Jumaat, 16 Ogos 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro


Hundreds missing in Philippine ferry disaster

Posted:

CEBU, Philippines - Philippine rescuers searched Saturday for more than 200 people missing after a ferry collided with a cargo ship in thick darkness and sank almost instantly, with 26 already confirmed dead.

The St Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 870 passengers and crew when the accident occurred late on Friday night in calm waters near the port of Cebu, the Philippines' second biggest city, authorities said.

Coastguard and military vessels, as well as local fishermen on their own small boats hauled more than 600 people out of the water alive.

But by late Saturday morning, 215 people were still unaccounted for and 26 bodies had been retrieved, according to the coastguard, which warned the death toll would inevitably rise.
"It did not take long, about 10 minutes, before the ferry sank," Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, vice commandant of the coastguard, said on DZBB radio.

"The captain managed to declare abandon ship and they distributed life jackets but, because of the speed by which it went down, there is a big chance that there are people trapped inside."

One survivor, Maribel Manalo, 23, recounted to her brother the horror of suddenly being plunged into the cold water in darkness, and emerging from the chaos without her mother.

"She said there was a banging noise then the boat suddenly started sinking," the brother, Arvin Manalo, told AFP.

"They quickly strapped on life jackets and then jumped into the dark sea. She said they felt like they were pulled under. My sister said she pushed our mother up, but they got separated.

"My sister was rescued. My sister knows how to swim, but my mother does not."

He said their mother, 56, remained missing.
The accident occurred at 9:00 pm (1300 GMT) in the mouth of a narrow strait leading into the port between two and three kilometres (around one to two miles) from shore, authorities said.

Fifty-eight babies were among the passengers on board the ferry, according to the coastguard, and it was unclear how many of them survived.

Navy divers on a speed boat scoured the sea on Saturday morning amid orange life rafts that had already been mostly emptied, according to an AFP photographer on the scene.
However two lifeless bodies were seen on one raft.

Tuason said helicopters had also been deployed and specialist divers sent to search through the sunken vessel.

Local fisherman Mario Chavez told AFP he was one of the first people to reach passengers after the ferry sank in the 82-metre-deep (270-feet) channel.

"I plucked out 10 people from the sea last night. It was pitch black and I only had a small flashlight. They were bobbing in the water and screaming for help," he said.

"They told me there were many people still aboard when the ferry sank... they told me many were sleeping. There were screams, but I could not get to all of them. It was difficult to find them. I felt really bad."

Rachel Capuno, a security officer for the ferry's owners, told Cebu radio station DYSS the vessel was sailing into port when it collided with the cargo ship.

"The impact was very strong," she said.
The cargo ship, Sulpicio Express 7, which had 36 crew members on board, did not sink.

Tuason said it appeared one of the vessels had violated rules on which lanes they should use when travelling in and out of the port.

He said the captain of the Thomas Aquinas was among those rescued, and was being questioned.

The Thomas Aquinas was a "roll-on, roll-off" ferry, which allows vehicles to be driven aboard and is commonly used in the Philippines.

Ferries are one of the main modes of transport across the archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, particularly for the millions of people too poor to fly.

But sea accidents are common, with poor safety standards, lax enforcement and overloading typically to blame.

The world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster occurred near the capital, Manila, in 1987 when a ferry laden with Christmas holidaymakers collided with a small oil tanker, killing more than 4,300 people.

In 2008, a huge ferry capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan, leaving almost 800 dead. - AFP

 

Japanese cops probe blast at festival site

Posted:

TOKYO: Japanese police are investigating the cause of an explosion at a fireworks festival which left at least 59 people injured including some with serious burns when it ripped through the crowded site.

Witnesses recounted seeing victims, including children, screaming as they rolled on the ground to try to put out the flames, while the thousands who had gathered for the Thursday night festival fled in panic.

The explosion is believed to have erupted at one of hundreds of snack counters lining a nearby riverbank at the festival, which is held annually outside the ancient capital of Kyoto and attracts over 100,000 people.

Video footage showed the stalls, which had been selling drinks and food, going up in flames and sending smoke into the night sky, before a larger blast erupted.

Early accounts said it was caused by a gas cylinder, but Jiji Press news agency said police suspect the fire may have started when a vendor added gasoline to a running power generator.

Koichi Tanimura, head of the local chamber of commerce which organised the festival, apologised at a press conference yesterday.

"I believe the vendor should be held responsible, but we also have a moral responsibility," he said. "I would like to apologise to those who were injured." — AFP

Pakistan cops shoot gunman in standoff

Posted:

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police snipers shot and seriously wounded a gunman who was tackled live on television by a politician during a dramatic standoff close to Islamabad's high-security political quarter.

The man, who was with his wife and children as he issued demands for the imposition of Islamic law, was said by doctors to be fighting for his life after the five-hour incident which shut down part of the city late on Thursday.

Identified by Pakistani media as Mohammad Sikandar, the man touted two semi-automatic guns as he smoked cigarettes while giving interviews to TV stations over his mobile phone.

"Muslims are being subjected to cruelties everywhere in the world," Sikandar, wearing black, told Dunya News as his children sat in the back of the Toyota Corolla and his wife stood calmly nearby. At one point she handed a note to a plain-clothed police negotiator.

The standoff began around 5.30pm when police flagged down the car for a traffic violation in the central Jinnah Avenue neighbourhood – less than 1km from the presidency and parliament buildings.

Sikandar then started firing into the air, forcing markets and shops in the area to close. Crowds of onlookers gathered at a distance, as TV anchors broadcasting the incident live on air queried how police checkpoints had failed to stop an armed man from driving into the sensitive area.

The standoff ended at 11pm after Zamurd Khan, a leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party who was acting as a negotiator, jumped on the gunman and tried to disarm him.

Sikandar broke free and fired at Khan, who was not injured. Police and paramilitary commandos then shot the gunman as he tried to flee, hauling him away as blood poured from his wounds. The children were unharmed.

Television footage showed the young boy trying to rush over to his father after he was shot, but Khan held him back.

"Condition of Sikandar is critical and doctors are trying to save his life," doctor Wasim Khawaja, a spokesman for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in central Islamabad, said.

"He received two bullets, one in the upper body and one in the left leg," he said.

"The woman was hit in her right leg but she is out of danger."

Islamabad police officials said Sikandar appeared to have mental health problems. His demands included enforcement of Syariah law in Pakistan, the government's resignation, and the release of a son apparently jailed in Dubai. — AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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Trivial pursuits

Posted:

Some characters on TV simply stand apart from the rest, for better or for worse.

This week, the Sofa Spudniks have compiled a Top Five list of some of the TV characters they spend a lot of time with. Who are your favourites in this list?

1. Best bromance

Indra: Forget about romances, bromances are way more fun and have fewer issues. Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) had a fantastic bromance going on for years on Friends. So did JD (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) on Scrubs. In fact, I liked their bromance more than each of their romances.

Also, who can forget Andy (Ian Gomez) and Bobby (Brian Van Holt) from Cougar Town? Sure, girlfriends are awesome, but sometimes – just sometimes – I wish I could be a guy and have a bromance going on with a best bud. So. Much. Fun.

