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Isnin, 28 Oktober 2013

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Olivia Wilde is pregnant

Posted:

The Rush actress is expecting her first child with comedian Jason Sudeikis.

Actress Olivia Wilde is pregnant and expecting her first child with fiance and Saturday Night Live veteran Jason Sudeikis, People magazine reported last weekend.

The 29-year-old Rush actress, who first gained wide attention as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on Fox television's medical drama House MD, met Sudeikis, 38, on the 2011 season finale of SNL and they began dating six months later.

They became engaged in January of this year, according to People.

"They are incredibly happy," an unnamed source close to the couple was quoted as telling the magazine. "They're very excited to welcome a new member into their family."

People said representatives for the couple confirmed that Wilde, who co-stars as a 1970s supermodel in Ron Howard's big-screen race car drama Rush, is pregnant with their first child, but there was no word on a due date. Earlier this year, Wilde told fashion magazine Marie Claire that she was excited about starting a family with Sudeikis in the future, saying, "He's so good with kids. ... I'm open-minded about how many, but three is like a little party."

Both performers have been previously married and divorced – Sudeikis to television writer and producer Kay Cannon and Wilde to documentary filmmaker Tao Raspoli. Those unions ended in 2010 and 2011, respectively, without children. — Reunion

Benedict Cumberbatch as controversial WikiLeaks chief

Posted:

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange – over the latter's protests.

OVER the last year, between work on the multitude of films and TV series Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be involved in (12 Years A Slave, August: Osage County, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Sherlock), the British actor would find himself, now and then, walking along Hans Crescent in the Knightsbridge section of London. He would pass the Embassy of Ecuador, not far from the fabled Harrods department store, and think about dropping in.

Why not? He had a few thoughts he could share with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has been holed up inside the embassy – and whom Cumberbatch portrays in The Fifth Estate.

"Sadly, I did not go in," says the actor, having just run the red carpet for the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his true-life cyber-thriller. "I would have liked to meet him. I don't know whether he'd want to, though. And if it did happen, I hope it would be a very private event between two men who have been very oddly drawn together in this strange way."

When The Fifth Estate project was announced – adapted from the books Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange And The World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding – Assange contacted Cumberbatch and pleaded for him to beg off. Neither book portrays Assange in the most flattering light, and the Australian-born hacker-turned-journo-trailblazer was not thrilled.

"It's no secret that we've communicated," Cumberbatch says. "We exchanged e-mails at the beginning of the job. Not many. Basically him saying, 'Please don't do this film,' and me saying, 'This is why I feel it's actually not a bad thing, and I do want to do this film.' And that's where that was left.

"I have a real care for him and his real-life situation, because it is very precarious. But this is a film, it's not a documentary, it's not a piece of legal evidence. It's a dramatisation of a certain account of events. There's a lot of caveats there."

Directed by Bill Condon, The Fifth Estate is a whirligig of a movie that traces Assange's rise from a Down Under upstart to a whistle-blowing guru to an international hot potato caught in a sex scandal, and sought by several governments, including the United States, that were not pleased by the release of thousands of top-secret documents on his website.

Along the way, Assange seems to transform from idealist crusader to somewhat meglomaniacal and paranoid figure. Daniel Bruhl, who plays Formula One racing legend Nicki Lauda in Rush, is Assange's early ally-turned-disillusioned ex-WikiLeaks associate Domscheit-Berg.

If you've seen Assange on YouTube, or in Alex Gibney's We Steal Secrets documentary, and then you watch Cumberbatch in The Fifth Estate, the mannerisms, gait, rhythms of his speech, look in his eyes, even his dance moves (Assange is a terrible dancer) are dead-on.

(inset) Cumberbatch had to change his appearance to look like Assange.

Cumberbatch had to change his appearance to look like Assange in The Fifth Estate.

"There's an intelligence, a charisma, which you can't fake, and Assange has that, and Benedict has that, too," says Condon, the director of Gods And Monsters, Kinsey and a little two-part endeavor called The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

"It's a lot of work. That just doesn't happen easily," the director notes in a separate interview. "It's not dissimilar to what I went through with Ian McKellen in Gods And Monsters and Liam Neeson in Kinsey – British actors who start on the outside and then move in. The first thing is the wig, and the teeth for Benedict, and the frock, and the voice, obviously, and then they go deeper and deeper and deeper."

Condon was also struck by the way his star handled the e-mail entreaties from Assange.

"Just imagine you've got an actor who is that serious and who is already in the process, in rehearsals, and you're about to start shooting – his job, which he takes very seriously, is to channel Assange, is to become Assange. He's not Daniel Day-Lewis, but he did become that person," Condon says.

"So imagine you're doing that, and then you open up your computer, and the person you're channeling – your inner voice – is begging you not to do the film. It was a really unique circumstance that he was in, and I felt such compassion for him. I thought it put a terrible, really unfair strain on Benedict."

For London-born Cumberbatch, 37, another real-life controversial figure is on the horizon: His next role is that of British cryptographer Alan Turing in a historical drama, The Imitation Game. Considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence – and one of the genius code-breakers working in Britain's fabled Bletchley Park during World War II – Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for being homosexual and forced to undergo chemical castration.

Says the actor, "It's a really powerful and beautiful, beautiful piece of writing, and he was an amazing human being, who is finally and rightfully getting some recognition for the great advances he made.

"It's devastating, really, what happened to him. It really makes you ashamed of a country, at that time, to do that to a man who was so instrumental in shortening the war by anything up to two years, and by doing so, saving millions of lives." – The Philadelphia Inquirer/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

'Baby Blues' scares you blue

Posted:

A newlywed couple. An old house. An abandoned doll. And the nightmare begins.

HONG Kong horror flick Baby Blues starts off with blogger Snowy (Janelle Sing) and songwriter Tao (Raymond Lam) getting married, and moving into an old house, where Snowy takes a liking to a doll left by the previous owner.

