Sabtu, 7 September 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro


20,000 rally in Phnom Penh

Posted:

PHNOM PENH: Thousands of Cambodians, many holding lotus flowers symbolising peace, joined a mass protest in the capital Phnom Penh in a last-ditch bid to challenge Prime Minister Hun Sen's disputed election win.

Around 20,000 demonstrators, some carrying placards and ribbons with "my vote, my life" written in Khmer, gathered in Democracy Park yesterday to demand a probe into allegations that voter fraud denied the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) victory in July's election.

The protest, which was one of the largest opposition demonstrations in recent years, comes as final results are expected to end the CNRP's legal options to overturn the result.

The CNRP has alleged widespread rigging in the election in which Hun Sen's long-ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) claimed victory.

epa03855492 Supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party raise their hands during a gathering in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 07 September 2013. Supporters of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) gathered to protest against the Cambodian National Election Committee (NEC), which will announce the official results of the fifth national assembly elections on 08 September. Rainsy has rejected the temporary results, which declared the ruling Cambodian People's Party as winner.  EPA/MAK REMISSA

Thousands of Cambodians, many holding lotus flowers symbolising peace, joined in the protest. — AFP

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy again rejected the polls result yesterday, vowing further peaceful demonstrations unless an independent probe into alleged voter fraud is called.

Opening his address to the colourful rally with a prayer, Rainsy said it was an "historic day" and called for "justice for the voters".

Rainsy, a French-educated former banker, was excluded from standing in the polls despite a recent pardon for criminal convictions that he maintains were politically motivated.

According to preliminary results from the National Election Commit­tee (NEC), the CPP won 3.2 million votes to the CNRP's 2.9 million.

The NEC is expected to rule that the CPP won the election when it declares the final results today.

The country's Constitutional Council said on Friday that it had reviewed the CNRP's complaints about the polls and had broadly rejected them.

The comments failed to deflate protesters who converged in the capital for several hours yesterday.

"I came to demand justice. Our votes have been stolen ... the victory of the people has been stolen," said Uy Sarouen, 54, in a frequently heard complaint.

Experts say the opposition's legal options are running out.

"The chances of the opposition succeeding in its demands are proportional to the number of supporters joining the demonstration," independent political analyst Lao Mong Hay said before the rally. — AFP

Jailed for graffiti mischief

Posted:

HE had sprayed the word "Anarchy" at the inline skating park in Bishan with a circle around the first letter of the word.

Muhammad Ashraf Alias, 29, told police that this was a symbol that meant "to destroy everything".

He also admitted that he "hated everything in life" and that he "felt good" in committing mischief.

In a district court on Friday, the former dishwasher changed his tune and said that he regretted his actions.

He pleaded guilty and was jailed for three-and-a-half-months.

He had sprayed the graffiti at the Bishan Harmony Park at 8.45pm on June 8.

He then went to the street soccer court at Ang Mo Kio Avenue1.

There, he wrapped newspaper around the can of spray paint that he had used earlier and set fire to it in a rubbish bin.

The next day, he was back for more mischief-making.

A jogger saw him spraying graffiti at the soccer court and called the police.

There was also a smouldering rubbish bin nearby.

On seeing the police, Muhammad Ashraf tried to flee on his bicycle but was nabbed after a short chase.

He also admitted to police to finding and misappropriating a wallet at Tai Seng MRT station in early June and spending the S$20 (RM51.50) contained in it.

A report from the Institute of Mental Health stated that Muhammad Ashraf knew it was wrong to commit these acts.

He said that he wanted attention and for "his voice to be heard".

The report further stated that he was not of unsound mind and that he was fit to enter a plea.

He could have been jailed for up to a year and fined for each act of mischief. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

McDonald’s: No lizard, burger is 100% chicken

Posted:

PRELIMINARY laboratory test results have indicated that a McDonald's Sausage McMuffin burger which allegedly contained a lizard is "100% chicken".

A photo of the half-eaten burger with what looks like a lizard tail sticking out of it went viral on the Internet this week, but the fast-food chain said yesterday that it was actually a chicken's blood vein.

"The vein is white in colour because of the halal slaughtering process, where blood had to be drained," said McDonald's senior communications manager Kevin Lim.

Food that is labelled halal is prepared in compliance with Islamic rules.

Lim added that the laboratory report has been shared with relevant authorities such as the National Environment Agency.

The restaurant's chicken sausage patties are made from minced dark and white chicken meat that is imported from Malaysia.

"We have also traced back the product's production process and no product from the same batch had any quality issues reported," he said.

"Please rest assured that we make no compromises when it comes to the safety of our food."

The Straits Times reported on Friday that McDonald's had collected the half-eaten burger from the customer who posted the photo on Facebook.

The sample was then sent to a laboratory for testing.

The customer, known only as Sandy Sand on her Facebook page, had said that the burger was bought from the Ang Mo Kio drive-through branch when she posted it at noon on Wednesday.

McDonald's later issued an apology for her experience. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio


Whereabouts: KNOWN

Posted:

The X-Files may have long left the screen, but its players still make their presence very much felt on TV and at the movies.

David Duchovny (Agent Fox Mulder): Won another Golden Globe (as he did when playing Fox Mulder) for his role as troubled novelist Hank Moody on the comedy-drama Californication, which began in 2006 and is still running. How long can a case of writer's block last? Well, about as long as an obsession with finding out the truth, apparently.

Gillian Anderson (Agent Dana Scully): Plays senior police officer Stella Gibson on The Fall, a British TV show in which she investigates a series of murders in Belfast. BBC has renewed the show for a second season, most like to be aired next year. Plus, her years as long-suffering partner to Mulder must have prepared her for her other current recurring role – that of Bedelia Du Maurier, psychotherapist to Hannibal.

