negeri ini berkuat kuasa serta-merta bagi mengelak fungsi institusi agama itu disalah guna, demi kepentingan politik. Kenyataan itu dikeluarkan berikutan kes Ahli Parlimen Shah Alam, Khalid Samad yang akan didakwa di Mahkamah Syariah Shah Alam pada 24 November ini kerana disyaki menyampaikan ceramah agama tanpa tauliah di sebuah surau di negeri itu. Marzuki juga mengesahkan wakil rakyat itu akan didakwa mengikut Seksyen 14 (1) Enakmen Jenayah Syariah 1995 yang memperuntukkan denda RM3,000 atau penjara dua tahun atau kedua-dua sekali jika sabit kesalahan. Setakat ini, Jais telah mengeluarkan tauliah kepada 2,601 individu yang layak. Daripada jumlah itu, katanya, Jais turut mengeluarkan tauliah kepada 100 ahli politik. Namun begitu, pihaknya menegaskan pemantauan berterusan akan dibuat bagi memastikan mereka tidak menyalahgunakan tauliah yang diberikan.

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Arsenal lose trio for Olympiakos clash Posted: 27 Sep 2011 08:17 AM PDT Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger celebrates after Alex Song (unseen) scored their third goal during their English Premier League soccer match against Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium in London September 24, 2011. Arsenal will be without defender Laurent Koscielny and forwards Theo Walcott and Gervinho for Wednesday's Champions League match against Olympiakos. – Reuters pic LONDON, Sept 27 – Arsenal will be without defender Laurent Koscielny and forwards Theo Walcott and Gervinho for tomorrow's Champions League match against Olympiakos, manager Arsene Wenger said today. Koscielny has an ankle injury, Walcott a knee problem and Gervinho a mild muscle strain although all three could be fit for Sunday's Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal drew their opening Champions League Group F match against Borussia Dortmund 1-1 and lie 13th in the Premier League after a disappointing start to the season. The north London club's problems have been compounded by the loss of England midfielder Jack Wilshire, who will be sidelined for between four to five months after surgery to repair a stress fracture to his right ankle. Wilshire has not played a competitive match this season after sustaining the injury in a pre-season friendly against the New York Bulls at the Emirates stadium. Wenger bolstered his midfield during the off-season, bringing in Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun to add experience. "(Wilshere's injury) makes us a bit shorter in midfield and it puts a bit more pressure on our midfielders to perform game-in, game-out, because we will have less rotation possibilities," he was quoted as saying on the Arsenal website (http://www.arsenal.com). "But every club can be tested on that front so it shouldn't impact our end result of the season and shouldn't be any excuse at all. "Jack can come back and be very strong and help us finish the season well. "If Abou Diaby comes back well and quickly we should, number-wise and quality-wise, be all right. That depends as well on the injuries we have in the next two or three months." – Reuters

Speeding ticket delays Dortmund’s departure for Marseille Posted: 27 Sep 2011 07:36 AM PDT MUNICH, Sept 27 – Borussia Dortmund's departure to Marseille for their Champions League game against the Ligue 1 side was delayed by about 50 minutes today when their bus driver was stopped for speeding, the club said. The team was on its way to the airport when the bus driver went through a 30 kilometres per hour zone at a speed of 45kph and police stopped the vehicle to hand out a speeding ticket. Midfielder Mario Goetze said: "We wondered what happened but it was amusing." German champions Dortmund take on Marseille in their second Group F game after drawing 1-1 at home against Arsenal. – Reuters