Soon, Snowy is pregnant with twins, which is unusual since neither Tao nor Snowy have a history of twins in their family. Then, a homeless man (Lo Hoi Pang) who lives at the end of their road issues a chilling warning ­­­– move out ... or else.

In an e-mail interview, director Leong Po-Chih expressed that he was hoping to make a horror movie that plays with the mind. "We bring the audience into the movie, make them feel like a part of it, then we make them feel the characters' fears.

"Jimmy, the doll, was added into the movie to influence its mother's mind and psychological state. Viewers would then, through the mother's eyes, feel the shivers," said Leong.

The British-born Hong Kong-based film director also shared his thoughts on his main cast for Baby Blues: "I'd hoped to have a fresh face for the leading actress, someone who is not known to the audience, as to draw attention to the emotional turmoil that she goes through. So, we picked newcomer Janelle Sing, who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy.

"As for Raymond Lam, he's an excellent actor with plenty of experience, having played various roles, but he has never acted in any horror film. This 'freshness' matches Janelle's inexperience. Their partnership obviously turned out well like I'd expected. Raymond and Janelle make a compatible on-screen couple.

Raymond Lam (L) and Janelle Sing in Hong Kong 3D horror flick Baby Blues helmed by Leong Po-Chih

Child's play: Tau (Raymond Lam) and Snowy (Janelle Sing) are newlyweds living in a nightmare in Baby Blues.

"Karena Ng acts as Janelle's sister. I'd wanted to have a stark contrast between the sisters, one gentle and the other tough. I'd asked that Karena be tough inside out, and she did extremely well.

Leong had actress Kate Tsui play a famous singer secretly in love with Lam. He got her to describe her ideal man and her description lined up to what he expected.

In separate e-mail interviews, Hong Kong TVB actors Lam and Tsui talked about their most memorable scene together in the movie – an underwater sequence.

Lam shared how they had been in the pool the entire day, trying out different angles. "We felt like our skin would peel off anytime. On top of that, Kate isn't good with water; she can't open her eyes in it, but she tried so hard."

Tsui also described how Lam helped her through her toughest scene while filming the movie. "My biggest preparation was to hold my breath and open my eyes underwater. It feels extremely uncomfortable," Tsui said.

"Thankfully Raymond was there to guide me on the set and we managed to complete the scene."

In another email interview, Ng spoke of her biggest challenge in the movie – to film while riding a motorcycle.

"Riding her motorcycle is the only thing my character knows – it is as if her motorcycle is her only friend. Because of that, I had to keep riding. In the introductory sequence, I had to appear on a bike.

"Just that scene alone took us 20 shots, so I had to repeatedly ride back and forth around a bend. Riding a motorcycle takes up so much energy; I think I should work out more often," Ng said.

> Baby Blues haunts local cinemas nationwide from Oct 31.
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

Olivia Wilde is pregnant

Posted:

The Rush actress is expecting her first child with comedian Jason Sudeikis.

Actress Olivia Wilde is pregnant and expecting her first child with fiance and Saturday Night Live veteran Jason Sudeikis, People magazine reported last weekend.

The 29-year-old Rush actress, who first gained wide attention as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on Fox television's medical drama House MD, met Sudeikis, 38, on the 2011 season finale of SNL and they began dating six months later.

They became engaged in January of this year, according to People.

"They are incredibly happy," an unnamed source close to the couple was quoted as telling the magazine. "They're very excited to welcome a new member into their family."

People said representatives for the couple confirmed that Wilde, who co-stars as a 1970s supermodel in Ron Howard's big-screen race car drama Rush, is pregnant with their first child, but there was no word on a due date. Earlier this year, Wilde told fashion magazine Marie Claire that she was excited about starting a family with Sudeikis in the future, saying, "He's so good with kids. ... I'm open-minded about how many, but three is like a little party."

Both performers have been previously married and divorced – Sudeikis to television writer and producer Kay Cannon and Wilde to documentary filmmaker Tao Raspoli. Those unions ended in 2010 and 2011, respectively, without children. — Reunion

Benedict Cumberbatch as controversial WikiLeaks chief

Posted:

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange – over the latter's protests.

OVER the last year, between work on the multitude of films and TV series Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be involved in (12 Years A Slave, August: Osage County, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Sherlock), the British actor would find himself, now and then, walking along Hans Crescent in the Knightsbridge section of London. He would pass the Embassy of Ecuador, not far from the fabled Harrods department store, and think about dropping in.

Why not? He had a few thoughts he could share with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has been holed up inside the embassy – and whom Cumberbatch portrays in The Fifth Estate.

"Sadly, I did not go in," says the actor, having just run the red carpet for the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his true-life cyber-thriller. "I would have liked to meet him. I don't know whether he'd want to, though. And if it did happen, I hope it would be a very private event between two men who have been very oddly drawn together in this strange way."

When The Fifth Estate project was announced – adapted from the books Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange And The World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding – Assange contacted Cumberbatch and pleaded for him to beg off. Neither book portrays Assange in the most flattering light, and the Australian-born hacker-turned-journo-trailblazer was not thrilled.

"It's no secret that we've communicated," Cumberbatch says. "We exchanged e-mails at the beginning of the job. Not many. Basically him saying, 'Please don't do this film,' and me saying, 'This is why I feel it's actually not a bad thing, and I do want to do this film.' And that's where that was left.

"I have a real care for him and his real-life situation, because it is very precarious. But this is a film, it's not a documentary, it's not a piece of legal evidence. It's a dramatisation of a certain account of events. There's a lot of caveats there."

Directed by Bill Condon, The Fifth Estate is a whirligig of a movie that traces Assange's rise from a Down Under upstart to a whistle-blowing guru to an international hot potato caught in a sex scandal, and sought by several governments, including the United States, that were not pleased by the release of thousands of top-secret documents on his website.

