Isnin, 4 November 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro


Extinct 'Godzilla' platypus found in Australia

Posted:

SYDNEY, Nov 05, 2013 (AFP) - A giant extinct species of the platypus with powerful teeth has been discovered in Australia, with a scientist on Tuesday describing the duck-billed water animal as a "Godzilla" like monster.

The new species, named Obdurodon tharalkooschild, was identified by a single but highly distinctive tooth found in Riversleigh in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland - a World Heritage site rich in fossil deposits.

"It pretty well blew our minds," University of New South Wales professor Mike Archer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. of the animal, which is estimated to be about twice the size of the modern platypus.

"And then bang out of the blue drops this monster. Platypus Godzilla."

Scientists had thought that the platypus, which combines bird, mammal and reptile characteristics, had gradually lost its teeth and become smaller over millions of years, but the latest find contradicts that theory.

"We didn't expect this. It's a huge platypus at the wrong time. But there it was," said Archer of the one-metre (three foot) species.

The modern platypus, a timid and nocturnal animal which lives in deep waterside burrows and is found only in eastern Australia, lacks any teeth as an adult and the scientists do not believe the new extinct species was an immediate ancestor.

"Discovery of this new species was a shock to us because prior to this, the fossil record suggested that the evolutionary tree of platypuses was a relatively linear one," Archer explained in a statement.

"Now we realize that there were unanticipated side branches on this tree, some of which became gigantic."

Archer said he was confident that the single tooth, which was discovered by Rebecca Pian, a PhD candidate at Columbia University in the United States, was sufficient evidence of a new species.

"We know it's a platypus, we also know it's very different from any other toothed platypus we've seen before," he said.

Pian, the lead author of the research published in the US-based Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, said any new species, even though incomplete, was an important aid in understanding more about the fascinating mammals.

The extinct species is believed to have been a mostly aquatic animal like its modern descendant and would have lived in and around freshwater pools in the forests that covered the Riversleigh area millions of years ago.

It probably fed on crayfish and other freshwater crustaceans, as well as small vertebrates such as frogs and turtles, said Suzanne Hand of UNSW's School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Archer said scientists already had concerns about the long-term viability of the platypus and the discovery only added to these.

"It only says that there were more kinds of platypus that are now gone," he said.

Licking the sticky problem

Posted:

THE sticky issue of illegal ads at MRT stations and along roads, on pillars and lamp posts, is set to be cut down in size further.

Having already found that anti-stick paint is effective in licking the problem, the Land Transport Autho­rity (LTA) has called a tender to apply the solution at 367 island-wide locations, where the advertisements are rife, by 2017.

The tender also calls for anti-stick clear coating with high transparency that can be applied to glass or plastic panels.

Aside from being against the law, these advertisements, which can range in size from Post-It note to A4, leave unsightly stains after being removed. This is especially when strong adhesives are used.

To fight this, the LTA in 2009 began a trial of anti-stick paint at a sheltered linkway leading to Jurong East MRT station. It proved a success.

Since then, the anti-stick paint has been applied at 252 locations. The LTA previously said that the move would help it save about S$100,000 (RM254,000) a year.

The latest tender will expand the coverage to most places here where complaints about illegal ads are common, said an LTA spokesman.

These locations, which include Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and Boon Lay Way, are selected based on the amount of feedback received about ads being stuck on street infrastructure, such as traffic lights, street lights, sign posts and columns at covered linkways and bus shelters.

Besides applying anti-stick paint, the LTA has, since 2010, also introduced 27 notice boards at 21 MRT stations with heavy pedestrian traffic to give people a better option.

It costs 50 cents (RM1.27) a day to put up an A5-size ad.

The spokesman said there were fewer illegal ads at areas which have notice boards and anti-stick paint. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Ministry seeks system to monitor prison behaviour

Posted:

THE Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) is looking for a high-tech warning system which can detect aggressive or suicidal behaviour among prisoners and suspects, allowing officers to step in before it is too late.

To find out what is available in the market, the ministry has put in a Request for Information (RFI) for a "Human Behaviour Early Detection System". This will allow it to assess the feasibility, performance and cost of such a system.

"There is a need for remote round-the-clock surveillance of a room with automated, near real-time detection of suspicious, aggressive and suicidal human behaviours," the RFI documents state.

Similar systems are being explored elsewhere.

The US National Institute of Justice commissioned a study to develop a prototype sensor system which can measure an inmate's heart rate, breathing and general body motions without it being attached to the prisoner.

This warning system will alert prison officers if an inmate's heart rate or breathing exceeds pre-determined limits.

There were 61 cases of assault in Singapore prisons last year, 40 of which were attacks between inmates.

The rest involved attacks on prison staff. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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African leaders tell Congo insurgents to "renounce rebellion"

Posted:

PRETORIA (Reuters) - African leaders told Congo's M23 rebels on Tuesday they must publicly declare an end to their 20-month insurgency to allow the signing of a peace agreement with President Joseph Kabila's government.

The recommendation was made by heads of state from southern Africa and the Great Lakes region who met through Monday night in the South African capital Pretoria to lend their weight to an international push to end the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite growing calls for peace, the M23 rebels and government forces were involved in artillery clashes on Monday near Congo's border with Uganda. Both sides blamed the other for the shelling.

A statement released by the South African-hosted summit in Pretoria said a peace agreement in eastern Congo could be signed "on condition that the M23 makes a public declaration renouncing rebellion, after which the Government would make a public declaration of acceptance."

"Five days after this is done, then a formal signing of the agreement would be done," the statement said. It was signed by Malawian President Joyce Banda and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni representing the southern African and Great Lakes region leaders.

M23's political leader Bertrand Bisimwa said on Monday the group was ready to sign the peace deal, but he accused the army of attacking rebel positions with heavy weapons.