Ann Marie: Troy and Abed of Community (Donald Glover and Danny Pudi, respectively). When two men are so in sync they are willing to take over each other's place Freaky Friday style, there's no doubting their kindred spirit status. They even have a special handshake. Now, which other TV bromance duo has that, I ask you? Troy and Abed rock.

2. Most screwed up mother/family

Indra: If you've watched Bates Motel (the TV prequel to the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho), you would realise that Norman Bates (played excellently by Freddie Highmore) never had a shot in Hell to be normal. Sure, the series hints that Norman has an inherent mental disorder – he snaps at people when he's angry, becomes violent and then blacks out – but it is his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga, how good is she?!) who is largely to blame for the "psycho" Norman grows up to become.

Mothers smother their sons; that's a universal truth, but Norma's smothering that borders on being oedipal would have been more than enough to mess up a normal child, let alone one who is already disturbed.

Ann Marie: When it comes to screwed-up mums, I always think of Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy) on Six Feet Under. She had a new boyfriend for every season, believe it or not. That was one superb show, and Ruth was as dysfunctionally lovable as mums get. I always feel I have a bit of Ruth in me.

This undated publicity image released by A&E shows Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates, left, and Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates in a scene from A&E's

Freddie Highmore stars as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates in Bates Motel.

3. The nicest bad guy ever

Indra: Who else but Dexter (Michael C. Hall)? He's a serial killer, so yes, he is a bad guy. But the poor fella witnessed his mother's murder and was left to sit in a pool of her blood until the police found them. Anyway, he only kills bad guys, so maybe he's doing the world a favour. Right? Oh, I also have a fondness for Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) from Game Of Thrones. He's the only one in his family with a semblance of a conscience and let's face it, compared with Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), he's practically angelic.

Ann Marie: By the end of Game Of Thrones Season Three, I even had some fond feelings for Jaime Lannister for crying out loud. And what about Sandor Clegane aka the Hound (Rory McCann)? Hero or villain? Don't you just love them when they're all tormented and neither clearly black or white?

If we're really going for the truest nice bad guys, though, then I would have to include Robin of Loxley aka Robin Hood from Robin Of Sherwood. Oh my lord, I was in love with Michael Praed (who starred in the British TV series in the mid 1980s) for a long time. Nothing is forgotten!

4. Somebody please give this character a break

Indra: My life isn't peachy all the time but there are many "silver linings" in my playbook – family, friends and TV. But some TV characters never seem to catch a break. Take Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten) of Nashville. The guy's been down and out of luck since forever. He was in love with Rayna James (Connie Briton) but had to go into rehab for some serious substance abuse issues. While he was in rehab, she got married and had two children.

Out of rehab, he is still pining for her while playing in her band (he's a guitarist and she's a big country singer). He gets tired of waiting for her (she's in a loveless marriage) and gets into several superficial relationships. Just when he and Rayna finally sort out their issues, he discovers she's been lying to him for years (they had a child that he knew nothing of). He starts drinking again and meets in a terrible accident. Tragic or what?

Ann Marie: Okay, this is an open goal lah. I will have to go with Wile E. Coyote (of The Road Runner Show fame – Beep! Beep!) on this one. I've spent the last 45 years of my life watching the dude get blown up by Acme dynamite sticks. How cool if for ONCE they decide to let this "dog" have his day. I live in hope.

5. Forget about the food; the tastiest chef on TV is …

Indra: Where do I begin? I used to think guys in uniform were hot, but these days, since the evolution of television food programming, I think a chef's jacket has to be the sexiest uniform EVER. MasterChef Australia seems to have the best casting directors of all when it comes to inviting hot chefs to the set. My favourites include British chef Darren Robertson who runs his own restaurant Three Blue Ducks in Bronte, Australia. Robertson is a little nerdy, but once he starts slicing, oh my, oh my!

Also, the slightly scruffy and extremely serious Irish chef Colin Fassnidge who owns three restaurants in Sydney, Australia, terrifies me but he's so sexy!

Ann Marie: Let's see. I think Curtis Stone is pretty dishy. Then, there's Adrian Richardson (Secret Meat Business) … okay, so he's not the best looking of blokes, but there's just something about that accent that gets me everytime. And hey, he makes the best sausages.

Spotlight on Malaysia

Posted:

Ring in both Merdeka and Malaysia Day with exciting programmes on Astro.

IN conjunction with this year's Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day, Astro presents almost 200 uplifting programmes for viewers. With the tagline "Negaraku, The Best Of 1Malaysia", the line-up of programmes can be enjoyed by Astro customers beginning today till Sept 16.

From remembering the sacrifices of our patriots to reliving some of the nation's proudest sporting achievements, we are once again reminded why we call Malaysia our homeland.

Here are some of the programmes:

Back To The Streets (Aug 15, AFC / Astro Ch 703, 8.30pm): Chef Malcolm Goh and Zher Peen go undercover to search for the most authenthic street food in Kuala Lumpur.

1941: The Fall Of Penang (Aug 17, History / Astro Ch 555, 7pm): Relive that fateful day when Penang fell under Japanese forces in 1941.

Crime Investigation Asia (Aug 19, CI / Astro Ch 723, 7pm): Crime cases often strike fear in our hearts, but it also unites us all. Beginning Aug 19, this one-hour documentary shows some of the most heinous crimes the country has ever seen, from the murders of beauty queen Jean Perera and IT analyst Canny Ong, to a military weapon heist and a drug bust.

Rising Sun Over Malaya (Aug 24, History / Astro Ch 555, 7pm): Get first-hand account on the Japanese Occupation in Malaya which took the lives of tens of thousands of our countrymen.

The Malayan Emergency (Aug 25, History / Astro Ch 555, 8pm): This two-hour special chronicles the Communist Party of Malaya's fight to make the country a Communist Republic. The documentary features original archive footage and photographs. Also, former intelligence specialists, policemen, soldiers and terrorists offer vivid accounts of the war.

Babak filem 29 Februari (arahan Edry Abdul Halim) lakonan Remy Ishak dan Jojo Goh.

A scene from 29 Februari starring Remy Ishak (third from right) and Jojo Goh.

Ride & Seek (Aug 25, History / Astro Ch 555, 10pm): American travel host Jaime Dempsey takes her Harley Davidson to the streets of Peninsular Malaysia, exploring the breathtaking sites in Johor, Pahang, Penang, Malacca, Selangor and Kelantan.

Konsert Kenangan Sudirman (Aug 30, Prima / Astro Ch 105, 10pm): Join some of the hottest artistes today such as Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, Jaclyn Victor, Misha Omar, Hafiz, Ziana Zain and Hujan as they take on the music of legendary performer Sudirman.

AIM Chinese 2013 (Aug 31, AEC / Astro Ch 301, 6.30pm): After a 12-year hiatus, the Chinese Anugerah Industri Muzik is back to honour the best in local Chinese music. With more than 18 titles up for grabs – Best Male/Female Vocal Performance, Best Album and Best Song to name a few – see if your favourite local artiste will win big in the awards show.

