Isnin, 11 November 2013

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews


Film about dangers of pro American football

Posted:

British filmmaker Ridley Scott is set to tackle the feature.

After completing his biblical film on the life of Moses, British director Ridley Scott plans to focus on the physical and psychological damage experienced by professional American football players in his next film, Deadline.com reports.

In particular, Scott's next film will look into brain damage and other long-term effects experienced by players of American football. The idea for the film came to the director, an avid fan of contact sports, following several controversial revelations that have shaken the world of American football in recent years.

It recently came to light that several former professional players experienced chronic encephalopathy caused by the repeated concussions they suffered throughout their careers on the field. Scott has already obtained a wealth of information on the subject, which has sparked the attention of both doctors and sports professionals.

The director specifically examined the cases of pro players Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, both driven to suicide in the past two years by traumatic chronic encephalopathy. For several other players, multiple concussions experienced over the years have led to dementia or memory loss.

Before focusing on this controversial subject, Scott will complete Exodus, his Moses biopic slated for release in 2014, headlined by Christian Bale.

Currently in theatres in the US is the director's most recent film, The Counselor, a thriller with a particularly prestigious cast (Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem). — AFP Relaxnews

Mini movie reviews

Posted:

The hammer of Thor strikes hard and fast in the great sequel, but it's Loki who steals the show. Frequently.

Thor: The Dark World

FORGET about the relatively bland villain, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), or the fairly useless Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), this sequel is the Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) show.

Hemsworth has settled quite comfortably into his titular role, while Hiddleston shines as the vengeful Loki.

With the once-in-five-millennia cosmic alignment of the Nine Realms occurring, a dark force called the Aether and ancient Asgardian foes the Dark Elves are awakened.

Director Alan Taylor deftly balances story and character development with action, to give us a well-paced movie that allows most of its characters to shine.

I also appreciated the visual design of the film, especially in Asgard.

While the movie isn't perfect, it is certainly bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Go watch it, and don't forget to stay right until the END of the credits for a big reveal. — Tan Shiow Chin (****)

Tom Yum Goong 2

It had to happen. Someone actually dared to string up a batch of action footage and pass it off as a movie. But I have to say this: the action is jaw-dropping and Thai action maestro Tony Jaa is really kick-ass.

I've never seen anybody fight so much in a movie. Not even Donnie Yen or Jet Li or Jackie Chan (so Jaa gets one star, and so does the action). In fact, none of the characters in the movie needs much of a reason to fight. It feels just like a videogame, where each new scenario is yet another reason to clash.

If hard-hitting action is your thing, then Tom Yum Goong 2 will definitely give you your money's worth. — Seto Kit Yan (**)

Baby Blues

Here's another compelling premise involving haunted dolls that sadly doesn't quite deliver.

It's inspired by folklore where a haunted doll, desiring affection, attaches itself to a young family with a new baby. Baby Blues sees a series of calamities befalling twins who move into a beautiful but spooky old house.

Unfortunately, Jimmy the doll is no Chucky; the scenes where the creepy doll is supposed to deliver the scares made people snigger instead.

The worst part comes when a doctor dismisses everything as a hallucination brought on by "baby blues", and apparently fathers get it too, not just mothers.

Even stolen kisses between Hong Kong heartthrob Raymond Lam and siren Kate Tsui can't save this lacklustre scarer. — SKY (**)

Raymond Lam in Hong Kong 3D horror flick Baby Blues helmed by Leong Po-Chih

Raymond Lam in Hong Kong 3D horror flick Baby Blues helmed by Leong Po-Chih.

Aarambam

Building on his recent successes playing anti-heroes in films like Mankatha and Billa, Ajith Kumar is captivating here as the mysterious AK, who is seemingly mixed up in a series of bombings and murders in Mumbai.

The story begins with him kidnapping hacker extraordinaire Arjun (Arya), holding him hostage and forcing him to break into various organisations. As Arjun tries to escape AK's clutches, he slowly discovers that things are not what they seem to be.

Their chemistry makes the movie great fun to watch, with Ajith bringing the cool quotient and Arya providing the laughs. Slick action scenes in various international locations add to the enjoyment.

Admittedly, the plot is nothing new, and some parts tend to drag. But thanks to its leading man's charisma, Aarambam ends up being a fun, if not terribly memorable, ride. — Sharmilla Ganesan (***)

Ajith Kumar in Aarambam.

Ajith Kumar in Aarambam.

Escape Plan

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is an expert at finding the weaknesses in maximum-security prisons, and escaping from them.

One day, the CIA hires him to test the ultimate facility, created to contain the world's most dangerous criminals who have been detained without trial.

But when he gets there, he discovers that he has been set up and is a prisoner for real.

Determined to escape, he teams up with another inmate, Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), to form an escape plan.

Stallone and Schwarzenegger are doing what they do best, and the story and acting overall are actually more nuanced than one would expect from this type of movie.

While it is entertaining enough, what elevates it from a two-star movie to three for me are a few standout moments, mostly involving Schwarzenegger.

Watch out in particular for his "crazed German" act and gun-blazing scene near the end. — TSC (***)

Escape Plan stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jim Caviezel

Escape Plan stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jim Caviezel.

Rigor Mortis

Spectacular. One word says it all. Rigor Mortis has been packing movie theatres and heralded by film critics as the birth of a new generation of Hong Kong cinema. The reason: stylish sequences of Taoist exorcism and superb performances by Mr Vampire movie veterans easily propel this ghoulish horror/slasher populated by ghosts, vampires, zombies into Hong Kong's horror hall of fame.

Writer/director Juno Mak may not have left much of a mark as a pop star, but his atmospheric directorial debut shows that he is a filmmaker to look out for.

If there is one horror movie you have to see this year, then this is it. I just wish I had watched it in 3D. (Warning: Don't let your kid watch this, or he'll never go to the bathroom alone again.) — SKY (****)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates


U.S., Britain sending warships to help Philippine relief efforts

Posted:

TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - The United States is sending an aircraft carrier to the Philippines to help speed up relief efforts after a typhoon killed an estimated 10,000 people in one city alone, with fears the toll could rise sharply as rescuers reach more devastated towns.

The USS George Washington aircraft carrier should arrive in 48 to 72 hours, the Pentagon said, confirming a Reuters report.

A statement said crew from the George Washington, which carries some 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, were being recalled early from shore leave in Hong Kong and the ship was expected to be under way in the coming hours. Other U.S. Navy ships would also head to the Philippines, it said.

Philippine officials have been overwhelmed by the scale of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest on record, which tore a path through islands in the central Philippines on Friday.

About 660,000 people have been displaced and many have no access to food, water or medicine, the United Nations said.

Rescue workers were trying to reach towns and villages on Tuesday that have been cut off, which could reveal the full extent of the loss of life and devastation from the disaster.

The arrival of the U.S. carrier and its aircraft will accelerate the distribution of aid and ensure more injured survivors can be evacuated.