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World is truly a stage for London Shakespeare fest Posted: 27 Sep 2011 09:45 AM PDT LONDON, Sept 27 — London's Globe theatre today said would host all of Shakespeare's 37 plays performed in 37 languages by 37 companies in a stage festival with acting troupes from Afghanistan and newly independent South Sudan. Shakespeare: 37 plays in 37 languages, by 37 companies. "Globe to Globe" will run for six weeks, starting from its launch on April 23 next year. It is part of the London 2012 Festival, itself the climax of the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year celebration of arts and culture in Britain leading up to the summer Olympics in the capital city next year. Globe to Globe kicks off with an adaptation of Shakespeare's poem "Venus and Adonis" performed in Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Afrikaans and South African English. The plays proper get under way on April 23, with "Troilus and Cressida" staged in Maori and featuring the traditional "haka" dance. "The Merry Wives of Windsor" is performed in Swahili, "Richard III" in Mandarin, "Richard II" in Palestinian Arabic and "Othello" in hip-hop. The three Henry VI plays about England's civil war are presented as an "epic and sweeping Balkan trilogy", organisers said today, featuring national theatres from Serbia, Albania and Macedonia. From Afghanistan, and leaving Kabul for the first time, is theatre company Roy-e-Sabs with "The Comedy of Errors", while a specially formed troupe from the world's newest country South Sudan will perform "Cymbeline". Belarus Free Theatre, dubbed by the Globe as "the world's bravest theatre company", stages "King Lear" while Deafinitely Theatre from London will translate the pun-riddled text of "Love's Labour's Lost" into British sign language. Fittingly for a theatre project designed to coincide with the Olympics, the Globe is offering what it calls the "Yard Olympian" allowing the buyer to watch all 37 plays and one poem for £100 (RM493). — Reuters

Jockeys face harsher penalties for whip use Posted: 27 Sep 2011 09:08 AM PDT British racing pulls the whip on jockeys. — Reuters pic LONDON, Sept 27 — British horse racing authorities have announced harsher penalties for jockeys who overuse the whip in races, including the loss of riding fees and prize money. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) ruled, however, that the use of the whip, providing strict controls were enforced, "remains appropriate and necessary for the safety of both jockeys and horses". A review group made 19 recommendations, all of which were approved by the BHA board. The BHA, who began a review of the rules last year, said in a statement that current guidelines and penalties were not an effective enough control and deterrent. The new limits restrict jockeys to seven uses of the whip in flat racing and eight in jump racing, and only five times in the last furlong or after the last obstacle. "This is roughly half the amount of times a whip could be used previously before being in breach of the rules," the BHA said. There will be a five-day minimum suspension for not adhering to the frequency limits, compared to the previous caution. "A jockey who incurs a whip suspension of three days or more will forfeit his riding fee and percentage," the BHA added. Those who breach the rules on more than one occasion will also face increased penalties. — Reuters

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Co-writer of TV sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’ dies Posted: 27 Sep 2011 08:04 AM PDT LONDON, Sept 27 – David Croft, whose gentle humour kept Britons laughing through the 1970s and 1980s, often at serious issues such as World War Two, has died, his family said today. Croft jointly penned the military sitcoms "Dad's Army" and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" as well as the wartime resistance comedy "Allo 'Allo" based in Nazi-occupied France with its exaggerated French accents. But Croft also co-wrote successful comedies about working at a holiday camp in "Hi-de-Hi" and serving on the shop floor of a department store in "Are You Being Served?" "He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him," his family said in a statement on his website. Croft, who served in India and Singapore where he rose to the rank of major, was able to draw on his experience, to gently poke fun at military life. In Dad's Army, Croft and his co-writer Jimmy Perry, depicted life in the Home Guard, the last line of defence should the Germans have invaded Britain. Its endearing characters included the pompous bank manager Captain Mainwaring and the jumpy butcher Lance Corporal Jones with his famous catchphrase "don't panic!" The comedy is still showing on television 40 years after its original transmission. It Ain't Half Hot Mum, which he also co-wrote with Perry, had the butch and the camp surviving alongside each other in a Royal Artillery Concert party in India and Burma during the war. Croft died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Portugal aged 89, the statement said. –Reuters

