Rabu, 15 Januari 2014

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro


Philippines celebrates as caregiver wins Israel's X Factor

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:02 PM PST

MANILA (AFP) - Celebrations broke out in the Philippines on Wednesday after a Filipina who has spent nearly half her life as a carer overseas won Israel's first "X Factor".

Rose Fostanes, one of the millions of Filipino workers abroad lionised back home and forming a pillar of the country's economy, won the television talent show late Tuesday with a rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" that delighted fans in both countries.

Local television, news websites, social media and even the president lavished praise on the unmarried, openly gay 47-year-old, who has worked abroad for more than two decades -- six of them in Israel -- to support her family.

"We know the situation she was in and we are very proud that she has again given the Philippines pride in the showcase of her talent," President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters Wednesday.

"The Filipino has an innate advantage when it comes to the arts.... It clearly shows that the excellence of the Filipino can be expressed anywhere, everywhere, when they are given the opportunity to show their talent."

Fostanes has been likened by fans to Susan Boyle, the middle-aged Scottish singer whose humble looks and shy demeanour belied a scintillating voice that captivated millions on the television talent show "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009.

Before she entered the competition, Fostanes' day job had been to care for an elderly employer in Tel Aviv -- one of some 10 million Filipinos, about a tenth of the population, who have gone to work abroad to escape poverty and joblessness back home.

Israel's media said her victory had put the spotlight on the country's low-paid migrant workers, among them tens of thousands of Filipinos, who work as carers or in menial jobs.

Fostanes, the only foreign contestant, lives in a crowded apartment in an area inhabited mostly by foreign workers in Tel Aviv.

"Not all workers and cleaners from the Philippines are in a position like this: It's like Cinderella, you know," she told the show in an earlier interview uploaded on YouTube.

But she fretted whether Israel's television audience, who had made her an early audience favourite, would tire of her plain looks and vote her out of the contest in favour of younger, slimmer rivals.

"This is what I'm afraid of, because I don't have the whole package," she said.

But fans were won over. In a live performance watched on television by many of her impoverished countrymen before dawn Wednesday, Fostanes' powerful, soulful singing voice won the judges' nod.

Her ecstatic younger sister, Rose, told Manila television network ABS-CBN: "This is my sister's life dream turning into reality. Who would have thought it would happen abroad?"

Fostanes had blitzed through the earlier rounds with impressive renditions of songs by Tina Turner, Lady Gaga, Prince and Christina Aguilera among others.

Clips of her performances have been drawing tens of thousands of hits since they were uploaded on YouTube this month.

Fostanes' girlfriend Mel Adel had told the station last weekend that she feared her partner's disclosure at the show of the lesbian relationship would harm her chances of winning.

"But I was elated that she did not disown me," Adel said.

Lani Cayetano, mayor of the Manila suburb of Taguig where the singer's siblings live, said: "She is indeed an epitome of hope, her powerful voice touching hearts not only of Israelis, but of all of us." - AFP

Acquitted of killing mother

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

A 32-YEAR-OLD man who repeatedly stabbed his mother to death after voices in his head told him to do so was acquitted of murder in the High Court on grounds of temporary insanity.

Mohamed Redha Abdul Mutalib had a history of substance abuse and was heavily intoxicated with cough syrup two years ago when he attacked Asnah Aziz in their Eunos home, according to court documents. The 55-year-old housewife died from the 90 stab wounds the same day.

In a rare case, he will instead be held in custody at Changi Prison before being transferred to the Institute of Mental Health, where he will be held at the President's pleasure.

Clearing Redha of murder, Justice Tay Yong Kwang said that while the man had committed the act, he had not been capable at the time of knowing that it was wrong.

On Jan 26, 2012, Redha, then a healthcare assistant, tried to leave his flat after being woken up in the morning by noise from a lion dance performance at the neighbouring block.

After his mother stopped him from leaving, he beat and stabbed her. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Police arrest two over gang-rape of Danish tourist in Delhi

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 03:55 PM PST

New Delhi (AFP) - Police on Wednesday arrested two homeless men over the alleged gang-rape of a Danish tourist who lost her way in New Delhi -- the latest high-profile case to shine a spotlight on women's safety in India.