Another U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, led a massive aid operation off Indonesia's Aceh province in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Britain is also sending a navy warship with equipment to make drinking water from seawater and a military transport aircraft, Prime Minister David Cameron said.

DEATH TOLL EXPECTED TO RISE

Officials in Tacloban, which bore the brunt of the storm, have said the death toll could be 10,000 in their city. There is grave concern for regions outside Tacloban.

"I think what worries us the most is that there are so many areas where we have no information from, and when we have this silence, it usually means the damage is even worse," Joseph Curry of the U.S. organisation Catholic Relief Services, told NBC's "Today" programme, speaking from Manila.

John Ging, director of operations at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said "many places are strewn with dead bodies" that need to be buried quickly to prevent the outbreak of a public health disaster.

"We're sadly expecting the worst as we get more and more access," Ging told reporters at the United Nations in New York.

President Benigno Aquino declared a state of national calamity and deployed hundreds of soldiers in Tacloban to quell looting. Tacloban's administration appeared to be in disarray as city and hospital workers focused on saving their own families and securing food.

CHAOS AT AIRPORT

Two Philippine Air Force C 130 cargo planes landed at Tacloban airport early on Tuesday, but unloaded more soldiers than relief supplies. Among dozens of troops was a unit of Special Forces, underscoring concerns about civil disorder in a city where little aid has been distributed.

The Special Forces immediately deployed at the airport to hold back angry and desperate families waiting in heavy rain in the hope of boarding the planes returning to Manila.

"Get back! Get back in the building!" shouted air force officials through megaphones, gesturing the crowds back inside the wrecked terminal. Many had walked for hours from their destroyed homes in the once-vibrant port city of 220,000, carrying meagre possessions.

The sick, infants and the elderly were taken on board first. Pale-faced infants were passed over the crowd and carried on with several injured people. Many people wept and begged officials to let them on.

Aid trucks have struggled to enter the corpse-choked city because of the stream of people and vehicles leaving.

Reuters journalists travelled into Tacloban on a government aid truck late on Monday which was guarded by soldiers with assault rifles.

"It's risky," said Jewel Ray Marcia, an army lieutenant. "People are angry. They are going out of their minds."

Residents have told terrifying accounts of being swept away by a wall of water, revealing a city that had been hopelessly unprepared for a storm of Haiyan's power.

Most of the damage and deaths were caused by waves that inundated towns, washed ships ashore and swept away villages.

RELIEF EFFORTS PICKING UP

International relief efforts have begun to gather pace, with dozens of countries and organisations pledging tens of millions of dollars in aid.

Operations have been hampered because roads, airports and bridges were destroyed or covered in wreckage by surging waves and winds of 314 kph (195 mph).

U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos, who is travelling to the Philippines, released $25 million for aid relief on Monday from the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund.

Amos and the Philippines government are due to launch an appeal and action plan on Tuesday to deal with the disaster.

Aquino's declaration of a state of national calamity will allow the government to use state funds for relief and to control prices. He said the government had set aside 18.7 billion pesos ($432.97 million) for rehabilitation.

Additional U.S. military forces also arrived in the Philippines on Monday to bolster relief efforts, officials said, with U.S. military cargo planes transporting food, medical supplies and water for victims.

Rescuers have yet to reach remote parts of the coast, such as Guiuan, a town in eastern Samar province with a population of 40,000 that was largely destroyed.

The typhoon also levelled Basey, a seaside town in Samar province about 10 km (6 miles) across a bay from Tacloban in Leyte province. About 2,000 people were missing in Basey, said the governor of Samar province.

The damage to the coconut- and rice-growing region was expected to amount to more than 3 billion pesos ($69 million), Citi Research said in a report, with "massive losses" for private property.

(Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Karen Lema in Manila, Phil Stewart in Washington, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Belinda Goldsmith in London, Writing by Jason Szep. Editing by Dean Yates)

World offers aid for typhoon-ravaged Philippines

Posted:

(Reuters) - The United States is sending an aircraft carrier to the Philippines to help speed up relief efforts after a typhoon killed an estimated 10,000 people in one city alone, with fears the toll could rise sharply as rescuers reach devastated towns.

The Philippines has been overwhelmed by the scale of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest on record, which tore a path through islands in the central Philippines on Friday.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of donations and efforts from different countries and organisations, supplementing supplies being flown in from elsewhere in the Philippines.

- AUSTRALIA announced a A$10 million ($9.3 million) package, including medical personnel and non-food items such as tarpaulins, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, water containers and hygiene kits.

- BRITAIN announced a 10 million pound ($16 million) package to aid up to 500,000 people, including temporary shelter, water, plastic sheeting and household items, as well as military aid.

- NEW ZEALAND will give NZ$2.15 million ($1.7 million) in aid.

- JAPAN is to send a 25-strong emergency medical relief team.

- INDONESIA is to dispatch aircraft and logistical aid including personnel, drinking water, food, generators, antibiotics and other medication.

- The arrival of the U.S. carrier and its aircraft will speed up the distribution of aid and ensure injured survivors can be evacuated to hospitals in unaffected parts of the country. The UNITED STATES is providing $20 million in immediate humanitarian assistance and has sent a team of about 90 Marines and sailors, part of a first wave of promised U.S. military assistance.

- The U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID) is sending emergency shelter and hygiene materials. It is sending 55 tons of emergency food to feed 20,000 children and 15,000 adults for up to five days. The U.S. EMBASSY is sending $100,000 for water and sanitation support.

- The EUROPEAN COMMISSION said it would provide eight million euros ($11 million) to help worst-affected areas.

- The CHINESE government is providing $100,000 and the Chinese Red Cross a further $100,000.

- THE VACTICAN pledged 3 million euros ($4 million), adding to $150,000 given by the Pope and 100,000 euros ($134,000) by Catholic charity Caritas.

- INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE, a U.S.-based aid agency, will dispatch an emergency team and has launched a $10 million appeal for aid.

- MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES is strengthening its teams with an additional 30 people including medical personnel, logisticians and psychologists arriving in coming days. MSF is also sending 200 tonnes of medical and relief items.

- THE U.N. CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF) is airlifting $1.3 million worth of supplies, including water purification tablets, soap, medical kits, tarpaulins, and micro nutrient supplements.

- THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME is airlifting 44 tons of high-energy biscuits, enough to feed 132,000 people for a day, as well as emergency supplies and communications equipment.

- The U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY is organising an emergency airlift to send aid and supplies.

($1 = 0.7459 euros)

(Writing by Laura Philomin; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ron Popeski)

Factbox - Women's rights in the Arab world

Posted:

Nov 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Egypt is the worst country for women in the Arab world, closely followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen, according to gender experts surveyed in a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll released on Tuesday.

Comoros, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar came top of the survey, which assessed 22 Arab states on violence against women, reproductive rights, treatment of women within the family, their integration into society and attitudes towards a woman's role in politics and the economy.