Settayo Settai (Aug 31, Vaanavil / Astro Ch 201, 8pm): Hosted by Malaysian funnyman Sathia and Kanchana Devi, don't miss some of the hottest talents in the Malaysian Tamil music scene such as Dhilip Varman, Rabbit Mac and Mista-G.

Tastemakers (Aug 31, Li / Astro Ch 728, 9.30pm): Get the scoop on the nation's history-making Malaysians such as Kedah-born singer Yuna, F&B chain The BIG Group founder Benjamin Yong and designer duo Sereni and Shentel whose works have been donned by the cast of Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives.

29 Februari (Aug 31, Citra / Astro Ch 131, 11pm): Dubbed Malaysia's first 3D film, 29 Februari centres on a man who is born on Feb 29 and only ages one year in every four years. As such, he witnesses the changing landscape of Malaysia, from its independence up to the present.

The New Money range from Sereni&Shentel.

Catch designer duo Sereni and Shentel (left) in Tastemakers (Aug 31, Li / Astro Ch 728, 9.30pm).

My New Village Stories (Sept 1, AEC / Astro Ch 301, 9pm): This documentary is back for a third season, shedding light on the cultural and economic aspects of the New Village community in Malaysia.

Di Sebalik Kegemilangan (Sept 2, Arena / Astro Ch 801, 10pm): Revisit some of the nation's proudest sporting moments in this series, airing every Monday beginning on Sept 2. Prominent sports commentator Datuk Rahim Razali will take viewers back to the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup where Malaysia placed fourth; the Thomas Cup which tested the skills of many shuttlers from 1967 to 1992; and our national football team which qualified for the Olympic Games in 1972 and 1980.

Merdeka Tournament (Sept 7, Arena, Astro Ch 801, TBA): Held in honour of Malaysia's Independence Day, the Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is back after a four-year hiatus.

The Untold Truth About SuperMokh (Sept 7, National Geographic Channel / Astro Ch 553, 9pm): Learn the truth about the death of legendary footballer Mokhtar Dahari who was rumoured to have suffered from muscular dystrophy.

Gadget Nation (Sept 13, Awani / Astro Ch 501, 8.30pm): Did you know that a local production studio was behind the Oscar-winning Life Of Pi's computer graphics work? Don't miss this special interview with the talented animators at Rhythm And Hues Malaysia.

Lost Over France: Malaya's Unsung Hero (Sept 15, History / Astro Ch 555, 9pm): Get the scoop on a Malaysian family that fought for the British forces during World War II.

10 Things I Don't Know About Malaysia (Sept 16, History / Astro Ch 555, 9pm): Ezra Said lets viewers in on 10 little known twists and tidbits about the historical stories, figures and places you think you know.

Wildlife Defenders (Sept 16, Discovery / Astro Ch 551, 9pm): Documentary crewmen go behind the scenes with Malaysia's Department Of National Parks and Wildlife as they combat illegal wildlife trafficking.

Malaysia: Through The Decades (Sept 16, National Geographic Channel / Astro Ch 553, 9pm): Walk through the corridors of time as the documentary captures five decades worth of Malaysia's developments and achievements since 1963.

For a full schedule of the Negaraku, The Best Of 1Malaysia programmes, visit www.astro.com.my/negaraku.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates


CIA acknowledges its mysterious Area 51 test site for first time

Posted:

(Reuters) - National security scholars at George Washington University have some good news and bad news for UFO buffs - the U.S. government has finally confirmed the existence of Area 51 in Nevada, but it makes no mention of little green men or alien spaceships.

The government acknowledged the existence of the mysterious aviation test site known as Area 51, a remote installation about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Las Vegas, in a newly declassified CIA history of its U-2 spy plane program.

After decades of extreme secrecy surrounding the site, stoking conspiracy theories about UFOs and experiments on alien spacecraft, the CIA lifted its veil on Area 51 in response to a public records request from George Washington University scholars in Washington, D.C.

Publicly released online on Thursday by the university's National Security Archive, the 400-page CIA history contains the first deliberate official references to Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, as a site developed by the intelligence agency in the 1950s to test fly the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance plane.

Other top-secret aircraft were tested there later, including the supersonic reconnaissance A-12 aircraft, code-named OXCART, and the F-117 stealth ground-attack jet, said archive senior fellow Jeffrey Richelson, who asked for the CIA's U-2 history in 2005.

A newly revised document restoring numerous references to Area 51 that had been redacted in earlier versions was furnished by the CIA a few weeks ago, he said.

"It's the first time that there must have been a senior-level decision to acknowledge the term 'Area 51' and its specific location," he told Reuters on Friday.

Chapter 2 of the CIA history recounts how Richard Bissell, the CIA officer then overseeing development of the U-2 plane by Lockheed, first spotted the site on an aerial scouting mission over Nevada in April 1955, accompanied by an Air Force officer and two others.

The four men landed their plane near an old, abandoned air strip at the edge of a salt flat known as Groom Lake near the northeastern corner of the Nevada Test Site, the nuclear proving ground then controlled by the Atomic Energy Commission.

IDEAL TEST SITE

The group agreed that Groom Lake would "make an ideal site for testing the U-2 and training its pilots." Bissell subsequently asked the Atomic Energy Commission to add the area to its Nevada real estate holdings, the account says.

"AEC Chairman Admiral Lewis Strauss readily agreed, and President Eisenhower also approved the addition of this strip of wasteland, known by its map designation as Area 51, to the Nevada Test Site," the document says.

To make the barren new facility seem more appealing to its workers, managers of the U-2 program dubbed the facility "Paradise Ranch," which was later shortened to "the Ranch."

Photos of the site and a newly declassified map outlining and labelling the location were also included in the document.

Richelson said he could recall at least two previous government documents in which an incidental reference to Area 51 appeared, but he assumed those were inadvertent because they were devoid of any other details or context.

The multiple detailed references to Area 51 in the latest CIA account - the document's index lists at least 12 mentions - show that they were deliberate, he said.

The intelligence agency had little to say about the disclosure.

"What readers of the CIA study will find is that CIA tests its U-2 and A-12 reconnaissance aircraft at the site in Nevada sometimes referred to as 'Area 51,'" CIA spokesman Edward Price said. "What readers won't find are any references to aliens or other conspiracy theories best left to the realm of science fiction."

Among the more sensational pieces of UFO conspiracy lore linked to Area 51 is that the remains of a flying saucer that supposedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, were brought to the site for reverse engineering experiments that attempted to replicate the extraterrestrial spacecraft.

Richelson said the CIA document makes no mention of any such theories. But he pointed to one passage that discusses the relationship between U-2s and unidentified flying objects "in the sense that people sighted U-2s in a time that they were very secretive and at very high altitude and didn't know what they were, and in that sense they were UFOs."

Romanian princess among 18 charged in Oregon over cockfighting

Posted:

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A Romanian princess, the daughter of exiled former Romanian King Michael, appeared in a U.S. court on Friday with her American husband on charges related to cockfighting in rural Oregon, authorities said.

Irina Walker, 60, was among 18 people charged with holding 10 cockfighting "derbies" in 2012 and 2013, according to the indictment filed in federal district court in Oregon.

A woman reached by phone at the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C., who declined to be identified, said the mission had been informed that a daughter of King Michael had been arrested in Oregon.