The incident involving the 51-year-old comes just weeks after the country marked the first anniversary of the death of a student who was gang-raped on a moving bus in the capital in an attack that sent shockwaves across the nation.

The Danish tourist approached the suspects for directions early on Tuesday evening while trying to return to her hotel in the bustling Paharganj district, reportedly after visiting a city museum.

Up to six "youngsters" dragged her to a secluded part of a garden near the New Delhi railway station where they robbed and assaulted her at knife-point, police said.

She was travelling alone and had arrived in the capital on Monday after visiting the Taj Mahal in the northern city of Agra, staff at her hotel said.

"Two person(s) have been arrested in connection with rape case with Danish national," read a statement from the police late on Wednesday.

Despite tougher laws and efforts to change attitudes to women in India's deeply patriarchal society, the number of reported sex crimes in the world's second most populous country continues to rise.

The alleged attack in an area popular with tourists in the heart of the city comes less than two weeks after a Polish woman was allegedly drugged and raped by a taxi driver while travelling with her two-year-old daughter to New Delhi.

Police searching for 'vagabonds'

Police said both arrested men, one of whom was a 25-year-old migrant from nearby Uttar Pradesh, were homeless and sleeping rough at New Delhi railway station.

They were both found to be carrying possessions belonging to the victim, including an iPod music player and a spectacles case.

A senior investigating policeman told AFP Wednesday on condition of anonymity that they were searching for between four and six men who appeared to be "vagabonds".

The victim, who was described as "traumatised" by police, gave a detailed statement in the presence of the Danish ambassador and is returning home.

A Danish foreign ministry spokesman said she "will be offered support and care when she comes home to Denmark" while declining to give any other details.

The crime scene was a secluded area shrouded by trees near a statue, inside the grounds of the Railway Officers Club on State Entry Road.

A police forensic team visited on Wednesday morning and police are in possession of the clothes the victim was wearing at the time of the attack, police told AFP.

Kuldeep Singh, a receptionist at the victim's hotel, said the woman had appeared calm when she returned at about 8:30 pm (1500 GMT) but then confided in a fellow traveller.

"She first came to me at the reception desk and told me that she needed 200 rupees to give to the auto driver as she had been robbed," Singh said.

Female tourists afraid

Female tourists in Paharganj said they were aware of past cases and the new incident had rung alarm bells.

"I felt very unsafe with walking the streets and seeing what you see and everybody staring at you, but you can't not travel to India because of it," said Jessica Orpwood, a 21-year-old student backpacker from New Zealand.

Protests over sexual violence in the past year have prompted India's parliament to toughen laws for rapists and other offenders, while other judicial and police reforms have encouraged women to report attacks.

But daily accounts of brutal assaults continue to be reported in the country's newspapers.

A schoolgirl was raped by eight men in the eastern city of Ranchi this week while they held her male friend, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.

The paper also reported the alleged rape of a German teenager on a train bound for the southern city of Chennai last week. The report said police had a man in custody.

A judge last month sentenced three Nepalese men to 20 years in jail for the gang-rape of a US tourist in June and six men were sentenced to life in prison last July for the gang-rape and robbery of a Swiss female cyclist. - AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz


Michael Douglas in Marvel's 'Ant-Man'

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 10:55 PM PST

The actor, who recently won a Golden Globe Award, wants to surprise audiences by playing a brainiac.

After throwing audiences a curveball by playing flamboyant pianist Liberace, leading man Michael Douglas is ready to make another unconventional career choice, this time playing a scientist in Marvel superhero film Ant-Man.

Disney-owned Marvel said that Douglas, 69, will play Henry "Hank" Pym, the creator of the technology to shrink a human to the size of an insect and thus become Ant-Man. Anchorman star Paul Rudd, 44, will play Scott Lang, the alter-ego of the diminutive Marvel superhero.