Along the way, Assange seems to transform from idealist crusader to somewhat meglomaniacal and paranoid figure. Daniel Bruhl, who plays Formula One racing legend Nicki Lauda in Rush, is Assange's early ally-turned-disillusioned ex-WikiLeaks associate Domscheit-Berg.

If you've seen Assange on YouTube, or in Alex Gibney's We Steal Secrets documentary, and then you watch Cumberbatch in The Fifth Estate, the mannerisms, gait, rhythms of his speech, look in his eyes, even his dance moves (Assange is a terrible dancer) are dead-on.

(inset) Cumberbatch had to change his appearance to look like Assange.

Cumberbatch had to change his appearance to look like Assange in The Fifth Estate.

"There's an intelligence, a charisma, which you can't fake, and Assange has that, and Benedict has that, too," says Condon, the director of Gods And Monsters, Kinsey and a little two-part endeavor called The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

"It's a lot of work. That just doesn't happen easily," the director notes in a separate interview. "It's not dissimilar to what I went through with Ian McKellen in Gods And Monsters and Liam Neeson in Kinsey – British actors who start on the outside and then move in. The first thing is the wig, and the teeth for Benedict, and the frock, and the voice, obviously, and then they go deeper and deeper and deeper."

Condon was also struck by the way his star handled the e-mail entreaties from Assange.

"Just imagine you've got an actor who is that serious and who is already in the process, in rehearsals, and you're about to start shooting – his job, which he takes very seriously, is to channel Assange, is to become Assange. He's not Daniel Day-Lewis, but he did become that person," Condon says.

"So imagine you're doing that, and then you open up your computer, and the person you're channeling – your inner voice – is begging you not to do the film. It was a really unique circumstance that he was in, and I felt such compassion for him. I thought it put a terrible, really unfair strain on Benedict."

For London-born Cumberbatch, 37, another real-life controversial figure is on the horizon: His next role is that of British cryptographer Alan Turing in a historical drama, The Imitation Game. Considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence – and one of the genius code-breakers working in Britain's fabled Bletchley Park during World War II – Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for being homosexual and forced to undergo chemical castration.

Says the actor, "It's a really powerful and beautiful, beautiful piece of writing, and he was an amazing human being, who is finally and rightfully getting some recognition for the great advances he made.

"It's devastating, really, what happened to him. It really makes you ashamed of a country, at that time, to do that to a man who was so instrumental in shortening the war by anything up to two years, and by doing so, saving millions of lives." – The Philadelphia Inquirer/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

'Baby Blues' scares you blue

Posted:

A newlywed couple. An old house. An abandoned doll. And the nightmare begins.

HONG Kong horror flick Baby Blues starts off with blogger Snowy (Janelle Sing) and songwriter Tao (Raymond Lam) getting married, and moving into an old house, where Snowy takes a liking to a doll left by the previous owner.

Soon, Snowy is pregnant with twins, which is unusual since neither Tao nor Snowy have a history of twins in their family. Then, a homeless man (Lo Hoi Pang) who lives at the end of their road issues a chilling warning ­­­– move out ... or else.

In an e-mail interview, director Leong Po-Chih expressed that he was hoping to make a horror movie that plays with the mind. "We bring the audience into the movie, make them feel like a part of it, then we make them feel the characters' fears.

"Jimmy, the doll, was added into the movie to influence its mother's mind and psychological state. Viewers would then, through the mother's eyes, feel the shivers," said Leong.

The British-born Hong Kong-based film director also shared his thoughts on his main cast for Baby Blues: "I'd hoped to have a fresh face for the leading actress, someone who is not known to the audience, as to draw attention to the emotional turmoil that she goes through. So, we picked newcomer Janelle Sing, who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy.

"As for Raymond Lam, he's an excellent actor with plenty of experience, having played various roles, but he has never acted in any horror film. This 'freshness' matches Janelle's inexperience. Their partnership obviously turned out well like I'd expected. Raymond and Janelle make a compatible on-screen couple.

Raymond Lam (L) and Janelle Sing in Hong Kong 3D horror flick Baby Blues helmed by Leong Po-Chih

Child's play: Tau (Raymond Lam) and Snowy (Janelle Sing) are newlyweds living in a nightmare in Baby Blues.

"Karena Ng acts as Janelle's sister. I'd wanted to have a stark contrast between the sisters, one gentle and the other tough. I'd asked that Karena be tough inside out, and she did extremely well.

Leong had actress Kate Tsui play a famous singer secretly in love with Lam. He got her to describe her ideal man and her description lined up to what he expected.

In separate e-mail interviews, Hong Kong TVB actors Lam and Tsui talked about their most memorable scene together in the movie – an underwater sequence.

Lam shared how they had been in the pool the entire day, trying out different angles. "We felt like our skin would peel off anytime. On top of that, Kate isn't good with water; she can't open her eyes in it, but she tried so hard."

Tsui also described how Lam helped her through her toughest scene while filming the movie. "My biggest preparation was to hold my breath and open my eyes underwater. It feels extremely uncomfortable," Tsui said.

"Thankfully Raymond was there to guide me on the set and we managed to complete the scene."

In another email interview, Ng spoke of her biggest challenge in the movie – to film while riding a motorcycle.

"Riding her motorcycle is the only thing my character knows – it is as if her motorcycle is her only friend. Because of that, I had to keep riding. In the introductory sequence, I had to appear on a bike.

"Just that scene alone took us 20 shots, so I had to repeatedly ride back and forth around a bend. Riding a motorcycle takes up so much energy; I think I should work out more often," Ng said.

> Baby Blues haunts local cinemas nationwide from Oct 31.
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

U.S. spy chiefs face Congress amid spying rift with Europe

Posted:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When top U.S. intelligence officials testified at a congressional hearing weeks ago, the public uproar was over the National Security Agency collecting the phone and email records of Americans.

But when the NSA director and other spy chiefs appear at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday it will be against a backdrop of angry European allies accusing the United States of spying on their leaders and citizens.