Chris Carter (series creator): After X-Files: I Want To Believe divided fans in 2008, series creator Carter went on to write and direct a film entitled Fencewalker which is still listed on IMDb as being in post-production (for three years?). It stars Katie Cassidy (Supernatural's Ruby), DB Sweeney (who appeared in the short-lived Carter series Harsh Realm) and Game Of Thrones hottie Natalie Dormer. While fan speculation has been intense that this could be the third X-Files film being made under tight secrecy, some film news sites say it is just a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story with no supernatural elements. Still ... where the heck is it?

William B. Davis (Cancer Man / The Smoking Man): Davis has been showing up in some really ... uneven SyFy original monster flicks like Behemoth which was about a giant creature sleeping under the Earth's surface. And there's Stonados which is due this month. Hint: if Sharknado was about a tornado that dropped sharks on people, you can figure out this one is about a tornado that drops ... stones (very large ones) on people. Genre respectability restored: Davis is quite cleverly cast as the older Alec Sadler on the quite good Canadian sci-fi action series Continuum. The younger Sadler is played by Erik Knudsen, who does look like someone who'll age into William B. Davis.

Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood and Dean Haglund (Byers, Frohike and Langley – The Lone Gunmen): It's almost conspiracy theory fodder the way these guys haven't been seen all that much since. Harwood has done numerous guest shots on shows like Smallville, Supernatural and Emily Owens, MD. Braidwood keeps busy with behind-the-scenes work as second unit director and assistant director (he worked on I Want To Believe in that capacity). Haglund still does some genre work, was in the 2010 Bones episode The X In The File, and hosted the 2011 documentary The Truth Is Out There about, what else, conspiracy theories.

Mitch Pileggi (FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner): The most high-profile genre TV appearance he's made in the last couple of years has got to be as Sam and Dean Winchester's maternal grandfather on Supernatural Season Six; in the "mundane" world he has had a recurring role on Grey's Anatomy and, most recently, as Harris Ryland on the Dallas revival. Pileggi was also in a really heart-rending fourth-season episode of Criminal Minds in which he played a serial killer known as the Road Warrior.

Nicholas Lea (Alex Krycek): The creepy Syndicate agent last seen on the show as a ghost. Lea had regular roles on series like Men In Trees, Kyle XY and V, and lately he's been seen on The Killing and also Continuum as "Agent Gardiner".

Robert Patrick (Agent John Doggett): He "replaced" Mulder in Season Eight after the latter went missing. Patrick was most recently seen as Master Chief on the short-lived TV series Last Resort, as the gunslinging G-man Max Kennard in Gangster Squad and as former werewolf packmaster Jackson Herveaux on True Blood.

Glen Morgan and James Wong (writers/producers): This dynamite writing team departed The X-Files partway through to work on Space: Above And Beyond (which didn't last very long), . They found greater success co-creating the Final Destination franchise, and their involvement lasted until the third film in the series. Morgan was also executive producer on the short-lived genre shows Bionic Woman and last year's The River. Wong is exec producer on American Horror Story, now about to go into its third season. He also directed Dragonball Evolution, but let's not judge; it was Jamie Chung's big movie break after all.

David Nutter (director): He directed 15 episodes of The X-Files, including one of the very best, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose. Nutter has been really busy, mostly with TV work (The Pacific, Entourage, the pilot for Arrow and the upcoming Flash). Just this year, he gave us The Rains Of Castamere episode of Game Of Thrones. You know, the infamous Red Wedding episode that made fans tear their clothes, rip out their hair and wander sobbing through the streets. Winter has come ....

Annabeth Gish (Agent Monica Reyes): Agent Reyes, who has a professional history with Doggett, was introduced in Season Eight and became a major character in the ninth and final season. Her most recent roles are as Dr Anne Sullivan on Pretty Little Liars and Charlotte Millwright on The Bridge.

Darin Morgan (editor/writer/creature performer): Story editor on the show in 1995-96 and writer of some of its best episodes (he was also the Flukeman in The Host and the janitor with the tail in Small Potatoes), Morgan has since served as consulting producer on the Night Stalker and Bionic Woman revivals, and Fringe. We really wish he would write more. His handful of ­X-Files episodes were some of its best: Clyde Bruckman, Jose Chung's From Outer Space, Humbug and War Of The Coprophages.

Frank Spotnitz (producer): One of the show's longest-serving producers/executive producers, Spotnitz's most recent producing work is the TV spy thriller series Hunted, starring Melissa George. and Strike Back, the Brit show about British Intelligence's secretive "Section 20" unit.

Vince Gilligan (consulting producer, writer of 27 episodes, producer, executive producer): Gilligan's output for the series included the Emmy-nominated Memento Mori, Pusher, Soft Light and Leonard Betts. In 2008, he co-wrote the offbeat superhero flick Hancock. His latest output? Two words: Breaking Bad.

Rob Bowman (producer/director): Bowman probably directed the most episodes of the show (33!) and is still busy, these days with a certain writer/"consulting detective" named Castle. As of that show's fifth season, he's executive-produced 88 episodes and directed 18.

Mark Snow (composer): The X-Files just wouldn't be what it is today without Snow's instantly recognisable theme. His compositions have been heard on numerous other series since, including Smallville, Ghost Whisperer, Ringers and Blue Bloods. – DA

Related stories:

The XFiles turns 20

The truth is still out there

Monsters or messengers

Favourite moments

They were all on XFiles really

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews


Dwayne Johnson as the Fall Guy?

Posted:

The Rock may team up with filmmaker McG on the big-screen version of The Fall Guy.

A big-screen version of the hit 1980 TV show The Fall Guy is coming together with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to star and McG directing.

Both are are negotiating to come aboard the project, which will be financed by Ashok Amritrage's Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE Entertainment, a source close to the project told TheWrap on Thursday.

Amritrage would produce along with Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, who own the rights to the show, and WWE's Michael Luisi. McG may also produce.

The Fall Guy was a TV show that starred Lee Majors as a stunt man who did bounty hunter work on the side, utilising his Hollywood skills. It ran on ABC from 1981 to 1986.