"I've been dying to do a Marvel picture for so long," Douglas told Reuters. "The script is really fun, the director is really good. Dylan (the actor's 13-year-old son) will love it. He'll have a picture he can see."

Pym's character first appeared in the 27th issue of Marvel Comics series Tales To Astonish in January 1962. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said in a statement posted on Marvel.com that Douglas will play Pym with "charm and fortitude".

Douglas, who won a Best Actor Oscar in 1988 for Oliver Stone's financial drama Wall Street and picked up a Golden Globe award on Sunday for his turn as Liberace in HBO movie Behind The Candelabra, is taking a rare step into the world of big-budget franchise action films.

"Sometimes – like (when) they didn't see you for Liberace – you've got to shake them up a little bit and have some fun," Douglas said of surprising both studios and audiences with his decision to do a superhero film.

Walt Disney Co's foray in bringing Marvel's superhero universe to the big screen has proved to be a lucrative choice, with films such as Avengers and Iron Man 3 crossing the US$1bil mark at the worldwide box office. The plot for Ant-Man is being kept firmly under wraps. The film, directed by Edgar Wright, is scheduled to be in theatres in July 2015.

While Douglas has only done one sequel in his career spanning more than 40 years – Gordon Gekko in 2010's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps – the actor teased about his involvement in future Ant-Man sequels. "(Marvel) reciprocated well, there are sequels. Who knows?," the actor said. — Reuters

Skarsgard for 'The Diary Of A Teenage Girl'

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 10:55 PM PST

Actress Kristen Wiig will also join him in the movie.

Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Wiig have joined the cast of The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, alongside new lead Bel Powley.

What would you do if you ended up in a relationship with your mother's boyfriend? That's the dilemma in front of Powley in the movie.

The film is based on a graphic novel by controversial and accomplished illustrator Phoebe Gloekner (rather than on Melody Carson's series of Christian stories) and is set in the 1970s.

With Powley set to fill the role of the novel's 15-year-old Minnie Goetze, there'll be no surprises should Wiig be confirmed as Minnie's mother, and Skarsgard the boyfriend that Minnie ends up sleeping with.

The film is both adapted and directed by Marielle Heller, an experienced screenwriter who is married to Saturday Night Live and The Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone.

Primarily known as a British stage actress with experience in West End and Broadway shows, Powley will be flanked by Wiig of Bridesmaids and The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, as well as True Blood and Generation Kill star Skarsgard. — AFP Relaxnews

Movie passes up for grabs

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

RED FM and Suria FM are in a generous mood this week. The radio stations are giving out screening passes to I, Frankenstein, a film that premieres on Jan 23.

To win these passes, all you need to do is to either listen to Red FM's Red Rave or Red Fix shows, or Suria FM's Ceria Suria and Ceria Petang programmes for the cues to SMS the deejays.

Apart from that, listeners can also win passes by logging in to either www.red.fm or www.suriafm.com.my and answer three simple questions about the film. There are loads of passes to be won for the special screening on Jan 22 at GSC 1Utama (in Petaling Jaya, Selangor).

I, Frankenstein is based on the popular graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux and stars Aaron Eckhart as a monster who is caught in a conflict between two immortal enemies. The film, released by GSC Movies, also stars Yvonne Strahovski and Miranda Otto.

Meanwhile, 988 fans can win some movie screening passes this week, too! Just tune in to the Good Show for the cue to call, answer some simple questions and you'll get money-can't-buy invites to the special screenings of From Vegas To Macau and The Monkey King.

Yes, that's right, 988 is giving out passes for the two GSC Movies titles slated to open during Chinese New Year. To make things more interesting, there is also a chance for one lucky listener (and a friend) to fly to Macau to attend the premiere of From Vegas To Macau, which stars Chow Yun-Fat, Nicholas Tse and Chapman To.

If you are unable to listen to the radio, then just log on to www.988.com.my and tell the wonderful folks at the station, "I want to watch this movie because ..."

The Monkey King stars Aaron Kwok, Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen and Chow, and is based on the Chinese mythology about the Monkey King and his journey to the West to retrieve a sacred Buddhist text.

