Paris Hilton was infamously dubbed the celebrity that became famous by simply doing nothing, but after a few years in the limelight, the hotel heiress hasn't let her fame go to waste.
Paris Hilton is your Connector of the Day.
Since breaking out as a target for photographers and magazine editors, the 29-year-old American has already had the opportunity to star in her very own television series, create her own line of perfume and even record an album.
Part of the famed family that founded Hilton hotels, Paris has been no stranger to the spotlight.
At an early age, Paris was friends with socialites including Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian - one of which she later starred in a reality show called "The Simple Life."
Paris has also had the opportunity to star in films including "House of Wax" and "The Hilz".
But while Paris has been a well-known personality on the celebrity circuit, she has shifted her focus from the red carpe to working with charitable organizations.
Most recently, Paris has teamed up with a charity called "Songs for Soldiers" which aims to provide every American service member in active duty in Afghanistan or Iraq, with a MP3 music player.
Paris was named the celebrity ambassador for the organization and said that once the goal is reached that she hopes to be part of a trip overseas to deliver the music players.
Each player will be pre-loaded with a number of songs from artists that have donated their music.
Here's your chance to quiz Paris Hilton on this interesting project.
Please leave your questions below and be sure to include where you're writing from.
You can also send in your questions through iReport by clicking here.
วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 27 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2553
(CNN) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross is defending its practice of providing medical training and basic medical supplies to the Taliba
Kingston, Jamaica (CNN) -- Police in Jamaica have more than 500 people in custody, the government said Wednesday, after a failed attempt to arrest a suspected drug kingpin resulted in violence that left dozens of people dead.
Some semblance of calm appeared to have taken hold in Kingston, though, after four days of gun battles between security forces and supporters of the alleged drug lord.
No murders were recorded in the capital overnight, and although there were "a number of shooting incidents," security forces were able to "repel" them, the government said Wednesday.
Security forces are "processing" people who have been detained, with students and young people getting first priority, the government said.
"The Security Forces are also helping residents of Tivoli Gardens" -- the neighborhood where much of the violence took place -- "taking those needing medical care to hospitals. Medication is also being provided to residents," the government said.
Separately, Jamaica's prime minister Wednesday rejected allegations that he was "a known criminal affiliate" of the suspected drug lord at the center of the incident, calling the claims "libellous," "scurrilous" and "malicious."
Prime Minister Bruce Golding "categorically denied, and dismissed as extremely offensive, reports on the US-ABC network which describe him as 'a known criminal affiliate of hunted drug lord,' Christopher 'Dudus' Coke," the government said in a statement.
"Mr. Golding says he is also outraged by an article in The Independent, a UK newspaper, that the 'drug gang was on [the] payroll of Jamaican prime minister.' He said both publications, by seeking to link him personally with the alleged drug kingpin, were clearly part of a conspiracy to undermine the duly elected government of Jamaica," the statement continued.
"The reports have made damaging and libellous assertions and he repudiated the scurrilous and malicious reporting, which he said must be dismissed with the contempt that it deserves," it said.
ABC News stands by its reporting, Senior Vice President Jeffrey Schneider told CNN by e-mail. The Independent did not immediately respond to CNN questions about Golding's statement.
Coke was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and with conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms.
The street battles have taken place in the Kingston neighborhoods of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town, officials said. The violence has affected ordinary people living in the area, which now has a "post-9/11" air, one local told CNN by phone.
"The daytime really isn't a problem, but the night can be. Your rights are reduced after 6 p.m. The police can stop you for virtually any reason. It's a similar situation to after "the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States," a Kingston florist said Wednesday.
"I wouldn't say I'm afraid," said the woman, who asked that neither she nor her shop be named. But, she said, "You don't know exactly what is happening."
Are you there? Send stories and images to iReport
Another woman said that the front of her house had been "shot up" and that police had taken away her nephew and grandson for questioning. They did not say how long her relatives would be detained.
Violet Dias, an American citizen from New York, said a day earlier that she was locked down in her house because of the assault.
"We can't even look out," she told CNN by phone Tuesday. "We have no food. We can't get anything to eat."
Dias, an amputee and an asthmatic, is due to return to the United States on June 14.
The government said those killed were mostly males, and their bodies were recovered from areas close to barricades, building entrances and gullies coursing through Tivoli Gardens.
Security forces have confiscated firearms, ammunition, binoculars, army fatigues and ballistic vests and are conducting searches, the government said.
The fighting has paralyzed the metropolis.
Prime Minister Golding has declared a state of emergency in some parts of Kingston. Schools are closed in the capital, and at one point, some flights were canceled, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
Coke maintains a heroic reputation in the Kingston slums, with some people comparing him to Robin Hood, Jesus and one-time Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar.
That's because he has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers.
Experts: Accused Jamaican drug lord akin to Robin Hood
But drug enforcement officials say he deserves to be classified as one of the world's most dangerous drug lords.
"He is the head of an organization, a cartel, or a syndicate that has a global impact and also has a direct impact on the United States," said Michael Braun, a former chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Coke's whereabouts are unclear.
He was charged in August 2009 by the U.S. attorney's office in New York, which accused him of leading an international criminal syndicate known as the "Shower Posse."
CNN's Jeanne Meserve and Ben Brumfield and journalist Kirk Abrahams contributed to this report.
Some semblance of calm appeared to have taken hold in Kingston, though, after four days of gun battles between security forces and supporters of the alleged drug lord.
No murders were recorded in the capital overnight, and although there were "a number of shooting incidents," security forces were able to "repel" them, the government said Wednesday.
Security forces are "processing" people who have been detained, with students and young people getting first priority, the government said.
"The Security Forces are also helping residents of Tivoli Gardens" -- the neighborhood where much of the violence took place -- "taking those needing medical care to hospitals. Medication is also being provided to residents," the government said.
Separately, Jamaica's prime minister Wednesday rejected allegations that he was "a known criminal affiliate" of the suspected drug lord at the center of the incident, calling the claims "libellous," "scurrilous" and "malicious."
Prime Minister Bruce Golding "categorically denied, and dismissed as extremely offensive, reports on the US-ABC network which describe him as 'a known criminal affiliate of hunted drug lord,' Christopher 'Dudus' Coke," the government said in a statement.
"Mr. Golding says he is also outraged by an article in The Independent, a UK newspaper, that the 'drug gang was on [the] payroll of Jamaican prime minister.' He said both publications, by seeking to link him personally with the alleged drug kingpin, were clearly part of a conspiracy to undermine the duly elected government of Jamaica," the statement continued.
"The reports have made damaging and libellous assertions and he repudiated the scurrilous and malicious reporting, which he said must be dismissed with the contempt that it deserves," it said.
ABC News stands by its reporting, Senior Vice President Jeffrey Schneider told CNN by e-mail. The Independent did not immediately respond to CNN questions about Golding's statement.
Coke was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and with conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms.
The street battles have taken place in the Kingston neighborhoods of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town, officials said. The violence has affected ordinary people living in the area, which now has a "post-9/11" air, one local told CNN by phone.
"The daytime really isn't a problem, but the night can be. Your rights are reduced after 6 p.m. The police can stop you for virtually any reason. It's a similar situation to after "the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States," a Kingston florist said Wednesday.
"I wouldn't say I'm afraid," said the woman, who asked that neither she nor her shop be named. But, she said, "You don't know exactly what is happening."
Are you there? Send stories and images to iReport
Another woman said that the front of her house had been "shot up" and that police had taken away her nephew and grandson for questioning. They did not say how long her relatives would be detained.
Violet Dias, an American citizen from New York, said a day earlier that she was locked down in her house because of the assault.
"We can't even look out," she told CNN by phone Tuesday. "We have no food. We can't get anything to eat."
Dias, an amputee and an asthmatic, is due to return to the United States on June 14.
The government said those killed were mostly males, and their bodies were recovered from areas close to barricades, building entrances and gullies coursing through Tivoli Gardens.
Security forces have confiscated firearms, ammunition, binoculars, army fatigues and ballistic vests and are conducting searches, the government said.
The fighting has paralyzed the metropolis.
Prime Minister Golding has declared a state of emergency in some parts of Kingston. Schools are closed in the capital, and at one point, some flights were canceled, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
Coke maintains a heroic reputation in the Kingston slums, with some people comparing him to Robin Hood, Jesus and one-time Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar.
That's because he has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers.
Experts: Accused Jamaican drug lord akin to Robin Hood
But drug enforcement officials say he deserves to be classified as one of the world's most dangerous drug lords.
"He is the head of an organization, a cartel, or a syndicate that has a global impact and also has a direct impact on the United States," said Michael Braun, a former chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Coke's whereabouts are unclear.
He was charged in August 2009 by the U.S. attorney's office in New York, which accused him of leading an international criminal syndicate known as the "Shower Posse."
CNN's Jeanne Meserve and Ben Brumfield and journalist Kirk Abrahams contributed to this report.
Red Cross defends helping Taliban treat casualties
(CNN) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross is defending its practice of providing medical training and basic medical supplies to the Taliban in Afghanistan -- saying it is in line with the ICRC's mandate not to discriminate between different sides in a conflict.
In the latest situation report issued Tuesday, the Red Cross disclosed that in April its workers "reached over 100 Afghan security personnel, over 70 members of the armed opposition, taxi drivers involved in the transport of wounded people, first-aiders and its own staff."
That prompted plenty of quizzical and some critical comments in the international media and among bloggers -- and some grumbling among Afghan officials.
But an ICRC spokesman in Geneva said the practice is consistent with its obligation of neutrality and its mandate to provide assistance to all sides in conflict.
The ICRC says it provides a three-day course that includes lessons in international humanitarian law, practical work with bandages and other basic medical techniques.
It says the course is also a chance to remind all sides about respect for civilians and proper treatment of detainees.
Some critics have drawn a distinction between providing medical care to the wounded and training insurgents to do so. But the ICRC says it has provided similar training in Darfur, Sudan and to Hamas members in Gaza.
ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon says it has been providing such training in Afghanistan for about four years to the Taliban as well as to Afghan police and civilian first-aiders. He added that the ICRC was not training the Taliban in surgical skills; the focus was on stabilizing those injured.
The ICRC says that roadblocks, fighting and mines have made access to hospitals very difficult -- especially in provinces like Helmand and Kandahar in the south of Afghanistan.
The International Security Assistance Force says it has no issues with Red Cross workers training insurgents in medical care.
"We recognize the need for their work to be executed impartially -- and it's precisely for this reason that they are able to gain the access that they do," Lt. Col. Joseph T Breasseale told CNN. "One of the litany of things that separates the international coalition from the Taliban is that we have frequently provided first aid to injured Taliban fighters and we will continue to do so."
The ICRC says the three-day first-aid courses are a small part of its program in Afghanistan. In April it conducted a war surgery workshop for dozens of doctors, and supported the regional hospital in Kandahar in performing almost 1,000 operations.
The ICRC says it has 1,500 national and 140 international staff in Afghanistan.
In the latest situation report issued Tuesday, the Red Cross disclosed that in April its workers "reached over 100 Afghan security personnel, over 70 members of the armed opposition, taxi drivers involved in the transport of wounded people, first-aiders and its own staff."
That prompted plenty of quizzical and some critical comments in the international media and among bloggers -- and some grumbling among Afghan officials.
But an ICRC spokesman in Geneva said the practice is consistent with its obligation of neutrality and its mandate to provide assistance to all sides in conflict.
The ICRC says it provides a three-day course that includes lessons in international humanitarian law, practical work with bandages and other basic medical techniques.
It says the course is also a chance to remind all sides about respect for civilians and proper treatment of detainees.
Some critics have drawn a distinction between providing medical care to the wounded and training insurgents to do so. But the ICRC says it has provided similar training in Darfur, Sudan and to Hamas members in Gaza.
ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon says it has been providing such training in Afghanistan for about four years to the Taliban as well as to Afghan police and civilian first-aiders. He added that the ICRC was not training the Taliban in surgical skills; the focus was on stabilizing those injured.
The ICRC says that roadblocks, fighting and mines have made access to hospitals very difficult -- especially in provinces like Helmand and Kandahar in the south of Afghanistan.
The International Security Assistance Force says it has no issues with Red Cross workers training insurgents in medical care.
"We recognize the need for their work to be executed impartially -- and it's precisely for this reason that they are able to gain the access that they do," Lt. Col. Joseph T Breasseale told CNN. "One of the litany of things that separates the international coalition from the Taliban is that we have frequently provided first aid to injured Taliban fighters and we will continue to do so."
The ICRC says the three-day first-aid courses are a small part of its program in Afghanistan. In April it conducted a war surgery workshop for dozens of doctors, and supported the regional hospital in Kandahar in performing almost 1,000 operations.