"She was born in Switzerland," the woman said. "We don't really have a lot of information on her."

The exiled king, who was forced to abdicate in 1947 and then went into exile, said in a statement that he had learned of his daughter's arrest with "profound sadness."

"His Majesty and the entire royal family hope that the American justice system and the courts of the state of Oregon will solve this case in the fairest and quickest way possible," the statement said, according to an NBC news website.

Princess Irina is the third of five daughters of the Romanian king and is married to John Wesley Walker, a former Coos County sheriff's deputy, the Oregonian newspaper reported. She moved to Oregon in 1983 and married Walker in 2007, the paper reported.

Of the 18 people charged in the case, six including the Walkers are charged with operating an illegal gambling business. All 18 are charged with conspiracy and violating the Animal Welfare Act by conducting unlawful animal fighting ventures on the 10 occasions.

Calling cockfighting barbaric, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Amanda Marshall, said in a statement that "cockfighting jeopardizes public health and safety and facilitates the commission of other criminal acts."

Each of the 12 counts carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. If convicted, the Walkers could also have to forfeit their ranch in Irrigon, Oregon, according to the Justice Department announcement.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)

Under fire, U.S. spy agency defends surveillance programs as lawful

Posted:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under increasing pressure to justify electronic surveillance programs that at times capture communications of American citizens, the U.S. National Security Agency went to unusual lengths on Friday to insist its activities are lawful and any mistakes largely unintentional.

In a sign of how much heat it has taken since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden started disclosing details of highly classified U.S. surveillance programs, the ultra-secretive intelligence agency held a rare conference call with reporters to counter public perceptions that NSA transgressions were wilful violations of rules against eavesdropping on Americans.

The NSA's presentation was an attempt to calm the latest firestorm over documents disclosed by Snowden. The Washington Post late Thursday reported that the NSA had broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since 2008, citing an internal agency audit and other top secret documents.

"These are not wilful violations, they are not malicious, these are not people trying to break the law," John DeLong, NSA director of compliance, told reporters.

NSA employees know their actions are recorded and the agency's culture is to report any mistakes, he said, repeatedly stressing that "no one at NSA thinks a mistake is OK."

Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum in Russia this month, gave information about secret NSA programs that collect phone, email and other communications to several media organizations, which published stories about them starting in June. His disclosures provoked an intense debate over privacy rights versus national security needs in the United States and several other countries, including Great Britain, Germany and Brazil.

The uproar led to a series of rare public comments by normally publicity-shy NSA officials, who have written opinion pieces in the media and repeatedly said transparency was a positive development.

"We're working on the release of more documents soon," DeLong said, without elaborating.

WILLFUL VIOLATIONS 'EXTREMELY RARE'

As DeLong explained that the NSA had rigorous internal measures to avoid, suppress and destroy intelligence inadvertently collected on Americans, leaders of both congressional intelligence committees issued statements strongly supporting NSA programs and the agency's efforts to comply with the law and regulations.

"The committee has never identified an instance in which the NSA has intentionally abused its authority to conduct surveillance for inappropriate purposes," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, said.

Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, described errors reported in the Post story as "human and technical," which he said were "unfortunately inevitable in any organization and especially in a highly technical and complicated system like NSA."

But Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called the reports of privacy violations by the NSA "incredibly troubling" and said he had ordered his staff to conduct a review.

He said, however, "the information we have received so far does not show any intentional abuse or misuse of NSA's authorities."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, said he planned to hold a hearing to examine reports of unauthorized surveillance by the NSA. "I remain concerned that we are still not getting straightforward answers from the NSA," he said.

DeLong, who acknowledged that public debate was taking place in a "highly charged" atmosphere, said wilful violations were "extremely rare" and that mistakes can lead to the removal of database access for an NSA employee.

DeLong said that NSA analysts make 20 million queries of intelligence databases on average each month, and that the number of mistakes are a tiny portion of legitimate queries.

He gave an example of how one mistake was handled. In a case where NSA allegedly stored 3,000 records, apparently related to Americans and legal immigrants, longer than the rules allowed, the information was not misused and subsequently deleted, he said.

"President Obama has long advocated greater transparency, stronger oversight and other reforms to give Americans confidence that our intelligence programs strike the right balance between protecting our national security and the privacy of our citizens," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

He said the White House would work with Congress on reforms "to further improve oversight and strengthen public confidence in these operations that are so critical to American national security."

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz


Smurf's up

Posted:

The Smurfs 2

THE first Smurfs movie got really bad reviews, averaging 25% on film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

However, audiences loved it, allowing it to gross over US$560mil (RM1.82bil) at the box office.

I get the feeling that this sequel is going to get the same reaction.

The Smurfs 2 basically explores Smurfette's (voiced by Katy Perry) origins as a creation of the evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria), and her conflicted emotions about that fact.

Gargamel, now a celebrity magician in our world, gets his new creations, Naughties Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (JB Smoove), to kidnap and tempt Smurfette over to the dark side, in the hopes of getting her to reveal the secret formula that transformed her into a real Smurf.

Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) promptly leads a rescue team back to New York to rescue her, enlisting old friends Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays) along the way.

Patrick himself is also facing daddy issues with stepfather Victor (Brendan Gleeson), who tags along.

The word "smurf" is again overused, the gags rate a smile rather than a laugh, and the moral of the story breeds contempt through its familiarity.

But the young ones will probably enjoy the action, and the scenes of Paris are shot really beautifully.

This one's for the kiddies. – Tan Shiow Chin (2/5 stars)

Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters

WHAT Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief managed to deliver to the audience was not played out well in the sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters. Two things missing from the movie are laughter and surprises.

This is a movie where Percy, adapting to his identity as Poseidon's son, now has a prophecy to fulfil.

Lead with the pointy end: Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) may need more than his sword to get out of this fiery situation.

Lead with the pointy end: Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) may need more than his sword to get out of this fiery situation.

The "saving-the-world" plot is nothing new, and the adventure where the heroes tangle with all kinds of scary-looking creatures may be rather freaky for younger viewers.

As for the title, the Sea of Monsters should probably be renamed "Sea of Monster" because it's just one giant sea monster they are up against.

What is interesting is the odd-couple pairing of Percy and Tyson, his newly discovered half-brother. There is obviously more to Tyson's character than meets the ... eye.

As for the usual teenage relationships and conflicts, Sea Of Monsters could easily pass off as an episode of a TV series rather than a movie; and the villain, a demigod, seems insignificant. Just don't expect this to live up to its predecessor and you'll still enjoy it. – Jane Tan (3/5 stars)

The Wolverine

HUGH Jackman is the reason why you would want to catch this movie.

As always, his performance as Wolverine/Logan is excellent, from his guilt-stricken angst over killing Jean Grey/Phoenix to his snarly Wolverine-in-the-bath, complete with disgusted elderly Japanese women scrubbing him with brooms, and of course, his sheer brute stubbornness (watch out for what I call his arrow hedgehog impression) and powerful fighting abilities.

If you are an anime fan, then Rila Fukushima's portrayal of Yukio, who is yet another anime heroine stereotype brought to life, is also worth catching.