For more information, head on to the stations' respective websites.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews


Michael Douglas in Marvel's 'Ant-Man'

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 10:55 PM PST

The actor, who recently won a Golden Globe Award, wants to surprise audiences by playing a brainiac.

After throwing audiences a curveball by playing flamboyant pianist Liberace, leading man Michael Douglas is ready to make another unconventional career choice, this time playing a scientist in Marvel superhero film Ant-Man.

Disney-owned Marvel said that Douglas, 69, will play Henry "Hank" Pym, the creator of the technology to shrink a human to the size of an insect and thus become Ant-Man. Anchorman star Paul Rudd, 44, will play Scott Lang, the alter-ego of the diminutive Marvel superhero.

"I've been dying to do a Marvel picture for so long," Douglas told Reuters. "The script is really fun, the director is really good. Dylan (the actor's 13-year-old son) will love it. He'll have a picture he can see."

Pym's character first appeared in the 27th issue of Marvel Comics series Tales To Astonish in January 1962. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said in a statement posted on Marvel.com that Douglas will play Pym with "charm and fortitude".

Douglas, who won a Best Actor Oscar in 1988 for Oliver Stone's financial drama Wall Street and picked up a Golden Globe award on Sunday for his turn as Liberace in HBO movie Behind The Candelabra, is taking a rare step into the world of big-budget franchise action films.

"Sometimes – like (when) they didn't see you for Liberace – you've got to shake them up a little bit and have some fun," Douglas said of surprising both studios and audiences with his decision to do a superhero film.

Walt Disney Co's foray in bringing Marvel's superhero universe to the big screen has proved to be a lucrative choice, with films such as Avengers and Iron Man 3 crossing the US$1bil mark at the worldwide box office. The plot for Ant-Man is being kept firmly under wraps. The film, directed by Edgar Wright, is scheduled to be in theatres in July 2015.

While Douglas has only done one sequel in his career spanning more than 40 years – Gordon Gekko in 2010's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps – the actor teased about his involvement in future Ant-Man sequels. "(Marvel) reciprocated well, there are sequels. Who knows?," the actor said. — Reuters

Skarsgard for 'The Diary Of A Teenage Girl'

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 10:55 PM PST

Actress Kristen Wiig will also join him in the movie.

Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Wiig have joined the cast of The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, alongside new lead Bel Powley.

What would you do if you ended up in a relationship with your mother's boyfriend? That's the dilemma in front of Powley in the movie.

The film is based on a graphic novel by controversial and accomplished illustrator Phoebe Gloekner (rather than on Melody Carson's series of Christian stories) and is set in the 1970s.

With Powley set to fill the role of the novel's 15-year-old Minnie Goetze, there'll be no surprises should Wiig be confirmed as Minnie's mother, and Skarsgard the boyfriend that Minnie ends up sleeping with.

The film is both adapted and directed by Marielle Heller, an experienced screenwriter who is married to Saturday Night Live and The Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone.

Primarily known as a British stage actress with experience in West End and Broadway shows, Powley will be flanked by Wiig of Bridesmaids and The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, as well as True Blood and Generation Kill star Skarsgard. — AFP Relaxnews

Movie passes up for grabs

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

RED FM and Suria FM are in a generous mood this week. The radio stations are giving out screening passes to I, Frankenstein, a film that premieres on Jan 23.

To win these passes, all you need to do is to either listen to Red FM's Red Rave or Red Fix shows, or Suria FM's Ceria Suria and Ceria Petang programmes for the cues to SMS the deejays.

Apart from that, listeners can also win passes by logging in to either www.red.fm or www.suriafm.com.my and answer three simple questions about the film. There are loads of passes to be won for the special screening on Jan 22 at GSC 1Utama (in Petaling Jaya, Selangor).

I, Frankenstein is based on the popular graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux and stars Aaron Eckhart as a monster who is caught in a conflict between two immortal enemies. The film, released by GSC Movies, also stars Yvonne Strahovski and Miranda Otto.