The ICRC says it has 1,500 national and 140 international staff in Afghanistan.
Homegrown terrorist threat to be part of National Security Strategy
Washington (CNN) -- When the Obama administration unveils its National Security Strategy Thursday, it will be the first time a president explicitly recognizes the threat posed to the country by radicalized individuals at home.
"For the first time since 9/11, the NSS integrates homeland security and national security," according to highlights of the plan given to CNN by a senior administration official said.
The security strategy acts as a blueprint for how the White House intends to protect Americans. In the past, it has focused mostly on international threats. But National Security Adviser John Brennan explained Wednesday that a spate of terror-related plots in the United States recently prompted the Obama administration to include homegrown terrorism in the document.
"Such a strategy must begin with the recognition that a clear-eyed understanding of our strategic environment -- the world as it is today -- is necessary to shape the world that we seek," according to a summary of the plan.
"Currently, the United States is focused on completing a responsible transition in Iraq, succeeding in Afghanistan, and defeating al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates, while moving our economy from deep recession to enduring recovery. Even as we confront these crises, our national strategy must take a longer view. We must adapt and lead in a rapidly changing, interconnected world in which interests of nations and peoples are increasingly shared."
Homegrown terrorism represents a new phase of the terrorist threat, officials said.
Earlier this month, Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was charged with trying to detonate a car bomb in New York's bustling district of Times Square.
U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is suspected of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood in November.
Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan national, pleaded guilty in February for conspiring to detonate explosives in the New York subway system.
David Headley, an American citizen from Chicago, Illinois, is accused of providing surveillance in the Mumbai, India, terrorist attacks that killed 160 people.
"We've seen an increasing number of individuals here in the United States become captivated by extremist ideology or causes," Brennan said. "We have seen individuals, including U.S. citizens armed with their U.S. passports, travel easily to extremist safe havens, return to America, their deadly plans disrupted by coordinated intelligence and law enforcement."
Brennan, who made his comments at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that as the United States has strengthened its defenses against massive attacks like 9/11, al Qaeda has shown itself to be a "resilient, resourceful and determined enemy."
Brennan said al Qaeda is recruiting individuals with little training, attempting relatively unsophisticated attacks and seeking people living in the United States to launch such attacks.
"They are seeking foot soldiers who might slip through our defense," Brennan said. "As our enemy adapts and evolves their tactics, so must we constantly adapt and evolve ours."
Brennan did not provide any specific details about the president's strategy for combating al Qaeda and its affiliates, but said it "will require a broad, sustained and integrated campaign that harnesses every tool of American power, military and civilian, kinetic and diplomatic."
The strategy is built around protecting "four enduring U.S. national interests -- security, prosperity, values, and international order."
In order to achieve this, it must strengthen U.S. institutions, values, and infrastructure -- such as education, energy, science and technology, and health care.
It calls for strong diplomatic efforts internationally and galvanizing "collective action to address the share global challenges of our time."
"Engagement begins with our friends and allies -- active partners in advancing common interests. We will continue to deepen our partnerships with increasingly active centers of influence -- cooperating when we can, and differing when we must.
"With adversarial regimes, engagement provides us a means of testing intentions, giving governments the opportunity to change course, and mobilizing international coalitions."
The strategy calls for updating "all of the tools of American power, and work with our allies and partners to do the same."
"These tools include those in the fields of defense, diplomatic, development, homeland security, the rule of law, intelligence, and strategic communications, as well as support the participation of the American people and private sector. We are working to strengthen each of these tools, but also to integrate them through coordinated planning and capacity building in key areas," the strategy said.
"For the first time since 9/11, the NSS integrates homeland security and national security," according to highlights of the plan given to CNN by a senior administration official said.
The security strategy acts as a blueprint for how the White House intends to protect Americans. In the past, it has focused mostly on international threats. But National Security Adviser John Brennan explained Wednesday that a spate of terror-related plots in the United States recently prompted the Obama administration to include homegrown terrorism in the document.
"Such a strategy must begin with the recognition that a clear-eyed understanding of our strategic environment -- the world as it is today -- is necessary to shape the world that we seek," according to a summary of the plan.
"Currently, the United States is focused on completing a responsible transition in Iraq, succeeding in Afghanistan, and defeating al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates, while moving our economy from deep recession to enduring recovery. Even as we confront these crises, our national strategy must take a longer view. We must adapt and lead in a rapidly changing, interconnected world in which interests of nations and peoples are increasingly shared."
Homegrown terrorism represents a new phase of the terrorist threat, officials said.
Earlier this month, Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was charged with trying to detonate a car bomb in New York's bustling district of Times Square.
U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is suspected of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood in November.
Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan national, pleaded guilty in February for conspiring to detonate explosives in the New York subway system.
David Headley, an American citizen from Chicago, Illinois, is accused of providing surveillance in the Mumbai, India, terrorist attacks that killed 160 people.
"We've seen an increasing number of individuals here in the United States become captivated by extremist ideology or causes," Brennan said. "We have seen individuals, including U.S. citizens armed with their U.S. passports, travel easily to extremist safe havens, return to America, their deadly plans disrupted by coordinated intelligence and law enforcement."
Brennan, who made his comments at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that as the United States has strengthened its defenses against massive attacks like 9/11, al Qaeda has shown itself to be a "resilient, resourceful and determined enemy."
Brennan said al Qaeda is recruiting individuals with little training, attempting relatively unsophisticated attacks and seeking people living in the United States to launch such attacks.
"They are seeking foot soldiers who might slip through our defense," Brennan said. "As our enemy adapts and evolves their tactics, so must we constantly adapt and evolve ours."
Brennan did not provide any specific details about the president's strategy for combating al Qaeda and its affiliates, but said it "will require a broad, sustained and integrated campaign that harnesses every tool of American power, military and civilian, kinetic and diplomatic."
The strategy is built around protecting "four enduring U.S. national interests -- security, prosperity, values, and international order."
In order to achieve this, it must strengthen U.S. institutions, values, and infrastructure -- such as education, energy, science and technology, and health care.
It calls for strong diplomatic efforts internationally and galvanizing "collective action to address the share global challenges of our time."
"Engagement begins with our friends and allies -- active partners in advancing common interests. We will continue to deepen our partnerships with increasingly active centers of influence -- cooperating when we can, and differing when we must.
"With adversarial regimes, engagement provides us a means of testing intentions, giving governments the opportunity to change course, and mobilizing international coalitions."
The strategy calls for updating "all of the tools of American power, and work with our allies and partners to do the same."
"These tools include those in the fields of defense, diplomatic, development, homeland security, the rule of law, intelligence, and strategic communications, as well as support the participation of the American people and private sector. We are working to strengthen each of these tools, but also to integrate them through coordinated planning and capacity building in key areas," the strategy said.
So far, so good for 'top kill' procedure, Coast Guard admiral says
There's no end in sight for the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Anderson Cooper reports live tonight from the region as BP attempts to stop the leak. Watch "AC360°" tonight at 10 ET on CNN for the latest on stopping the leak.
Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP's "top kill" procedure is going as planned and according to expectations, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill response, said Thursday.
In response, a BP official told CNN, "We appreciate the optimism, but the top kill operation is continuing through the day today -- that hasn't changed. We don't anticipate being able to say anything definitive on that until later today."
"The top kill operation began Wednesday afternoon, with drilling mud being applied to the well at a rate of up to 65 barrels per minute. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator, was reluctant to draw conclusions.
"While we're very encouraged by some aspects of this procedure, I don't want to express optimism until I know for sure that we've secured the well and the leak has stopped," she told reporters.
Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP's "top kill" procedure is going as planned and according to expectations, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill response, said Thursday.
In response, a BP official told CNN, "We appreciate the optimism, but the top kill operation is continuing through the day today -- that hasn't changed. We don't anticipate being able to say anything definitive on that until later today."
"The top kill operation began Wednesday afternoon, with drilling mud being applied to the well at a rate of up to 65 barrels per minute. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator, was reluctant to draw conclusions.
"While we're very encouraged by some aspects of this procedure, I don't want to express optimism until I know for sure that we've secured the well and the leak has stopped," she told reporters.
Britain and France reject EU bank levy plan
(FT) -- Britain and France are at odds with other European Union countries over plans to insure against future bank failures, in another sign of the problems in trying to forge a common response to the bloc's economic woes.
Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner, set out proposals for member states to form national funds to help wind up or reorganise failing banks, funded by a levy on the financial sector.
London immediately rejected the idea, arguing it would introduce "moral hazard" and encourage banks to think the levy was an insurance premium that entitled them to help if they got into trouble. French officials said Paris had similar concerns. George Osborne, chancellor, insisted his proposed bank levy, which could be unveiled in his first Budget on June 22, would go straight into the Treasury's depleted coffers.
"The purpose of the bank levy is to raise money for general expenditure purposes," he said. A French finance ministry official said privately that Paris supported the principle of a tax, but did not want to create a standalone "resolution" fund.
How will Europe's bank levy work?
German government officials suggested Franco-British concerns about moral hazard might have more to do with both countries needing cash from a bank levy to ease strained budgets.
Finance ministry officials in Berlin said the package appeared to be "moving in the right direction". Wolfgang Schäuble, finance minister, wants German banks to pay about €1bn (£847m) per year into a separate fund to wind down troubled banks.
Mr Barnier's proposals are an attempt by the European Commission to create a collective response to the banking crisis and to show that it is ready to deal with the prospect of a second-round shock affecting the EU banking sector.
He claims to have devised a scheme that would not bail out failing banks or spare shareholders or creditors, but that could, for example, provide temporary guarantees or finance a "good bank, bad bank" split. "It is not acceptable that taxpayers should continue to bear the heavy cost of rescuing the banking sector - they should not be in the front line," he said.
His plan, will be discussed by EU leaders next month. Brussels hopes for sufficient endorsement to allow it to push the "bank resolution fund" idea at a G20 meeting at the end of June.
There is growing global agreement on the need for a bank levy. But Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said in London that different countries were likely to implement it in different ways: "It's not going to be perfectly uniform."
Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner, set out proposals for member states to form national funds to help wind up or reorganise failing banks, funded by a levy on the financial sector.
London immediately rejected the idea, arguing it would introduce "moral hazard" and encourage banks to think the levy was an insurance premium that entitled them to help if they got into trouble. French officials said Paris had similar concerns. George Osborne, chancellor, insisted his proposed bank levy, which could be unveiled in his first Budget on June 22, would go straight into the Treasury's depleted coffers.
"The purpose of the bank levy is to raise money for general expenditure purposes," he said. A French finance ministry official said privately that Paris supported the principle of a tax, but did not want to create a standalone "resolution" fund.
How will Europe's bank levy work?
German government officials suggested Franco-British concerns about moral hazard might have more to do with both countries needing cash from a bank levy to ease strained budgets.
Finance ministry officials in Berlin said the package appeared to be "moving in the right direction". Wolfgang Schäuble, finance minister, wants German banks to pay about €1bn (£847m) per year into a separate fund to wind down troubled banks.
Mr Barnier's proposals are an attempt by the European Commission to create a collective response to the banking crisis and to show that it is ready to deal with the prospect of a second-round shock affecting the EU banking sector.
He claims to have devised a scheme that would not bail out failing banks or spare shareholders or creditors, but that could, for example, provide temporary guarantees or finance a "good bank, bad bank" split. "It is not acceptable that taxpayers should continue to bear the heavy cost of rescuing the banking sector - they should not be in the front line," he said.
His plan, will be discussed by EU leaders next month. Brussels hopes for sufficient endorsement to allow it to push the "bank resolution fund" idea at a G20 meeting at the end of June.
There is growing global agreement on the need for a bank levy. But Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said in London that different countries were likely to implement it in different ways: "It's not going to be perfectly uniform."
(CNN) -- The death toll rose to seven Thursday from a bombing outside a planned performance by a dance company in Russia, officials said.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in Indian Ocean last year plead for their release
Paul and Rachel Chandler say new UK PM must clarify if he will work for their release
Local journalist interviewed couple in rural location in Somalia last week
RELATED TOPICS
Somali Pirates
United Kingdom
Seychelles
(CNN) -- A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean last year said in a videotaped message they "desperately need" new British Prime Minister David Cameron to clarify whether he will work to secure their release.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Kent in southern England, were taken from their yacht near the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean in October.
A local journalist interviewed the couple in a rural location in Somalia last week, according to CNN affiliate ITN. The journalist paid no money to the pirates, who stood behind the camera during the interview, ITN reported.
"As you can see, we've lost a lot of weight and a lot of fitness, but otherwise we're not physically ill," Paul Chandler said.