Congolese President Kabila was present at the Pretoria meeting. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has fiercely denied repeated reports by U.N. experts that his country backs and helps the M23 rebels, did not attend but sent his foreign minister.

The summit congratulated Congolese government forces and a beefed-up U.N. peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo for "recapturing M23 strongholds and restoring government control".

A rapid Congolese army advance in recent weeks has driven the M23 rebels from towns and cornered them in the steep, forested hills along the Ugandan border, raising the prospect of peace in Congo's violence-plagued east.

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher)

Police search New Jersey mall for shooter, no injuries reported

Posted:

(Reuters) - A person with a gun opened fire on Monday evening in a massive New Jersey shopping mall shortly before closing time, leading police to evacuate the mall and search for the shooter, a county official said. No injuries were reported.

Witnesses said they heard multiple shots seconds apart inside the Garden State Plaza mall in the northern New Jersey town of Paramus, while CNN reported that the shooter had fired at security cameras.

Televised images from outside showed a heavy police presence with dozens of cruisers converging at the mall.

"Multiple gunshots were heard. We believe it is one shooter. I know there is an active shooter near the Nordstrom area," said Jeanne Baratta, Chief of Staff at Bergen County, where the town is located. She added that a police SWAT team was on site.

The police "believe the gunman is still in the mall," Baratta said. "Right now the Bergen County SWAT team along with the K-9 unit and other law enforcement are going store by store. It's a very large mall with multiple levels."

Jonathan Astacio, a witness who was inside the mall, told CNN he heard several shots: "We heard two loud booms ... Then we heard two more shots and saw people running."

The mayor of Paramus, Richard LaBarbiera, told reporters that no injuries had yet been reported.

One woman at a store in the mall, who asked Reuters not to disclose what store she was hiding in, reported hearing shots.

"I heard the shooting. We're still stuck in the stock room right now. I personally heard five shots," said the woman. Afraid the shooter may still be free, she said: "I haven't gone out again."

(Additional reporting by Eric Johnson and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Eric Walsh and Philip Barbara)

Nobel winner Ebadi urges EU, U.S. to ban Iran from TV satellites

Posted:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Monday called on the European Union and United States to ban Iran from using U.S. and European satellites to broadcast what she described as the Islamic Republic's propaganda.

Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and former judge who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work promoting human rights in Iran, accused Western powers of focusing too little attention on rights abuses as they pursue a deal with Tehran aimed at curbing its nuclear ambitions.

She criticized the economic and financial sanctions regime against Iran, a web of U.S., EU and U.N. measures aimed at crippling Tehran's nuclear and missile programs and pressuring the government to abandon what Western powers and their allies suspect is a quest to develop an atomic weapons capability.

"Economic sanctions have impacted powerfully," Ebadi, 66, told Reuters in an interview. "People have become very poor. Some kinds of medications cannot be found in Iran. The price of food is higher in Iran than in the U.S. or Europe."

The sanctions that are harming ordinary Iranians should be replaced with ones that weaken the government but not the people, she said. One example she gave involved barring Iran from using U.S. and European satellites to broadcast programs in more than a dozen non-Farsi languages outside the country.

"We have to stop the government of Iran from being able to use the satellites," Ebadi said through an interpreter. "This way we can close down the propaganda microphones of the government."

She also said that senior government officials, from deputy minister up, should face travel bans and asset confiscations when they have funds deposited with European and American banks.

In a response to Ebadi's remarks, Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission, said that after Iran's recent presidential election "held in an open, free, fair, transparent and democratic way, the Islamic Republic of Iran has entered into a new stage of democracy and the rule of law."

Ebadi, who has been living in exile in Britain since 2009, expressed disappointment with Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, widely seen as more moderate than his stridently anti-Western predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"The motto of Mr Rouhani was that he was going to change the conditions and this is why people voted for him," she said. "Unfortunately that's not what happened."

IRAN SAYS RIGHTS SAFEGUARDED

Miryousefi said that "Iran, especially after the election of President Rouhani, has put a new emphasis on its unwavering dedication towards the promotion and protection of all human rights inside and outside the country."

"Iran has taken a long-term approach and genuine measures to safeguard all human rights of its people including through ensuring their compliance with all its relevant commitments under international law, taking into account principles enshrined in the constitution," he said in an emailed response.

One example of Iran's new approach, Miryousefi said, is that Rouhani has instructed his government to draft a "Charter of Citizenship Rights" and ordered that all government complaints against journalists be withdrawn, leading to the release and pardon of 86 inmates.

He added that Rouhani has appointed a special assistant on minority affairs to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities' rights are safeguarded.

Ebadi said the number of executions in Iran since Rouhani's June election was twice what it was a year ago, when Ahmadinejad was still in power. Nearly all of the opposition activists in prison before he was elected are still in prison and religious and ethnic minorities continue to be persecuted, she added.

Ebadi cited figures from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which reported that over 200 people, including as many as four minors, were executed between June 14 and October 1. She said it was double the number of executions that took place in the same period in 2012.

"Unfortunately the world focuses on nuclear energy more than human rights and does not pay attention to the situation of violations of human rights in Iran," she said. "And this is why the human rights conditions are worsening in Iran."

Later this week, senior officials from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - and Germany will meet with Iranian negotiators in Geneva to discuss the possibility of a deal on Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is purely peaceful.

The United States has said that last month's six-power talks with Iran aimed at ending the decade-long standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions have been more productive than previous rounds. Western diplomats say that is because of the sting of sanctions, which Tehran is keen to remove.

Ebadi, who will be meeting with U.N. officials and diplomats while she is in New York, said the six powers should be discussing more than nuclear centrifuges in Geneva. She warned EU nations not to rush to restore ties with Tehran's government without improvements in Iran's human rights record.