Warner Bros and DreamWorks have both considered projects based on the show in past years, with Nicolas Cage considered for the lead role. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report the news out of Toronto, Canada, where the project is being shopped. — Reuters

Vin Diesel promotes 'Riddick' on Facebook

Posted:

The actor-producer is loving his latest sci-fi action film's box-office prospects.

Vin Diesel's sci-fi action film Riddick opens in Malaysia today, and make no mistake – this is his movie.

It will be No.1 – it's the week's only wide release and is projected to come in north of US$20mil (RM64mil) in the US alone – and it has his imprint all over it.

Diesel secured the rights from Universal (in exchange for a cameo in Fast And Furious), sought out the financing to get the film made and dominates the screen as the intergalactic alien anti-hero with the see-in-the-dark peepers.

On top of that, he's doing a heck of a job of marketing it on Facebook (www.facebook.com/VinDiesel), where he's been pushing Riddick for months to his more than 46 million followers. That's about as built-in a fan base as you could hope for.

"I don't know that there's any actor out there doing what he is in that space," said Boxoffice.com editor-in-chief Phil Contrino. "I think it was directly responsible for getting Riddick made, in that it enabled to show potential backers that there was real and solid support for the project. And I think it had a lot do with making the Fast & Furious movies as strong as they've been, too," Contrino said.

"He's really good at it, and by directly interacting with fans on these movies it makes them feel as if they have a stake in their success, so of course they're going to go see them."

Vin Diesel reprises his role as the inter-galactic anti-hero alien, in the latest sci-fi film Riddick.

The critics are lukewarm on the R-rated space odyssey, which has a middling 63% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But it doesn't take night vision to see that if 6% of Diesel's 46 million Facebook fans turn out for Riddick in its first weekend – it should wind up with around US$23mil (RM73.6mil).

The studio is more conservative with its estimate, and has it in roughly 2,800 theatres in the US.

Riddick is the third film in the futuristic series that began with Pitch Black back in 2000. Written and directed by David Twohy and produced by Ted Field, it proved a breakout role for the then-36-year-old Diesel. Made for US$23mil, it took in US$39mil (RM125mil) domestically for Universal before going on to a very healthy after-life on DVD. Buoyed by that success, the studio bet big – as in a US$105mil (RM336mil) production budget – on the second film, 2004's The Chronicles Of Riddick.

But it was a disappointment at the box office, topping out at US$115mil (RM368mil) worldwide.

Diesel was determined to make a third film about the ex-con survivor of the planet Furya, but Universal wasn't interested. They did want him for the Fast And Furious movies however, and asked him to do a cameo in its third instalment, Tokyo Drift. He agreed, on the condition that he could have the rights to the Riddick character.

With those in hand, he and Twohy set out to finance it independently and did, primarily through selling off foreign rights. When they came back to the US looking for a distribution partner, Universal decided they wanted to get back in the business with the star that had done so much for the cops-and-criminals franchise. The studio only has US rights. The foreign returns – which should be significant since the Fast franchise has made Diesel far more well-known internationally since the first two Riddick films – will be split among a number of distributors. — Reuters

Related story:

The basics of being Riddick

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz


Dwayne Johnson as the Fall Guy?

Posted:

The Rock may team up with filmmaker McG on the big-screen version of The Fall Guy.

A big-screen version of the hit 1980 TV show The Fall Guy is coming together with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to star and McG directing.

Both are are negotiating to come aboard the project, which will be financed by Ashok Amritrage's Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE Entertainment, a source close to the project told TheWrap on Thursday.

Amritrage would produce along with Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, who own the rights to the show, and WWE's Michael Luisi. McG may also produce.

The Fall Guy was a TV show that starred Lee Majors as a stunt man who did bounty hunter work on the side, utilising his Hollywood skills. It ran on ABC from 1981 to 1986.

Warner Bros and DreamWorks have both considered projects based on the show in past years, with Nicolas Cage considered for the lead role. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report the news out of Toronto, Canada, where the project is being shopped. — Reuters

Vin Diesel promotes 'Riddick' on Facebook

Posted:

The actor-producer is loving his latest sci-fi action film's box-office prospects.

Vin Diesel's sci-fi action film Riddick opens in Malaysia today, and make no mistake – this is his movie.

It will be No.1 – it's the week's only wide release and is projected to come in north of US$20mil (RM64mil) in the US alone – and it has his imprint all over it.

Diesel secured the rights from Universal (in exchange for a cameo in Fast And Furious), sought out the financing to get the film made and dominates the screen as the intergalactic alien anti-hero with the see-in-the-dark peepers.

On top of that, he's doing a heck of a job of marketing it on Facebook (www.facebook.com/VinDiesel), where he's been pushing Riddick for months to his more than 46 million followers. That's about as built-in a fan base as you could hope for.

"I don't know that there's any actor out there doing what he is in that space," said Boxoffice.com editor-in-chief Phil Contrino. "I think it was directly responsible for getting Riddick made, in that it enabled to show potential backers that there was real and solid support for the project. And I think it had a lot do with making the Fast & Furious movies as strong as they've been, too," Contrino said.

"He's really good at it, and by directly interacting with fans on these movies it makes them feel as if they have a stake in their success, so of course they're going to go see them."

Vin Diesel reprises his role as the inter-galactic anti-hero alien, in the latest sci-fi film Riddick.

The critics are lukewarm on the R-rated space odyssey, which has a middling 63% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But it doesn't take night vision to see that if 6% of Diesel's 46 million Facebook fans turn out for Riddick in its first weekend – it should wind up with around US$23mil (RM73.6mil).

The studio is more conservative with its estimate, and has it in roughly 2,800 theatres in the US.

Riddick is the third film in the futuristic series that began with Pitch Black back in 2000. Written and directed by David Twohy and produced by Ted Field, it proved a breakout role for the then-36-year-old Diesel. Made for US$23mil, it took in US$39mil (RM125mil) domestically for Universal before going on to a very healthy after-life on DVD. Buoyed by that success, the studio bet big – as in a US$105mil (RM336mil) production budget – on the second film, 2004's The Chronicles Of Riddick.