The results were drawn from answers from 336 gender experts invited to participate in an online survey by the foundation, the philanthropic arm of the news and information company Thomson Reuters, in August and September.

Questions were based on key provisions of the U.N. Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which 19 Arab states have signed or ratified.

The poll assessed violence against women, reproductive rights, treatment of women within the family, their integration into society and attitudes towards a woman's role in politics and the economy.

Experts were asked to respond to statements and rate the importance of factors affecting women's rights across the six categories. Their responses were converted into scores, which were averaged to create a ranking.

22. EGYPT

Sexual violence, harassment and trafficking combined with a breakdown of security, high rates of female genital mutilation and a rollback of freedoms since the 2011 revolution put Egypt at the bottom of the poll.

* 99.3 percent of women and girls are subjected to sexual harassment.

* 27.2 million women and girls - or 91 percent of the female population - are victims of female genital mutilation (FGM).

* 63 percent of adult women are literate.

(Sources: U.N. Women, UNICEF, World Bank)

21. IRAQ

Iraq's second-worst ranking reflects a dramatic deterioration in conditions for women since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Mass displacement has made women vulnerable to trafficking and sexual violence. The Iraqi penal code allows men who kill their wives to serve a maximum of three years in prison rather than a life sentence.

* 14.5 percent of women have jobs.

* 1.6 million women are widows.

* Thousands of displaced women have been forced to work as prostitutes in neighbouring countries including Syria, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.

(Sources: World Bank, Refugees International, Freedom House)

20. SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia polled third-worst overall and ranked last for political representation and inheritance rights. Despite stirrings of progress, the kingdom's guardianship system severely limits women's freedoms.

* Women can vote for the first time in 2015 municipal elections.

* Marital rape is not recognised and rape victims risk being charged with adultery.

* Women are banned from driving and need a guardian's permission to travel, enrol in education, marry or undergo healthcare procedures.

(Sources: Human Rights Watch, U.S. State Department, Amnesty International)

19. SYRIA

Massive war displacement, both inside Syria and across borders, has left millions of women and girls vulnerable to sexual violence and trafficking, the United Nations says. The collapse of the economy and healthcare system has disproportionately affected women.

* Girls as young as 12 have been married in refugee camps.

* More than 4,000 cases of rape and sexual mutilation have been reported to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

* There are reports of government forces and armed militias sexually abusing women and girls during home raids and in detention centres.

(UNICEF, U.S. State Department, Human Rights Watch)

18. YEMEN

Historically marginalised, Yemeni women have been fighting for rights since the 2011 Arab Spring. Experts say child marriage, human trafficking and rape are endemic.

* No law deals effectively with domestic abuse and marital rape isn't recognised.

* There is no legal minimum age for marriage.

* 53 percent of girls finish primary school.

(Sources: UNICEF, U.S. State Department, World Bank)

17. SUDAN

Sudan hasn't ratified CEDAW and women face systematic discrimination and inequality. Strict interpretations of Islam curb women's freedoms and allow domestic abuse, child marriage and marital rape. Sexual violence is common and often goes unpunished.

* Girls can legally marry from the age of 10.

* 12.1 million women and girls are victims of FGM.

* Victims often don't report rape, fearing they will be tried for adultery.

(Sources: UNICEF, OECD Gender Index)

16. LEBANON

Lebanon ranked badly for not punishing marital rape, for biased inheritance laws and discriminatory employment laws.

* No law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace.

* Lebanese women can't pass citizenship onto children or foreign-born husbands.

* One in six Lebanese women are illiterate.

(Sources: Freedom House, UNICEF, U.S. State Department)

15. PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Israeli restrictions on movement have severe consequences for Palestinian women, experts said. Women suffer from poverty, unemployment and a high risk of domestic violence and honour crimes.

* Only 17 percent of women are employed despite a literacy rate of 93 percent.

* 51 percent of women in Gaza City experienced domestic violence in 2011.

* 25 honour killings were recorded in the first nine months of 2013.

(Sources: UNICEF, Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, Ma'an News Agency)

14. SOMALIA

Somalia has not signed CEDAW. It has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates and sexual violence is widespread. In regions controlled by al-Shabaab extremists, women suffer from harsh application of sharia (Islamic) law.

* 1,200 women die in childbirth for every 100,000 live births.

* 1,700 women were raped in camps for internally displaced people in 2012.

* Girls as young as 13 have been stoned to death for adultery and 98 percent of women and girls undergo FGM.

(Sources: UNICEF, Amnesty International, Women Living Under Muslim Laws)

13. DJIBOUTI

Djibouti polled as one of the best countries for abolishing laws that discriminate against women but it struggles to curb child marriage and has one of the world's highest FGM rates.

* The Supreme Court has a female president.

* A law was enacted in 2009 to improve the living conditions of low-income women.

* 93 percent of women have been subjected to FGM.

(Sources: U.S. State Department, UNICEF)

12. BAHRAIN

Judges in Islamic courts make decisions on women's rights in divorce, marriage, inheritance and child custody cases, based on interpretation of Islamic law. Bahraini law doesn't recognise or punish marital rape or domestic abuse.

* A woman's testimony is worth half that of a man's in an Islamic court.

* Women could first vote or run for election in 2002.

* The Penal Code says a rapist can avoid punishment if he marries his victim.

(Sources: Freedom House, UNICEF)

11. MAURITANIA

Mauritania is one of the few Arab states with laws prohibiting domestic abuse and marital rape, but women face high rates of sexual violence and FGM. The practice of forced feeding to make daughters more attractive to potential partners is widespread.

* 69 percent of women are victims of FGM.

* More than 1,800 domestic violence victims sought help from the Mauritanian Association for the Health of Mothers and Children in 2012.

* 412 rapes were recorded in 2012.

(UNICEF, U.S. State Department, Association for the Female Heads of Households)

10. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Women have access to education and health services but traditional gender roles are ingrained. Many foreign female domestic workers are trafficked and abused and women run the risk of being imprisoned for adultery when reporting sexual violence.

* Marital rape is not recognised and the law permits men to discipline their wives physically.

* Four women sit on the 22-member cabinet of the Federal National Council.

* Women represent 14 percent of the total workforce.

(Sources: Human Rights Watch, U.S. State Department, World Bank)

9. LIBYA

Libya ranked as one of the best countries for political representation but experts said insecurity, poverty and lack of education were some of the greatest concerns for women.

* 33 women were elected to the 200-member General National Congress in 2012.

* 20 is the legal minimum age for women to marry unless they get special permission from a court.

* Intimidation and harassment of women by militias and extremists has been widely reported.

(Sources: U.S. State department, UNICEF)

8. MOROCCO

Women in Morocco have a degree of independence and autonomy but domestic abuse is common. Experts say equality laws are not implemented and there are no laws against domestic violence or marital rape.