Unlike Pacific Rim's Mako Mori, Yukio does a pretty good job of playing the tough chick and standing on her own against Wolverine.

According to the fanboys, the movie's story adheres quite faithfully to the Chris Claremont and Frank Miller limited series that it is based on.

Judging the movie solely on its own merits, however, the plot did irritate me somewhat with its lack of logical character motivation and deviation from Japanese honour.

Watchable and entertaining? Yes.

Brilliant and logical? No.

But, it might actually be worth sitting through just for the mid-credits scene alone. – TSC (3/5 stars)

R.I.P.D.

SO, if you can stop from comparing this movie to Men In Black, this is actually an entertaining watch.

We've got recently deceased cop Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds), who is offered a position with the Rest In Peace Department (RIPD) after his murder.

In exchange for postponing his Judgement, Walker gets to spend 100 years tracking down Deados – dead people who managed to stay on Earth, passing for the living.

He is partnered with 18th-century US Marshal Rocephus "Roy" Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), who really doesn't want to be saddled with a newbie.

The relationship between the two just screams bromance, in a good way.

Bridges gets the best lines, and his Pulsipher plays off perfectly against the more morose and comically frustrated Walker.

Lots of the fun also comes from watching the intercutting shots of Walker and Pulsipher's avatars among the living – an elderly Chinese man (James Hong) and a hot Russian woman (Marisa Miller) respectively, while still staying in character as the detectives.

A big shoutout as well to Kevin Bacon, who plays dirty cop Bobby Hayes, with relish.

Definitely recommended for laughs and action. Also worth watching in 3D, although the runtime's a bit short. – TSC (4/5 stars)

Coming soon

Posted:

ElysiumDirector Neill Blomkamp (District 9) once again looks at social disintegration in a dystopian future. In the year 2154, the rich live on a man-made space station named Elysium, while everyone else lives on a ruined Earth. When an Everyman (Matt Damon) on Earth falls terminally ill, he must get to Elysium if he wants proper treatment. Co-starring Sharlto Copley and Jodie Foster.

The Frozen Ground John Cusack plays a serial killer who is being hunted by an Alaskan State Trooper (Nicolas Cage). Apparently this story is based on actual events.

The Mortal Instruments: City Of BonesClary Fray (Lily Collins) is no ordinary teenager, a fact she discovers after her mother is attacked and taken from their home by a demon. That's when she learns that she is destined for so much more than shopping and going out on dates.

The PurgeOne night every year, criminal activities are allowed for 12 hours, and families that don't want any part in it lock up their houses and stay inside. One year, this process – the purge – goes terribly wrong for one family. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey star.

Madras Caf̩ РA political thriller set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War in the 1980s, and the events that led to the assassination of a key Indian leader. Starring Nargis Fakhri, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rashi Khanna, Siddharth Basu and Agnello Dias.

Electrifying performances

Posted:

Actress with a talent for conveying characters' rich and troubled inner lives.

The New Hollywood movement was primarily a male, auteur-led phenomenon. But the contribution of performers as adventurous and vital as Karen Black, who has died aged 74 from complications from cancer, should not be overlooked. Black was electrified as well as electrifying: her tornado of hair, her fearless physicality and those indelible feline eyes combined to create a woozy and unapologetic sexual energy. She looked offbeat, and she knew how to use that. "I couldn't have been an actress in the 1930s," she said, reflecting on her role as a movie extra in The Day Of The Locust (1975). "My face moves around too much."

It was in the late 1960s and 70s that she became one of the great character actors of US cinema in a series of performances in key New Hollywood works. Partly it was that she exhibited qualities outside the skill set of a conventional female lead – she could play volatile and nerve-jangled, or maligned and wounded, without ever approaching caricature, and suddenly these talents came to be much in demand from countercultural film-makers.

Her career overlapped with several key figures of New Hollywood: she made her screen debut in Francis Ford Coppola's own first film, You're A Big Boy Now (1966) and collaborated more than once with Jack Nicholson, who cast Black in his 1971 directorial debut, Drive, He Said, after co-starring with her in Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). She was also a favourite of Robert Altman, who directed her in Nashville (1975), for which she and many of the cast wrote and performed their own songs, and Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). (Playing herself in Altman's 1992 The Player, she was one of many such celebrity guest stars in that overpopulated satire to be left on the cutting-room floor.)

These parts were strikingly different from one another, but they had in common Black's knack for conveying her characters' rich and troubled inner lives, their cramped or thwarted dreams. The consummate example could be found in her Oscar-nominated performance as Rayette, the Tammy Wynette-loving girlfriend to Nicholson's discontented antihero Bobby Dupea, in Five Easy Pieces. There was a comical but achingly sad intellectual gap between the two. Bobby resented her. Crucially, the audience never did. "I dig [Rayette], she's not dumb, she's just not into thinking," said Black in 1970. "I didn't have to know anybody like her to play her. I mean, I'm like her, in ways. Rayette enjoys things as she sees them, she doesn't have to add significances. She can just love the dog, love the cat. See? There are many things she does not know, but that's cool; she doesn't intrude on anybody else's trip. And she's going to survive."

She was born Karen Blanche Ziegler in Park Ridge, Illinois, daughter of Norman and Elsie Ziegler, the latter a children's novelist. She studied at Northwestern University in Illinois from the age of 15, then moved to New York at 17 and took odd jobs and off-Broadway roles. In 1960 she married Charles Black. She was nominated for best actress in the Drama Circle Critics awards for playing the lead in The Play Room (1965); Coppola, who was in the audience, cast her in You're A Big Boy Now. From there, she met Henry Jaglom and Dennis Hopper, both of whom were, like Coppola, part of the coterie of up-and-coming film-makers and actors benefiting from the patronage of Roger Corman. Hopper cast her in Easy Rider as a prostitute who has a bad acid trip in a New Orleans cemetery; Jaglom, who was brought in to help edit the film, insisted that improvised scenes of Black which had been cut should be put back in. Jaglom would continue to help her career as late as 1983 when he gave her the lead in his underrated romantic comedy Can She Bake A Cherry Pie?

She attracted attention for those groundbreaking films with Hopper and Nicholson, and for numerous other fascinating oddities including Cisco Pike (1972), with Kris Kristofferson as a musician-turned-dealer; a 1972 adaptation of Philip Roth's comic novel Portnoy's Complaint; and a foolhardy film version of Ionesco's absurdist Rhinoceros (1974), with Zero Mostel. But she was not averse to the mainstream.

She played the doomed Myrtle in the Coppola-scripted adaptation of The Great Gatsby (1974); she was the flight attendant who must land a plane single-handed in the efficient but much-parodied disaster movie Airport 1975 (1974); and she played a kidnapper in Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot (1976).

She also became a darling of the horror genre after taking on three roles in the television anthology Trilogy Of Terror (1975) and starring in movies such as Burnt Offerings (1976), Invaders From Mars (1986) and House Of 1,000 Corpses (2003).