"My question for European countries is - what if they agree with the government of Iran on nuclear issues," she asked.

"Are you willing to shake hands with a government that stones women? Are you going to trust a government that executes its political opposition? Are you willing to compromise standards of human rights, that you believe in, for your own security?"

(Editing by Paul Simao)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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Tall order for Stephen Merchant

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British actor Stephen Merchant plays his, erm, shortcomings for laughs in HBO's Hello Ladies.

APPARENTLY, Stephen Merchant has had more than his share of romantic misfortunes in his 38 years. Well, at least enough to turn them into an eight-episode comedy series entitled Hello Ladies on HBO. 

The series, which premiered in Malaysia last month, is about a gawky Englishman and web designer named Stuart doing his darnedest to find the woman of his dreams – and failing spectacularly.

Speaking to Merchant on the phone – he calls from London where he is nursing a day-old cold – it is hard to fathom why he has been so unlucky in love as he is intelligent, polite, funny (of course) and very conversant (especially about the pitfalls of dating).

Surely, the fact that he towers over an average person (he stands at 2.01m) and has unusually large eyes have nothing to do with his misadventures with the ladies, right? Well, as it turns out, it has more to do with how he approached the fairer sex in his younger days.

Merchant shares: "The key thing is don't try too hard ... don't try too hard to get into nightclubs, don't try to be something you are not, you know, like try to act like James Bond – you are definitely not James Bond. Don't offer to buy drinks unless you are willing to pay for all the drinks."

All the things on his "don't" list – either based on real events or made up – form the basis of Hello Ladies, which Merchant stars in, writes, directs and produces.

He originally performed it as a stand-up comedy act; one of the showcases in Los Angeles was attended by some folks from HBO, who then suggested turning it into a 30-minute sitcom.

What intrigued Merchant most about their proposal was that this tall, pale, nerdy and socially-awkward loser would be based in LA, a land he sees occupied with perfect people ­and somewhere he'd stick out even more.

"(Stuart) grew up with the fantasy that LA is sort of full of glamorous people, beautiful parties and VIPs. And he wants access to it, but he is not part of it."

Merchant collaborated with two American writers, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and together they pooled all their "pitiful dating stories" for the show. 

Like this one: "There's a story that Lee told me. He chased a girl up a party in Hollywood Hills and when he got there, he realised that she was seeing someone else. So he was stuck at the party with no way back from the Hill. 

"He couldn't get a cab and he's terrified of coyotes. So he was kind of walking down the hill just making 'Yip! Yip!' noises to scare off anything that might come out and pounce on him. That is something we chose to dramatise in the show. A lot of our real stories are dramatised, one way or another, in the show."

As for just how much of Merchant is in Stuart, Merchant admits: "There is a little bit of the 15-year-old me – the kind of awkward guy who is not comfortable in his own skin. And there's the 25-year-old me who is working too hard to seem cool and sexy. 

"There's a little bit of the 30-year-old me – after the success of The Office – feeling a little bit entitled, like why hasn't the world opened up to me now? There are aspects of me in there."

Ah yes, The Office – a series that made both Merchant and his comedy partner, Ricky Gervais, famous. The two have worked together on The Office (the British original), Extras and Life's Too Short. Gervais is, however, not involved in Hello Ladies simply because the stand-up show was Gervais-free; the comedian has had the same girlfriend since his 20s and has no clue about being single.

"It's still a bit strange not to have Ricky there because he is very reassuring. But I have all these other writers who are great, funny and smart ... and they understand how American TV works."

But will Gervais ever make a guest appearance on the show? "Well, he's not in the first season. It's not inconceivable that he'd be in the show down the road. But I kind of prefer to find – with what I am doing – new faces, really. To cast people who are not familiar to viewers because they don't bring with them any baggage.

"They are fresh and you can kind of create new characters. If you bring in Ricky, then it'd be more like a stunt. It's not just Ricky. As soon as you bring in some celebrity, they bring with them a certain baggage. That could work sometimes, but on this show, it might just make it a little unbalanced. But, never say never."

Nonetheless, Gervais' presence is somewhat felt on the set of Hello Ladies. According to Merchant, he likes to keep things loose and fresh because first of all, he is not very good at remembering lines. "I just never memorised lines very well. I don't know what it is, even if I have written them."

And the other reason: "When I used to work with Ricky, specifically on The Office, he would spend ages trying to make the other actors laugh. And I didn't understand it. I would get angry, 'Why are you doing this? You are slowing everything down. That was a great take and you ruined it.' 

"And then, I found that I would do the exact same thing. I'd be in a scene and I'd make the other actors laugh for my own amusement. It's such a weird perverse thing. ... I mean, the most juvenile stuff ... the most adolescent nonsense which makes me giggle like a schoolboy. It's pathetic."

Having unsophisticated fun aside, the still-single actor says he is more together than Stuart – having figured out some things about life and love that Stuart has yet to. His female friends include actresses Rose Byrne and Hayley Atwell. 

However, he couldn't help but be self-deprecating one last time about his present romantic situation: "My fortunes got better, (in) that I get turned down by even more beautiful women. And that's a win for me."

> Hello Ladies airs every Monday at 9.30pm on HBO (Astro Ch 411/HD Ch 431).

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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From Hit-Girl to tormented teen

Posted:

Self-assured young actress Chloë Grace Moretz turns into a lost girl in Carrie.

It's conceivable that at some point in the near future, Chloë Grace Moretz could conquer the world.

Perched on a sofa at a West Hollywood hot spot in slim black pants and a gray cardigan, the 16-year-old displays the same sort of unbridled moxie that she channeled as the pint-sized, foul-mouthed superhero Hit-Girl in the Kick-Ass movies.