"We're coping and we're resigned to our situation, and we're trying to make the best of it and keep ourselves well," Rachel Chandler said.
The couple said they were separated from each other earlier this year but reunited seven weeks ago. They are able to listen to a radio, they said, so they know about the recent British election that brought Cameron into office.
"We desperately need him to make a definitive public statement of the governments attitude to us," Paul Chandler said. "We're two British citizens, we've been kidnapped in the Seychelles -- it was a perfectly safe place to be. If the government is not prepared to help, then they must say so because the gangsters' expectations and hopes have been raised."
The British Foreign Office released a statement late Wednesday saying consular officials are in close touch with the Chandlers and urging the kidnappers to let them go.
"Paul and Rachel Chandler are innocent tourists," the statement said. "The U.K. government's policy of not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers, including the payment of ransoms, is long-standing and clear. This has been the policy of successive governments and has not changed."
The captors initially demanded a ransom of $7 million, but the British government refused to pay. Paul Chandler said it is not correct to call their kidnappers pirates.
"This is absolutely not piracy. It mustn't be reported as such. It's kidnapping and extortion and even torture," he said. He didn't elaborate on the torture claim other than to say the separation from his wife of 30 years had been "real torture."
Said Rachel Chandler, "Simply not knowing what was happening and whether we would be together again, when, where each other was, was real torture -- mental torture."
She said the kidnappers regard the pair as "just animals."
"We've been kept caged up like animals," she said. "They don't care about our feelings and our family and our lives, and what they've taken. They don't care whose lives they ruin. They just want the money."
British Royal Navy ships and other military vessels patrolling the dangerous waters off East Africa have become a "laughing stock" because they "can't do anything" to stop the piracy, Paul Chandler said.
His wife said they take strength thinking about their family back home.
"We are being strong for them because they keep us going, knowing that they are there supporting us," Rachel Chandler said. "We know that they are doing their best. It's been seven months and we know that they must have been suffering alongside us, and we care about them very much."
British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in Indian Ocean last year plead for their release
Paul and Rachel Chandler say new UK PM must clarify if he will work for their release
Local journalist interviewed couple in rural location in Somalia last week
RELATED TOPICS
Somali Pirates
United Kingdom
Seychelles
(CNN) -- A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean last year said in a videotaped message they "desperately need" new British Prime Minister David Cameron to clarify whether he will work to secure their release.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Kent in southern England, were taken from their yacht near the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean in October.
A local journalist interviewed the couple in a rural location in Somalia last week, according to CNN affiliate ITN. The journalist paid no money to the pirates, who stood behind the camera during the interview, ITN reported.
"As you can see, we've lost a lot of weight and a lot of fitness, but otherwise we're not physically ill," Paul Chandler said.
"We're coping and we're resigned to our situation, and we're trying to make the best of it and keep ourselves well," Rachel Chandler said.
The couple said they were separated from each other earlier this year but reunited seven weeks ago. They are able to listen to a radio, they said, so they know about the recent British election that brought Cameron into office.
"We desperately need him to make a definitive public statement of the governments attitude to us," Paul Chandler said. "We're two British citizens, we've been kidnapped in the Seychelles -- it was a perfectly safe place to be. If the government is not prepared to help, then they must say so because the gangsters' expectations and hopes have been raised."
The British Foreign Office released a statement late Wednesday saying consular officials are in close touch with the Chandlers and urging the kidnappers to let them go.
"Paul and Rachel Chandler are innocent tourists," the statement said. "The U.K. government's policy of not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers, including the payment of ransoms, is long-standing and clear. This has been the policy of successive governments and has not changed."
The captors initially demanded a ransom of $7 million, but the British government refused to pay. Paul Chandler said it is not correct to call their kidnappers pirates.
"This is absolutely not piracy. It mustn't be reported as such. It's kidnapping and extortion and even torture," he said. He didn't elaborate on the torture claim other than to say the separation from his wife of 30 years had been "real torture."
Said Rachel Chandler, "Simply not knowing what was happening and whether we would be together again, when, where each other was, was real torture -- mental torture."
She said the kidnappers regard the pair as "just animals."
"We've been kept caged up like animals," she said. "They don't care about our feelings and our family and our lives, and what they've taken. They don't care whose lives they ruin. They just want the money."
British Royal Navy ships and other military vessels patrolling the dangerous waters off East Africa have become a "laughing stock" because they "can't do anything" to stop the piracy, Paul Chandler said.
His wife said they take strength thinking about their family back home.
"We are being strong for them because they keep us going, knowing that they are there supporting us," Rachel Chandler said. "We know that they are doing their best. It's been seven months and we know that they must have been suffering alongside us, and we care about them very much."
Death toll rises to 7 in Russia bombing
(CNN) -- The death toll rose to seven Thursday from a bombing outside a planned performance by a dance company in Russia, officials said.
About forty people were injured in the Wednesday bombing. The bomb went off outside a community center in the southwestern Russian city of Stavropol, according to the Investigation Committee of the Russian Prosecutor's Office, which called the explosion "an act of terror."
The blast happened about 6.45 p.m. (10:45 a.m. ET), 15 minutes before the Chechen dance company Vainakh was scheduled to perform, the committee said.
One of the dead included a pre-teen girl, according to state-run news agency RIA-Novosti.
Early reports indicate the bomb was detonated by remote control and used about 200 grams (7 ounces) of explosives, said Yekaterina Danilova, a spokeswoman for the committee. The device was packed with small metal objects meant to inflict maximum harm, she said.
Stavropol is about 625 miles (1,000 km) south of Moscow.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But Islamist groups from the North Caucasus have been behind a string of recent attacks, including April bombings in the republic of Dagestan and March bombings at Moscow subway stations that killed nearly 40 people and wounded dozens. A Chechen rebel leader, Dokku Umarov, claimed responsibility for the subway attack.
About forty people were injured in the Wednesday bombing. The bomb went off outside a community center in the southwestern Russian city of Stavropol, according to the Investigation Committee of the Russian Prosecutor's Office, which called the explosion "an act of terror."
The blast happened about 6.45 p.m. (10:45 a.m. ET), 15 minutes before the Chechen dance company Vainakh was scheduled to perform, the committee said.
One of the dead included a pre-teen girl, according to state-run news agency RIA-Novosti.
Early reports indicate the bomb was detonated by remote control and used about 200 grams (7 ounces) of explosives, said Yekaterina Danilova, a spokeswoman for the committee. The device was packed with small metal objects meant to inflict maximum harm, she said.
Stavropol is about 625 miles (1,000 km) south of Moscow.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But Islamist groups from the North Caucasus have been behind a string of recent attacks, including April bombings in the republic of Dagestan and March bombings at Moscow subway stations that killed nearly 40 people and wounded dozens. A Chechen rebel leader, Dokku Umarov, claimed responsibility for the subway attack.
Sudanese president starts new term amid boycott
(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will be sworn in for a new term Thursday amid an outcry from human rights groups over his international war-crimes indictment.
Al-Bashir won the country's controversial but historic presidential election with roughly two-thirds of the vote, the nation's election commission said.
The elections were the first in 24 years in the oil-rich African nation, which has seen deadly violence in Darfur and a civil war between north and south.
International observers, including the United States, criticized the elections and said there were irregularities in many parts of the country.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said intimidation and threats were reported in south Sudan. The ongoing conflict in Darfur also made it unfavorable for voting, he said.
International human rights groups have called for a boycott of the inauguration.
Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the region, one of the world's most desolate, as minority rebels battle the Arab-dominated government.
The incumbent president has defied the arrest warrant, the first ever issued by the ICC for a sitting head of state.
Al-Bashir has traveled to several countries since the warrant was issued, even though any country that is party to the ICC has an obligation to hand him over to The Hague.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said governments committed to justice for Darfur should skip the inauguration. The group decried plans by the United Nations to send a representative to the ceremony.
"U.N. guidelines limit U.N. interaction with individuals indicted by international criminal courts such as President al-Bashir to what is strictly required for carrying out UN mandated activities," Human Rights Watch said in a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. "Attendance at the inauguration cannot be justified as strictly required."
The election was a key part of a 2005 peace deal that helped end decades of civil war between the country's north and south -- a different conflict from the one in Darfur.
The south-north conflict pitted Christian and animist southerners against Muslim northerners, leaving more than 2 million people dead. The peace deal also called for a referendum next year to determine whether the south should become an independent nation.
Salva Kiir was elected president of southern Sudan, a semi-autonomous region scheduled to vote next year on whether to become independent.
Al-Bashir won the country's controversial but historic presidential election with roughly two-thirds of the vote, the nation's election commission said.
The elections were the first in 24 years in the oil-rich African nation, which has seen deadly violence in Darfur and a civil war between north and south.
International observers, including the United States, criticized the elections and said there were irregularities in many parts of the country.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said intimidation and threats were reported in south Sudan. The ongoing conflict in Darfur also made it unfavorable for voting, he said.
International human rights groups have called for a boycott of the inauguration.
Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the region, one of the world's most desolate, as minority rebels battle the Arab-dominated government.
The incumbent president has defied the arrest warrant, the first ever issued by the ICC for a sitting head of state.
Al-Bashir has traveled to several countries since the warrant was issued, even though any country that is party to the ICC has an obligation to hand him over to The Hague.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said governments committed to justice for Darfur should skip the inauguration. The group decried plans by the United Nations to send a representative to the ceremony.
"U.N. guidelines limit U.N. interaction with individuals indicted by international criminal courts such as President al-Bashir to what is strictly required for carrying out UN mandated activities," Human Rights Watch said in a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. "Attendance at the inauguration cannot be justified as strictly required."
The election was a key part of a 2005 peace deal that helped end decades of civil war between the country's north and south -- a different conflict from the one in Darfur.
The south-north conflict pitted Christian and animist southerners against Muslim northerners, leaving more than 2 million people dead. The peace deal also called for a referendum next year to determine whether the south should become an independent nation.
Salva Kiir was elected president of southern Sudan, a semi-autonomous region scheduled to vote next year on whether to become independent.
Washington (CNN) -- President Obama is applying the brakes, at least temporarily, to expansion of offshore oil drilling.
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Another person has been taken into custody in Pakistan in connection with the failed bombing attempt in New York's Times Square, a senior intelligence official said Thursday.
Police in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, raided the house of Humbal Akhtar on May 17 and took him into custody, the official said. He is among 11 people detained for questioning in connection with the case.
Akhtar and the others have not been arrested and charged, but they are suspected of having links to Times Square car bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad, officials have said.
Akhtar's wife, Rahila, told CNN that she received a phone call from an unknown person saying her husband would be back soon.
Rahila said her husband has links to two other detained people -- Shoaib Mughal and Muhammad Shahid Hussain.
She said Akhtar is a childhood friend and classmate of Mughal's, who was the main organizer of their wedding. Hussain is a good friend of Mughal's and has met and visited Akhtar frequently.
Rahila said Akhtar is 32, with three sons -- ages 5, 3 and 1 month old.
She said he has a masters of business administration degree and received his education from Preston University in Islamabad. After completing his studies, he worked at the National University of Science and Technology in Islamabad and later started a business as a multimedia project manager.
Rahila said her husband doesn't belong to any religious organization. She described her husband as critical of U.S. policies.
But she asserted that such a point of view doesn't make him a criminal and that every Pakistani is critical of American policies.
Of the 11 people in custody, three were detained in Karachi, and the others were taken into custody in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area.
Police in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, raided the house of Humbal Akhtar on May 17 and took him into custody, the official said. He is among 11 people detained for questioning in connection with the case.
Akhtar and the others have not been arrested and charged, but they are suspected of having links to Times Square car bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad, officials have said.
Akhtar's wife, Rahila, told CNN that she received a phone call from an unknown person saying her husband would be back soon.
Rahila said her husband has links to two other detained people -- Shoaib Mughal and Muhammad Shahid Hussain.
She said Akhtar is a childhood friend and classmate of Mughal's, who was the main organizer of their wedding. Hussain is a good friend of Mughal's and has met and visited Akhtar frequently.
Rahila said Akhtar is 32, with three sons -- ages 5, 3 and 1 month old.
She said he has a masters of business administration degree and received his education from Preston University in Islamabad. After completing his studies, he worked at the National University of Science and Technology in Islamabad and later started a business as a multimedia project manager.
Rahila said her husband doesn't belong to any religious organization. She described her husband as critical of U.S. policies.
But she asserted that such a point of view doesn't make him a criminal and that every Pakistani is critical of American policies.
Of the 11 people in custody, three were detained in Karachi, and the others were taken into custody in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area.
Obama clamps down on offshore drilling
Washington (CNN) -- President Obama is applying the brakes, at least temporarily, to expansion of offshore oil drilling.