Pickings became steadily slimmer in the 1980s, though her dynamic turn as a post-operative male-to-female transsexual in Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean was singled out by Pauline Kael of the New Yorker as Black's finest work. Kael highlighted her "spectacular tawdry world-weariness" and commended her for "keep[ing] the mawkishness from splashing all over the set. I think this isn't just the best performance she has given on screen – it's a different kind of acting from what she usually does. It's subdued, controlled, quiet – but not parched." Black worked continuously until becoming ill in 2009.

She had a small role in George Sluizer's Dark Blood, best known now as the film River Phoenix was making when he died in 1993.

Black is survived by her fourth husband, Stephen Eckelberry, whom she married in 1987; and by a son, Hunter, and two daughters, Celine and Diane. Hunter is her son by her third husband, LM Kit Carson, who wrote Paris, Texas, which was filmed with Hunter, then nine years old, playing the main character's son, also named Hunter. – Guardian News & Media

Related story:
Karen Black's five most memorable movies
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews


Smurf's up

Posted:

The Smurfs 2

THE first Smurfs movie got really bad reviews, averaging 25% on film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

However, audiences loved it, allowing it to gross over US$560mil (RM1.82bil) at the box office.

I get the feeling that this sequel is going to get the same reaction.

The Smurfs 2 basically explores Smurfette's (voiced by Katy Perry) origins as a creation of the evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria), and her conflicted emotions about that fact.

Gargamel, now a celebrity magician in our world, gets his new creations, Naughties Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (JB Smoove), to kidnap and tempt Smurfette over to the dark side, in the hopes of getting her to reveal the secret formula that transformed her into a real Smurf.

Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) promptly leads a rescue team back to New York to rescue her, enlisting old friends Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays) along the way.

Patrick himself is also facing daddy issues with stepfather Victor (Brendan Gleeson), who tags along.

The word "smurf" is again overused, the gags rate a smile rather than a laugh, and the moral of the story breeds contempt through its familiarity.

But the young ones will probably enjoy the action, and the scenes of Paris are shot really beautifully.

This one's for the kiddies. – Tan Shiow Chin (2/5 stars)

Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters

WHAT Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief managed to deliver to the audience was not played out well in the sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters. Two things missing from the movie are laughter and surprises.

This is a movie where Percy, adapting to his identity as Poseidon's son, now has a prophecy to fulfil.

Lead with the pointy end: Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) may need more than his sword to get out of this fiery situation.

Lead with the pointy end: Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) may need more than his sword to get out of this fiery situation.

The "saving-the-world" plot is nothing new, and the adventure where the heroes tangle with all kinds of scary-looking creatures may be rather freaky for younger viewers.

As for the title, the Sea of Monsters should probably be renamed "Sea of Monster" because it's just one giant sea monster they are up against.

What is interesting is the odd-couple pairing of Percy and Tyson, his newly discovered half-brother. There is obviously more to Tyson's character than meets the ... eye.

As for the usual teenage relationships and conflicts, Sea Of Monsters could easily pass off as an episode of a TV series rather than a movie; and the villain, a demigod, seems insignificant. Just don't expect this to live up to its predecessor and you'll still enjoy it. – Jane Tan (3/5 stars)

The Wolverine

HUGH Jackman is the reason why you would want to catch this movie.

As always, his performance as Wolverine/Logan is excellent, from his guilt-stricken angst over killing Jean Grey/Phoenix to his snarly Wolverine-in-the-bath, complete with disgusted elderly Japanese women scrubbing him with brooms, and of course, his sheer brute stubbornness (watch out for what I call his arrow hedgehog impression) and powerful fighting abilities.

If you are an anime fan, then Rila Fukushima's portrayal of Yukio, who is yet another anime heroine stereotype brought to life, is also worth catching.

Unlike Pacific Rim's Mako Mori, Yukio does a pretty good job of playing the tough chick and standing on her own against Wolverine.

According to the fanboys, the movie's story adheres quite faithfully to the Chris Claremont and Frank Miller limited series that it is based on.

Judging the movie solely on its own merits, however, the plot did irritate me somewhat with its lack of logical character motivation and deviation from Japanese honour.

Watchable and entertaining? Yes.

Brilliant and logical? No.

But, it might actually be worth sitting through just for the mid-credits scene alone. – TSC (3/5 stars)

R.I.P.D.

SO, if you can stop from comparing this movie to Men In Black, this is actually an entertaining watch.

We've got recently deceased cop Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds), who is offered a position with the Rest In Peace Department (RIPD) after his murder.

In exchange for postponing his Judgement, Walker gets to spend 100 years tracking down Deados – dead people who managed to stay on Earth, passing for the living.

He is partnered with 18th-century US Marshal Rocephus "Roy" Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), who really doesn't want to be saddled with a newbie.

The relationship between the two just screams bromance, in a good way.

Bridges gets the best lines, and his Pulsipher plays off perfectly against the more morose and comically frustrated Walker.

Lots of the fun also comes from watching the intercutting shots of Walker and Pulsipher's avatars among the living – an elderly Chinese man (James Hong) and a hot Russian woman (Marisa Miller) respectively, while still staying in character as the detectives.

A big shoutout as well to Kevin Bacon, who plays dirty cop Bobby Hayes, with relish.

Definitely recommended for laughs and action. Also worth watching in 3D, although the runtime's a bit short. – TSC (4/5 stars)

Coming soon

Posted:

ElysiumDirector Neill Blomkamp (District 9) once again looks at social disintegration in a dystopian future. In the year 2154, the rich live on a man-made space station named Elysium, while everyone else lives on a ruined Earth. When an Everyman (Matt Damon) on Earth falls terminally ill, he must get to Elysium if he wants proper treatment. Co-starring Sharlto Copley and Jodie Foster.

The Frozen Ground John Cusack plays a serial killer who is being hunted by an Alaskan State Trooper (Nicolas Cage). Apparently this story is based on actual events.

The Mortal Instruments: City Of BonesClary Fray (Lily Collins) is no ordinary teenager, a fact she discovers after her mother is attacked and taken from their home by a demon. That's when she learns that she is destined for so much more than shopping and going out on dates.

The PurgeOne night every year, criminal activities are allowed for 12 hours, and families that don't want any part in it lock up their houses and stay inside. One year, this process – the purge – goes terribly wrong for one family. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey star.

Madras Caf̩ РA political thriller set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War in the 1980s, and the events that led to the assassination of a key Indian leader. Starring Nargis Fakhri, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rashi Khanna, Siddharth Basu and Agnello Dias.

Electrifying performances

Posted:

Actress with a talent for conveying characters' rich and troubled inner lives.

The New Hollywood movement was primarily a male, auteur-led phenomenon. But the contribution of performers as adventurous and vital as Karen Black, who has died aged 74 from complications from cancer, should not be overlooked. Black was electrified as well as electrifying: her tornado of hair, her fearless physicality and those indelible feline eyes combined to create a woozy and unapologetic sexual energy. She looked offbeat, and she knew how to use that. "I couldn't have been an actress in the 1930s," she said, reflecting on her role as a movie extra in The Day Of The Locust (1975). "My face moves around too much."

It was in the late 1960s and 70s that she became one of the great character actors of US cinema in a series of performances in key New Hollywood works. Partly it was that she exhibited qualities outside the skill set of a conventional female lead – she could play volatile and nerve-jangled, or maligned and wounded, without ever approaching caricature, and suddenly these talents came to be much in demand from countercultural film-makers.