Her girlishness still comes through – Moretz laughs easily and has a fondness for the word "dude," but when talking about her career path, she's all business, articulating her professional goals with the conviction of a savvy strategist plotting a corporate takeover. When she speaks, she looks you in the eye.

Even her Twitter bio offers a message of empowerment, advising her more than 725,000 followers to "live life to the fullest and never back down."

That innate confidence, however, nearly proved a stumbling block to her landing the lead role in the Carrie remake, a new take on the Stephen King novel first brought to the screen in 1976.

The actress auditioned for nearly 11 hours before she was cast as Carrie, the bullied girl who unleashes her telekinetic powers after being drenched in pig's blood at the high school prom.

"I've lived a lot of life at a young age," Moretz said on a recent September afternoon. "I'm close to the age of the character but that doesn't mean I'm the vulnerability of the character or that I have the virgin quality that Carrie has. I had to prove my worth, basically."

Directed by Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), the new Carrie contemporises King's tale for the age of CG effects and cyberbullying, and it arrives as a sort of commercial box office test for director and star.

It marks the first title role in a studio film for Moretz, though the actress has been steadily working to segue into more mature parts.

Her resume already includes supporting turns in Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, and such indie projects as Texas Killing Fields and (500) Days Of Summer.

Moretz said she was only 10 or 11 when she watched Brian DePalma's Carrie, which earned star Sissy Spacek her first Oscar nomination and ranks as one of the most thrilling movies in cinema history, according to the American Film Institute.

But the actress, who at the time was filming the moody vampire tale Let Me In, doesn't remember being especially unnerved by it.

"I was brought up in the era of Rob Zombie movies, which are terrifying," Moretz said, drawing out the syllables of "terr-i-fy-ing" to emphasise her point.

"DePalma movies are scary, but at the end of the day, it's slightly cheesy because they didn't quite have the money they have nowadays to make things look very realistic. I'm terrified of real psycho stories, not, like, I'm going to strangle you with my powers."

As in the original story, Carrie's powers in the new film arrive with the onset of menstruation.

The story opens with the shy teen – who is coping not only with a deranged single mother who routinely locks her in a prayer closet, but also the jeers of the popular crowd at school – getting her first period in the shower after gym class.

Rather than helping the sheltered girl, who has no idea what's happening to her, the other students pelt her with tampons.

Things devolve from there, leading to the prank at the prom that pushes Carrie to use her budding supernatural abilities for revenge.

To help Moretz tap into Carrie's fragile psyche, Peirce spoke to the actress for hours about her adolescent insecurities and even took her to women's shelters to talk with people who had experienced real-world hardship.

"I said to her, 'You've been working on red carpets, hanging out with Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese and that's great. You're wildly successful, but that is completely opposite of what we need,'" Peirce recalled. "'I don't want you to be the precocious girl. I want you to be the broken woman.'"

Peirce also scheduled a weeks-long intensive rehearsal period in Toronto last year just before filming began, during which time Moretz bonded with Julianne Moore, who plays Carrie's disturbed, deeply religious mother, Margaret.

"I look up to (Moore) like crazy," Moretz said. "She's a mentor to me now. There were moments where we'd just start laughing because we were doing the weirdest stuff we've ever done. We would have crazy conversations and then we'd be crying and killing each other."

Apart from Moore and actress Judy Greer, who plays Carrie's sympathetic gym teacher Miss Desjardin, the supporting cast is filled with relative newcomers including Portia Doubleday as chief mean girl Chris, British model Gabriella Wilde as the more kind-hearted Sue Snell and Ansel Elgort as her boyfriend, Tommy (Elgort already has roles booked in two anticipated adaptations of young adult novels, Divergent and The Fault In Our Stars, both set for release in 2014).

Though Moretz ranked as a veteran among the cast, she described the experience of shooting the movie as grueling and credits the presence of her mother and one of her four older brothers with helping her through the production.

"I would come home from the set just drained," Moretz said. "I would have to stay for 18 hours and just be in that mind-set of Carrie, which is the darkest, most suicidal area that you could be in. It's hard to stay there your entire day. I would look in the mirror and be, like, I don't know who I am right now."

"What was amazing to me was how much Chloë grew up," Peirce said. "I think that was extraordinary because that was my concern. I needed her to grow up, and I needed her to grow up on screen, and she just came to life."

Moretz has a theory on why she is attracted to characters who are out of the ordinary.

"I think the reason I do a lot of dark roles and I'm OK with getting to this dark stuff is because I don't have a dark life," Moretz said. "I have an incredibly normal life. I have a family that loves me. I've had an amazing childhood." – Los Angeles Times/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

> Carrie opens in cinemas nationwide on Nov 7.

New 'Desolation Of Smaug' visuals

Posted:

Filmmaker Peter Jackson reveals seven movie character posters on social media.

AS a run-up to the highly anticipated The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug "global fan event" happening later today, New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson revealed seven new character posters from the movie this morning.

The posters are of Thranduil, Thorin, Gandalf, Legolas, Bilbo, Tauriel and Bard and can be seen on Jackson's Facebook page

Comments from fans prove that the visuals are pretty well received, save for a few grouses. One of the biggest complaints is that Bilbo's face has been overly "photoshopped" .

"Everyone looks great but Bilbo ... such is his life!" said one fan. "Will Ferrell, is that you?" said another, suggesting that the image resembles that of the American comedian.

New Posters from The Hobbit

The collection of seven new character posters on Peter Jackson's Facebook page.

Jackson has not responded to any of the comments, most probably because he and his team are busy preparing for the live presentation, which is happening sometime on Nov 4 – the director has yet to reveal the times – in London, New York and Los Angeles (Nov 5 in Wellington, New Zealand).