Obama is delaying oil exploration off the coast of Alaska, canceling the sale of a lease to drill off Virginia and extending the moratorium on permits to drill any new deepwater wells for six months, a White House official said Thursday.
Obama's announcements Thursday come in response to a deadly explosion on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig -- an accident that has triggered a devastating oil spill.
Obama has launched a presidential commission's safety review of offshore drilling in response to the incident.
The official said the moratorium will continue as the commission works to "determine how to prevent this from ever happening again.
"The planned exploration off the coast of Alaska in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas will be delayed pending the commission's review and the August lease sale in the Western Gulf will be canceled," the official told CNN.
"The lease sale off the coast of Virginia will also be canceled due to environmental concerns and concerns raised by the Defense Department," the official said.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who was directed to oversee the report, briefed Obama and senior advisers on the report Wednesday night.
Sen. Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat, expressed "frustration" about the administration's new roadblocks for the state's oil industry.
The decision "will cause more delays and higher costs for domestic oil and gas production to meet the nation's energy needs," he said, as well as costing money and jobs in Alaska.
He conceded the Gulf spill "highlighted the need for much stronger oversight and accountability of oil companies working offshore," but said Shell Oil "can safely explore for oil and gas this summer in the Arctic."
Obama is due to take questions from the press on Thursday, and four congressional hearings were scheduled Thursday regarding the spill.
The president will travel to Louisiana on Friday to observe response efforts and speak to local officials. It will be his second trip to the region since the spill began.
"คุรุสภา"ออกใบอนุญาตฯกรณีพิเศษ
นายองค์กร อมรสิรินันท์ เลขาธิการคุรุสภา เปิดเผยว่า จากการประชุมคณะกรรมการคุรุสภา เมื่อเร็ว ๆ นี้ ที่ประชุมได้หารือถึงการสอบบรรจุและแต่งตั้งบุคคลเข้ารับราชการครูและบุคลากรทางการศึกษาตำแหน่งครูผู้ช่วยครั้งที่ 1/2553 ของสถานศึกษาในสังกัดสำนักงานคณะกรรมการการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน (สพฐ.) ใน 69 เขตพื้นที่การศึกษา ซึ่งได้มีการประกาศผลสอบไปแล้ว ปรากฏว่า ผู้ที่สอบได้มีทั้งกลุ่มผู้มีใบอนุญาตประกอบวิชาชีพครู กลุ่มผู้มีใบรับรองสิทธิ และกลุ่มผู้ที่ยังไม่มีใบใด ๆ เลย ซึ่งสำนักงานเขตพื้นที่การศึกษา (สพท.) ต่าง ๆ ได้สอบถามมายังสำนักงานเลขาธิการคุรุสภาว่าจะแก้ปัญหาให้แก่ผู้ที่ยังไม่มีใบอนุญาตฯ อย่างไร เนื่องจากจะมีการเริ่มบรรจุในวันที่ 1 มิ.ย.นี้ ที่ประชุมจึงมีมติให้มีการประชุมบอร์ดคุรุสภานัดพิเศษ ในวันที่ 31 พ.ค.นี้ เพื่อพิจารณาออกใบอนุญาตฯให้แก่ผู้ที่สอบขึ้นบัญชีได้
เลขาธิการคุรุสภา กล่าวต่อไปว่า สพท.ทั้ง 69 เขต ที่เปิดสอบบรรจุจะต้องจัดส่งบัญชีรายชื่อผู้สอบได้ทั้งหมดมายังสำนักงานเลขาธิการคุรุสภาภายในวันที่ 28 พ.ค.นี้ เพื่อนำชื่อผู้ที่สอบได้มาตรวจสอบว่าได้มาตรฐานวิชาชีพหรือไม่ และจะได้ออกใบอนุญาตฯ ให้ภายในวันที่ 31 พ.ค.นี้ เพื่อนำไปใช้ประกอบการบรรจุได้เลย ทั้งนี้หากบอร์ดคุรุสภานัดพิเศษได้อนุมัติใบอนุญาตฯ ให้แก่ผู้ใด ก็จะมีการนำชื่อขึ้นเว็บไซต์ของคุรุสภาว่าได้อนุมัติให้ใบอนุญาตฯแล้ว ซึ่งทาง สพท. และผู้สอบได้สามารถเข้ามาตรวจสอบรายชื่อได้ หรือสามารถมารอรับใบอนุญาตฯ ตัวจริงได้ทันที
นายองค์กร กล่าวว่า ส่วนที่สำนักงานคณะกรรมการข้าราชการครูและบุคลากรทางการศึกษา (ก.ค.ศ.) ระบุว่าผู้ที่สอบแข่งขันได้ต้องมีใบอนุญาตฯมาแสดงในวันรายงานตัวนั้น เรื่องนี้ไม่น่ามีปัญหาและคิดว่าเป็นอำนาจของ ผอ.สพท.ที่จะใช้วิจารณญาณในการพิจารณาได้.
เลขาธิการคุรุสภา กล่าวต่อไปว่า สพท.ทั้ง 69 เขต ที่เปิดสอบบรรจุจะต้องจัดส่งบัญชีรายชื่อผู้สอบได้ทั้งหมดมายังสำนักงานเลขาธิการคุรุสภาภายในวันที่ 28 พ.ค.นี้ เพื่อนำชื่อผู้ที่สอบได้มาตรวจสอบว่าได้มาตรฐานวิชาชีพหรือไม่ และจะได้ออกใบอนุญาตฯ ให้ภายในวันที่ 31 พ.ค.นี้ เพื่อนำไปใช้ประกอบการบรรจุได้เลย ทั้งนี้หากบอร์ดคุรุสภานัดพิเศษได้อนุมัติใบอนุญาตฯ ให้แก่ผู้ใด ก็จะมีการนำชื่อขึ้นเว็บไซต์ของคุรุสภาว่าได้อนุมัติให้ใบอนุญาตฯแล้ว ซึ่งทาง สพท. และผู้สอบได้สามารถเข้ามาตรวจสอบรายชื่อได้ หรือสามารถมารอรับใบอนุญาตฯ ตัวจริงได้ทันที
นายองค์กร กล่าวว่า ส่วนที่สำนักงานคณะกรรมการข้าราชการครูและบุคลากรทางการศึกษา (ก.ค.ศ.) ระบุว่าผู้ที่สอบแข่งขันได้ต้องมีใบอนุญาตฯมาแสดงในวันรายงานตัวนั้น เรื่องนี้ไม่น่ามีปัญหาและคิดว่าเป็นอำนาจของ ผอ.สพท.ที่จะใช้วิจารณญาณในการพิจารณาได้.
'โดม' วอนอย่าดูละคร
แค่เล่นคู่กับ 'พลอย'
โดดชิมลางละครเรื่องแรก “รักไม่มีวันตาย” หนุ่มหล่อขั้นเทพ โดม-ปกรณ์ ลัม ก็ประกบคู่กับอดีตแฟนสาว พลอย-เฌอมาลย์ บุญยศักดิ์ จนถูกหลายคนมองว่าเป็นละครเรียกเรตติ้งมากกว่านั้น เกี่ยวกับเรื่องนี้หนุ่มโดมเปิดใจว่าอยากให้คนดูมองว่าเป็นการพิสูจน์ฝีมือด้านงานแสดง ยันละครจะสนุกเพราะเนื้อหามากกว่าแค่โดมได้เล่นคู่กับพลอย
โดม เผยว่า “หลังจากสรุปตัวนางเอกเรียบร้อย ตอนนี้ทางพลอยเพิ่งปิดกล้องเรื่อง “ระบำดวงดาว” เขาจะขอเวลาพักเพื่อไปอเมริกา ประมาณ 2 เดือน จริง ๆ จะเปิดกล้องเดือนเมษายน ก็ต้องขยับไปอีก แต่เข้าใจพลอยว่าควรจะมีเวลาพัก และทีมงานเองก็ทีมเดิมต้องทำเรื่องผมต่อรอให้พักนิดนึง ผมเองก็จะได้มีเวลาไปเรียนแอ๊คติ้งต่อด้วย” จะยากมั้ยเพราะโดมก็ไม่เคยลองเลย? “ผมว่ายากนะการแสดงมันผสมผสานทุกอย่างเข้าด้วยกัน แต่ในความยากก็มีหลายสิ่งช่วยกระตุ้นเรา งานเพลงเรารัก เราเลยทำเพราะความรักมันกระตุ้นเรา แต่ละครมันกระตุ้น เพราะมันใหม่มีอะไรมากมายที่เรายังไม่รู้ แล้วหม่อมน้อยก็ถ่ายทอดวิชาดี ๆ ให้มืออาชีพมาก ๆ ทำให้รู้สึกว่าถ้าเรารู้ว่าการแสดงเพราะอะไรต้องเล่นแบบนี้ ต้องแสดงท่าทางแบบนี้ทุกอย่างมันเป็นเหตุเป็นผลหมด ยิ่งทำให้เรารู้สึกว่ามันไม่ใช่แค่ไปจำบทแล้วไปยืนหน้ากล้องเล่นออกไป ทุกอย่างมีเหตุผลมีแรงจูงใจของตัวละครตัวนั้น ก่อนรับก็ตัดสินใจนาน เพราะมีหลายท่านชวนผม และผมปฏิเสธละครไป 10 กว่าเรื่องตั้งแต่ผมเริ่มร้องเพลงมา แล้วมองว่าการที่ปล่อยโอกาสดี ๆ ไปตั้ง 10 เรื่องแล้ว ณ วันนี้ในเมื่อทุกอย่างเริ่มอยู่ตัว ทำไมเราจะไม่ลองงานใหม่”
กลัวมั้ยถ้าเจอคำวิจารณ์ว่าเล่นแข็งเล่นไม่ดี? “ถ้าเกิดเป็นอย่างนั้นจริง ๆ เราต้องยอมรับนะ เพราะท้ายที่สุดเรื่องแรกมันอาจจะไม่มีใครดีเพอร์เฟกต์ และเรื่องแรกก็เป็นข้อพิสูจน์ไม่ได้ว่าเราจะล้มเหลวในเส้นทางการเป็นนักแสดง บางคนต้องแสดงหลาย ๆ เรื่องถึงจะดีขึ้น ผมเองต้องกลับมาทบทวนว่ามีข้อบกพร่องอะไรเพื่อพัฒนาเพิ่มแล้วก็คงหาโอกาสเล่นต่อ” มาเล่นคู่กับพลอยเป็นส่วนหนึ่งในการตัดสินใจหรือเปล่า? “ไม่เลยครับ ผมและทางโพลีพลัสเองก็ไม่คิดว่าจะเอาพลอยมาเล่น ตอนที่หานางเอกก็มีข่าวออกมามากมายว่าเป็น ชมพู่-อารยา, แอฟ-ทักษอร แต่พอผู้ใหญ่คุยกันก็ได้คำตอบว่าอยากได้พลอยมาเล่น บางคนอาจจะมองว่าจริงเหรอเรตติ้งดีแน่เลย คนต้องอยากดู แต่จริง ๆ แล้วการที่มาเล่นกับพลอยส่วนที่ดีผมคงไม่เขิน เพราะเขาเป็นนักแสดงคุณภาพน่าจะช่วยดึงผมได้ แต่อีกมุมหนึ่งยิ่งต้องพิสูจน์ฝีมือให้มากขึ้น ไม่ใช่แค่ให้คนเปิดดูละครแค่เพราะเล่นคู่กัน อยากให้ผู้ชมดูเพราะสนุกกับการแสดงและเนื้อหาละครจริง ๆ ไม่อยากให้แค่กระแสมาบังละคร”.
วันพุธที่ 26 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2553
CRUCIAL WEEK FOR ENGLAND STARS
D-DAY is approaching for Fabio Capello and his World Cup squad.
It must be an agonising choice for the Italian to have to end the dreams of seven of his players in a week's time.
Even Paul Ince, a shoo-in after playing a key role on the way to the 1998 Finals, admitted to the News of the World he was dreading the axe from Glenn Hoddle.
So it's probably true that even some of the most seasoned professionals will still have a twinge of doubt in their minds when Capello whittles his squad down to 23.
The goalkeepers are settled - all three will travel, it's just choosing a number one that is proving problematic. Robert Green was excellent against Mexico, boosting his hopes, but Joe Hart was typically assured as his half-time replacement. David James looks set to play some part against Japan on Sunday.
In defence, captain Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson are the first-choice back four. Jamie Carragher will travel too as cover for Johnson and in the middle while Ledley King has secured his seat on the plane.
Either Leighton Baines or Stephen Warnock will act as stand-in for Ashley Cole and the Everton man looks in pole position.