But it was a disappointment at the box office, topping out at US$115mil (RM368mil) worldwide.

Diesel was determined to make a third film about the ex-con survivor of the planet Furya, but Universal wasn't interested. They did want him for the Fast And Furious movies however, and asked him to do a cameo in its third instalment, Tokyo Drift. He agreed, on the condition that he could have the rights to the Riddick character.

With those in hand, he and Twohy set out to finance it independently and did, primarily through selling off foreign rights. When they came back to the US looking for a distribution partner, Universal decided they wanted to get back in the business with the star that had done so much for the cops-and-criminals franchise. The studio only has US rights. The foreign returns – which should be significant since the Fast franchise has made Diesel far more well-known internationally since the first two Riddick films – will be split among a number of distributors. — Reuters

Related story:

The basics of being Riddick

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates


Kerry delivers a love letter to France, in French

Posted:

PARIS (Reuters) - French, it is said, is the language of love.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flaunted his fluency in the language on Saturday to deliver something of a love letter to France, one of the few world powers that seems likely to join the United States in any military action against Syria.

Following the British parliament's August 29 vote to reject any British use of force against Syria, which the United States accuses of gassing its own people with sarin, France has made no secret of its desire to play Washington's supporting partner.

Speaking in French for eight minutes beneath the gold-painted cherubs of one of the Quai d'Orsay's elegant salons, Kerry traced the history of U.S.-French relations beginning from the American Revolution, while glossing over their many tiffs.

"When he visited General de Gaulle in Paris more than 50 years ago, President Kennedy said, and I quote, 'The relationship between France and the United States is crucially important for the preservation of liberty in the whole world,'" Kerry said.

"Today, faced with the brutal chemical weapons attacks in Syria, that relationship evoked by President Kennedy is more crucial than ever," he added.

Not to be outdone, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius broke a taboo by speaking in English at a news conference in the Foreign Ministry's elegant building on the banks of the Seine, where he once chided a reporter, "Here, sir, we speak French."

While Kerry's performance might be seen as flattering a French government that is one of the few to back U.S. President Barack Obama's call for air strikes to deter Syria from using chemical arms, it may help convince a sceptical French public.

An IFOP poll published on Saturday showed 68 percent of French were against an intervention in Syria.

France took no part in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which it strongly opposed, but joined the United States, Britain and others in a military intervention that helped oust Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

POLITICAL LIABILITY, DIPLOMATIC ASSET

Kerry, who learned French as a boy, found his fluency a liability during his 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, feeding an image of the Democrat as a wealthy elitist that his Republican opponent, then-President George W. Bush, exploited.

As a diplomat, however, it is an asset, allowing him to speak directly to the French about their unhappy history with chemical warfare during World War One as one reason why the French government is sensitive to its alleged use in Syria.

"Some of the very first lethal chemical weapons attacks happened here, on French soil, during the First World War and a large number of these victims of these deadly, indiscriminate weapons were young French soldiers, just 19 or 20 years old," he said.

Fabius, an experienced politician best known for having been France's youngest prime minister, showed a rare moment of intensity and outrage about an August 21 attack in Syria in which the Syrian government is accused of using sarin gas.

Syria, embroiled in a 2-1/2-year-old civil war in which more than 100,000 are believed to have died, denies that.

"You have to look at the images of these children in rows with the shrouds over them, not an injury, not a drop of blood? And they are there and they are sleeping forever," Fabius said, visibly shaken.

"There's a dictator who did it and is ready to start again," he said gesticulating with his fists. "This concerns us, too. You can't say that globalization is everywhere except for terrorism and chemical weapons."

As if to underscore their countries' ties, Kerry and Fabius went for a walk outside the Foreign Ministry on a pleasant Paris evening, where, later, the sky to the west was lit with gold and to the east by a rainbow.

"France and the United States stand shoulder to shoulder. Some ask why? Just look at history. Each time that the cause is just, France and the United States stand together," Fabius said.

"We are exceedingly grateful to have France by our side," said Kerry.

(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Ousted Nasheed faces Maldives run-off after split poll results

Posted:

MALE (Reuters) - Former Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed will face a run-off election on September 28 after his win in the presidential poll ended without a majority, provisional results showed on Sunday, nearly 20 months after his removal ignited months of unrest.

Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected president, was forced from office in February 2012 in what his supporters call a coup. The turmoil tarnished the Indian Ocean archipelago's image as a tropical holiday paradise.

Nasheed, running against three rivals, had secured 45.45 percent of the total polled, according to the early results, Election Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told reporters.

He missed a required majority of 50 percent, as the votes were split among the other three contenders.

Nasheed's main rival, Abdulla Yameen, a half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled for 30 years and was considered a dictator by opponents and rights groups, polled 25.35 percent, the preliminary results showed.

Gasim Ibrahim, a resort tycoon, media business owner and formerly a finance minister under Gayoom, secured 24.07 percent, while Nasheed's successor and incumbent leader Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik performed the worst, with just 5.13 percent.

Nasheed and Yameen will face each other in a run-off election on September 28, the election commissioner confirmed.

The election commission will release final results of the first round on September 14, Thowfeek said.

"Any boxes needed to be recounted will be recounted within this time and if required, make adjustments. Counting will be done in the presence of observers and representatives of candidates," he said.

Transparency Maldives, which deployed 400 observers to monitor the poll, said it was "largely peaceful", except for a few minor counting disputes.

"The incidents that have happened on election day will not have a material impact on the outcome," said Aiman Rasheed, an official of Transparency Maldives.

RUN-OFF FOR SECOND TIME

Nasheed unseated Gayoom in a run-off election in 2008.

Critical challenges facing the next president include a rise in Islamist ideology, human rights abuses and lack of investor confidence after Waheed's government cancelled the country's biggest foreign investment project with India's GMR Infrastructure.

Mohamed Aslam, a senior member of Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and a former minister of housing and environment, said his party did not get the votes it expected in Male, the capital, and one of Nasheed's strongholds.