* 17,000 incidents of violence against women were reported in the first 3 months of 2008.

* 44 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are literate.

* The Penal Code criminalises anyone who harbours a woman who has left her husband.

(Sources: Freedom House, World Bank, Human Rights Watch)

7. ALGERIA

Algeria ranked badly for gender discrimination in the workplace and political participation by women.

* Algerian law doesn't recognise spousal rape.

* 16 percent of Algerian women have jobs.

* In October 2012, Algeria made its first-ever conviction for sexual harassment.

(Sources: UNICEF, World Bank, U.S. State Department)

6. TUNISIA

Long known as one of the Arab world's most progressive states, Tunisia has offered abortion on demand since 1965 and women can pass citizenship onto their husbands. Conservative elements are now calling for Islamic values to be enforced.

* In 2011, 61 women were elected to the 217-member Constituent Assembly.

* Women are entitled to 30 days maternity leave at 67 percent of full wages.

* Domestic abuse and marital rape laws are rarely enforced.

(Sources: U.S. State Department, World Bank, Freedom House)

5. QATAR

Qatari women are active in business and higher education but face pressure to conform to traditional gender roles. Sex outside marriage is illegal and many domestic workers are trafficked and abused.

* About 100 expatriate women are jailed annually for having children out of wedlock.

* 51.8 percent of women have jobs.

* An anti-trafficking law was passed in October 2011.

(Sources: Doha News, U.N. Data, U.S. State Department)

4. JORDAN

Despite its reputation as a progressive state, Jordan ranked second-worst in the category of honour killings.

* 681 cases of rape and sexual assault were reported to the Family Protection Department in 2012.

* 10 honour crimes were brought before judges in 2012 and 24 women went into protective custody to avoid honour killings.

* In 2003, the law was changed so women could get passports without the consent of husbands.

(Sources: U.S. State Department, UNICEF)

3. KUWAIT

Kuwait scored well on education and inheritance rights, though social protections are rarely extended to the country's large female foreign worker population.

* Kuwait has no laws against domestic abuse and marital rape.

* There are no shelters or hotlines for victims of domestic abuse.

* 15 is the minimum legal age for girls to marry.

(Sources: UNICEF, U.S. State Department)

2. OMAN

Omani women benefit from better social protection than in other Arab countries, but FGM is still practiced in some regions and women face discrimination in the workplace and pressure to conform to traditional roles.

* In 2010, 227 men were charged with rape or attempted rape.

* In December 2011, four women were elected to provisional councils out of 192 seats.

* Women can't transfer citizenship to foreign-born spouses or children.

(Sources: U.S. State Department, UNICEF)

1. COMOROS

The Indian Ocean archipelago nation polled well across all categories except political representation. Comorian women have a good deal of social freedom while sexual abuse is recognised and punished.

* Women hold only 3 percent of seats in the national parliament.

* 35 percent of adult women have jobs.

* Half the inmates of Moroni prison were jailed for sexual aggression.

(Sources: World Bank, U.N. Development Programme, U.S. State Department)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz


Film about dangers of pro American football

Posted:

British filmmaker Ridley Scott is set to tackle the feature.

After completing his biblical film on the life of Moses, British director Ridley Scott plans to focus on the physical and psychological damage experienced by professional American football players in his next film, Deadline.com reports.

In particular, Scott's next film will look into brain damage and other long-term effects experienced by players of American football. The idea for the film came to the director, an avid fan of contact sports, following several controversial revelations that have shaken the world of American football in recent years.

It recently came to light that several former professional players experienced chronic encephalopathy caused by the repeated concussions they suffered throughout their careers on the field. Scott has already obtained a wealth of information on the subject, which has sparked the attention of both doctors and sports professionals.

The director specifically examined the cases of pro players Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, both driven to suicide in the past two years by traumatic chronic encephalopathy. For several other players, multiple concussions experienced over the years have led to dementia or memory loss.

Before focusing on this controversial subject, Scott will complete Exodus, his Moses biopic slated for release in 2014, headlined by Christian Bale.

Currently in theatres in the US is the director's most recent film, The Counselor, a thriller with a particularly prestigious cast (Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem). — AFP Relaxnews

Mini movie reviews

Posted:

The hammer of Thor strikes hard and fast in the great sequel, but it's Loki who steals the show. Frequently.

Thor: The Dark World

FORGET about the relatively bland villain, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), or the fairly useless Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), this sequel is the Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) show.

Hemsworth has settled quite comfortably into his titular role, while Hiddleston shines as the vengeful Loki.

With the once-in-five-millennia cosmic alignment of the Nine Realms occurring, a dark force called the Aether and ancient Asgardian foes the Dark Elves are awakened.

Director Alan Taylor deftly balances story and character development with action, to give us a well-paced movie that allows most of its characters to shine.

I also appreciated the visual design of the film, especially in Asgard.

While the movie isn't perfect, it is certainly bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Go watch it, and don't forget to stay right until the END of the credits for a big reveal. — Tan Shiow Chin (****)

Tom Yum Goong 2

It had to happen. Someone actually dared to string up a batch of action footage and pass it off as a movie. But I have to say this: the action is jaw-dropping and Thai action maestro Tony Jaa is really kick-ass.

I've never seen anybody fight so much in a movie. Not even Donnie Yen or Jet Li or Jackie Chan (so Jaa gets one star, and so does the action). In fact, none of the characters in the movie needs much of a reason to fight. It feels just like a videogame, where each new scenario is yet another reason to clash.

If hard-hitting action is your thing, then Tom Yum Goong 2 will definitely give you your money's worth. — Seto Kit Yan (**)

Baby Blues

Here's another compelling premise involving haunted dolls that sadly doesn't quite deliver.

It's inspired by folklore where a haunted doll, desiring affection, attaches itself to a young family with a new baby. Baby Blues sees a series of calamities befalling twins who move into a beautiful but spooky old house.

Unfortunately, Jimmy the doll is no Chucky; the scenes where the creepy doll is supposed to deliver the scares made people snigger instead.

The worst part comes when a doctor dismisses everything as a hallucination brought on by "baby blues", and apparently fathers get it too, not just mothers.

Even stolen kisses between Hong Kong heartthrob Raymond Lam and siren Kate Tsui can't save this lacklustre scarer. — SKY (**)

Raymond Lam in Hong Kong 3D horror flick Baby Blues helmed by Leong Po-Chih

Raymond Lam in Hong Kong 3D horror flick Baby Blues helmed by Leong Po-Chih.

Aarambam

Building on his recent successes playing anti-heroes in films like Mankatha and Billa, Ajith Kumar is captivating here as the mysterious AK, who is seemingly mixed up in a series of bombings and murders in Mumbai.

The story begins with him kidnapping hacker extraordinaire Arjun (Arya), holding him hostage and forcing him to break into various organisations. As Arjun tries to escape AK's clutches, he slowly discovers that things are not what they seem to be.