That leaves Michael Dawson and Matthew Upson probably battling it out for one spot if Capello takes eight defenders. Upson has featured extensively during the campaign and it would be a cruel blow to the West Ham stopper if he misses out.
Carragher's versatility does mean the England boss could opt for an additional midfielder instead but doubts over Ferdinand and King's fitness means Capello is probably going to err on the side of caution.
There's still a big question mark over Gareth Barry's participation and he is being given every chance to prove his fitness.
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and James Milner are the only three absolutely guaranted midfield travellers.
Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon appear nailed on for wing slots and Michael Carrick should go to South Africa, unless his poor first half performance on Monday night counts against him.
With eight midfield places up for grabs, that leaves five players battling for one place if Barry is fit and Carrick is retained as his stand-in.
It seems a real conundrum with Joe Cole, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Scott Parker and Shaun Wright-Phillips all sweating on their inclusion.
The best option is to treat the Japan friendly as an audition for some of these stars, even if there will be the temptation to field the strongest XI at this late stage.
Huddlestone could still force Carrick out but Parker's chances must be regarded as very slim. There is also the prospect that King could play the holding role in midfield at a push.
So a flank player is the obvious last spot, even if Milner and Gerrard can both play out wide.
Joe Cole, Adam Johnson and Wright-Phillips have each got claims and should all be given a chance to impress in Austria.
Chelsea ace Cole, whose contract is up at Stamford Bridge, was publicly criticised by Capello who suggested he wasn't the player he remembered. Injuries have taken their toll but he's still popular among fans and the media and is the sort of player who is ideal for tournament football - witness his sensational goal against Sweden at the last World Cup.
Or does Capello go for youth in the shape of Johnson, who is pretty fearless and will be fit and raring to go? A classic winger, he could make a real difference against tiring defences with his positive dribbling.
And there's Wright-Phillips. Some will argue he's already had too many chances but he is capable of making things happen at international level and there's no doubting his unpredictable talent.
If pressed, we're going to suggest there could be a surprise with Manchester City's Johnson getting the nod if he shines on Sunday.
It's just that he has more speed than Cole and, if Lennon or Walcott were injured or suspended, the likes of Gerrard, Cole and even Milner would only be able to offer a different kind of threat. That said, Wright-Phillips has even more pace so it's impossible to rule him out either.
It's more straightforward in attack.
Wayne Rooney is the first name on the team sheet and Peter Crouch has won over Capello with his consistency.
Jermain Defoe shouldn't miss out again, like he did last time around, which leaves Emile Heskey and Darren Bent.
Heskey is a players' player and Capello clearly appreciates his work but he's not been good enough to get in Aston Villa's side for much of the season and must be worried.
It would take a heartless coach to ditch somebody who contributed to so much to the qualification campaign but stern Capello is hardly here to make friends.
Nonetheless, unless Bent gets an opportunity he is able to take at the weekend, it's difficult to see him being able to usurp Heskey.
An injury niggle kept him off the bench at Wembley and it has come at the worst possible time for the Sunderland striker.
Predicted squad:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.
Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson.
Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Theo Walcott.
Forwards: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.
Let us know which seven players you'd drop by using the feedback form below.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - the photos she doesn't want you to see
This is Snatch star Jason Statham's new girlfriend Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, posing as you've never seen her before - with all her clothes on.
The sexy lingerie model, who has been dubbed the new Kate Moss, posed on a loo pretending to be asleep during a party when she was a student.
Even then her striking looks and long legs made sure she was getting plenty of attention at Tavistock College in Devon.
And Rosie, 23, who used to date Kylie's ex, Olivier Martinez, was voted the second 'prettiest girl', second 'best-dressed girl' with the second 'prettiest bum' by fellow pupils in the class of 1998.
The photograph of Rosie with her head on the cystern was captioned 'Hope the butler cleaned that toilet Rosie!!'
Former schoolpal Samantha Neale revealed:"'We always used to tease her about her double-barrelled surname and how posh it sounded,'
'We asked things like could we meet the servants when we went round to hers.'
In another picture, the five feet nine inch model, is wearing her school shirt and tie and beaming broadly - her teeth were later corrected by braces. A third - a smiling headshot - shows her swirly signature on top.
Stunning Rosie attended Rumons Infant School - where she is photographed at the age of seven, looking demure in her pink summer dress.
She later went to St Peters Junior School - her school picture shows her looking like a young Kate Moss in her pale blue sweatshirt, emblazoned with the school logo, and hair scraped back into a ponytail.
But it was when she arrived at Tavistock College at the age of 11, that she first became interested in modelling.
It was during the summer of 2003, just before she entered the sixth-form, that Rosie did work experience at Profile model agency and it was to change her life.
Surveyor's daughter Rosie left Tavistock College in 2004, midway through the sixth-form and signed up to Profile's New Faces division.
She is now one of the world's highest-paid models, the face of Monsoon's lingerie and has been dating hunky actor Jason Statham,37, since March.
She has 3,710 fans on Facebook, graced the pages of the Pirelli calendar last year as well as posing for Agent Provocateur and previously dated Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood's son Tryone.
วันพุธที่ 12 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2553
Interview with George Galloway
U.K. Member of Parliament George Galloway was denied entry into Canada in the spring of 2009. Mr. Galloway is now embroiled in a court case with Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in Canada to win the right to enter Canada. Am Johal caught up with him while he was on the campaign trail in the United Kingdom.
Q - How is the U.K. election shaping up? What do you make of the choice between Labor and the Conservatives?
Well it was a choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledee until the first election debate between the party leaders—the first in British history incidentally—and the Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg stormed through the middle. So now there's a third dog in the fight, Tweedledummer. According to the latest opinion polls, Labor is now third, behind the Lib Dems and
Tories. … But really it has all been based on style rather than substance. All three are promising savage cuts, although, to the credit of the Lib Dems, they want to scrap Trident and provide an amnesty for illegal immigrants. My campaign in Poplar and Limehouse has been roaring along, principally from the top of an old, red, open-topped London bus. The reception has been fantastic, better at this stage than it was at the same point five years ago.
Jahanbegloo on the Green Movement in Iran
During the past year, Iran has shown a different face. What became known as the "Green Movement" has been undoubtedly the biggest domestic challenge that the country's ruling system has experienced in three decades. The protests began with denouncing the result of the 2009 presidential election, which many Iranians saw as fraudulent. After being clamped down, harshly and repeatedly, the people created the most massive civil movement the country has ever experienced.
The movement says it is in pursuit of a fundamental change in the Islamic Republic's international diplomacy, economic system, human rights practice and other civil issues, and that it does not recognize Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government as legitimate.
Although the street protests lost their primary drive after being relentlessly suppressed, the movement is still seeking its goals through a self-proclaimed policy of educating lower cultural classes of the society about their rights and challenging the system by a method of civil disobedience. The movement is now readying for the anniversary of the election, preparing to hold rallies as the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi have called for.
Learning to Count in the Philippines
In a first for the Philippines—a country with intermittent electricity supply and a history of electoral fraud—a computerized system is being used instead of the manual count used in most countries. Despite the fact that 11th-hour glitches meant the recall and re-programming of 76,000 flash cards used to scan votes in the optical scan machines, the electoral oversight body (Comelec) remained confident that the elections will go through.
Whether the equipment will be ready and distributed across the whole archipelago in time remains to be seen. However, Comelec is resisting calls from candidates and media to conduct a manual count in parallel and as a backup to the computerized alternative.
The "saint" in question is Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, son of former President and democracy icon Cory, who died in August 2009. A poll published Friday put Mr. Aquino at 41 percent, over double that of the second-place candidate. Aquino has capitalized on the family lineage—an aura of martyrdom, heroism and clean hands that dates back to the 1986 People's Power Revolution—in a country listed by Transparency International as more graft-prone than Pakistan or Liberia.
A Palestinian Village that Started a Movement
Most of the media coverage surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict focuses on stories of violence and despair. Little is known about the growing Palestinian-led nonviolent movement that has united rival Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, and encouraged hundreds of Israelis to cross into the West Bank and Gaza for the first time to join this nonviolent effort.
A new feature documentary film Budrus, produced by the Washington, DC and Jerusalem-based organization Just Vision, documents nonviolent Israeli and Palestinian civilian efforts to resolve the conflict. It tells the story of Budrus, the village where this movement was born.
The founder of this movement, Ayed Morrar, also a Palestinian community organizer in Budrus (just northwest of the West Bank city Ramallah) brought women to the heart of the struggle in cooperation with his daughter, Iltezam Morrar. In 2003, in response to the separation wall/fence slated to expropriate part of their land, both father and daughter initiated a nonviolent movement that is still continuing today. The movement aims to stage nonviolent protests to change the route of the separation wall off of Palestinian-owned lands.
British PM Cameron names new ministers
David Cameron, Britain's youngest prime minister for almost two centuries, started work in Downing Street on Wednesday by appointing Cabinet ministers from his own Conservative party and coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was named deputy prime minister, arrived at Downing Street in the morning, where Cameron greeted him at the door. The two waved to reporters and patted each other briefly on the back before disappearing inside.
At a news conference in the garden of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, Cameron said the new British coalition government was "a five-year government." With Clegg standing at his side, Cameron assured the public that new elections would not need to be called soon.
The names of several Cabinet ministers were confirmed by their respective departments Wednesday, including William Hague as foreign secretary; George Osborne as chancellor of the exchequer, which is equivalent to treasury secretary; and Liam Fox as defense secretary. All are from the Conservative Party.
Other Conservative appointments included Theresa May as home secretary, Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary, Andrew Lansley as health secretary, and Michael Gove as education secretary, Downing Street said.
In addition to Clegg as deputy prime minister, four other Liberal Democrats will also be named to Cabinet posts, Downing Street and the party said.
Full election coverage
Downing Street named two of them as Vince Cable, who is now the business secretary, and David Laws, who was made the chief secretary to the treasury.
The decision by Cameron and Clegg to enter a coalition capped five days of uncertainty that followed last Thursday's election, in which no party received a majority.
Days of negotiations between the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and the Labour Party of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown resulted in the announcement of a coalition between the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
"I'm absolutely delighted that we do have a new government," Gove told CNN on Wednesday.
"I think the really important thing is that the policies that we were arguing for during the course of the election, and the policies of the Liberal Democrats, have now been brought together on a platform which will give the country exactly the type of government that it needs at this time -- strong and stable."
Cable, of the Liberal Democrats, said he realized the challenges of working with Osborne, of the Conservatives, in his new role. Financial analyst David Buik of London-based BGC Partners said he was "skeptical" of the pairing, however.
"What concerns me is the missing chemistry, the possible missing chemistry, that may be from the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, particularly in areas such as finance," Buik told CNN. "The Conservatives were very keen to deal with the budget deficit PDQ, and Vince Cable was adamant until a few weeks ago in waiting until the new year."
At the Foreign Office, the new national security council planned to meet Wednesday. Cameron established the council to oversee all aspects of Britain's security, and appointed longtime civil servant Peter Ricketts to be his national security advisor, the Foreign Office said.
Cameron will chair the council, whose members will include several top cabinet members. Its inaugural meeting Wednesday afternoon was focusing on Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Foreign Office said.
"It is our most urgent priority here in my work to make sure we've got a grip on what is going on in Afghanistan," Hague told Sky News. "We will never forget that our troops are out there. We've been fighting some political battles here, but they are in a real battle out there."
Hague also vowed to protect the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, keeping it "solid but not slavish." The United States is an "indispensable partner" of Great Britain, Hague said.
Queen Elizabeth II named Cameron prime minister Tuesday night, shortly after Brown resigned.
Brown had said Monday he would step down as leader of his party by the fall, but he changed course Tuesday, announcing he was quitting his party post immediately.
His deputy, Harriet Harman, will lead the Labour Party until a leadership contest can be held, he told party activists.
His party came in second, behind the Conservatives, in parliamentary elections last week, but no party won an absolute majority.
Cameron, 43, becomes the country's first Conservative prime minister since the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, defeated John Major in 1997, and is the youngest for almost two centuries.
Coalition governments are extremely rare in British politics. The last time there was a "hung parliament" with no party holding a majority of the seats in the House of Commons was 1974. Coalition talks then between the Conservatives and Liberals failed, and a short-lived minority Labour government took power.
But Cameron said Tuesday a coalition government was "the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I believe we need so badly."
The two parties would command a clear majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, but have a number of key policy differences.
Cameron is Queen Elizabeth II's 12th prime minister -- including Harold Wilson twice, for his two non-consecutive terms -- since she was crowned in 1952.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was named deputy prime minister, arrived at Downing Street in the morning, where Cameron greeted him at the door. The two waved to reporters and patted each other briefly on the back before disappearing inside.