Analysts and human rights defenders say the Maldives has been in limbo since Nasheed's resignation, prompting a voter turnout of 88 percent, up from 85 percent in the 2008 vote.

"I've been waiting 19 months for this day. So I got here as early as I could. It's my way of standing up against the coup," said voter Ismail Shiyaz, 39, a supporter of Nasheed.

Others, like Rooya Hussain, were less certain.

"I don't think any of these candidates are suitable," she said. "However, I cast a valid vote for one of them. Let's see if this brings any change for the better."

Nasheed said earlier he had support in the ranks of the military and police, expressing confidence he would get half the vote to win in the first round.

"Voting today is significant because we are going to establish a legitimate government," Nasheed said soon after he voted.

Nasheed was forced to resign in 2012 after mutinying police and military forces armed opposition demonstrators and gave him an ultimatum.

His removal sparked unruly protests by his supporters and a heavy-handed police crackdown, pushing the country into crisis. A Commonwealth-backed commission of inquiry later concluded that his removal did not constitute a coup.

The Maldives, a sultanate for almost nine centuries before becoming a British protectorate, held its first fully democratic vote in 2008 with Nasheed defeating Gayoom, an autocrat who was then Asia's longest-serving leader.

(Additional reporting and writing by Shihar Aneez in Colombo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Egypt army attacks Sinai Islamists as militancy spreads

Posted:

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian army launched an attack against Islamist militants in North Sinai on Saturday, killing at least nine people, security officials said.

Two Egyptian soldiers were killed late on Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated in a road in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid near the border with the Gaza Strip, security sources said.

Radical Islamists in the rugged desert region adjoining Israel, who expanded into a security vacuum left by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, have been staging almost daily assaults on security forces and other targets.

Dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles backed by attack helicopters were used earlier in Saturday's operation near Sheikh Zuweid, a few kilometres (miles) from the Palestinian Gaza Strip, security sources said.

The army said nine militants had been arrested.

Since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3, and especially since security forces killed hundreds of Islamists when they smashed protest camps in Cairo on August 14, there have been online calls from Islamist radicals for wider attacks on the state.

Egyptian memories of an Islamist insurgency in the 1990s were revived on Thursday when a suicide bomber blew up a car bomb next to the interior minister's convoy in Cairo.

A week ago, militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at a ship passing through the Suez Canal on the Sinai's western edge, vital to world trade as well as Egypt's depleted state finances.

On Saturday, a bomb exploded at a Cairo police station for the second time in less than a week, state media said, although no one was hurt.

In addition, explosives were found on the railway line between the cities of Suez and Ismailia along the Suez Canal, but defused before they could do damage, according to the state news agency MENA.

No one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks, although a video apparently of the Suez attack was posted on YouTube with an Islamist logo.

But the army-backed rulers have incensed Islamists inside Egypt and abroad with their violent crackdown on Mursi's Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, most of whose top leaders have been arrested and accused of terrorism or inciting violence.

The Brotherhood, sworn to peaceful resistance, dismisses the accusations as a pretext for the crackdown by a "putschist regime", and has defied the crackdown to bring thousands onto the streets across Egypt three times in eight days.

NEW TARGETS

The military-backed government now also appears to be turning its sights on other groups - opposed to the Islamists - who helped topple Mubarak in 2011 hoping to establish an open civilian democracy in Egypt.

A judicial source said the public prosecutor was examining complaints from private citizens against 35 prominent democracy and rights activists, many of them important players in the 2011 uprising.

They include activist Ahmed Maher, blogger Ahmed Douma and liberal politician Amr Hamzawi, the judicial source said.

Such prosecutions have long been seen as a tool of political intimidation in Egypt and are often instigated by supporters of the government. Liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei, who was deputy president in the interim government before resigning, has been targeted in a similar case.

The latest complaints accuse activists of accepting money from the United States and other countries, the source said.

Hamzawi said on Twitter that "claims that I got foreign money are completely untrue, the campaign of fabrication and distortion must immediately stop".

"These are fake accusations," rights lawyer Gamal Eid told Reuters. "(The complaint) is from people who know that it is false but who try to silence activists' demands for the realisation of the demands of the revolution."

The prosecutor's office was not available for comment on the issue.

Separately, a leftist lawyer accused of belonging to a secret organisation and spreading lies about the military appeared before military prosecutors in Suez, but was later released, judicial sources said.

Haitham Mohamedeen, a rights activist who belongs to the Revolutionary Socialist movement, a group critical of the army, had been arrested in Suez on Thursday. It was not clear whether the case against him had been dropped.

Egyptian journalist Ahmed Abu Deraa also remained in detention after his arrest in North Sinai on Wednesday.

The military prosecutor accused him of spreading lies and giving military information to secret organisations, a source at the prosecutor's office said.

"The detention of Ahmed Abu Deraa harks back to the Mubarak era, when journalists faced formidable obstacles reporting on military activity in the Sinai peninsula," said Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

(Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Developer outlook positive, landed property dwindling

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KUALA LUMPUR: Property prices are not getting cheaper, sales remain robust, locals far outstrip foreigners in purchases, and the number of landed property coming on the market is declining as strata properties trend upwards – these are some of the patterns revealed by a survey of the first six months of 2013 by the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) indicated.

According to the survey, which saw the participation of 150 out of the 1,030 Rehda members, 59% of respondents reported similar or improved sales in the first of 2013 compared to the second half of 2012.

The outlook for the second half is also positive, with more respondents launching projects and more units being launched.

While the first six months saw a total of 10,985 units of property launched, the following six will see the number climbing to 18,181 units.

 

POPULARITY & TRENDS

The most popular areas in the Klang Valley are 1) Puchong, 2) Cheras, 3) Kota Damansara, 4) KLCC, and 5) Shah Alam.

The Top 3 residential units by type were 1) 2-3-storey terrace houses (3,104 units), 2) serviced apartments (2,208), and 3) condominium/ apartments (1,863). However, condos/apartments (6,689) will nudge terrace houses (2,920) to second place in the second half, with serviced apartments in third (2,436).