Their chemistry makes the movie great fun to watch, with Ajith bringing the cool quotient and Arya providing the laughs. Slick action scenes in various international locations add to the enjoyment.

Admittedly, the plot is nothing new, and some parts tend to drag. But thanks to its leading man's charisma, Aarambam ends up being a fun, if not terribly memorable, ride. — Sharmilla Ganesan (***)

Ajith Kumar in Aarambam.

Ajith Kumar in Aarambam.

Escape Plan

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is an expert at finding the weaknesses in maximum-security prisons, and escaping from them.

One day, the CIA hires him to test the ultimate facility, created to contain the world's most dangerous criminals who have been detained without trial.

But when he gets there, he discovers that he has been set up and is a prisoner for real.

Determined to escape, he teams up with another inmate, Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), to form an escape plan.

Stallone and Schwarzenegger are doing what they do best, and the story and acting overall are actually more nuanced than one would expect from this type of movie.

While it is entertaining enough, what elevates it from a two-star movie to three for me are a few standout moments, mostly involving Schwarzenegger.

Watch out in particular for his "crazed German" act and gun-blazing scene near the end. — TSC (***)

Escape Plan stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jim Caviezel

Escape Plan stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jim Caviezel.

Rigor Mortis

Spectacular. One word says it all. Rigor Mortis has been packing movie theatres and heralded by film critics as the birth of a new generation of Hong Kong cinema. The reason: stylish sequences of Taoist exorcism and superb performances by Mr Vampire movie veterans easily propel this ghoulish horror/slasher populated by ghosts, vampires, zombies into Hong Kong's horror hall of fame.

Writer/director Juno Mak may not have left much of a mark as a pop star, but his atmospheric directorial debut shows that he is a filmmaker to look out for.

If there is one horror movie you have to see this year, then this is it. I just wish I had watched it in 3D. (Warning: Don't let your kid watch this, or he'll never go to the bathroom alone again.) — SKY (****)

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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Upward trajectory

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A quick guide to the illustrious career of Homeland's Claire Danes.

My So-Called Life (1994)

Danes was 20 years old when she starred as 15-year-old Angela Chase. The series documents Angela's tribulations as a teenager.

Claire Danes in various films

Claire Danes shot to fame among teenage TV viewers in the cult favourite, My So-Called Life

Little Women (1994)

Making her film feature debut, Danes portrays Beth March opposite Christian Bale and Winona Ryder. It revolves around four sisters in the March family.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

This is perhaps her most famous role in which the actress plays Juliet opposite Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo in director Baz Luhrmann's updated version of the Shakespeare play.

Claire Danes in various films

Danes as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machine.

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machine (2003) Not really a franchise one would see Danes in, nonetheless in this film she plays Kate Brewster, the woman John Connor ends up marrying in the apocalyptic future.

Temple Grandin (2010)

There were a number of projects between 2003 and 2010, but this HBO biopic was the one that had the industry buzzing about Danes once again. She won both the Golden Globe and the Emmy for her portrayal of an autistic woman who is also a top scientist in the humane livestock handling industry.

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Home(land) is where the heart is 

Home(land) is where the heart is

Posted:

Damian Lewis talks about failure, family and being caned at Eton.

FOR five months of the year, Damian Lewis lives in Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States, where his hit TV series Homeland is filmed and where, after taking a break between seasons, he goes through the same acclimatisation routine.

"The first week you think: I may never go home, this is amazing. The second week, you think: right, now I can get over my jet lag, this is really good fun. And then, after the second week, it's a disaster. I have kids and a wife; you spend a lot of the time quite homesick."

He is at home in London, gearing up for launch of Homeland Season Three, which has some ground to make up after a disappointing second season. Lewis is at the zenith of his fame, ebullient with success and exposure, and throwing out an energetic charm that rests, one imagines, on a firm faith in his own likeability.

The success of Homeland took everyone on the production by surprise, and the success of the Claire Danes/Lewis love affair upset the writers' planned trajectory. Lewis is pretty sure they had intended to kill him off by now, and had to change direction when the public responded to their weird chemistry.

His strength as an actor has always been his ability to play ambiguity, particularly the bad behaviour of men in torment. As Sergeant Brody, Lewis has undergone more twists and turns of character than he ever did when he was doing Shakespeare.

The appeal of the character lies in his cold, clear intelligence and inscrutable motivation, although it must be said I know a lot of women who enjoy watching him for less elevated reasons. If Season Two went off the rails, he says, it was because everyone was caught on the hop by the success of Season One.

"I think we had second novel syndrome. Second album syndrome. They ended up having to make melodramatic leaps and start using coincidence, which is never good. That's where the criticism was; that it wasn't quite as taut, psychologically, as Season One.

"Suddenly characters were doing all sorts of extraordinary things. In its defence, Alex Gansa and the writers have always maintained that this is a fictitious world, not least because the CIA don't operate on home soil. So the whole thing is spurious. And second, look, we're not making a documentary."

For a long time Lewis wasn't interested in doing television. After Eton, he went to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and for six years worked exclusively in the theatre. He had grand notions, which he looks back on with a mixture of nostalgia and derision: "You're passionate and earnest and young, and you want to talk about the theatre and acting all night long; the romance of being on stage and the shared experience of fellow actors and rehearsal rooms."

He had been taken to the theatre a lot as a child. His parents sent him to boarding school at the age of eight, so that North Carolina homesickness is nothing to those early years at school. He remembers the first term vividly.

"I ran around like a headless chicken, full of nerves, for two weeks. And then I cried for a week. There was still caning when I was there. We were caned for the greatest sin there was, which was talking after lights out."

He eventually came to enjoy Eton and, on the occasions he's been back, has always been struck by the privilege of having been there. "I remain sort of interested and slightly befuddled by my five years there. It's such a rare existence. It feels a little bit like another time, another world."

When he graduated from drama school, a lot of Lewis's peers got off to a very quick start and "were suddenly making rather glamorous movies: Joseph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor". But for years he was happy with the RSC. Then the hours started to pall. And something else: "I started to feel that the theatre world was rather a small one. I've always equated life with travel, with places to see and go.

"Theatre takes away your evenings and weekends. And after six or seven years, it really started to bother me that I was going to work when everyone else was coming home. I was dying to just get up in the morning and live the day."

He worried that he was backing his career into a corner. "The idea that I would be one of these slightly over-the-top, fruity actors who would have an illustrious career on stage, but wouldn't start getting any kind of film work until I was 50 and then start playing wizards."

By the time Lewis was invited to audition for Band Of Brothers, Steven Spielberg's second world war mini-series, in 2000, he was aching to get on to bigger things. (He nearly messed up the second audition by going on a massive bender the night before. "I'd already seen Tom Hanks, and didn't realise they were going to want to see me again. I had quite a sweaty meeting the next day. They video-ed me the whole time. Gaunt and sweaty.")