The most prominent target appears to have been German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose mobile phone was allegedly tapped by the NSA.

More than any previous disclosures from material given to journalists by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the reports of spying on close U.S. allies have forced the White House to promise reforms and even acknowledge that America's electronic surveillance may have gone too far.

"We recognize there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate's intelligence committee, joined the ranks of critics on Monday, expressing outrage at U.S. intelligence collection on allies, and pique that her committee was not informed.

"With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies - including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany -let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed," said Feinstein, who appeared to confirm U.S. spying on Merkel's communications since 2002.

The White House is conducting a review of intelligence programs prompted by disclosures about top secret spying programs to the media by Snowden, who is living in Russia, out of reach of U.S. attempts to arrest him.

NSA Director General Keith Alexander, NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Deputy Attorney General James Cole will testify at an open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee at 1:30 p.m. (17:30 p.m. British time) on Tuesday.

Their testimony will cover NSA programs and potential changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which regulates electronic eavesdropping.

"The House Intelligence Committee continues to assess a number of proposals to improve transparency and strengthen privacy protections to further build the confidence of the American public in our nation's FISA programs," said Susan Phalen, spokeswoman for Republican committee Chairman Mike Rogers.

The Senate Intelligence Committee conducted a similar hearing in late September at which Feinstein said proposals included putting limits on the NSA's phone metadata program, prohibiting collection of the content of phone calls, and legally requiring that intelligence analysts have a "reasonable articulable suspicion" that a phone number was associated with terrorism in order to query the database.

Heather Conley, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe, said the administration needed to be more proactive in handling the uproar.

"The administration has been completely reactive to these leaks," she said.

The allegations of U.S. spying on Merkel and other leaders are likely to have a lasting impact on relations, Conley said.

In the last several years, Europeans have been disappointed with the Obama administration over its failure to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and its use of drone strikes to kill terrorism suspects. The spectacle of the recent federal government shutdown also dented U.S. prestige in Europe.

"It's just raising really big doubts, uncertainties and question marks about not only the president's leadership but whether the United States is a reliable ally," Conley said.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland; Editing by Warren Strobel and Paul Simao)

China probes Xinjiang connection to Tiananmen car deaths

Posted:

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police are looking for two suspects from its restive Xinjiang region in connection with a "major incident", after five people were killed and dozens injured when a car ploughed into pedestrians and caught fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Police in the capital are asking local hotels about suspicious guests who had checked in since Oct 1 and named two suspects it said were from Xinjiang in a notice issued on Monday night, four hotels told Reuters.

Judging by their names, the suspects appeared to be ethnic Uighurs, who are Turkic-speaking Muslims from Xinjiang, a province in the far west of China. Many Uighurs chafe at Chinese controls on their culture and religion.

"To prevent the suspected persons and vehicles from committing further crimes ... please notify law enforcement of any discovery of clues regarding these suspects and the vehicles," said the notice, which was widely circulated on Chinese microblogs.

The notice also listed four car licence plates from Xinjiang.

Beijing police, contacted by telephone, declined to comment.

Calls to the Xinjiang government went unanswered.

Police said on Monday that the car veered off the road at the north of the square, a major tourist attraction, crossed the barriers and caught fire almost directly in front of the main entrance of the Forbidden City, in front of a huge portrait of the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong.

The three people in the car died, as well as two tourists.

China says it grants Uighurs wide-ranging freedoms and accuses extremists of separatism.

Many rights groups say China has long overplayed the threat posed to justify its tough controls in energy-rich Xinjiang, which lies strategically on the borders of Central Asia, India and Pakistan.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, writing by Michael Martina; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

New Australia government upholds ban on China's Huawei

Posted:

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's newly elected conservative government is upholding the ban on China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd tendering for work on the country's $38 billion National Broadband Network (NBN), the attorney-general said on Tuesday.

The former Labour government cited cyber-security concerns when it banned Huawei, the world's largest supplier of telecoms network equipment by revenue, from bidding for contracts on the infrastructure rollout last year.

Some senior officials in the new Liberal-led Coalition government, including Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, have supported a review of the ban, raising expectations it would be scrapped.

But Attorney-General George Brandis said that after due consideration the government had decided not to change the policy, citing new briefings from Australia's national security agencies.

The move is likely to rile major trading partner China in the midst of negotiations on a free trade agreement, while pleasing Australia's traditional ally the United States where lawmakers have warned against awarding Huawei major contracts over spying fears.

"Since the election the new government has had further briefings from the national security agencies. No decision has been made by the new government to change the existing policy," Brandis said in an email to Reuters.

"The decision of the previous government not to permit Huawei to tender for the NBN was made on advice from the national security agencies. That decision was supported by the then opposition after we received our own briefings from those agencies," he said.

The government would not comment on advice from the national security agencies, he added.

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee last year described Huawei as a national security threat and urged American firms to stop doing business with the Shenzhen-based company. Huawei has denied the U.S. lawmakers' allegations that its equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

The British government said in July that checks on Huawei's role in British telecommunications infrastructure had been "insufficiently robust" in the past, and announced a review of security at a cyber centre the company runs in southern England.

Huawei spokesman Jeremy Mitchell said the company believed the Australian government was still reviewing its policy.

"Huawei's understanding is that no decision has been made regarding the NBN and that the review is ongoing," Mitchell said in an emailed response after Brandis released his statement.

Huawei has become a significant market force in Australia. It supplies equipment to Singapore Telecom's local unit Optus as well as Vodafone, and has conducted trials with Australia's biggest telco company, Telstra Corp Ltd.

The company, founded in 1987 by former People's Liberation Army officer Ren Zhengfei, last year proposed building a cyber security evaluation centre in Australia.

It has also employed former senior Liberal Party officials as part of its lobbying effort to overturn Australia's ban.

(Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

Low Yat sees little impact from real property gains tax hike

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: The Low Yat Group, which is developing the 1,081ha Bandar Tasik Puteri (BTP) township, believes the real property gains tax increase and the removal of the developer interest-bearing scheme will not have much impact on the company due to its product pricing.

The company's project/construction management director Lee Kok Wah told StarBiz that most buyers of BTP properties were owner-occupiers, while the homes were mostly in the mid-price range.

"These measures would mostly hit speculators rather than genuine investors," said Lee.

He said the company recently opened phases four and five of the Garden Heights range of homes in the township for preview.

These phases have a combined gross development value (GDV) of RM90mil and comprise 163 units of double-storey terraced houses priced from RM480,000 to RM800,000.

Lee said 90% of phase three's 114 units of double-storey terraced houses launched in July had been sold.

Besides residential properties, the company also recently opened the Centro@Medan Puteri shop-offices comprising 24 three-storey units with a GDV of RM40mil.

He said this was to cater to the growing population of the township and surrounding areas, estimated to be at around 60,000.

A number of the more expensive units priced from RM1.3mil to RM3mil had been taken up at the preview.

Meanwhile, the company is continuing to upgrade the infrastructure of the township and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Lee said the RM100mil interchange off the Latar Expressway would be completed at end-2015.

He said the construction of the interchange would cut down the time for the township's residents to reach Kuala Lumpur.

Datasonic slips on profit-taking after price surge

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Datasonic, which had surged from RM3.32 since September to an all-time high of RM6.11 on Monday, shed some of the gains early Tuesday.

At 10.06am, it was down 13 sen to RM5.95. There were 46,500 shares done.

The FBM KLCI fell 1.94 points to 1,816.45. Turnover was 477.85 million shares valued at RM255.79mil. There were 239 gainers, 215 losers and 261 counters unchanged.

Datasonic shares surged to RM5 on Oct 18 when it announced its corporate exercise involving a share split and bonus issue.

As at June 30, 2013, its net asset per share was RM1.58.  It posted net profit of RM20.59mil versus the RM8.49mil a year ago. It is cash rich with deposits with licensed banks and cash and bank balances of more than RM52mil.

Microsoft shareholders advised to vote against director Thompson

Posted:

SEATTLE: Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis has recommended that Microsoft Corp shareholders vote against the re-election of lead independent director John Thompson, who is in charge of the company's efforts to find a new chief executive.

In a research note circulated to its clients on Monday, Glass Lewis expressed concerns about a possible conflict of interests for Thompson in his role as CEO of Virtual Instruments, a cloud-computing firm that sells licenses and devices to Microsoft.

Glass Lewis is one of two major companies which make recommendations to shareholders based on corporate governance guidelines, but its views are not necessarily heeded by large investors.

Microsoft representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Thompson, a former International Business Machines Corp executive, was appointed to Microsoft's board in February 2012 and elected by shareholders at the annual meeting later that year.

Microsoft's next shareholder meeting is scheduled for November 19. Glass Lewis is recommending shareholders vote to re-elect the company's other eight directors, including CEO Steve Ballmer and Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates.

Ballmer announced in August that he will retire as CEO within the next 12 months, triggering a search for a new leader which is being headed by Thompson. It is not clear if Ballmer will retain his seat on the board after he retires, although he has said he intends to be an active shareholder in the company.

Some investors have suggested to the board that Gates step down from his role as chairman, saying he stands in the way of radical reform at Microsoft, which has lost ground to Apple Inc and Google Inc in mobile computing. Gates has not indicated any intention of stepping down.- Reuters
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The Star Online: Nation

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The Star Online: Nation

Temple to become a new tourism landmark

Posted:

KLANG: A Hindu temple being rebuilt here is set to be the first granite temple in the country and a new tourism landmark when it opens its doors in 2015.

"We believe the temple has the potential to become a tourist attraction and a beautiful landmark in the royal town of Klang that could attract foreign tourists," Klang Sri Sundararaja Perumal Temple president S. Anandakrishnan said.

He said the RM10mil granite structure follows the precise design defined by southern Indian temple builders thousands of years ago.

"It is believed that using granite will cause the vibrations of the mantras to resonate to a higher level," he said, adding that the consecration ceremony of the new temple would be held on June 9, 2015.

Already dubbed the Thirupathi of South-East Asia – after the famous pilgrimage centre for Hindus in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh – the temple keepers have enlisted 50 stone carvers and their families from Kanchipuram, 60km from Chennai, to craft the all-granite temple.

"Once the granite temple is completed, discussions will be held with the Tourism Ministry to include it in their tourism calendar as a preferred choice for tourists," said Anandakrishnan.

In 2006, the temple was awarded with ISO 9001:2000 certification for its contributions to religious, cultural and social service to Hindus. — Bernama

Mukhriz: Feedback will be gathered first

Posted:

YAN: The Kedah government will gather feedback from locals before deciding whether to proceed with the Yan Petroleum Industry Zone (Zipy) project.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said the outcome would depend on the people in the affected area, including those in Sungai Limau.

The state had put the project on hold after receiving complaints from padi farmers, he told reporters after launching a mobile Community Transformation Centre at Simpang Tiga Sungai Limau here yesterday.

Mukhriz was commenting on a statement made by PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar who asked for proof that the project had been cancelled while campaigning for the Sungai Limau by-election here.

The state government, he said, would normally gather feedback from local residents affected by any project it wanted to implement.

The Zipy project was announced in 2007 by the Barisan Nasional state government which had targeted an annual collection of RM400mil in taxes from the project that was planned to be operational next year.

The private-funded project aimed to get crude oil from the Middle East for refinery here before being exported to Asian countries.

Barisan shelved the project after it lost Kedah to Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general election.

The PAS-led state government then decided to revive the project and renamed it the Sungai Limau Hydrocarbon Hub but the project did not materialise due to technical and financial issues.

On another matter, Mukhriz said the state government would prepare a detailed study for a secondary school in Bukit Besar here following requests from locals.