In terms of trends, the penchant right now is for 1) properties with smaller, affordable units, 2) more green features in housing, 3) higher density of high-rise development, and 4) niche developments with multi-use zones.

PRICE

What's not so great news, especially to prospective first-time residential property buyers, is that the prices most popular among developers in the period surveyed were in the RM500,000-RM1mil price range (47% of developers sampled), above RM1.5mil (11%) and RM350,000-RM500,000 (11%).

And this was before the recent 20 sen fuel price hike, which developers say will likely contribute to pushing prices up by at least 10%. They had already reported rising costs from building materials becoming more expensive, labour shortage and wages.

While the percentage of developers selling residential properties in the RM250,000-RM500,000 price range hovered at around 40% from the second half of 2011 through to the second half of 2012, it was at only 23% in the first half of this year. It is, however, anticipated to inch slightly higher to 25% in the second half.

The majority of properties launched in the period surveyed were priced at around RM500,000-RM1mil throughout the Peninsula, with Kelantan and Perak being the exception.

Perak had four developers launching property in the RM250,000-RM350,000 range; Kelantan saw four who launched property below RM250,000. This pattern will, more or less, hold in the second half.

The most popular commercial properties among the developers are in the RM500,000-RM1mil range – 43% of the developers offered such property in the first half, with 50% expected in the second half.

On a brighter note, the percentage of developers that is expected to increase prices in the second half dropped to 45% from 69%.

BUYERS 

Some 41% of developers reported that half of their buyers were first-time homeowners.

Local buyers outnumbered foreign buyers at 95% against 5%. These locals bought predominantly for the purpose of self-dwelling (62%), followed by for investment (28%), for family members (7%) and for rental yield (35%).

Some 55% of the developers reported unsold units, with 16% saying their cash flow were severely impacted as a result. These are the ones who had upwards of 21% unsold units, all the way to above 50%.

The reason cited: unreleased bumiputera lots (30% respondents), low demand (20%) and odd units (15%).

Also, 49% of the developers said they had unsold units above RM500,000 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

On the whole, developers expressed optimism on the outlook of the housing industry and the property market.

Classic Ferraris, Bentleys soar in value as gold price sinks

Posted:

LONDON: Classic cars such as Ferraris, Bugattis and Bentleys soared by 28 percent in value in the year to June, outstripping gold, art and luxury London property thanks to rising demand from wealthy Asians.

Property consultancy Knight Frank, which publishes an index tracking the performance of luxury goods, said the world's wealthy were putting more money into tangible items that they could enjoy as the world economy looks to be recovering.

In July, a rare 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 in which five-time Formula 1 World Champion driver Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina won two grands prix, was sold at auction for 19.6 million pounds ($30.6 million), making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction.

"It's an asset class that's very rare and it's very aspirational," said Andrew Shirley, editor of the report. "A lot of Asian high net worth individuals have acquired classic cars...They keep them in their garage in the UK or Europe and they come over and drive them in rallies."

This is in stark contrast to gold, seen as a safe haven investment in difficult periods, whose value has slumped by 23 percent over the same period following a 12-year bull run.

"The thing about gold is that it's tangible in the sense it's a physical thing but there's no great enjoyment to be had from gold...Whereas a classic car, it's still a safe haven play but it's something you're going to enjoy," Shirley said.

After classic cars, the next biggest gainers in the index were coins and stamps, up 9 and 7 percent respectively. Art, which had surged in value in the run-up to the credit crunch, fell 6 percent over the period as buyers become more cautious and selective, he said. - Reuters

Wall St Week Ahead: Markets could turn choppy as Fed, Syria risks mount

Posted:

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks could be in for a jolt of volatility in the week ahead as Congress debates whether to authorize a military strike against Syria and as the Federal Reserve's pivotal decision on winding down its stimulus grows near.

U.S. equity markets have remained on a relatively even keel recently even as others such as U.S. Treasuries and emerging markets have been roiled by worries over what the Fed is likely to do at its meeting later this month and by the Obama administration's campaign to punish Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack against civilians.

After falling 3.1 percent in August, the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 rebounded by 1.4 percent in the first week of September. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.76 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained nearly 2 percent.

The CBOE's Volatility Index, or VIX, a proxy for investor anxiety, fell 7 percent for the week, its largest weekly decline since mid-July. Its closing level of 15.85 on Friday was near a two-week low, and the so-called "fear gauge" is within a point of its average level for the past year, so it is far from elevated.

Still, President Obama's efforts to convince reluctant lawmakers to back his request for a military strike could get the volatility needles rising. A Senate vote is likely to come next week.

"Next week has the potential to see increased volatility and perhaps a jump in the VIX," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York, with $1.5 billion in assets.

The worry for investors would be if a U.S.-led military strike against Syria escalates into a prolonged conflict, Ghriskey said. That could be negative for stocks.

"The market will be very susceptible to rumor," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. "The worry is that a surgical strike suddenly changes and becomes a bigger, wider event."

The fact that the congressional debate over Syria comes on the effective eve of the Fed's key meeting won't help Wall Street's mood. The central bank's policy-setting committee meets on Sept. 17 and 18 and is expected to announced a reduction, or "tapering," of the pace of its $85 billion a month in bond purchases that have been instrumental in supporting asset prices over the past year.The S&P 500 is up 16.1 percent this year.

"If the Fed does taper, it becomes a double whammy," Ghriskey said.

If that weren't enough, the question of just who will lead the Fed after Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down early next year also creates uncertainty for investors, not to mention another possible showdown between the White House and Congress over the federal budget and debt ceiling.

Taken together, these factors could be the mix needed to spur what many strategists argue is a long-overdue pullback in stock prices.

"We're poised for the long-awaited correction," said Margaret Patel, senior portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management. The S&P has not experienced a 10 percent slide, the threshold for a technical correction, in more than two years.

LACK OF DIRECTION

Outflows from stock funds in the past three weeks may be another sign that investors are growing wary of U.S. stocks.