Her career overlapped with several key figures of New Hollywood: she made her screen debut in Francis Ford Coppola's own first film, You're A Big Boy Now (1966) and collaborated more than once with Jack Nicholson, who cast Black in his 1971 directorial debut, Drive, He Said, after co-starring with her in Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). She was also a favourite of Robert Altman, who directed her in Nashville (1975), for which she and many of the cast wrote and performed their own songs, and Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). (Playing herself in Altman's 1992 The Player, she was one of many such celebrity guest stars in that overpopulated satire to be left on the cutting-room floor.)

These parts were strikingly different from one another, but they had in common Black's knack for conveying her characters' rich and troubled inner lives, their cramped or thwarted dreams. The consummate example could be found in her Oscar-nominated performance as Rayette, the Tammy Wynette-loving girlfriend to Nicholson's discontented antihero Bobby Dupea, in Five Easy Pieces. There was a comical but achingly sad intellectual gap between the two. Bobby resented her. Crucially, the audience never did. "I dig [Rayette], she's not dumb, she's just not into thinking," said Black in 1970. "I didn't have to know anybody like her to play her. I mean, I'm like her, in ways. Rayette enjoys things as she sees them, she doesn't have to add significances. She can just love the dog, love the cat. See? There are many things she does not know, but that's cool; she doesn't intrude on anybody else's trip. And she's going to survive."

She was born Karen Blanche Ziegler in Park Ridge, Illinois, daughter of Norman and Elsie Ziegler, the latter a children's novelist. She studied at Northwestern University in Illinois from the age of 15, then moved to New York at 17 and took odd jobs and off-Broadway roles. In 1960 she married Charles Black. She was nominated for best actress in the Drama Circle Critics awards for playing the lead in The Play Room (1965); Coppola, who was in the audience, cast her in You're A Big Boy Now. From there, she met Henry Jaglom and Dennis Hopper, both of whom were, like Coppola, part of the coterie of up-and-coming film-makers and actors benefiting from the patronage of Roger Corman. Hopper cast her in Easy Rider as a prostitute who has a bad acid trip in a New Orleans cemetery; Jaglom, who was brought in to help edit the film, insisted that improvised scenes of Black which had been cut should be put back in. Jaglom would continue to help her career as late as 1983 when he gave her the lead in his underrated romantic comedy Can She Bake A Cherry Pie?

She attracted attention for those groundbreaking films with Hopper and Nicholson, and for numerous other fascinating oddities including Cisco Pike (1972), with Kris Kristofferson as a musician-turned-dealer; a 1972 adaptation of Philip Roth's comic novel Portnoy's Complaint; and a foolhardy film version of Ionesco's absurdist Rhinoceros (1974), with Zero Mostel. But she was not averse to the mainstream.

She played the doomed Myrtle in the Coppola-scripted adaptation of The Great Gatsby (1974); she was the flight attendant who must land a plane single-handed in the efficient but much-parodied disaster movie Airport 1975 (1974); and she played a kidnapper in Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot (1976).

She also became a darling of the horror genre after taking on three roles in the television anthology Trilogy Of Terror (1975) and starring in movies such as Burnt Offerings (1976), Invaders From Mars (1986) and House Of 1,000 Corpses (2003).

Pickings became steadily slimmer in the 1980s, though her dynamic turn as a post-operative male-to-female transsexual in Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean was singled out by Pauline Kael of the New Yorker as Black's finest work. Kael highlighted her "spectacular tawdry world-weariness" and commended her for "keep[ing] the mawkishness from splashing all over the set. I think this isn't just the best performance she has given on screen – it's a different kind of acting from what she usually does. It's subdued, controlled, quiet – but not parched." Black worked continuously until becoming ill in 2009.

She had a small role in George Sluizer's Dark Blood, best known now as the film River Phoenix was making when he died in 1993.

Black is survived by her fourth husband, Stephen Eckelberry, whom she married in 1987; and by a son, Hunter, and two daughters, Celine and Diane. Hunter is her son by her third husband, LM Kit Carson, who wrote Paris, Texas, which was filmed with Hunter, then nine years old, playing the main character's son, also named Hunter. – Guardian News & Media

Related story:
Karen Black's five most memorable movies
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business


The tried and tested attempts at fixing MAS

Posted:

MAS has undergone numerous business plans to transform the airline, with some managing to lift the airline out from a crisis while others never seem to take off. Here's a gist of what the attempts were and their outcomes. We are tracking MAS' history post the government buying back MAS from Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli in 2000, which in itself can be seen as one attempt to revive the career.

Malaysia poised to become Asia’s business events hub

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Economic Transformation Programme now included business events as part of its plan to establish Malaysia as Asia's business events hub.

He also said that business tourist arrivals would increase from 1.2 million to 2.9 million by the year 2020.

Najib conveyed this on Thursday at the seven-category International Dragon Awards 2013 (IDA 2013) in conjunction with the 17th Malaysia Chinese Life Insurance Congress at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

The event, which aims to honour insurance and financial services professionals in Asia, was organised by Taiwanese insurance association IMM International and was supported by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Tourism and Culture Ministry.

Malaysia's envisioned growth into a high-income economy would raise demand for risk and savings-type insurance products, Najib added.

He told the audience that structural reforms and improved efficiencies in the insurance sector were under way, and urged local insurance industry players to consider the bigger picture in light of the sector's challenges and priorities in the wider region.

He also pointed out that the sector in East Asian economies shared three common goals – sustaining growth and performance under challenging economic circumstances, strengthening economic transformation capacity and building resilience to withstand future shocks.

IDA 2013 was held to honour the global Chinese life insurance and financial services industry.

More than 5,000 delegates from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia attended the four-day event, which ends tomorrow.

Najib said MyCEB was set up and tasked to attract the business segment to Malaysia.

He added that Malaysia was increasingly being recognised as a business destination offering great experiences to visitors.

Making profit from MAS

Posted:

Should MAS be taken private or should its management be given time to perform?

MURMURS of ownership change and the sale of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is now making its rounds.

Sparking such talk was Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala's comments that the national airline should not be sold at a loss. And the other point he made was for the Government to exit the aviation industry. His comments were quickly clarified but checks have revealed that there is some behind-the-scene movement to what he has said.

Perhaps it was politics at play that forced him to clarify his earlier statement but StarBizWeek has learnt that there are interested parties eyeing MAS.

Their interest spawns from the incremental improvements the national airline has been making in its attempt to rectify the structural problems of the past, though that journey is far from over. Their sights are also zeroed in onto the key operational units within the airline.

Plum with RM3bil in its bank accounts, MAS' market cap is just over RM5.2bil, which makes the airline along with the operational improvements it has registered, an attractive takeover target.

The question is should ownership of MAS revert back to private hands or should the management which has been appointed by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Government be given time to execute its game plan to bring about financial stability to MAS?

Khazanah has 69.4% stake in MAS and the Government holds a golden share and has the right to sell the airline or not.

"There is normally no smoke without fire. Something may be brewing for Idris to make such statements," says an airline watcher.