Sam Worthington in ‘Man on a Ledge’ Posted: 27 Sep 2011 07:15 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, Sept 27 – The first trailer for Sam Worthington's latest film, action thriller Man on a Ledge, was released on September 25. The footage opens with Sam Worthington (The Debt, Avatar) standing on a ledge of a high rise, prepared to risk his life to prove his innocence. Directed by Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil), Man on a Ledge is the story of ex-cop and escaped convict who professes he was framed for a crime he did not commit. The film costars Elizabeth Banks (W.) as a police psychologist trying to talk him down from the ledge, Ed Harris (Gone Baby Gone) as the man who set him up and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) as the brother conducting the heist of a US$40 million diamond that was supposedly stolen. As Police SWAT teams assemble, the brothers communicate on earphones. But the operation is thwarted: it looks like the suicide attempt was a cover-up and the motive strictly revenge, as the plot takes another turn. Man on a Ledge opens in North America on January 13, in the UK and Germany on the 26th, and in other markets to follow. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBJSfqdhyTg – AFP

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books

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Scientist: Sky confirms ‘shining moon’ behind Frankenstein Posted: 26 Sep 2011 07:40 PM PDT Shelley has long been doubted for her claim that she wrote the Gothic classic during a "waking dream" as the moon shone through her window in June 1816. — mouthshut.com pic SAN ANTONIO, Sept 27 — A Texas astronomer has used science to confirm one of the most famous tales in western literature, the "bright and shining moon" over Lake Geneva that inspired an 18-year-old Mary Shelley to write "Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus." Shelley has long been doubted for her version of events that led to the writing of one of the most beloved Gothic tales in the English language: That she wrote it on a challenge one night in June 1816 during a "waking dream" as the moon shone through her window. But Donald Olson, an astronomy professor at Texas State University in San Marcos, told Reuters yesterday that the night sky would argue that she was telling the truth. "Some scholars are very sceptical, they even call her a liar," Olson said. "But we see no reason, either in the science or in the primary sources, to doubt Mary Shelley's account." Olson has made a hobby out of using the sky to solve the mysteries of many of the world's most famous works of art and historical accounts. His study of tides in the English Channel forced historians to change the accepted date of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55 BC, and he used astronomical tables to pinpoint where and when Vincent Van Gogh painted the famous painting alternately known as "Moonrise" and "Sunrise over Saint-Remy." Shelley first wrote of how she came to write Frankenstein in the preface of the book's 1831 edition, and critics immediately began questioning her story as simply a ruse to sell more books. The story goes like this: Shelley was staying with her future husband, Percy Shelley, at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland in June of 1816. Also present were Lord Byron and friends Claire Clairmont and John Polidori. Byron challenged all of them to try their hand at writing a ghost story. Waking dream Shelley saw the "bright and shining moon" through her window that night and wrote the story while she was in what she called "a waking dream." The closest account of Byron's challenge comes from Polidori's diary, in which he tells of the party gathering at the Villa Diodati for a philosophical discussion that ended "after the witching hour" of June 16, 1816. The next day he wrote that "the ghost-stores are begun by all but me." But Olson said there was no record of the challenge itself from any sources other than Shelley's preface, and the assumption has always been made, though not proven, that the challenge and the writing took place early in the morning of June 16. But he said that had never been confirmed until now. "We verified when the moon would have shone on her window, which is when she first came up with the idea for the story we know as Frankenstein," Olson said. The Villa Diodati still stands above Lake Geneva and the room where Shelley stayed is well known. Olson and his researchers made "extensive topographic measurements of the terrain" and investigated "weather records for June of 1816," described by Lord Byron and Polidori as unusually wet and rainy. On that night, however, "we determined that a bright, gibbous moon would have cleared the hillside to shine right into Shelley's bedroom window just before 2am on June 16," Olson said. He said that had there been no moonlight visible that morning, it would have indicated fabrication on her part. "This indicates her famous "waking dream" that gave birth to Frankenstein's famous monster occurred between 2am and 3am on June 16," he said. "Mary Shelley wrote about moonlight shining through her window, and now we have recreated that night," Olson said. "We see no reason to doubt her account, based on the astronomical data." Olson's study appears in the October edition of "Sky and Telescope" magazine. — Reuters

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