At a news conference in the garden of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, Cameron said the new British coalition government was "a five-year government." With Clegg standing at his side, Cameron assured the public that new elections would not need to be called soon.
The names of several Cabinet ministers were confirmed by their respective departments Wednesday, including William Hague as foreign secretary; George Osborne as chancellor of the exchequer, which is equivalent to treasury secretary; and Liam Fox as defense secretary. All are from the Conservative Party.
Other Conservative appointments included Theresa May as home secretary, Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary, Andrew Lansley as health secretary, and Michael Gove as education secretary, Downing Street said.
In addition to Clegg as deputy prime minister, four other Liberal Democrats will also be named to Cabinet posts, Downing Street and the party said.
Full election coverage
Downing Street named two of them as Vince Cable, who is now the business secretary, and David Laws, who was made the chief secretary to the treasury.
The decision by Cameron and Clegg to enter a coalition capped five days of uncertainty that followed last Thursday's election, in which no party received a majority.
Days of negotiations between the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and the Labour Party of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown resulted in the announcement of a coalition between the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
"I'm absolutely delighted that we do have a new government," Gove told CNN on Wednesday.
"I think the really important thing is that the policies that we were arguing for during the course of the election, and the policies of the Liberal Democrats, have now been brought together on a platform which will give the country exactly the type of government that it needs at this time -- strong and stable."
Cable, of the Liberal Democrats, said he realized the challenges of working with Osborne, of the Conservatives, in his new role. Financial analyst David Buik of London-based BGC Partners said he was "skeptical" of the pairing, however.
"What concerns me is the missing chemistry, the possible missing chemistry, that may be from the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, particularly in areas such as finance," Buik told CNN. "The Conservatives were very keen to deal with the budget deficit PDQ, and Vince Cable was adamant until a few weeks ago in waiting until the new year."
At the Foreign Office, the new national security council planned to meet Wednesday. Cameron established the council to oversee all aspects of Britain's security, and appointed longtime civil servant Peter Ricketts to be his national security advisor, the Foreign Office said.
Cameron will chair the council, whose members will include several top cabinet members. Its inaugural meeting Wednesday afternoon was focusing on Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Foreign Office said.
"It is our most urgent priority here in my work to make sure we've got a grip on what is going on in Afghanistan," Hague told Sky News. "We will never forget that our troops are out there. We've been fighting some political battles here, but they are in a real battle out there."
Hague also vowed to protect the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, keeping it "solid but not slavish." The United States is an "indispensable partner" of Great Britain, Hague said.
Queen Elizabeth II named Cameron prime minister Tuesday night, shortly after Brown resigned.
Brown had said Monday he would step down as leader of his party by the fall, but he changed course Tuesday, announcing he was quitting his party post immediately.
His deputy, Harriet Harman, will lead the Labour Party until a leadership contest can be held, he told party activists.
His party came in second, behind the Conservatives, in parliamentary elections last week, but no party won an absolute majority.
Cameron, 43, becomes the country's first Conservative prime minister since the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, defeated John Major in 1997, and is the youngest for almost two centuries.
Coalition governments are extremely rare in British politics. The last time there was a "hung parliament" with no party holding a majority of the seats in the House of Commons was 1974. Coalition talks then between the Conservatives and Liberals failed, and a short-lived minority Labour government took power.
But Cameron said Tuesday a coalition government was "the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I believe we need so badly."
The two parties would command a clear majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, but have a number of key policy differences.
Cameron is Queen Elizabeth II's 12th prime minister -- including Harold Wilson twice, for his two non-consecutive terms -- since she was crowned in 1952.
Thai government gives protesters Thursday deadline
Thai authorities vowed to shut off power, cut supplies and seal off at midnight Thursday a central Bangkok intersection where anti-government protesters have amassed by the thousands for the last month.
The government's decision comes after demonstrators disregarded an ultimatum by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajjiva to vacate the Ratchaprasong intersection by Wednesday.
The anti-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) has turned the posh commercial center into a fortress of tires and bamboo sticks as they continue their demand that Abhisit dissolve the lower house of the parliament and call new elections.
The government said that starting at 12 a.m., it will cut off water, power, telephone lines and transportation services in the area.
Army spokesman, Col. Sansern Kaewkumnerd, said all non-protesters should avoid the area. If they have business there, they have to show proof, such as ID cards.
The government announcement was immediately met with defiance by the UDD, whose supporters are called the "Red Shirts" because of the clothes they wear.
"The Red will continue staying in the area," said a party leader, Weng Tojirakarn. He cautioned the government against acting rashly, warning it could lead to "bloodshed."
The Red Shirts are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006.
More than two dozen civilians and military personnel have died in deadly police-protester clashes in the ongoing unrest.
Over the weekend, two Thai police officers were killed and eight people injured in violence that began Friday night and lasted into early Saturday.
Net reaches out to final frontier
A programme to kick-start the use of internet communications in space has been announced by the US government.
The Department of Defense's Iris project will put an internet router in space by the start of 2009.
It will allow voice, video and data communications for US troops using standards developed for the internet.
Eventually Iris could extend the net into space, allowing data to flow directly between satellites, rather than sending it via ground stations.
"Iris is to the future of satellite-based communications what Arpanet was to the creation of the internet in the 1960s," said Don Brown, of Intelsat General, one of the companies who will build the platform.
Arpanet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the predecessor of the internet, was developed by the United States Department of Defense.
German growth lifts eurozone prospects
Frankfurt, Germany (FT.com) -- Germany's economy performed significantly better than expected in the first quarter of this year, helping lift prospects for the 16-country eurozone, despite the crisis over public finances.
Gross domestic product in Europe's largest economy expanded by 0.2 per cent compared with the previous three months, the country's statistical office reported. It also said Germany's economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year -- revising up previous figures that had shown GDP remaining flat.
The data quashed fears that the bitter winter had stalled Germany's economic recovery, and set the stage for a further rebound in the current quarter. Buoyant business optimism and surging exports have all provided evidence that growth has accelerated markedly in recent months.
In turn, Germany's revival will boost hopes that the economic recovery across the eurozone will not be thrown into reverse by the crisis that erupted over Greece's public finances and spread to other southern European countries -- especially if the European Union succeeds with its €750bn emergency plan to stabilise the eurozone.
The weaker euro already appears to be benefiting eurozone exporters and the European Central Bank last week noted that "some strengthening [in growth] appears to be taking place during the spring".
However, concerns remain that the worst downturn since the second world war has left permanent scars on the eurozone economy, reducing its potential growth rate and leaving it dependent on the rest of the global economy growing at a robust pace. Economists expect the US's recovery to prove more dynamic.
Germany was one of the first industrialised countries to emerge from recession last year, and expanded by 0.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent in the second and third quarters of 2009, with the rebound helped particularly by demand for its export goods from fast-growing emerging markets. The statistical office gave no breakdown of the latest GDP growth figures but said exports and investment in machinery and equipment had made a positive contribution.
Government spending also had a positive impact. But the construction sector was hit more than normal by the poor weather. Weak consumer spending also slowed down growth in the first quarter -- and could fuel complaints from other eurozone countries that Berlin is failing to do enough to stimulate domestic demand.
How entrepreneurs are booming in China's lower tier cities
In growing low-tier Chinese cities, people are looking for fresh ways to spend their money, and enterprising locals are opening businesses to cater to them.
They currently hold a small market, but these savvy operators are influencing consumption and leading trends. So what can we learn from them?
In Yiyang, Hunan province, we interviewed owners and managers from fitness centers, luxury salons, outdoor adventure tours, break dance studios, and cafés, as well as their customers and potential customers, to find some answers.
Give them something special
Everybody loves new, especially when it’s new and exclusive.
“My friends and I have been to every café and restaurant in town,” says He Xingwen, 30, Yiyang native and foreign-educated marketing professional. “If Starbucks came, of course we would go there.”
The local twist? Customers can indulge in online gaming or massage while they get a haircut.The problem in low-tier cities is that customers tend to flock to exciting new brands when they first come to town, with a significant drop off when something else comes along.
Local entrepreneurs earn loyalty by educating their customers in new behaviors, behaviors that create a sense of self worth and individuality.
Zeng Xiaoping runs Desert Wolf Outdoor Club, a trek operation leading tours across China. “In Yiyang, the trend among young adults is to be more individual,” says Zeng.
Fitness and personal grooming are great categories for providing consumers with snazzier self-images, without veering too far from community standards.
And what begins with services leads to products: trekking requires outdoor gear; working out requires athletic clothing, and so on. Zhou Zhi founded Rock Dance School after graduating from a local college, to provide the kind of outlet for students that he didn’t have. He also provides a line of apparel in collaboration with a friend’s brand.
“You need suitable clothes to dance,” says Zhou. “Kids come in tight jeans and it just doesn’t work.”
Peer recommendations are strong influencers for purchases in low tiers, so collaborating with local service operators to push products is a promising channel.
Big city style, lower tier city adaptation
Local entrepreneurs usually have the big city training and experience to bring enticing modern urban services back to their hometown.
They also know that their customers need some familiar added value elements to make adopting new habits easier. Ling Pao Total Fitness Gym has signed up more than 3,000 members in just over a year, with plans to expand (the boss lives in Guangzhou).
“As our city develops, we should develop,” says Huang Qiu, manager of Ling Pao. “Exercise makes life better.” But exercise can be hard. So besides a broad range of exercise machines and fitness classes like yoga and spinning, Ling Pao features billiard tables and Internet terminals for budding fitness enthusiasts that need a break.
SK Beauty is a salon franchise on the rise, actually expanding up a tier, from Yiyang to Changsha.
Of course SK’s top-tier trained stylists give sophisticated coiffures. The local twist? Customers can indulge in online gaming or massage while they get a haircut.
Huang Qiu says her most important demographic is young adults age 20-30. Young working adults have more money to spend than students, no children, and no campus facilities or student life activities to fill out their schedule. And in low-tier cities, the increased importance of personal relationships and family mean that older peers have more influence over their young buddies than in first-tier cities.
So when aiming for the low tier youth market, aim high: mid-20s to 30s is a sweet spot.
Read more: How entrepreneurs are booming in China's smaller cities | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/none/low-tier-entrepreneurs-secrets-success-988046#ixzz0nioE50mq
China consumer price rise picks up pace
Chinese inflation and housing prices continued to accelerate last month, underlining the difficult judgments the Chinese authorities face as they try to engineer a modest cooling in economic activity.
Consumer price inflation increased to 2.8 per cent in April from 2.4 per cent the month before, its highest level in 18 months although still below the government’s target of 3 per cent. Factory gate inflation jumped to 6.8 per cent from 5.9 per cent.
Adding to the fears of overheating, house prices increased by 12.8 per cent in April from a year earlier, the fastest rate of increase since records began five years ago, although sales volumes in many cities have already slowed dramatically in recent weeks as a result of government policies aimed at discouraging property speculation.
While the government has taken steps to slow the housing market, the authorities have so far avoided raising interest rates or appreciating the currency in order to tighten policy for the broader economy, preferring more modest tools such as lifting bank reserve requirements.
The new data, which also recorded slowdowns in the rate of increase in the money supply and fixed asset investment, prompted different responses from private sector economists.
“Virtually everything is on the rise in China, from wages to grain and vegetables and we expect inflation above 5 per cent by the end of the year,” said Dong Tao at Credit Suisse. “Inflation will be the biggest worry in the second half of this year and everybody in China except government economists seems to have realised inflation won’t peak in the middle of the year.”
Liu Ligang at ANZ in Hong Kong said the April figures “vindicated our views that China’s economy has already overheated.”
However, Ha Jiming at China International Capital Corporation reduced his estimate for 2010 growth from 10.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent on the grounds that property investment would slow, while exports would be weaker than expected because of the fallout from the Greek crisis. More muted growth overseas would also reduce inflation pressures from raw materials costs, he said.
Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman at the National Bureau of Statistics, said that consumer price inflation would be kept below 3 per cent, despite near-term pressures.
Consumer price inflation increased to 2.8 per cent in April from 2.4 per cent the month before, its highest level in 18 months although still below the government’s target of 3 per cent. Factory gate inflation jumped to 6.8 per cent from 5.9 per cent.
Adding to the fears of overheating, house prices increased by 12.8 per cent in April from a year earlier, the fastest rate of increase since records began five years ago, although sales volumes in many cities have already slowed dramatically in recent weeks as a result of government policies aimed at discouraging property speculation.
While the government has taken steps to slow the housing market, the authorities have so far avoided raising interest rates or appreciating the currency in order to tighten policy for the broader economy, preferring more modest tools such as lifting bank reserve requirements.