"This is how it's going to work: The 4 host cinemas will all have members of the Desolation Of Smaug cast on stage, and we'll all be satellite-linked to allow everyone to participate in a simultaneous Q&A ... as well as present a few special surprises. Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather and watch the events unfold live. If you can't be there in person the event will also be streamed live on the Internet," said Jackson on his Facebook page.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug opens in cinemas nationwide next month. — Melody L. Goh

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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From Hit-Girl to tormented teen

Posted:

Self-assured young actress Chloë Grace Moretz turns into a lost girl in Carrie.

It's conceivable that at some point in the near future, Chloë Grace Moretz could conquer the world.

Perched on a sofa at a West Hollywood hot spot in slim black pants and a gray cardigan, the 16-year-old displays the same sort of unbridled moxie that she channeled as the pint-sized, foul-mouthed superhero Hit-Girl in the Kick-Ass movies.

Her girlishness still comes through – Moretz laughs easily and has a fondness for the word "dude," but when talking about her career path, she's all business, articulating her professional goals with the conviction of a savvy strategist plotting a corporate takeover. When she speaks, she looks you in the eye.

Even her Twitter bio offers a message of empowerment, advising her more than 725,000 followers to "live life to the fullest and never back down."

That innate confidence, however, nearly proved a stumbling block to her landing the lead role in the Carrie remake, a new take on the Stephen King novel first brought to the screen in 1976.

The actress auditioned for nearly 11 hours before she was cast as Carrie, the bullied girl who unleashes her telekinetic powers after being drenched in pig's blood at the high school prom.

"I've lived a lot of life at a young age," Moretz said on a recent September afternoon. "I'm close to the age of the character but that doesn't mean I'm the vulnerability of the character or that I have the virgin quality that Carrie has. I had to prove my worth, basically."

Directed by Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), the new Carrie contemporises King's tale for the age of CG effects and cyberbullying, and it arrives as a sort of commercial box office test for director and star.

It marks the first title role in a studio film for Moretz, though the actress has been steadily working to segue into more mature parts.

Her resume already includes supporting turns in Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, and such indie projects as Texas Killing Fields and (500) Days Of Summer.

Moretz said she was only 10 or 11 when she watched Brian DePalma's Carrie, which earned star Sissy Spacek her first Oscar nomination and ranks as one of the most thrilling movies in cinema history, according to the American Film Institute.

But the actress, who at the time was filming the moody vampire tale Let Me In, doesn't remember being especially unnerved by it.

"I was brought up in the era of Rob Zombie movies, which are terrifying," Moretz said, drawing out the syllables of "terr-i-fy-ing" to emphasise her point.

"DePalma movies are scary, but at the end of the day, it's slightly cheesy because they didn't quite have the money they have nowadays to make things look very realistic. I'm terrified of real psycho stories, not, like, I'm going to strangle you with my powers."

As in the original story, Carrie's powers in the new film arrive with the onset of menstruation.

The story opens with the shy teen – who is coping not only with a deranged single mother who routinely locks her in a prayer closet, but also the jeers of the popular crowd at school – getting her first period in the shower after gym class.

Rather than helping the sheltered girl, who has no idea what's happening to her, the other students pelt her with tampons.

Things devolve from there, leading to the prank at the prom that pushes Carrie to use her budding supernatural abilities for revenge.

To help Moretz tap into Carrie's fragile psyche, Peirce spoke to the actress for hours about her adolescent insecurities and even took her to women's shelters to talk with people who had experienced real-world hardship.

"I said to her, 'You've been working on red carpets, hanging out with Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese and that's great. You're wildly successful, but that is completely opposite of what we need,'" Peirce recalled. "'I don't want you to be the precocious girl. I want you to be the broken woman.'"

Peirce also scheduled a weeks-long intensive rehearsal period in Toronto last year just before filming began, during which time Moretz bonded with Julianne Moore, who plays Carrie's disturbed, deeply religious mother, Margaret.

"I look up to (Moore) like crazy," Moretz said. "She's a mentor to me now. There were moments where we'd just start laughing because we were doing the weirdest stuff we've ever done. We would have crazy conversations and then we'd be crying and killing each other."

Apart from Moore and actress Judy Greer, who plays Carrie's sympathetic gym teacher Miss Desjardin, the supporting cast is filled with relative newcomers including Portia Doubleday as chief mean girl Chris, British model Gabriella Wilde as the more kind-hearted Sue Snell and Ansel Elgort as her boyfriend, Tommy (Elgort already has roles booked in two anticipated adaptations of young adult novels, Divergent and The Fault In Our Stars, both set for release in 2014).

Though Moretz ranked as a veteran among the cast, she described the experience of shooting the movie as grueling and credits the presence of her mother and one of her four older brothers with helping her through the production.

"I would come home from the set just drained," Moretz said. "I would have to stay for 18 hours and just be in that mind-set of Carrie, which is the darkest, most suicidal area that you could be in. It's hard to stay there your entire day. I would look in the mirror and be, like, I don't know who I am right now."

"What was amazing to me was how much Chloë grew up," Peirce said. "I think that was extraordinary because that was my concern. I needed her to grow up, and I needed her to grow up on screen, and she just came to life."

Moretz has a theory on why she is attracted to characters who are out of the ordinary.

"I think the reason I do a lot of dark roles and I'm OK with getting to this dark stuff is because I don't have a dark life," Moretz said. "I have an incredibly normal life. I have a family that loves me. I've had an amazing childhood." – Los Angeles Times/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

> Carrie opens in cinemas nationwide on Nov 7.

New 'Desolation Of Smaug' visuals

Posted:

Filmmaker Peter Jackson reveals seven movie character posters on social media.

AS a run-up to the highly anticipated The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug "global fan event" happening later today, New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson revealed seven new character posters from the movie this morning.