Investors have pulled $15.3 billion out of stock funds in the past three weeks, the most over any comparable stretch since August 2011. About $3 billion was pulled from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500, marking the largest outflows from any exchange-traded fund in the weekly period ended Sept. 4.

Those outflows suggest investors are "concerned about the future direction of equity markets," said Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Americas research at Lipper.

"Our sense is just that money is moving onto the sidelines" said Temple of Pioneer Investments.

The week ahead is relatively light by way of economic data, with the biggest scheduled release being retail sales for August, due on Friday. The Reuters consensus forecast calls for an increase of 0.4 percent from July.

The earnings calendar is also thin, with just two notable names on the docket: apparel company Phillips-Van Heusen Corp on Monday and grocer Kroger Co on Thursday. - Reuters

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Jennifer Hudson tackles role of Winnie Mandela

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The singer-actress plays the former South African first lady in new biopic.

For Oscar and Grammy-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson, the decision to play anti-apartheid activist Winnie Mandela in her first lead role was no easy matter, especially when she saw what the former South African first lady meant to the nation.

In the biopic Winnie Mandela, which opens in US theatres today, Hudson plays the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela from the time she met him as a young woman, through decades as the public face for her imprisoned husband's fight against white rule.

The film also depicts Winnie Mandela's fall from grace when she is embroiled in murder and human rights violations before her husband is released from prison after 27 years in 1990 and goes on to become South Africa's first black president.

"It was very intimidating for me, actually," said Hudson, who came to understand the pressure of her role when she arrived in South Africa and heard people talk about Winnie Mandela.

"This is something they clearly treasure and take very seriously," she added. "I thought if I am going to do this I have to be all in. I thought maybe I should go home. And then I thought, this is a story that I would want to be a part of and tell."

Jennifer Hudson spent four months filming in Africa.

Hudson, 31, plays opposite fellow Chicagoan Terrence Howard in the role of Nelson Mandela.

She spent four months in Africa for the film, which was shot in 2011 by South African director Darrell Roodt.

"I had to lose weight for the film and also learn the accent," said Hudson. "Everyone was worried about the physical. I was like, I am not worried about the losing weight part. I am more concerned with the accent."

To conquer the accent, she immersed herself in the South African culture and spent time where the Mandelas lived "just to be absorbed by their surroundings". She knew she was on a good path when South Africans thought they were seeing Jennifer Hudson, but then heard her Winnie accent and decided it was not the actress and singer who rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on American Idol.

On the physical side, Hudson undergoes a transformation to portray Winnie Mandela's own imprisonment, in which she becomes a bloated and disfigured woman spending months in solitary confinement and even talking to insects.

Hudson, who won best supporting actress in 2007 for her role as Essie in Dreamgirls, said Winnie Mandela is "a huge role" in her career and shows how far she can stretch from her roots as a musical actress. It also conveys Hudson's ability to age on screen, portraying Winnie Mandela over some 50 years.

No doubt, Hudson's role will be compared to another performance of Winnie Mandela, that of the British actress Naomie Harris in the upcoming biopic on Nelson Mandela Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.

Hudson said she was looking forward to Harris' on-screen portrayal. While Winnie Mandela continues to be one of the most complex and polarizing public personalities in South Africa today – admired by her supporters and vilified by opponents – Hudson said she didn't want to be judgmental of the woman who became known as "the mother of the nation" in her portrayal.

"There are two sides to every story. I thought let's tell the story and let people judge from there," she said. After a spate of film projects last year, Hudson said she is focusing more on music right now and mulling a tour. She has three other films coming out, including the gospel musical Black Nativity later this year in which she stars alongside Forrest Whitaker.

When she returns to film, Hudson said she'd like to do some comedy. The film role that she really covets is playing singer Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul". — Reuters

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Ku Li mum on whether he'll make a bid for top Umno post

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KUALA LUMPUR: Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah continues to keep everyone guessing on whether he will take on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for the Umno presidency.

The 76-year-old former Finance Minister yesterday dodged repeated questions on whether he was considering going for the party's number one job.

"People are speculating. But I have not yet made a decision and that is the bottom line," the Gua Musang MP and Umno division chief said at his house.

More than 30 reporters turned up for the press conference at his white-walled residence known as the "White House" located in the city's posh embassy enclave.

All came expecting the Kelantan prince to announce his presidential candidacy but failed to get any clear answers from him.

Expressing surprise at the large turnout, Tengku Razaleigh said he had called for the press conference due to numerous requests for his views on Umno's new election system.

This explanation did not deter the media who immediately asked him whether he would defend his division chief post and vie for a top party leadership job as well.

"The intention is there to contest a low-level position. If I say no to that then it would not be true, but (for a higher position) I have not made up my mind.

Tengku Razaleigh holds the record as the country's longest serving MP and Umno division chief but is best known for almost unseating Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Umno president in the 1987 party election where he lost by 43 votes.

It was the first of several attempts by Tengku Razaleigh to bid for the party presidency.

First elected as an MP in 1969, Tengku Razaleigh was Kelantan Umno chief for 12 years from 1972 to 1984 and party vice-president between 1973 and 1981.

He set up the splinter Semangat 46 party in 1988 but dissolved it in 1996 to rejoin Umno.

Pestered to confirm his candidacy even after he ended the press conference, the veteran Umno politician said: "I know what you are trying to do but you must remember that I have been in this 'game' for a long time."

'Disappointed' Musa leaves MyWatch

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pic), who has left as patron of crime watchdog group MyWatch, has told his former colleagues that he was disappointed over the misuse of the NGO by "certain people".

MyWatch adviser S. Gobi Krishnan said Musa left after learning that some people were allegedly using MyWatch for their personal gain.

"He has since formed a new non-governmental organisation named Malaysia Community Crime Care Association.

"I spoke to him before he left and he said he was not happy with the misuse of MyWatch," Gobi Krishnan said yesterday.

"I feel it can be salvaged and I intend to correct the wrongs done by one or two people. It is a good organisation except for a few bad hats," he said.