"There are four primary schools in Bukit Besar but no secondary school," he said.

Operation to look for woman swept away by floods continues

Posted:

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The search for an Indonesian woman believed to have been swept away during a flash flood in Bertam Valley here continued into its fifth day yesterday.

Cameron Highlands OCPD DSP Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said the operation continued with 69 officers and members of the security forces.

The operation, which began at 8am, did not use K-9 tracker dogs and scuba divers from the Fire and Rescue Department, but instead, was carried out manually by using heavy machinery.

DSP Mohd Zahari told reporters that large-scale search operations would cease by today. "Small-scale search operations will continue as normal then onwards," he added.

About 1am on Wednesday, mud flood struck Bertam Valley when water from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam was released, resulting in the death of three people. One was reported missing and another injured with 80 houses and about 100 vehicles damaged or destroyed.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, when tabling Budget 2014 last Friday, had announced an allocation of RM40mil to widen and deepen Sungai Bertam.

Meanwhile, Pahang Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director Datuk Zulkefli Hassan clarified that RM100,000 had been approved by the Federal Government to clean up Sungai Bertam.

The Star mistakenly reported yesterday that RM100mil had been allocated for the process.

DSP Zulkefli stressed that the allocation was made possible through the efforts of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

Mug Cakes: 100 Speedy Microwave Treats To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Posted:

Single serves for everyone.

WHEN the cookbook Mug Cakes: 100 Speedy Microwave Treats To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth (pic) by Leslie Bilderback landed on my desk, I knew I had a gold mine in my hands. I mean, who wouldn't love the ability to cook up a sweet treat in just seconds?

But the cookbook turned out to be an even bigger treasure to me: It taught my sons how to cook. I let my boys – now seven and nine – and my husband pick one cake each they'd like to try from the many beautiful photos in the cookbook.

We landed on a Fluffer Nutter, a Caramel Fleur De Sel Mug Cake and a White Chocolate-Macadamia Mug Cake. We'd go on to make many more, including a PB and J Mug Cake and a few chocolate varieties (OK, those were for me).

The day after our mug cake extravaganza, my nine-year-old asked if he could make one. He insisted on doing it all on his own. As he reasoned: "I can read, and I can use the microwave." Turns out, he was right. After one failed attempt because he misread ¼ cup of sugar as 1¼ cups, he was creating cakes for the whole family.

A few days later, his little brother followed suit, creating his own cake recipe using cinnamon and orange extract.

Some of the cakes from the cookbook were successful, some not so much. All were quite easy to make. Just mix the ingredients and pop in the microwave. Because microwaves heat differently, just be sure to watch your cake, taking it out once it is risen and firm. And because you mix the cakes in the coffee cup, cleanup is easy.

But make no mistake, these are not culinary masterpieces, nor are they meant to be, writes Bilderback in the introduction. "This book is here to fulfil the cake craving you have after a long day at work, or in the middle of the night, or when the plumber presents you with a US$900 invoice."

Or when hungry kids want a little something sweet on a special occasion and think making it themselves is just as big a treat. — St. Louis Post-Dispatch/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

Olivia Wilde is pregnant

Posted:

The Rush actress is expecting her first child with comedian Jason Sudeikis.

Actress Olivia Wilde is pregnant and expecting her first child with fiance and Saturday Night Live veteran Jason Sudeikis, People magazine reported last weekend.

The 29-year-old Rush actress, who first gained wide attention as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on Fox television's medical drama House MD, met Sudeikis, 38, on the 2011 season finale of SNL and they began dating six months later.

They became engaged in January of this year, according to People.

"They are incredibly happy," an unnamed source close to the couple was quoted as telling the magazine. "They're very excited to welcome a new member into their family."

People said representatives for the couple confirmed that Wilde, who co-stars as a 1970s supermodel in Ron Howard's big-screen race car drama Rush, is pregnant with their first child, but there was no word on a due date. Earlier this year, Wilde told fashion magazine Marie Claire that she was excited about starting a family with Sudeikis in the future, saying, "He's so good with kids. ... I'm open-minded about how many, but three is like a little party."

Both performers have been previously married and divorced – Sudeikis to television writer and producer Kay Cannon and Wilde to documentary filmmaker Tao Raspoli. Those unions ended in 2010 and 2011, respectively, without children. — Reunion

Tom Hardy set to play Elton John

Posted:

The actor will portray the legendary music man in an upcoming biopic.

Elton John's production company Rocket Pictures has confirmed that British actor Tom Hardy will portray the pop rock legend in Rocketman, a musical biography film that has been under discussion for two years now.

Up for the role since last spring, Hardy, who is perhaps best known for playing tough guys in films like Bronson (2009) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), will take on a new challenge as he dons John's signature rose-tinted glasses.

The involvement of John himself ensures that his songs will be present throughout the film. The artiste behind Your Song and Crocodile Rock will re-record a number of his hits for the film's soundtrack.

Rocketman, named of course for one of John's most famous songs, will be helmed by Michael Gracey, who is known particularly for his mastery of special effects. The screenplay will be penned by Lee Hall, who penned the scripts for Billy Elliot (2000) and War Horse (2011).

Principal photography on the film is set to begin in fall 2014.

Tom Hardy will be a frequent face in cinemas in 2014, appearing in Animal Rescue, Child 44, Locke and Mad Max: Fury Road. — AFP Relaxnews
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The Star Online: Metro: Central

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Bomb squad trio killed defusing device in Thai south

Posted:

BANGKOK, Oct 28, 2013 (AFP) - Three members of a Thai bomb disposal squad were killed Monday as they tried to defuse a device buried in a road in the country's insurgency-racked south, according to police.

The police team was called after a bomb was detected underneath the road in the Bacho district of Narathiwat province - a hotbed of the near decade-long insurgency against Thai rule.

The bomb went off as they tried to make it safe and killed the men instantly, a police officer said requesting anonymity.