The new data, which also recorded slowdowns in the rate of increase in the money supply and fixed asset investment, prompted different responses from private sector economists.
“Virtually everything is on the rise in China, from wages to grain and vegetables and we expect inflation above 5 per cent by the end of the year,” said Dong Tao at Credit Suisse. “Inflation will be the biggest worry in the second half of this year and everybody in China except government economists seems to have realised inflation won’t peak in the middle of the year.”
Liu Ligang at ANZ in Hong Kong said the April figures “vindicated our views that China’s economy has already overheated.”
However, Ha Jiming at China International Capital Corporation reduced his estimate for 2010 growth from 10.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent on the grounds that property investment would slow, while exports would be weaker than expected because of the fallout from the Greek crisis. More muted growth overseas would also reduce inflation pressures from raw materials costs, he said.
Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman at the National Bureau of Statistics, said that consumer price inflation would be kept below 3 per cent, despite near-term pressures.
7 children, 2 adults killed in China school attack
The death toll from an attack at a kindergarten in northwestern China rose to nine Wednesday after one of the wounded victims died, state media said.
A man with a kitchen cleaver hacked to death a teacher and seven kindergarten students -- five boys and two girls. He then returned home and committed suicide, state media said.
The teacher's mother, who was wounded in the attack, later died at a hospital -- bringing the toll to nine, the Xinhua news agency said.
Officials do not yet know what prompted the 48-year-old man to attack students at a private school in Shaanxi province.
It was at least the fourth such attack on school children in the last month.
See a timeline of school attacks in China
In addition to the fatalities, 11 children were wounded in the attack. Among them were two children who were hospitalized in serious condition, Xinhua said.
Twenty children attended the school.
China has seen a spate of attacks at schools in recent days.
On April 30, a man armed with a hammer injured five preschool children in east China before setting himself on fire in a classroom suicide, a government spokesman told Xinhua news agency.
The attacker held two children in his arms as he poured gasoline over himself, the spokesman said. Teachers in Weifang City, Shandong province, pulled the children away as the man died, the spokesman said.
On April 29, at least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China, state media said. Most of the victims were 4-year-olds and three of the children were in critical condition.
Police arrested a 47-year-old suspect. The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province.
On April 28, a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.
The attacks come despite the execution of Zheng Minsheng, 42, a former community doctor who stabbed eight children to death and wounded five others at an elementary school in eastern China on March 23.
Zheng, executed by a firing squad in Nanping City late last month, told investigators he carried out the attack because he was frustrated by "failures in his romantic life and in society," according to Xinhua.
China Daily newspaper quoted Nanjing University sociology professor Zhu Li saying Zheng's attack inspired copycats.
"Some people may not have thought about stabbing school children, but due to the media's coverage of such a case, they got an idea," Zhu said.
Chinese authorities have begun teaching safety awareness in school curriculums, China Daily reported.
Officials also have tightened security in schools by hiring extra guards to escort students to and from class
A man with a kitchen cleaver hacked to death a teacher and seven kindergarten students -- five boys and two girls. He then returned home and committed suicide, state media said.
The teacher's mother, who was wounded in the attack, later died at a hospital -- bringing the toll to nine, the Xinhua news agency said.
Officials do not yet know what prompted the 48-year-old man to attack students at a private school in Shaanxi province.
It was at least the fourth such attack on school children in the last month.
See a timeline of school attacks in China
In addition to the fatalities, 11 children were wounded in the attack. Among them were two children who were hospitalized in serious condition, Xinhua said.
Twenty children attended the school.
China has seen a spate of attacks at schools in recent days.
On April 30, a man armed with a hammer injured five preschool children in east China before setting himself on fire in a classroom suicide, a government spokesman told Xinhua news agency.
The attacker held two children in his arms as he poured gasoline over himself, the spokesman said. Teachers in Weifang City, Shandong province, pulled the children away as the man died, the spokesman said.
On April 29, at least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China, state media said. Most of the victims were 4-year-olds and three of the children were in critical condition.
Police arrested a 47-year-old suspect. The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province.
On April 28, a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.
The attacks come despite the execution of Zheng Minsheng, 42, a former community doctor who stabbed eight children to death and wounded five others at an elementary school in eastern China on March 23.
Zheng, executed by a firing squad in Nanping City late last month, told investigators he carried out the attack because he was frustrated by "failures in his romantic life and in society," according to Xinhua.
China Daily newspaper quoted Nanjing University sociology professor Zhu Li saying Zheng's attack inspired copycats.
"Some people may not have thought about stabbing school children, but due to the media's coverage of such a case, they got an idea," Zhu said.
Chinese authorities have begun teaching safety awareness in school curriculums, China Daily reported.
Officials also have tightened security in schools by hiring extra guards to escort students to and from class
Maradona omits Inter stars from World Cup squad; Brazil duo miss out
Argentina coach Diego Maradona has surprisingly omitted Inter Milan stars Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso from his 30-man preliminary World Cup squad.
The 36-year-old Zanetti, Argentina's most-capped player, was controversially axed by Jose Pekerman for the 2006 World Cup but then brought back by his successor Alfio Basile and retained by Maradona for the 2010 qualifiers -- though he lost the team captaincy to Javier Mascherano.
He has been a key figure in Inter's bid for a hat-trick of trophies this season, having already won the Italian Cup with one match to go in Serie A before the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
Cambiasso, who played in Germany four years ago and had a spot-kick saved in the quarterfinal penalty shootout defeat to the hosts, has not been called up since Maradona took charge despite establishing himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe.
Inter striker Diego Milito has been selected despite playing a limited role in the qualifiers, and central defender Walter Samuel has the chance to feature at his second World Cup after also missing out in 2006.
Center-back Martin Demichelis, who is also seeking a treble with Bayern after winning the German league title last weekend, has been rewarded for his fine form this season.
Maradona also omitted Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito and Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago, but named Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez -- who played for English second-division club Newcastle this season.
England-based Mascherano, Carlos Tevez and Maxi Rodriguez were also included.
Veteran striker Martin Palermo, 36, has the chance to play at his first World Cup, being one of nine Argentina-based players selected by the 1986 title-winner Maradona, with the squad to be trimmed to 23 by June 1.
Brazil coach Dunga ended the World Cup dreams of Ronaldinho and Adriano by omitting the duo from his final 23-man squad for the World Cup in South Korea.
The 30-year-old Ronaldinho, a two-time world player of the year, misses out for the second tournament in a row despite returning to form this season with Italian club AC Milan.
Former Inter Milan striker Adriano raised his profile by returning home to play with Flamengo following well-documented personal problems, but has failed to impress Dunga.
"Adriano was given several opportunities," the 1994 World Cup winner said. "There was a moment when we made a decision about the group. The group always welcomed Adriano, but there is a moment when reason talks louder than the heart."
Ronaldinho's Milan teammate Alexandre Pato also missed out, along with highly-rated Santos teenager Neymar, but Germany-based striker Grafite was included at the age of 31 after his fine form for deposed Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg.
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino was able to name Argentina-born Lucas Barrios in his 30-man squad after the Borussia Dortmund striker's change of nationality was ratified.
The 25-year-old, who scored 19 goals for the German club this season, has a Paraguayan mother.
His Dortmund strike partner Nelson Haedo Valdez is also in the squad, but they will be vying for places with Manchester City's Roque Santa Cruz and in-form Benfica forward Oscar Cardozo.
Club America forward Salvador Cabanas was omitted despite being nearly recovered from head wounds after being shot in a bar in Mexico City in January.
Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa has surprisingly brought in midfielders Jaime Valdes and Charles Aranguiz, who did not feature in qualifying.
The 29-year-old Valdes, who plays for Italian club Atalanta, won the first of his two caps in 2001 while Colo Colo's Arnaguiz, 21, was called up once last year and has just recovered from a knee injury.
Flamengo midfielder Claudio Maldonado missed out despite a quick comeback after knee surgery, while Union Espanola's Luis Marin was given the third goalkeeping place behind captain Claudio Bravo of Real Sociedad and Miguel Pinto.
Uruguay coach Oscar Washington Tabarez omitted Cristian Rodriguez from his 26-man squad, with the Porto winger set to start a two-game ban after his red card in the final qualifier.
Penarol's Egidio Arevalo-Rios, Alvaro Gonzalez of Nacional, Jorge Rodriguez (River Plate of Uruguay) and Defensor Sporting goalkeeper Martin Silva were the only home-based players named.
United States coach Bob Bradley has omitted forwards Charlie Davies and Freddy Adu from his 30-man squad, which includes seven players who featured in the Premier League of opening opponents England this season.
Davies has only just returned to training with French club Sochaux after suffering serious injuries in a car crash in October, while teen prodigy Adu's career has stalled -- he has been loaned to Greek club Aris Thessaloniki by Portuguese giants Benfica.
Adu's clubmate Eddie Johnson, who is on loan from English side Fulham, will appear at his second World Cup.
The squad features 10 U.S.-based players with Los Angeles Galaxy, Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA having two each.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre has named just five specialist midfielders in his 26-man squad, but has picked versatile defenders such as Rafael Marquez, Juan Carlos Valenzuela and Adrian Aldrete who can fill in if needed.
Andres Guardado, Gerrardo Torrado, Israel Castro and the Dos Santos brothers Jonathan and Giovani will patrol the middle of the park.
Striker Miguel Sabah, who scored a late winner in a qualifier against the U.S. last August, was ruled out by injury.
Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda also took the unusual step of naming his 23-man squad well ahead of the June 1 deadline, plus seven reserves.
Key striker Carlos Costly is one of the standby players after being ruled out for four weeks with a foot injury, with his place taken by Georgie Welcome -- who in 2008 was the first Honduran to make his international debut while playing for a second-division side.
England-based Wilson Palacios, Hendry Thomas and Maynor Figueroa are named along with Italy-based forward David Suazo and 36-year-old Carlos Pavon, who is set to win his 100th cap.
Are Nicole and Derek the ones to beat on 'Dancing'?
Judging by Monday night's performance show, it's singer Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough. At times her own worst critic, Nicole put aside all of her inhibitions and performed a near flawless foxtrot, which received 29 out of 30 points. Later, the pair performed a perfect 1950s-style paso doble.
Len Goodman reached for his No. 10 paddle after they left the studio audience literally screaming for a perfect score -- which they got! The judge, who's often been tough on the duo, admitted that it's not in his nature to dole out praise for two dances in the same night. But Nicole and Derek left him with nothing to criticize.
Indeed, as season 10 gets down to the wire, there's very little to complain about.
While Nicole and Derek were head and shoulders above the field, Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy came back (following controversy last week) fighting for a spot in the finals. The pair, who landed in the bottom two during last week's results show, performed an aggressive Argentine tango that included a flying leap by the leggy Andrews off the stage and onto Maksim's shoulders. "Hot!" Carrie Ann Inaba declared. "Loved it!" Len added. "You were on fire!" Bruno Tonioli yelled. They earned a solid 28.
Later, during their 1980s-style rumba, the pair received a solid 25. Len felt the dance of love was "a bit jerky" while Bruno thought the two made great music together.
Hot on their heels were last week's perfect pair, Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya.
The pair's waltz fell slightly -- very slightly -- below the judges' expectations. Carrie Ann felt Evan's lines were impeccable and she encouraged him to lose himself in the moment when he dances. Meanwhile, Len felt ambivalent about the routine, acknowledging that Evan's posture was great and his movement was good. They earned 27 points.
Later in the telecast, their futuristic-themed cha cha garnered a solid 26 points. Carrie Ann felt Evan really committed to his robotic character, while Bruno thought it was very creative.
Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke had their second great performance show in a row. Despite landing in third place overall after the judges' scores, the duo proved that they are committed to each other -- at least on the dance floor. They opened the show with a decent tango in which Carrie Ann remarked she sees "great potential." Len felt the dance needed a bit more polish, and Bruno concurred that the routine needs to be slicker.
The Cincinnati Bengals star followed up with a high energy 60s-style jive that Len said was "entertaining" while Carrie Ann called it "one of your better dances." They received 24 points fro their work.
Landing at the bottom of the leader board is actress/comedienne Niecy Nash, whose Viennese waltz was a crowd pleaser, though the judges felt otherwise, giving it a measly 23 points. Later on, the duo performed a 90s-themed paso doble, which still didn't endear them to the judges.
Bruno said Niecy threw herself into the dance "like and avalanche." Carrie Ann felt the couple's balance was out of whack, while Len felt the paso doble wasn't Niecy's cup of tea.
Who is Lea Michele's Broadway star beau?
"Contrary to belief," Lea Michele said recently, "guys are not blowing up my phone trying to date me at the moment. I am very happy, I'll say that. But I will never tell if I am dating someone."