The street shooting of MyWatch chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan on July 27 was an execution-style attempt that triggered much fear among ordinary people and became a national issue.

Sanjeevan, 29, was hit at a traffic light junction in Bahau, Negri Sembilan, and is currently recuperating at the Serdang Hospital.

Doctors successfully extracted the bullet after 18 days. He had earlier developed a critical blood clot in his heart and lungs.

Police have yet to interview him.

Commenting on his earlier statement that Sanjeevan's shooting was related to drug gangs, Gobi Krishnan said he received the "credible information" recently.

"It ruled out police involvement in the shooting, as claimed earlier by certain parties.

"My duty is to alert the public ... I am just telling things as they are," he said.

Musa was not available for comment despite attempts to reach him.

Meanwhile, Federal CID director Comm Datuk Hadi Ho Abdullah said the police would investigate Gobi Krishnan's recent revelations.

"We will explore all angles but the investigation is still ongoing. It is a long process but we are not at liberty to disclose any information pertaining to the investigation," he said.

Medicine prices should not go up, says Health Minister

Posted:

SEGAMAT: The Government is observing prices of drugs and medicine closely to ensure they do not escalate due to the diesel and petrol price hike, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam (pic).

He said the ministry would ensure that the drugs and medicine prices would not develop into an issue.

"We are very mindful of making sure medicine prices are always controlled," he said after opening the Universiti Teknologi Mara mobile dental clinic and oral health programme at Felda Palong Timur here yesterday.

He said medicine manufacturers could not increase prices at will as the products were bought on consignment through Pharmaniaga Bhd.

"To that extent, I do not think it will affect our prices as far as local (production) is concerned," he said, adding that the Cabinet had stated that the cost of other things such as food and medicine should not increase because of the fuel price hike.

When asked about the suggestion that allowances of members of parliament should be trimmed to help the Government reduce its financial burden, Dr Subramaniam, who is Segamat MP and MIC deputy president, said he supported the initiative that could help strengthen the country's economic position.

However, he said it should be taken to the Parliament for discussion before a decision was made.

To a question on incumbent MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel's intention to give up the post by 2016 and hand over the duty to him, he said: "We will wait until then (to comment about the matter)."

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

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Lost Van Gogh sunflowers bloom again

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Art expert finds new print of destroyed masterpiece and traces lost companion work.

One day in Arles in August 1888, Van Gogh was planning to paint from life. But the models he had hired failed to show up, and a harsh, hot mistral was blowing, making conditions for painting outdoors unbearable.

So he improvised: He took bunches of Provencal sunflowers, then at their golden-blooming best, and arranged them in locally made, half-glazed earthenware pots. He started work on Monday morning and by Saturday he had made four sunflower pictures.

Two of these are now among the most beloved, celebrated and valuable paintings in the world: They hang in Munich, Germany and in the National Gallery, London. Two are lost to public view – one was destroyed in an American bombing raid on Japan during World War II, the other vanished into private hands after it was exhibited in Ohio in 1948.

Now fresh details have emerged about the lost paintings. The Van Gogh expert Martin Bailey has tracked down a previously unknown 1920s print of Six Sunflowers – the work that was destroyed – so that for the first time since the war it can been seen in its original bright, vibrant colours, and with a hitherto unseen original frame that Van Gogh painted to complement the colours of the subject.

In addition, Bailey has tracked the "missing" painting, charting its progress through private hands after the war to being sold in the 1990s to a "very discreet, private collector" who owns a handful of Van Goghs.

Bailey, who publishes his research this week in a new book, The Sunflowers Are Mine, found the 1920s image of Six Sunflowers in a small museum in Japan, tucked away in a portfolio of Cezanne prints.

One other, much poorer quality, reproduction exists, lacking the detail of the frame. It is also in much less vibrant colours than the print unearthed by Bailey, which matches the description that Van Gogh wrote of the work in a letter to his brother, Theo.

The orange frame – bright where it follows the sky-blue background of the picture and paler where it meets the lilac of the table on which the flowers sit – was "a revolutionary idea in 1888 when the work was painted," said Bailey. "Paintings were normally hung in gilt frames, or for very modern works in white-painted frames ... Van Gogh clearly meant it as an integral part of the work."

The painting met its doom on the same day that Hiroshima was destroyed, in a separate bombing attack on Ashiya. Long since removed from Van Gogh's painted frame, which he had had run up by the local carpenter in Arles, it was framed in elaborate gilt and hung above the sofa of a wealthy collector, Koyata Yamamoto. As fire engulfed the house, the large frame made the picture too heavy to rescue.

Bailey has charted the lives of the four sunflower paintings, as well as the three copies Van Gogh made later of two of them, which now hang in museums in Philadelphia, Amsterdam and Tokyo.

They began as pictures the artist made to decorate Paul Gauguin's bedroom, and could not sell, and ended up among the most revered and expensive paintings ever.

Bailey believes that a sunflower painting would, if it reached the open market, make "way beyond £100mil/RM450mil". The National Gallery sold 26,000 postcards of its version last year.

The paintings have remarkable histories. During the war Fifteen Sunflowers, the version that hangs in the National Gallery (it actually belongs to the Tate), was sent for safe keeping to Muncaster Castle in Cumbria, high above the old Roman port at Ravenglass. From there it was sent to the Trossachs to receive attention from a German picture conservator who had fled the Nazis.

In his farmhouse north of Glasgow, the conservator replaced a gloomy Rembrandt on one wall with the cheerier sunflowers picture.

Alongside was "Van Gogh's Yellow Chair, a wonderful late Turner and Whistler's Waterloo Bridge, not a bad little collection to brighten up our wartime exile!" he wrote. Wartime conditions meant he lacked proper tools, so when he relined the canvas of Fifteen Sunflowers he used a cheese grater to distribute wax on the back of the work, a domestic iron to spread it and a dentist's burnishing implement to smooth lifting paint on the front.

"They are methods that would horrify today's conservators," said Bailey, "but the painting hasn't needed very much work since." — Guardian News & Media

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