The posters are of Thranduil, Thorin, Gandalf, Legolas, Bilbo, Tauriel and Bard and can be seen on Jackson's Facebook page

Comments from fans prove that the visuals are pretty well received, save for a few grouses. One of the biggest complaints is that Bilbo's face has been overly "photoshopped" .

"Everyone looks great but Bilbo ... such is his life!" said one fan. "Will Ferrell, is that you?" said another, suggesting that the image resembles that of the American comedian.

New Posters from The Hobbit

The collection of seven new character posters on Peter Jackson's Facebook page.

Jackson has not responded to any of the comments, most probably because he and his team are busy preparing for the live presentation, which is happening sometime on Nov 4 – the director has yet to reveal the times – in London, New York and Los Angeles (Nov 5 in Wellington, New Zealand).

"This is how it's going to work: The 4 host cinemas will all have members of the Desolation Of Smaug cast on stage, and we'll all be satellite-linked to allow everyone to participate in a simultaneous Q&A ... as well as present a few special surprises. Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather and watch the events unfold live. If you can't be there in person the event will also be streamed live on the Internet," said Jackson on his Facebook page.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug opens in cinemas nationwide next month. — Melody L. Goh

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Positive views on Press Metal's stake sale

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PETALING JAYA: Press Metal Bhd's proposed disposal of a 20% stake in its main smelting plant Press Metal Bintulu Sdn Bhd (PMB) for RM444mil is viewed positively by analysts due to the synergistic nature of the transaction and its valuation.

The company will make a gain of RM336.4 mil from the disposal.

It has entered into a conditional sales and purchase agreement last Friday to sell the plant to Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corp.

PMB has an optimum capacity of 320,000 tonnes and is located in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu, Sarawak.

Sumitomo is an existing partner of Press Metal as the Japanese giant also owns 20% of Press Metal's other smelting plant in Mukah.

RHB Research analyst Ng Sem Guan said the sales proceeds would help pare down Press Metal's net gearing to 1.2 times from 1.74 times.

The transaction will effectively increase the company's market capitalisation from RM1.26bil to RM2.22bil, which has prompted Ng to raise his fair value of the company's shares by RM1 to RM3.77.

He maintained a "buy" call on Press Metal but added that ongoing repairs at the Mukah plant following a power outage in June and weak aluminium prices might put a cap to its share price.

An analyst with AmResearch concurred that the deal underscored Sumitomo's commitment in the aluminium manufacturer.

Under the terms, Press Metal has certain free cashflow and production cost target conditions which, if met, it will be "rewarded", otherwise it could be subject to a penalty.

On the terms for earn-out adjustment, Ng pointed out the risk of a potential penalty up to US$16mil based on Press Metal's annual free cashflow (FCF) until financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) that is largely dependent on aluminium prices, which is something beyond management's control.

The penalty, nonetheless, would be spread over a period of five years and Press Metal would be rewarded with not more than US$43mil should it surpass the FCF target set in the sales and purchase agreement, which was not disclosed.

Ng said of the final adjustment of the deal, "We are hopeful of a reward of not more than US$21mil upon finalisation of PMB's FY18 accounts, which take into account certain production costs that are likely within management's control."

On the flip side, PMB is subject to a US$26.9mil penalty if it does not meet the target upon finalisation of its FY18 balance sheet.

Asian shares mixed as US data in focus

Posted:

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday as traders await the release of growth and jobs data out of the United States, while Tokyo was hit by a stronger yen and a slump by car giant Nissan.

The euro saw further selling pressure as investors bet the European Central Bank will cut interest rates following soft inflation data last week.

Tokyo was flat, Hong Kong dipped 0.83 percent, Sydney was 0.75 percent higher, Shanghai lost 1.00 percent and Seoul fell 0.19 percent.

Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were closed for public holidays.

With few catalysts to drive buying, traders are looking to the US figures for a handle on when the Federal Reserve will begin reeling in its stimulus programme, which has been credited with a global stocks rally at the start of the year.

While a strong set of results on gross domestic product and non-farm payrolls will be positive economically, they would also suggest the bank will start winding down the programme - which is worth $85 billion a month - sooner than later.

Wall Street saw small gains, with the Dow up 0.16 percent, the S&P 500 rising 0.36 percent and the Nasdaq adding - AFP

Apple to open manufacturing plant to make sapphire materials for devices

Posted:

NEW YORK: Apple Inc will open a manufacturing facility in Arizona in partnership with mineral crystal specialist GT Advanced Technologies Inc  to make sapphire materials for Apple's popular electronics devices.

The project will provide 700 manufacturing jobs in the first year and 1,300 construction and associated jobs in MesaArizona, according to a statement by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Monday.

Apple confirmed the plan, but would not say exactly what components would be made at the new facility or what products they would appear in.

GT specializes in "crystal growth equipment" for consumer electronics and other industries. It said on Monday it signed a multiyear supply agreement with Apple to provide sapphire material, which has in the past been used in watches, optical instruments and integrated circuits. There have been reports that device makers are looking at sapphire crystal for use in screens.

Apple's push to create jobs in the United States comes after scrutiny of its massive overseas cash reserves and conditions for workers at contract manufacturer facilities it uses in China.

The move also signals a tentative revival in U.S. manufacturing. Earlier this year, Apple revealed plans to build computers at a site in AustinTexas, while Google Inc's <GOOG.O> Motorola unit decided to assemble its new Moto X phones in the same state.

Big corporations such as Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> and General Electric Co <GE.N> have been shifting some production back to home soil over the past few years. Last month Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> announced a campaign to buy more U.S.-made goods.

GT said it will own and operate the furnaces to produce the sapphire material, but Apple will own theArizona facility.

Under the terms of its supply deal, Apple will give GT a prepayment of about $578 million, which GT will pay back to Apple over five years, starting in 2015, GT said.- Reuters

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Football fans descend on Shah Alam Stadium

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SHAH ALAM: All roads from Kelantan and Pahang were congested with vehicles heading for the Shah Alam Stadium for the national football event of the year – the Malaysia Cup final.