Well, it seems like the Glee star is -- and his name is Theo Stockman.
But who is he? Not only is Stockman the handsome young man she was snapped kissing at a recent New York gala celebrating Time's 100 Most Influential People issue, but he's an actor now appearing in Broadway's "American Idiot" as well.
Ever supportive, Michele, 23, has already been seen at the show, and told one reporter that she was planning to spend the summer in New York, being a "Broadway groupie." The two also know some of the same people, including Stockman's American Idiot castmate John Gallagher Jr., who costarred with Michele in the musical "Spring Awakening."
Like Michele, who stars as Rachel Berry on thehit Fox show, Stockman is also comfortable in front of a camera. The New York University Tisch School of the Arts grad has already appeared on "Cupid" and "30 Rock."
And while Michele's friend (and current "Glee" costar) Jonathan Groff recently told USA Today that in lieu of hitting the clubs, the actress rents movies, it seems like she'd have no trouble taking advice from Stockman, who lists flicks like "Taxi Driver" and "Harold and Maude" as his favorites on his Facebook page.
Ironically enough, however, is what's missing from his Facebook page under his favorite TV shows. He likes "Freaks and Geeks," "Little Britain" and "Eastbound & Down" -- but is he watching "Glee?"
When reached, a rep for the actor had no comment.
Tyra Banks to publish her first novel
Supermodel. Talk-show host. Actress. Singer. Reality-TV queen. Now, the versatile Tyra Banks is adding yet another line to her crowded résumé: novelist.
"I said I was going to do it, and here it is!" Banks, 36, writes in a note to fans posted Tuesday on Tyra.com. "It's for all the girls and guys who want a lot more FANTASY in their lives ... and some fierceness and magic, romance and mystery, crazy and wild adventures, and yeah, some danger too.
"It's my novel called 'Modelland' (pronounced 'Model Land') that takes you to a fantastical place you've never seen, or heard about, or read about before ... Where dreams come true and life can change in the blink of a smoky eye."
The novel is part of a three-book deal with Random House. No details of the plot or publishing date were available, but Banks says the novel has floated around in her imagination for a long time.
"'Modelland' has always been a part of my mind and my heart," she says. "I'm excited that you'll be able to read about this magical world that's been living in my dreams for so many years."
While this is Banks's first foray into fiction, she did publish a book in 1998 titled "Tyra's Beauty, Inside and Out," offering tips for women to make the most of their natural beauty.
'Child' survives as 100 feared dead in Libya plane crash
One person -- believed to be a child -- survived a passenger plane crash in Libya that was feared to have killed more than 100 people, an official said Wednesday.
Libya's state news agency said 96 bodies had been recovered after the plane crashed at Tripoli International airport. A Dutch tourism official said 61 of 62 Dutch travelers on the plane were killed, with one survivor believed to be a child.
About 100 people are believed to have died in the crash, the president of the European Parliament has said.
The Afriqiyah Airways plane was flying in from Johannesburg, South Africa, when it crashed while attempting to land at the airport in the Libyan capital, an airline spokeswoman said.
She said she could not confirm whether there were any fatalities.
"At the moment we have no details of survivors and Afriqiyah Airways will issue further statements when more details can be released in due course," she said.
Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament said: "Some 100 people have died no doubt from many countries around the world; this is a tragedy.
"I have also been informed that one 8-year-old child has survived, which given this tragic event, is truly a miracle."
The plane, an Airbus A330-200, was carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew members. It was at the tail end of its nearly 9-hour-long flight when it crashed.
A Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman said it's "possible that several Dutch citizens were on the plane."
"The prime minister said there are several indications that there were Dutch citizens on board on the plane, but we have no official confirmation on any numbers or personal data of these people. There is no confirmation about survivors either, we are trying to verify this information through our embassy in Tripoli and we will let know more details when we have them," she said.
The British Foreign Office said it was looking into whether British nationals were on board the flight.
At the crash site, workers with surgical masks combed through the smoldering wreckage that spilled over a large area. A wheel lay atop a pile of bags. Two green airline seats sat upright and intact amid burned parts of the aircraft.
Officials recovered the plane's flight data recorder, which investigators use to piece together a flight's last minutes.
The Tripoli-based Afriqiyah (Arabic for "African") operates flights to four continents. The planes in the fleet carry the logo 9.9.99 -- the date when the African Union was formed.
The Airbus that crashed is one of three Airbus 330-200s that the airline owns.
วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 6 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2553
HC issues rule for govt failure to stop leisure games
The High Court on Wednesday issued a rule asking the respondents to explain in two weeks why inaction of the electricity department to stop leisure games at Gulshan Club during peak hours without considering country''s current power crisis should not be declared illegal, reports UNB.
A HC division bench comprising Justice M Anwarul Haque and Justice Sheikh M Zakir Hossain issued the rule upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights watchdog.
The HC also passed an interim order directing the DESCO and DPDC to stop for three months the leisure games at Gulshan Club during peak hours (7pm-11pm) by using floodlights.
Power Secretary, Managing Directors of Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), and president of Gulshan Club have been made respondents in the case.
Emerging from the court, advocate Manzill Murshid told reporters that the High Court''s interim order will not hinder playing of leisure games like lawn tennis at clubs by using power generator.
A HC division bench comprising Justice M Anwarul Haque and Justice Sheikh M Zakir Hossain issued the rule upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights watchdog.
The HC also passed an interim order directing the DESCO and DPDC to stop for three months the leisure games at Gulshan Club during peak hours (7pm-11pm) by using floodlights.
Power Secretary, Managing Directors of Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), and president of Gulshan Club have been made respondents in the case.
Emerging from the court, advocate Manzill Murshid told reporters that the High Court''s interim order will not hinder playing of leisure games like lawn tennis at clubs by using power generator.
WB to give additional $292m for two projects
The World Bank on Tuesday approved additional financing of US$292 million for two ongoing projects in Bangladesh, reports UNB.
Of the amount, US$257 million will be provided in long term finance for infrastructure through the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) project and US$35 million for bringing disadvantaged and poor children back to school through the Reaching Out-of-School Children project (ROSC), says a World Bank release.
The additional financing to the IPFF project, amounting to about five times the original project that has been operating since 2006, will build and expand on the project''s successful experience in the power sector.
It has helped boost the national electricity generation capacity by 5 percent by adding 178 MW electricity to the national grid and two special economic zones - Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) and Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ).
The IPFF operates under the oversight of Bangladesh Bank and funds are allocated to local financial institutions for on-lending to private-sector infrastructure projects.
"Bangladesh has an enormous investment need in infrastructure," said Zafrul Islam, World Bank acting Country Director for Bangladesh.
He said: "We expect this additional financing to boost infrastructure funding by over US$400 million, leveraging about 100 percent private resources. It will be used to increase infrastructure supply in the power sector - renewable energy and energy savings - as well as bridges, ports, container terminals, water treatment plants, waste disposal projects, and others."
The World Bank also extended more support to the ROSC, a project which since 2004 has helped enroll over 500,000 out-of-school children through more than 15,000 Ananda Schools (Learning Centers) in 60 upazilas with high incidence of poverty and low enrollment.
The project also helped in the achievement of grade competency level in Bangla and Mathematics by more than 65 percent of students; average student attendance rate of more than 75 percent; average teacher attendance in excess of 90 percent; average grade completion rate exceeding 80 percent; and availability of textbooks for all students.
The additional financing will help all the current students in these 60 upazilas with an opportunity to complete the primary cycle. It will also scale-up the ROSC project in about 30 more upazilas, enrolling an additional 250,000 out-of-school children.
"Bangladesh has made significant progress in education over the past two decades," said Zafrul Islam.
"With nearly 18 million children enrolled in about 80,000 primary schools in the country, the primary gross enrolment rate is over 90 percent. Importantly, gender parity in primary education has been achieved.
"Despite this impressive progress, considerable challenges remain, for example, high drop-out rates and limited access for the poorest children. That''s why this additional financing to ROSC is so important for the poorest children. It has already demonstrated that it can reduce the number of out-of-school children, especially disadvantaged children," he said.
The credits from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank''s concessionary arm, have 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; they carry a service charge of 0.75 percent.
Of the amount, US$257 million will be provided in long term finance for infrastructure through the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) project and US$35 million for bringing disadvantaged and poor children back to school through the Reaching Out-of-School Children project (ROSC), says a World Bank release.
The additional financing to the IPFF project, amounting to about five times the original project that has been operating since 2006, will build and expand on the project''s successful experience in the power sector.
It has helped boost the national electricity generation capacity by 5 percent by adding 178 MW electricity to the national grid and two special economic zones - Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) and Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ).
The IPFF operates under the oversight of Bangladesh Bank and funds are allocated to local financial institutions for on-lending to private-sector infrastructure projects.
"Bangladesh has an enormous investment need in infrastructure," said Zafrul Islam, World Bank acting Country Director for Bangladesh.
He said: "We expect this additional financing to boost infrastructure funding by over US$400 million, leveraging about 100 percent private resources. It will be used to increase infrastructure supply in the power sector - renewable energy and energy savings - as well as bridges, ports, container terminals, water treatment plants, waste disposal projects, and others."
The World Bank also extended more support to the ROSC, a project which since 2004 has helped enroll over 500,000 out-of-school children through more than 15,000 Ananda Schools (Learning Centers) in 60 upazilas with high incidence of poverty and low enrollment.
The project also helped in the achievement of grade competency level in Bangla and Mathematics by more than 65 percent of students; average student attendance rate of more than 75 percent; average teacher attendance in excess of 90 percent; average grade completion rate exceeding 80 percent; and availability of textbooks for all students.
The additional financing will help all the current students in these 60 upazilas with an opportunity to complete the primary cycle. It will also scale-up the ROSC project in about 30 more upazilas, enrolling an additional 250,000 out-of-school children.
"Bangladesh has made significant progress in education over the past two decades," said Zafrul Islam.
"With nearly 18 million children enrolled in about 80,000 primary schools in the country, the primary gross enrolment rate is over 90 percent. Importantly, gender parity in primary education has been achieved.
"Despite this impressive progress, considerable challenges remain, for example, high drop-out rates and limited access for the poorest children. That''s why this additional financing to ROSC is so important for the poorest children. It has already demonstrated that it can reduce the number of out-of-school children, especially disadvantaged children," he said.
The credits from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank''s concessionary arm, have 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; they carry a service charge of 0.75 percent.
Tender manipulators to be tried under STA, says IGP
IGP Nur Mohammad on Wednesday ordered his force to file cases against troublemakers, tender manipulators and extortionists under the Speedy Trial Act, reports UNB.
The police chief issued the strict instruction at a quarterly Crime Conference at Police headquarters amid repeated acts of violence over the tender manipulation and establishing supremacy at educational institutions.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Nur Mohammad said departmental actions were taken against the police officers for their failures in tackling the situation in their respective areas.
He said the OC of Jessore was suspended while its circle ASP was called back to the police headquarters.
The IGP said nine leaders and activists, including president and secretary of Barisal Polytechnic Institute BCL unit were arrested Tuesday in connection with the clashes between the two rivals of BCL at the institute.
Earlier, 30 to 40 were arrested in Chittagong violence, he said adding troublemakers will be booked disregarding their political colours.
Asked about the progress in investigation into the murder of Sub-inspector Gautam, he said the investigation has been proceeding right way. He, however, said a top level investigation team has been formed to inquire into different statements given by arrested persons in connection with the Gautam killing.
The chiefs of the Special Branch, the Criminal Investigation Department, the DIGs, the metropolitan police commissioners and the SPs attended the meeting.
The meeting also reviewed the overall law and order situation throughout the country in the last three months.
The police chief issued the strict instruction at a quarterly Crime Conference at Police headquarters amid repeated acts of violence over the tender manipulation and establishing supremacy at educational institutions.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Nur Mohammad said departmental actions were taken against the police officers for their failures in tackling the situation in their respective areas.
He said the OC of Jessore was suspended while its circle ASP was called back to the police headquarters.
The IGP said nine leaders and activists, including president and secretary of Barisal Polytechnic Institute BCL unit were arrested Tuesday in connection with the clashes between the two rivals of BCL at the institute.
Earlier, 30 to 40 were arrested in Chittagong violence, he said adding troublemakers will be booked disregarding their political colours.
Asked about the progress in investigation into the murder of Sub-inspector Gautam, he said the investigation has been proceeding right way. He, however, said a top level investigation team has been formed to inquire into different statements given by arrested persons in connection with the Gautam killing.
The chiefs of the Special Branch, the Criminal Investigation Department, the DIGs, the metropolitan police commissioners and the SPs attended the meeting.
The meeting also reviewed the overall law and order situation throughout the country in the last three months.
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