He got the part, and the exposure led to film offers. At that stage he could have dropped everything and done what many British actors do: Sit in Los Angeles for a year, attending every movie audition going and having a miserable time. He was cured of the desire to go down that road by the experience of shooting a Hollywood movie in Canada.

"A film called Dreamcatcher, arguably one of the biggest turkeys ever made. Poor Larry Kasdan didn't make a film after that. He went into a long depression. It had good ingredients: It was from a Stephen King novel, and with a thrusting young cast. But I found it a bloated and corrupt and lonely experience."

Afterwards, he "slightly ran away", returned to Britain and did The Forsyte Saga.

Since then, Lewis has worked enough in the US to feel no particular culture gap with the American cast of Homeland. One of his favourite co-stars is Mandy Patinkin, whose brooding, agonised performance as Saul Berenson is perhaps as large a part of the show's success as the Carrie-Brody dynamic.

Patinkin is a legend of musical theatre, and Lewis has modest ambitions in music; he likes to form amateur bands on set and has hung out with Patinkin, whom he finds "funny, sincere. Outrageously talented. Hyperactive. And enjoying the time of his life. The sound recordist recorded us doing an a cappella version of Bohemian Rhapsody. We were supposed to be doing some gritty interrogation scene and suddenly found ourselves singing show tunes."

When Lewis's wife, actor Helen McCrory, and their two children fly out to see him, they get out of town and do all the touristy things or hang out by the pool. "It's a country club life. Pools and barbecues." It must be tough, the separation, but he says McCrory has been very good about it. "Helen is incredibly generous and happy for me. She's phenomenal."

He is locked into Homeland for seven seasons, which doesn't mean anything in terms of security. "You have to sign up for a long time, then they'll kill you at their leisure." In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if he got the chop relatively soon.

"I think the writers are desperate to kill me. I'm a pain in their arses, because Brody is quite a difficult character to write. There's a high head count on Homeland. Any one of us could get it at any point." — Guardian News & Media

> Homeland airs every Sunday at 10.50pm on Fox Movies Premium (Astro Ch 413 / HD Ch 433).

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Upward trajectory

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The Star Online: Business

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Moody's: Spinning off of property unit may weaken IOI Corp short term credit profile

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KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corp Bhd's credit profile would weaken in the short term once it spins off its property unit, but the action should prove beneficial in the long run, according to Moody's Investors Service.

"With the demerger, IOI would have lower earnings and a smaller asset base as well as reduced income diversity, but the expected impact has been factored into its Baa2 ratings," Moody's vice-president and senior credit officer Alan Greene said in a statement.

"Furthermore, the demerger would be beneficial in the long term because IOI would be able to focus on growing its plantations and resource-based manufacturing divisions, which are highly cash generative," he added.

Greene was speaking at the release of Moody's report entitled IOI Corp: Frequently Asked Questions on the Demerger of Its Property Business, which he co-authored with Dylan Yeo, an associate analyst at Moody's.

The report further said that with the demerger, Moody's expected the company to be more cash generative, as income from the plantations and resource manufacturing divisions would no longer be used to fund large-scale property developments.

"After the demerger, greater emphasis would be placed on IOI's liquidity position. This is because cash on hand would become more important, as IOI's operating margin would see a greater correlation with crude palm oil prices after the loss of the property segment," Yeo said.

Looking ahead, excessive shareholder returns or overly aggressive growth plans might pressure IOI's ratings.

For example, a further sizeable acquisition in the next 12 months might reduce the company's cash position, and could result in net debt/earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or EBITDA, rising above Moody's downward rating parameter of 1.5 times.       

5 players to bid for UDA Holdings RM6.5bil project at Pudu Jail site

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: UDA Holdings Bhd has received bids from five "big boys" to develop its RM6.5bil project at the former site of Pudu Jail.

Speaking to reporters after signing a memorandum of understanding with Bank Muamalat develop Waqf land in Malaysia, UDA Holdings group managing director Ahmad Abu Bakar said the bidders will submit their proposals on November 22.

"We are still reviewing. The bidders have two months to come out with an alternative proposal," he said.
One of the five players is from Singapore, he added.

Also known as the redevelopment of Bukit Bintang City Centre, measuring 7.85ha, the site will consist of various components.

Datasonic surges to fresh peak on earnings outlook

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Datasonic surged to a new high of RM6.86 in mid-morning Tuesday trade, spurred by expectations of strong earnings outlook.

At 10.29am, Datasonic was up 39 sen to RM6.86. Turnover was 266,500 shares done.

Its share price has surged from RM1.46 at end-May

The FBM KLCI fell 5.75 points to 1,798.46. Turnover was 926.48 million shares valued at RM467.92mil. There were 204 gainers, 339 losers and 303 counters unchanged.

RHB Research has initiated coverage of Datasonic with a BUY and fair value of RM10.51, based on 15 times FY14 price-to-earnings, which is at 10% discount to its peers due to relatively lower liquidity.

"We expect the group to register core earnings of RM76.7mil to RM106.6mil from FY13F-15F, which implies a CAGR of 55.9% over FY12's RM28.1mil.

"We like Datasonic's strong earnings growth trajectory, committed management team, and proven track record in implementing security-enhanced identification measures," said the research house.

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Kickstarter kicks out ‘Encik Farhan’ over scam pledges

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PETALING JAYA: The crowd-funding initiative Kickstarter and its partner company, Amazon Payments, have kicked out a certain "Encik Farhan" – after receiving allegations that this man cheated about 100 project creators of goods and money.

In a statement, Kickstarter said the company had shut down the account of Encik Farhan – purportedly a Malaysian – after it and its US-based payment processor, Amazon Payments, were alerted to a series of malicious pledges by a single individual.

"Upon learning this, we shut down this person's account, cancelled his live pledges, and permanently banned him from Kickstarter.

"Kickstarter and Amazon are working together to investigate this. We won't let a single bad apple harm the integrity or goodwill of our community," said the company.

The issue first came to light when Alex Heberling, the artist behind the webcomic, The Hues, blew the whistle on Encik Farhan after he pledged US$1,000 (RM3,130) to her campaign – only to challenge the charge to his credit card months later, after he had received the rewards for his pledge.

In two tweets last Thursday, Heberling said: "Encik Farhan pledged US$1,000 to my campaign and filed a chargeback a few weeks ago, after I said I'd started shipping rewards. I am still waiting for the results of my appeal. Losing US$1,000 will ruin me if the credit card company sides with Encik Farhan."

She also tweeted that Encik Farhan had filed chargebacks to dozens of project creators.

"I was contacted by one of the other creators he backed, who had collected responses from dozens of other creators confirming he is a scammer," tweeted Heberling.

In an online interview last week, Heberling went on to explain how the scam works, and how it would affect other project creators seeking crowd-funding through Kickstarter.