Convoys of cars and buses, decked with their state flags, clogged the stadium grounds by 4pm, although the match between the two east coast giants was due to start only at 8.30pm yesterday.

Kelantan, the Red Warriors, came to the stadium as defending champions and the team had also not missed a final four times in the last five years.

On the other hand, Pahang had last lifted the coveted cup in 1992 and came hungry as Elephants, the nickname for their team.

It was the first cup final meeting between the two state teams in the 92-year-old history of the competition (which started as the HMS Malaya Cup in 1921) and the rain did not dampen their spirit.

Earlier in Kuantan, state Youth and Sports Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Johari Hussain flagged off a convoy of more than 10 cars at the State Mosque parking lot.

Police outriders and patrol cars escorted the entourage to ensure the Pahang supporters had a safe and smooth journey to Shah Alam.

Many more buses loaded with fans from other districts joined the groups from Kuantan.

"It is the most expensive experience for me to travel in a bus with a group to watch the Malaysia Cup final. I don't know when Pahang will again be in the final," said 23-year-old Elephants fan Nur Syahidah Zainuddin.

Bangladeshi envoy gets SMS threats for mooting direct hiring

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Malaysia, A.K.M. Atiqur Rahman, has received threats in the past for proposing government-to-government recruitment of workers to curb human trafficking of Bangladeshis.

He said the threats, received via SMS, started when he first mooted the idea last year.

"I believe that this new model of direct employment by both governments has made the powerful syndicates and agents unhappy in both countries.

"Even my family was worried for me and asked me to return to Bangladesh. But I choose to remain here to ensure smooth implementation of the model," he told The Star.

Atiqur, who developed the new model while doing his university research paper, said that for just US$400 (RM1,280), a Bangladeshi could be processed and sent to Malaysia, including the cost of the air ticket, medical check-up, and even an introductory course on Malaysian etiquette.

Atiqur, who has been a diplomat for 28 years, hopes that if the model is successful in Malaysia, then Bangladesh will expand it to all the countries that it is sending workers to.

Asked about the response to the new model, he said 1.4 million Bangladeshis had registered for it.

"Initially, there were some teething problems, but we have managed to overcome them," he said, adding that to date, 1,000 workers have been brought into Malaysia via this way.

Meanwhile, Sukaham commissioner James Nayagam said one way to curb illegal workers was for the Malaysian Government to set proper guidelines on how agents should recruit workers when signing a memorandum of understanding with another government.

Taman Pagoh Jaya brothers inseparable in life and death

Posted:

MUAR: Two young brothers who were inseparable in life have drowned in a flood retention pond near their favourite playing spot not far from their house in Taman Pagoh Jaya.

The bodies of Tay Zi Sian, seven, and Zi Qing, 10, were found floating in the pond by their 12-year-old sister at about 4.30pm on Saturday.

The sister said that Zi Sian and Zi Qing left their house at 2.30pm to play.

When both brothers did not return home after two hours, she went looking for them.

She did not see her brothers, but their slippers were found near the pond which is about 1.5m deep.

She peered into the pond and that was when she saw their bodies.

Panicked, she ran home to inform her Sarawakian mother and called her father.

Tay Cheng Boa, 38, who works at a nearby factory, immediately rushed home.

He said his sons were very close and they always went everywhere together.

"They liked to play near the pond and I have always scolded them as it is dangerous.

"They were the only male grandsons in our family and now they are gone," said the grieving father.

Tay hoped that the Government would install proper fencing around the pond to prevent another tragedy from happening.

The siblings will be cremated at 11am today in Pagoh.

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Indian Cooking Unfolded

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Raghavan Iyer's new cookbook aims to make Indian dishes more accessible.

RAGHAVAN Iyer is a born teacher who learned to cook the foods of his native India when he arrived in Minnesota as a college student. His latest cookbook, Indian Cooking Unfolded (Workman), was born from memories of that experience.

"I've faced the challenges a person can face first-hand," says Iyer, a resident of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. "I have been a teacher for over 22 years. It still comes back to what makes cooking more accessible."

Iyer responds to that challenge in various ways in the new book. The most obvious is the format: Seven of the eight chapters open with recipes displayed on pages that fold out, giving space both to Iyer, so he can write detailed directions, and the book designers, so they have plenty of room to arrange step-by-step photographs that support the text.

"In a literal and figurative sense, the book folds out and unfolds the cuisine. It demystifies it," Iyer explains, noting that you can use the recipes on each of the fold-out pages to create a "get-started" Indian meal.

Also helping to make that Indian meal happen more easily is Iyer's decision to limit each recipe to 10 ingredients or fewer – and all ingredients must be available at the average supermarket.

"When I started creating dishes I thought I was cheating by not going to an Indian grocery store," Iyer says. "It was one of those freeing experiences. It was very exhilarating to keep the recipes within 10 ingredients."

One way he did that: visiting supermarkets on his travels and noting which ingredients and which spices were stocked. He developed a list of the top five spices one could find pretty much anywhere: cardamom, turmeric, coriander seeds, mustard seeds and cumin.

"It just opened doors," he says of the exercise. "When I cook at home and make Indian food I find myself sticking to the simplicity of 10 ingredients." – Chicago Tribune/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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Christopher Walken is a T-Rex

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The actor says he is flattered to have inspired the statue of a dinosaur in New York.

Mark this down as one of the more unlikely additions to the Big Apple art scene – a 16-foot statue of Tyrannosaurus Rex with Christopher Walken's face on it. The unlikely creation is made of wood, clay and chicken wire and was crafted over a period of three months by five New York City high schoolers.

It's on display in East Village's First Park but will move to another location in Manhattan this weekend.