Internally, MAS notified its staff that there was no sale in sight.

The question that begs an answer is why is the idea of a sale being entertained when the turnaround plan executed by Khazanah and the professionals in MAS is just starting to show results?

"At 33 sen (adjusted after all the cash calls) a share, it's just looking so attractive after the RM8bil financial reconstruction is completed and it has cash of RM3bil. It is operationally positive as a lot of cleaning has been done. MAS should report profits by 2014 and has a newer fleet which will bring operational cost down drastically, and all these factors are good for the buyer," says an expert.

The buyers

The lobbying for MAS has been for sometime, it is claimed.

Before the 13th general election, two groups were keen and they had done their homework on why MAS needed a change.

Of the two, one was linked to the Nadi group and a former managing director of MAS. The other was a group of young professionals who claim they had aviation expertise.

The identity of potential buyers are said to be Tan Sri Ahmad Johan of Nadi and Tan Sri Syed Azman Ibrahim of Weststar Group. Both have declined comment when contacted by StarBizWeek.

Weststar has the cash and Nadi, which owns Mofaz Air, has the expertise. Ahmad Johan also has a stake in Malindo Air and runs a MRO facility which he wants to build into a sizeable facility.

Syed Azman has RM6bil worth of contracts to provide helicopter services to the oil and gas sector and an expansion into passenger flight services is seen as an extension to what he has.

Syed Azman, known also as the "AP King" has the cash. US-based KKR is paying RM650mil for about a third of Weststar Aviation which is going for a listing next year. The listing should raise even more money for Syed Azman.

Internally, the airline's biggest union, MAS Employees Union (Maseu), is using its political clout to change the management. They don't see eye-to-eye with Ahmad Jauhari Yahya's style and believe a home-grown candidate can do a better job.

"It is a no-confidence issue even though something good is being done at MAS," says an expert.

The union is also unhappy that the commercial unit is headed by foreigners as it feels MAS has proficient local talent to head that job.

Maseu in 2012 lobbied the Government to undo the share swap agreement to get AirAsia's boss Tan Sri Tony Fernandes out of MAS. He sold his 20% stake in the airline last year.

MAS being in the hands of entrepreneurs is not new. It was controlled by Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli but he sold his shares to the Government for RM8 a share or RM1.7bil. What guarantee is there that the new buyers will not do the same thing a few years down the road?

At 33 sen, MAS may be looking attractive but its net tangible asset per share is 56 sen (as per end March) and Khazanah is certainly not going to sell at the NTA because it has pumped a lot of money into the airline. For the recent rights issue, it forked out RM2.7bil for its portion.

CAPA Centre for Aviation analyst Brendan Sobie asks "what value is there if there is a sale, anyone can come and make a bid? It's political and this is not the first time the sale has been speculated."

The prize?

The biggest fear of any sale or privatisation is that the parties will asset-strip the airline and park those lucrative ancillary businesses into their own companies.

MAS has five core businesses – passenger, cargo, ground handling, catering services and maintenance, repair and engineering (MRO). The attraction of the MRO business is that it makes money and is certified internationally. Ground services is another business that has good potential as between April and June, MAS carried 4.2 million passengers – an increase from the 3.3 million in the same period last year. There is also potential to do ground handling for other airlines and it has the potential of being something like Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS).

And while cargo business may now be depressed, it is only a matter of time before it improves. The cargo division has often provided good returns for MAS.

"Is this exercise to help the new buyers asset-strip or help the airline solve its problems? That should be clearly spelt out if there is indeed a sale," said an expert.

Legacy consideration

MAS is no stranger when it comes to rescue attempts. Over the past decade, it has undergone restructuring and turnarounds, but the reality is that none seemed to have worked.

Airline experts say the reason why the airline keeps finding itself in financial trouble is because no one seems to be able to fix the basic problem – MAS spends more than it earns.

Being a national airline, it has commercial, policy and rural air services (RAS) routes to ply. It has to please the government and state governments by plying particular routes and destinations. Those are called policy routes and some of which are loss-making.

The net effect is that its commercial business has been subsidising the policy business. As far as RAS is concerned, it is vital rural routes that needs connectivity and that service is being fully subsidised by the government.

Being in a cyclical business, MAS like all airlines is susceptible to external changes, oil shocks and competition. As a result of such, plus the policy routes, its margins are razor thin at 2%, says an expert.

One big element missing from its balance sheet is boatload of cash, something Singapore Airlines and Emirates have.

The absence of which means that when there is an external issue affecting the industry, MAS slumps into the red and does not have huge reserves to ride out any eventualities.

The lack of large cash reserves also hinders MAS to upgrade its product offering over the years to stay ahead of the pack. SIA and Emirates upgrades its product offering periodically to stay as champions of the skies.

An old fleet MAS is dealing with results in huge maintenance bills. Supplies are also overpriced and the entry of new management seems to bloat the workforce. "Was there interest to address the root cause or just provide drips to keep it afloat all these years?" asks the expert.

The improvements

While the perception might be bleak for MAS, the reality may not be the case. Both the chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof and CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya have undertaken a financial restructuring to strengthen its balance sheet and to improve its operational efficiency.

MAS' net gearing ratio in the first quarter of 2012 was 6.1 times. That has dropped to 4.9 times for the first quarter of 2013 and for quarter two, the ratio has been reduced to 1.3 times.

That puts MAS in a better position to negotiate for aircraft purchases because banks will be willing to talk to them.

MAS has unearthed huge inventories for spares and that has since been addressed. Various contracts that were over-priced have also been renegotiated.

"Operationally they are positive but they still do not have the profits to show at this juncture," says the expert.

Maybank Investment Bank analyst Moshsin Aziz has a buy call on the stock and forecast a RM384mil core net profit for current financial year ending Dec, 31, 2013 and RM724mil next year. Last year, MAS reported a net loss of RM571mil. A year earlier, the loss was a staggering RM2.5bil.

The airline reported its highest ever load factor of 84.3% for June and that is a 7% growth from 2012.

"The A380 product is really attractive and we are getting the passenger loads, now it is about focusing on the yields," says a source.

But MAS is also blamed for dumping fares to get passengers for some routes and that explains why it is not getting the yields.

"Competition especially from AirAsia and Malindo is hurting and globally Emirates and SIA are big competitors that have routes, destinations and big bucks to change their product and appeal to suit the customers needs, MAS does not at this juncture have that," the source adds.

Still, the airline today is carrying 47,000 passengers every day from 10,000 in 2011 when Jauhari and Md Nor first came in. Last year, the daily number of passengers was 37,000.

MAS today flies 17% more flights per day, managing 340 flights per day that serves 60 destinations. The entry into oneworld is adding more passengers but yields are still depressed.

"With RM3bil cash in the bank, they are now in a position to talk to aircraft manufacturers for more planes and banks are willing to lend money for aircraft purchases. Two years ago, they could not even think ahead. Then they were bleeding cash no less than RM5mil a day and would have run out of cash in four months," said someone familiar with the airline.

MAS appears to be heading back into profitability but it will take more time. The issue is whether the Government will give Jauhari and Md Nor time to show what they can do or sell MAS?

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