"As far as I have gathered, this guy backs a project for a very high dollar amount – hundreds or thousands of dollars – and waits for the physical rewards to ship before filing a charge dispute with his credit card provider," said Heberling.

RM19.7bil sent home by migrants 2012 amount up from RM13bil in 2010

Posted:

OVERSEAS remittance by foreign workers amounted to RM19.75bil last year, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

It was about RM13.4bil in 2010, he said.

The amount had gone up due to an increase of access to non-banking financial institutions that allowed foreigners to transfer their money to their home countries, he told Dr Ko Chung Sen (DAP-Kampar) during question time.

Dr Ko had asked the ministry to state the amount of money remitted overseas every year by foreign workers and to which country.

Ahmad Maslan also said that the top five countries with the highest number of over-seas remittance last year were Bangladesh (RM3.3bil), Indonesia (RM2.95bil), Nepal (RM1.99bil), India (RM625mil) and the Philippines (RM561.3mil).

"As a country that has a high level of savings, Malaysia does not depend on external foreign financing to support the function of domestic economy."

"However, due to an open trade and the financial system, with strong economic fundamentals, Malaysia will continue to be a recipient of foreign capital inflow," he said.

He said that due to the uncertainty in the global financial market, Malaysia's outflow of foreign capital is still at a moderate level, showing a reversal in parts of the outflow.

"Most importantly, we must note that the reversal of capital is also experienced by other developing economies, including our neighbouring countries, and not just isolated to Malaysia," he said.

More liberty for state PKR chiefs

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR will amend its constitution to allow the party leadership in states especially in Sabah to have more autonomy in order to prevent defections.

Party deputy president Azmin Ali said an amendment to the PKR constitution would be tabled on Nov 24 to enable this move.

He denied that Sabah PKR leaders were controlled by the party's central leadership.

"They are given full autonomy but from time to time, they will discuss with the central leadership to ensure that their proposed policies are within the national framework," Azmin told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Azmin was commenting on Sabah PKR vice-chairman Datuk Jelani Hamdan and Kadamaian assemblyman Jeremy Malajad who recently left the party.

He said the recent development was a big challenge for Sabah PKR but the top leadership would monitor the situation to ensure it would not recur.

"In the process of our struggle, some leaders and party members face political fatigue but I must remind others that this is a marathon.

"We must continue to fight for the people as we were given the mandate by the rakyat who support the reforms undertaken by Pakatan Rakyat," he said.

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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Dot Complicated

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A fun read that provides a lighthearted yet practical perspective on life online.

YOU can fully embrace technology, or avoid it like the plague, but you'd be much better off if you were to work at striking the right balance for it in your life instead.

This is what Randi Zuckerberg, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Zuckerberg Media, and older sister to Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, calls a tech-life balance, and it's precisely what she aims to help you achieve through her recently released book, Dot Complicated.

"Technology gives us the power to change the world," she writes. "Let's start by changing ourselves. Let's make our complicated wired lives a little bit easier, and a lot more wonderful."

Her six-year stint in Facebook lends her a great deal of credibility on the subject matter, and she shares at great length about her experiences in marketing the company's potential to the world, and the invaluable lessons she's learned along the way.

In her book, she candidly addresses seven areas of our lives that are often influenced by technology: self, friends, love, family, career, community and future (which refers to how the media landscape has changed in recent years and the fact that practically anyone can become a journalist or self-publicist nowadays).

The book is written in a simple-to-read, conversational style that makes it easy for anyone who's ever surfed the Web or owned a smart device to follow her line of reasoning.

However, having some prior exposure to social media (read: Facebook) may help you to better appreciate what she's getting at, since that is, after all, the bulk of what she addresses when she refers to technology.

But fear not, earthlings, for Zuckerberg makes it pretty clear right from the start that her book isn't meant for hard core techies anyway. In fact, she confesses that she's always been more interested in the human factor behind technology than merely getting lost in all the gadgetry and geekiness that Silicon Valley has to offer.

So if you're someone who feels a little lost when it comes to decisions like how often you ought to check messages on your smartphone or what information would be inappropriate to post on your Facebook or Twitter profile, then this is just the book for you.

A key message that Zuckerberg delivers through Dot Complicated is the fact that it's important to maintain an authentic identity both online and in real life. By doing so, many of the struggles we face with technology can be overcome.

For instance, she says, people are less likely to be mean to someone else if they realise that it's not something that they would have the guts to do had they been face-to-face with that person.

But at the same time, although it's good to think carefully before posting anything online, Zuckerberg also encourages her readers to be bold enough to speak up and share the good bits of their lives with others since "your opinions are as valuable as anyone else's, and more so to your friends".

Meanwhile, with regards to children and technology, she adopts a liberal view. Rather than denying kids the opportunity to explore technology in the early stages of their lives, she advises parents to give them ample chances to try it out, but with guided access, of course.

The eventual goal, Zuckerberg states, is to help each child reach the point where they are able to independently make wise choices of their own in cyberspace.

"At the end of the day, parenting your kids online is really just parenting, period. There's no one formula or correct solution to all our problems," she says.

Another interesting perspective that Zuckerberg brings up in her writing is that it's not necessarily a bad thing to merge your personal and professional identity. She believes that most people prefer working with someone they can relate to. So allowing your boss and co-workers to see the other sides of you can actually work to your advantage since it portrays you as a trustworthy person.

Furthermore, she points out that just because someone is doing something online, it doesn't mean they're not working. Indeed so, Ms Zuckerberg, as that's certainly the gospel truth for us here at Bytz!

There's also a healthy dose of humour packed into these pages. After describing an incident involving a mean boss, Zuckerberg offers a tip on how to stifle a cry in the restroom by flushing the toilet flush. Elsewhere, she muses over the fact that brunch can never be enjoyed these days without someone insisting on hashtagging their hash browns.

All in all, Dot Complicated makes for a fun read, and hopefully will help inject a more lighthearted yet practical perspective to help you curb your online misadventures. However, Gen Y haters, be warned: the book is obviously in favour of a Millennial's world view. It would not hurt for you to pick up this book, though, as you may find yourself gaining some interesting insights in the end.

After all, technology is in itself a neutral tool, meant for both young and old. And, as Zuckerberg aptly puts it, "whether it creates order or chaos in your life depends on how you use it."


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The Star Online: Metro: Central

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Philippines struggles to help desperate typhoon victims

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Tacloban: Philippines rescue workers struggled to bring aid to famished and destitute survivors Monday after a super typhoon that may have killed more than 10,000 people, in what is feared to be the country's worst natural disaster.

Relief teams appeared overwhelmed in their efforts to help those whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by Haiyan, which sent tsunami-like waves and merciless winds rampaging across large swathes of the archipelago Friday.

In Vietnam, more than 600,000 people were evacuated as Haiyan, which moved out of the Philippines and into the South China Sea on Saturday, made landfall there early Monday morning.

Hundreds of Filipino police and soldiers were deployed to contain looters in Tacloban, the devastated provincial capital of Leyte, with gangs stealing consumer goods such as televisions.