It's also earned the Oscar-winning actor's seal of approval. He learned about the project after being contacted by the Block Island Times, the community newspaper of the island resort where he owns a home.

"I haven't seen it, but I'm flattered," Walken told the paper. "I've always been fond of T-Rexes. Everybody enjoys T-Rexes."

He added, "Perhaps we can find a place for it on Block Island ... We can bring it over on the ferry."

Ethan Cyr, one of the teenagers behind the project, said the idea for combining Walken's head with a dinosaur's body emerged out of an inside joke he had with friends. "I just decided it was time to take this wacky idea and put it into three dimensions," Cyr told TheWrap.

"I wanted to make it tangible and real."

The 17-year-old is currently applying to art school and found out about Walken's comments during an interview with TheWrap.

"I'm so happy to hear he's flattered," Cyr said. "I respect him immensely as a person ... I would love nothing more than to have him come and look at it in person. To get to meet him would be a surreal moment for me."

To construct the statue, Cyr raised US$2,680 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo. He had only been asking for US$750. He hopes to sell the finished product for between US$5,000 and $6,000.

When not inspiring dinosaur statuary, Walken has appeared in such films as The Deer Hunter and Pulp Fiction. He recently filmed a supporting role in Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys.

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Six dead as tourist ferry sinks off Thai resort

Posted:

Bangkok (AFP) - A packed tourist ferry sank Sunday off the Thai resort of Pattaya, killing six passengers including three foreigners in the latest deadly incident to tarnish the kingdom's image as a tourism haven.

Fifteen people were also seriously injured, according to police in Pattaya, a popular beach resort south of Bangkok renowned for its racy nightlife.

Reports said a Russian child was among those seriously hurt.

"So far there are six dead from the boat," Pattaya police chief Colonel Suwarn Chiewnawintawat told AFP, adding three Thais, a Chinese and two other -- as yet unidentified -- foreigners were among the dead.

Television footage showed stunned tourists being led to safety on shore where they were met by dozens of ambulances along Pattaya's neon-lit beachfront.

Playing down earlier reports that people remained trapped in the stricken vessel, he said all of the other 150 passengers had been plucked from the sea.

The double-decker ferry sank on Sunday afternoon near Koh Larn, a small island close to Pattaya which is popular with daytrippers.

Police said they are probing the cause of the accident as local media reports blamed an engine problem on the overcrowded ferry for causing passengers to run to one side of the boat, which forced it to list.

Confirming the toll a second policeman told AFP that the frantic relatives of the passengers alerted local emergency services to the disaster at around 5pm local time (1100 GMT), sparking the rescue effort.

Russian news reports said three Russians, including a child, had been taken to hospital in a serious condition.

"At least half of the passengers were Russian tourists," a Russian embassy official in Bangkok was quoted as saying by the Ria Novosti news agency.

Renowned for its strip clubs and bars and cheap accommodation, Pattaya is one of Thailand's most popular resort areas and has become wildly popular as a package holiday destination for Russians.

It is around 150 kilometres (100 miles) from Bangkok.

Thailand drew 22 million tourists last year, but is struggling to shake off a reputation for lax safety standards after a series of incidents -- many of them fatal.

In May more than 100 people were rescued from a tourist ferry which began to sink in rough seas near the tourist island of Phuket after it was hit by a big wave.

Four people, including tourists died in a nightclub fire in August 2012 also on Phuket, while there have also been slew of high-profile cases of foreigners being murdered, drugged or caught up in tourist cons.

In July, an American tourist was allegedly stabbed to death by three Thai musicians after he refused to stop singing at a bar. His death came weeks the murder of another US citizen in a row with a taxi driver in Bangkok.

Diplomats from China and the European Union have voiced concern at the number of fatal incidents involving their tourists.

In recent years the kingdom's tourist-friendly image as "the Land of Smiles" has also been tarnished by political violence and devastating floods.

Tammy&#39;s adopter faces legal action

Posted:

A BRITISH woman who adopted Tammy the mongrel and then had it put down for being "aggressive" is facing legal action from the animal welfare volunteer who handed the puppy to her.

Assistant project manager Ada Ong, 35, wants S$1,000 (RM2,540) in damages and S$200 (RM508) in legal costs from Alison McElwee for breach of contract.

She said she is pursuing the matter to raise public awareness of animal welfare. If McElwee complies, the S$1,200 (RM3,048) will go to a charity of Ong's choice.

A letter of demand from her lawyers from Allen and Gledhill says that putting down the seven-month-old dog on Oct 7 was "clearly in breach" of McElwee's obligations under an agreement signed between her and Ong on June 1.

Ong also wants a written acknowledgement from McElwee that "it was inappropriate and in breach of (her) obligations under the pet adoption agreement to put Tammy down".

McElwee has up to Friday to respond, after which legal proceedings will commence. Ong's legal team is led by Edwin Tong, an MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC.

She was advised by Law Minister K. Shanmugam to take legal action after she showed him the contract and records of SMSes between her and McElwee.

The minister also helped her to get a lawyer to represent her.

McElwee and her lawyer did not answer queries. She has previously said she put down the dog after it bit her four-year-old daughter and others.

The incident sparked fury online and shed light on adoption agreements being used by pet rescuers and animal welfare groups.

While terms vary, these contracts include clauses to protect animals' welfare, such as requiring adopters to provide food, water and veterinary care.

Lawyers said parties are legally bound by them and "there is no need for a lawyer's involvement for such a contract to be legally valid".

While lawyers agree a detailed contract can "enhance the welfare and protection of the animal", it does not ensure a problem-free adoption.

"I fear the contract may result in fewer dogs being adopted because prospective adopters may not welcome the (rescuer) still having residual rights," said Singapore Management University law associate professor Eugene Tan. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

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