"They were experienced members of the police bomb squad who had worked for a long time in the south," he said, adding a second bomb on the same stretch of road was later found and defused successfully.

Rebels fighting for autonomy in Thailand's Muslim-majority south frequently target security forces with roadside bombs.

Experts say the insurgents are deploying increasingly sophisticated and powerful devices, often packed with ball bearings to cause maximum damage.

Bomb squad members are frequently the first on the scene after an attack or once a bomb has been found, leaving them vulnerable to secondary devices planted nearby.

The conflict has left more than 5,700 people dead in the south, the majority of them civilians.

Shadowy groups of Muslim militants have waged near-daily bomb and gun attacks, targeting security forces and civilians from both the Buddhist and Muslim communities.

Violence erupted in 2004 in the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia, which was annexed by Thailand more than a century ago.

Bloodshed has continued despite several rounds of tentative peace talks hosted by Malaysia between the Thai authorities and some rebel groups.

But another round of discussions scheduled for October has been postponed amid continuing violence, raising doubts about the likely success of the talks.

Soaking up Biennale art - in sarongs

Posted:

IT was wet. It was messy. It was fun. And it was art.

The lawn of the National Museum saw 100 women, men and children dressed in sarong wraps, sitting in plastic tubs of water, drenching themselves and having a ball.

They were taking part in a mass Mandi Bunga – flower bath – in a 10-minute performance art piece by Malaysian artist Sharon Chin. It is one of 10 community-driven arts projects featured in this year's Singapore Biennale, which is focused on South-East Asian art.

The flower bath item saw participants meeting at the Singapore Art Museum to collect flowers and herbs for the bath, before crossing over to the National Museum to sit in tubs, pour water on themselves and others and even whip off their sarongs at the end of the performance piece.

Participant Nur Sue'Aldah, 19, an art student, called it "a once-in-a-lifetime experience".

"Mandi Bunga is traditionally a cleansing ritual bath. It was amazing to see how the artist got us all to connect with each other through such a simple ritual," she said.

The Biennale is Singapore's biggest contemporary art event. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network
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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

Beyond opera limits with 'Carmen'

Posted:

An intimate version of Carmen promises to give this historic work a personable edge.

THE EAT, Sing and Travel People (EST) are in song again. The group, which performs operas when not eating or travelling, will be bringing French composer Georges Bizet's final and most well-known work Carmen to life. After staging Giacomo Puccini's La bohème at Publika's Black Box last year, EST once again returns to the space for this year's production.

Executive producer Danny Chen says while they did an abridged version of La Bohème, EST would perform all four acts of Carmen. Raising the bar further, this year's production involves more than a 100 people: 10 principle singers, a 35-strong adult chorus, 40 kids from the Young Choral Academy children's choir and participants from EST's own Opera for Kids workshop, backed by an eight-man band and production crew.

"After last year's success, we wanted to do the larger scale production with Carmen to give more people a chance to perform," says Chen.

He explains that it was part of EST's philosophy to educate people through their performances, from watching the opera itself, to having pre-show talks with the audience, and even hosting a charity show for the kids from the Dignity for Children Foundation.

Showing a timetable that looks more like a rainbow-coloured economic report, Chen shares that the most challenging part of producing was lining up everyone's schedules. A second worry was the budget. From cast's pay, their outfits to the stage lights and rental, an opera was bound to have considerable costs, even in a smaller location like the Black Box.

"Though it's smaller, we find Black Box makes a good experience for audiences. While the full size opera halls are so large you need binoculars to see the actors, this stage makes it more of an up-close-and-personal experience," says Chen.

Conductor Florian Caroubi says they also cut down the size of the orchestra to fit, using a band of eight instead.

"While it's easier to conduct a smaller group, but with a full orchestra it's easier to build up the sound or hide a flaw from any one musician," says Caroubi.

Chen revealed that he cut costs renting rather than buying the outfits from costume designer Dominique Devorsine, to playing up the dramatic lighting instead of going for grand stage props, and – giving a little bow to his principle singers present – Chen admits that the singers played their part by asking for only a nominal fee.

His Carmen, played by soprano Ang Mei Foong laughs heartily at this.

Ang, a lecturer of music by day, sets straight the assumption there is no market for classical singers in Malaysia. "While it's rare to do a full orchestra, there are many paying opportunities to do opera excerpts or to sing at private functions," she says, adding that to play Carmen, she didn't mind doing Chen a favour.

While some might assume that an opera first performed nearly 140 years ago may be old fashioned or dull, Carmen was actually so ahead of its time that the audience of the day found it too scandalous. Written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, and based on a novel by Prosper Mérimée, Carmen tells the story of Don José, who is lured away from his duty as a soldier and his beloved Micaëla by the fiery and seductive gypsy girl Carmen.

"That's what makes Carmen special, when it was staged the public felt it was too real, a useless guy leaving a nice girl to run off with gypsy. People were cringing!" says Chen.

The opera features an almost entirely local cast, with Dr Yap Jin Hin playing Don José, Soprano Jane Soong as Micaëla, while Filipinos Jamie Sampana and Cipriano "Zip" De Guzman Jr. respectively play Micaëla (reserve) and the matador Escamillo.

"It was a conscious choice to pick local talent, though I had to give Zip and Jaime a chance as they flew themselves in just to audition for the role," says Chen. Surprisingly, Micaëla was the most sought-after role, rather than the leads Carmen or Don José.

"Those are such heavy roles that it may be intimidating for some, as not just a matter of vocal power but also stamina is required. A few considered taking the lead roles, but backed out when they realised they'd have to do the whole opera. For four nights!" says Chen.

Lucky for Yap, he has the support of his fiancee Soong, who is also his betrothed, Micaëla in the opera.

Going into the relationship dynamics, Soong believes that while Don José loves Micaëla but he's not in love with her, thus why he is so quickly drawn into a whirlwind romance with Carmen.