A long snake-like queue formed in Tacloban's flattened airport as tired and hungry survivors, some who had trudged through mud and debris for several kilometres, sought the basic essentials for survival.

"We want water and medicines for the injured. So if you can organise it, please, for us, don't let anybody come here who will just watch us and see us suffer, because we don't want that," Joan Lumbre Wilson told AFP, adding that authorities were struggling to cope with the sheer numbers seeking help.

"They're trying to drive us away again, back to our places, where it's too far, and then do it again tomorrow (walk to reach the compound), and it's not fair on us," she said.

"We're already tired, emotionally drained, physically exhausted."

Witnesses Sunday reported seeing looting and violence with President Benigno Aquino admitting it was a major concern. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala told AFP Monday 100 soldiers had been sent to help police restore law and order in Tacloban.
Residents stand under a shelter surrounded by pile of debris washed inland along a road in Tacloban, Leyte province, central Philippines on November 10, 2013

Threatening to further hamper relief efforts was a tropical depression approaching the southern and central Philippines. Government weather forecasters said the depression could bring fresh floods to typhoon-affected areas.

The depression is expected to hit land on the southern island of Mindanao late Tuesday and then move across the central islands of Bohol, Cebu, Negros and Panay, which all suffered typhoon damage, forecaster Connie Dadivas said.

It could bring "moderate to heavy" rains, or about five to 15 millimetres (0.2 to 0.6 inches) per hour, he said.

US meteorologists said Haiyan made landfall in Vietnam early Monday.

The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said in an update at 2100 GMT the storm "is currently making landfall" approximately 97 miles (156 kilometres) east south-east of the capital Hanoi, with sustained winds of 75 miles (120 kilometres) per hour.

The typhoon had lost force at sea, striking Vietnam as the equivalent of a category-one hurricane -- the weakest on the one-to-five Saffir-Simpson wind-speed scale.

It hit the Philippines as a category five storm with maximum sustained winds of 315 kilometres (195 miles) an hour -- one of the most powerful ever recorded.

Despite the typhoon's weakened state, more than 600,000 people were evacuated in Vietnam, with flooding and heavy rain expected.

The Vietnamese government website said Sunday that five people had died while preparing for the storm.

Farther north, six members of a cargo boat were also missing off the Chinese province of Hainan, state media in China reported.

Up to four million children could be affected by the disaster in the Philippines, the United Nations Children's Fund warned.

"We are rushing to get critical supplies to children who are bearing the brunt of this crisis," said UNICEF Philippines representative Tomoo Hozumi.

"Reaching the worst-affected areas is very difficult," he said. "But we are working around the clock."

Authorities were struggling to calculate the sheer magnitude of the disaster, with the regional police chief for Leyte saying initial estimates showed 10,000 people were believed to have died in that province alone.

Witnesses in Tacloban recalled waves up to five metres (16 feet) high surging inland. Aerial photos showed entire neighbourhoods destroyed, with trees and buildings flattened by storm surge.

Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria told reporters in Tacloban that the typhoon destroyed up to 80 percent of the structures in its path.

Deadliest natural disaster

On the neighbouring island of Samar, a local disaster chief said 300 people were killed in the small town of Basey. He added another 2,000 were missing there and elsewhere on Samar, which was one of the first areas hit when Haiyan swept in from the Pacific.

Dozens more people were confirmed killed in other flattened towns and cities across a 600-kilometre stretch of islands through the central Philippines.

As the scale of the disaster began to emerge, an international aid effort ratcheted up with the United States, UN, European Commission and Britain among those pledging help.

Given its location along a typhoon belt and the so-called Ring of Fire, a Pacific zone of tectonic activity, the Philippines endures a seemingly never-ending pattern of deadly typhoons, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and other natural disasters.

But if the death toll of more than 10,000 is correct, Haiyan would be the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded in the country, worse than the 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami that killed between 5,000 and 8,000 people.- AFP

Typhoon Haiyan makes landfall in Vietnam: US meteorologists

Posted:

HANOI: Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in Vietnam early Monday, meteorologists said, days after it left thousands feared dead and widespread devastation in the Philippines.

The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said in an update at 2100 GMT the storm "is currently making landfall" approximately 100 miles (160 kilometres) east south-east of the capital Hanoi.

The storm, which had weakened significantly since scything through the Philippines over the weekend, made landfall with sustained winds of 75 miles (120 kilometres) per hour, said the JTWC, a joint US Navy and Air Force task force located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

More than 600,000 people were evacuated on the weekend as Haiyan bore down on Vietnam.
Residents of Hanoi were braced for heavy rains and flooding, while tens of thousands of people in coastal areas were ordered to take shelter.

"We have evacuated more than 174,000 households, which is equivalent to more than 600,000 people," said an official report by Vietnam's flood and storm control department.

The storm changed course on Sunday, prompting further mass evacuations of about 52,000 people in northern provinces by the coast.

"People must bring enough food and necessities for three days.... Those who do not move voluntarily will be forced," online newspaper VNExpress said, adding all boats have been ordered back to shore.
The Red Cross said Haiyan's changed path meant that "the disaster area could be enlarged from nine provinces to as many as 15", stretching the country's resources.

Many of the capital's residents were rushing to stock up on food and water before the storm hit.
"I ran to the supermarket to buy instant noodles, vegetables and meat for the family," said office worker Nguyen Thi Uyen, 33.

"There was not much left on the shelves.... People are worried, buying food to last them for a few days."
All schools were ordered shut in the capital Monday and extra police were dispatched to redirect traffic in flood-prone areas.

In the northern port city of Hai Phong, also facing heavy rain and flooding, residents voiced frustration with official preparations.

"The city only warned us about the typhoon very late.... They were too slow in advising people to prepare," Nguyen Hung Nam, 70, told AFP.

Many of the estimated 200,000 people evacuated in four south-central provinces initially thought to be in the storm's path have been allowed to go back to their homes, according to the government's website.

Haiyan "has tracked north-northwestward at 15 knots (17 mph, 28 kph) over the past six hours," the JTWC said on its website.

The storm was forecast to continue moving north before turning northeast and dissipating rapidly.
The weather system - one of the most intense typhoons on record when it tore into the Philippines - weakened over the South China Sea.

In Vietnam, at least five people reportedly died while preparing to escape the typhoon, the Vietnamese government website said.

By lunchtime on Sunday the typhoon had swept across Vietnam's Con Co island, 30 kilometres off the coast of central Quang Tri province, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

"All 250 people on the island including residents and soldiers were evacuated to underground shelters where there is enough food for several days," it said, adding the storm brought three-metre (10-foot) waves.

Central Vietnam has recently been hit by two other typhoons - Wutip and Nari, both category-one storms - which flooded roads, damaged sea dykes and tore the roofs off hundreds of thousands of houses.- AFp

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