"I think Micaëla is shy but brave, at one point even going to a den of bandits to convince her man to return to his old life, but..." Soong pauses to shoot Yap a look, "Don José is a hopeless man".

Ang concurs that Don José and Carmen are the classic affair, driven on by a weak-willed man pulled along by a manipulative woman. "He's a jellybean!" she sums up.

Yap agrees that Don José was a complex role despite, or rather because of his flip-flopping attitude.

"The challenge for me as Don José was moving between his two sides. While he is sweet and loving with Micaëla, he also has a mad side that abandons common sense for Carmen," says Yap. "In opera, the lady usually dies or in more romantic stories, we (the leads) die together," he pauses to laugh, "but in Carmen, Don José actually kills his lover at the end!"

Soong adds that if she was put in as Micaëla, she would kill Carmen herself.

Caroubi says the tension between the leads is what makes the opera's closing act his favourite. "Don José's words then are so strong and beautiful. There is love and hate at the same time, seeing the woman you love escape from your reach," says the passionate French man. He invites those who think opera is dull to come see the sparks fly.

> The Eat, Sing and Travel People present Georges Bizet's Carmen at Black Box, Map @ Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur at 8pm on Oct 29 to Nov 1, and a 3pm show on Nov 3. Admission is by minimum donation of RM80 for adults and RM40 for students. Carmen will be sung in French, with English and Chinese subtitles, with a free pre-show talk, half an hour before the show. For enquiries or to book, e-mail info@eatsingtravel.com or call 012-372 8892 or 012-205 8691.

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The Star Online: Metro: South & East

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The Star Online: Metro: South & East

Bomb squad trio killed defusing device in Thai south

Posted:

BANGKOK, Oct 28, 2013 (AFP) - Three members of a Thai bomb disposal squad were killed Monday as they tried to defuse a device buried in a road in the country's insurgency-racked south, according to police.

The police team was called after a bomb was detected underneath the road in the Bacho district of Narathiwat province - a hotbed of the near decade-long insurgency against Thai rule.

The bomb went off as they tried to make it safe and killed the men instantly, a police officer said requesting anonymity.

"They were experienced members of the police bomb squad who had worked for a long time in the south," he said, adding a second bomb on the same stretch of road was later found and defused successfully.

Rebels fighting for autonomy in Thailand's Muslim-majority south frequently target security forces with roadside bombs.

Experts say the insurgents are deploying increasingly sophisticated and powerful devices, often packed with ball bearings to cause maximum damage.

Bomb squad members are frequently the first on the scene after an attack or once a bomb has been found, leaving them vulnerable to secondary devices planted nearby.

The conflict has left more than 5,700 people dead in the south, the majority of them civilians.

Shadowy groups of Muslim militants have waged near-daily bomb and gun attacks, targeting security forces and civilians from both the Buddhist and Muslim communities.

Violence erupted in 2004 in the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia, which was annexed by Thailand more than a century ago.

Bloodshed has continued despite several rounds of tentative peace talks hosted by Malaysia between the Thai authorities and some rebel groups.

But another round of discussions scheduled for October has been postponed amid continuing violence, raising doubts about the likely success of the talks.

Soaking up Biennale art - in sarongs

Posted:

IT was wet. It was messy. It was fun. And it was art.

The lawn of the National Museum saw 100 women, men and children dressed in sarong wraps, sitting in plastic tubs of water, drenching themselves and having a ball.

They were taking part in a mass Mandi Bunga – flower bath – in a 10-minute performance art piece by Malaysian artist Sharon Chin. It is one of 10 community-driven arts projects featured in this year's Singapore Biennale, which is focused on South-East Asian art.

The flower bath item saw participants meeting at the Singapore Art Museum to collect flowers and herbs for the bath, before crossing over to the National Museum to sit in tubs, pour water on themselves and others and even whip off their sarongs at the end of the performance piece.

Participant Nur Sue'Aldah, 19, an art student, called it "a once-in-a-lifetime experience".

"Mandi Bunga is traditionally a cleansing ritual bath. It was amazing to see how the artist got us all to connect with each other through such a simple ritual," she said.

The Biennale is Singapore's biggest contemporary art event. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

New Express runs front-page apology

Posted:

BEIJING: A Chinese newspaper issued a front-page apology recanting its bold defence of an employee arrested after reporting on a company's "financial problems", adding another twist to the high-profile media controversy.

The statement was the latest public disavowal of the journalist Chen Yongzhou – despite initial public sympathy after his detention and open support by his employer, the New Express, in a rare act of defiance against powerful state censors.

"This newspaper was not strict enough about thoroughly fact-checking the draft of the report," it said in a small announcement on a bottom corner of its front page.

"After the incident occurred the newspaper took inappropriate measures, seriously harming the public trust of the media."

The paper, which is based in the southern city of Guangzhou, promised to "make serious corrections" and better ensure that its reporters and editors "comply with professional journalistic ethics and regulations".

The statement came a day after Chen appeared on state television in a green prison uniform to "confess" after being arrested more than a week earlier on "suspicion of damaging business reputation".

He had written 15 articles accusing the engineering giant Zoomlion of "financial problems", including inflating its profits.

Zoomlion is about 20% owned by the state and is listed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges with a total market capitalisation of more than US$8bil (RM25bil).

The official news agency Xinhua said on Saturday that Chen had admitted to "having released unverified and untrue stories about a company for money and fame", and that he had acted "at the request of others".

"I did this mainly because I hankered after money and fame. I've been used. I've realised my wrongdoing," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

The All-China Journalists Association also issued a statement on Saturday criticising Chen's actions and saying that the New Express "seriously neglected its professional duties".

The apology by New Express, a tabloid, starkly contrasted its initial reaction – a full-page editorial printed days after Chen's detention with the front-page headline "Please release our man" in large print.

The arrest had initially elicited public support, with one well-known government researcher, Yu Jianrong, criticising the detention as an "abuse of public power". — AFP
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