Meanwhile, 988 fans can win some movie screening passes this week, too! Just tune in to the Good Show for the cue to call, answer some simple questions and you'll get money-can't-buy invites to the special screenings of From Vegas To Macau and The Monkey King.

Yes, that's right, 988 is giving out passes for the two GSC Movies titles slated to open during Chinese New Year. To make things more interesting, there is also a chance for one lucky listener (and a friend) to fly to Macau to attend the premiere of From Vegas To Macau, which stars Chow Yun-Fat, Nicholas Tse and Chapman To.

If you are unable to listen to the radio, then just log on to www.988.com.my and tell the wonderful folks at the station, "I want to watch this movie because ..."

The Monkey King stars Aaron Kwok, Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen and Chow, and is based on the Chinese mythology about the Monkey King and his journey to the West to retrieve a sacred Buddhist text.

For more information, head on to the stations' respective websites.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio


Cote de Pable headed for the big screen

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 09:25 PM PST

The Chilean-American actress will co-star with Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Martin Sheen and Juliette Binoche in a new movie.

Cote de Pablo, best known for her portrayal of Ziva David on NCIS from 2005 to 2013, has joined the cast of The 33, a drama based on the plight of the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days. Journalists and camera crews from around the globe came to the site of the collapsed mine to inform the world of the workers' distress and ultimately document their rescue.

Born in Santiago, Chile, De Pablo will play the wife of one of the trapped miners in The 33. The role will be her first since leaving the CBS procedural drama, which is the most watched series on US TV.

The 33 is currently being filmed in Chile and Colombia by Mexican-American filmmaker Patricia Riggen, hailed by critics in 2007 for her film Under The Same Moon. — AFP Relaxnews

After leaving "NCIS," Cote de Pablo is headed for the big screen in "The 33."

Heading stateside for more fun

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

The cast of Oh My English! take their English lessons way out of the classroom in its latest telemovie.

HELLO America!" Azlin (played by actress Izara Aishah) shouts at the top of her lungs with her arms stretched out, in a promotional video of Oh My English!.

In its latest telemovie – Oh My English! Hello America the students of SMK Ayer Dalam head to New York City for a spell.

"This was our first time going to the United States, except for Aaron (Aziz). It was very fun!" enthused Kaameshaa Ravindran, who portrays Anusha in Astro's hit comedy and educational series, in a press conference.

Joined by Zain Saidin (Henry Middleton), Tiz Zaqyah (Cikgu Ayu), Aaron Aziz (Cikgu Malik), Harun Salim Bachik (Encik Mohd Salleh), Izara, Roax Tan (See Yew Soon), Akhmal Nazri (Jibam), Zhafir Muzani (Mazlee) and guest stars Nadia Aqila and Kuah Jenhan, the cast spent 12 days shooting the special telemovie in the US, in cities like New York and Washington.

The show kicks off with the students of 3 Merah getting the opportunity of a lifetime to visit the US after winning a short film competition.

The kids get a feel of what it's like to study at an American high school, plus travel around New York to visit famous landmarks like the Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

But of course, what's Oh My English! without its share of drama?

In the middle of it all, two students find themselves separated from the group, stranded hundreds of kilometres away in Washington!

Hello America is Oh My English!'s second telemovie, following the success of Oh My Ganu (set in Terengganu), which garnered a viewership of 1.1 million on its premiere telecast last November. It is also Astro's most watched HD movie in 2013.

However, vice president of Astro's GenNext business Putri Yasmin Megat Zaharuddin said viewers can expect something different this time round in Hello America.

"A lot of Oh My Ganu was in Bahasa Malaysia but with this telemovie, 70% will be in English. We hope it gets positive reviews from our fans."

Putri Yasmin also said that there were a few challenges to shooting the telemovie in the US, thanks mostly to cultural barriers, though language was also a bit of a problem.

"On the first day of shooting, Akhmal got really sick so we went to the doctor. Going to the clinic in the US is such a different experience. The words and terminology they use are completely different. We spent more than half an hour just trying to understand what the doctor was saying."

She added that some of these colloquial American-English terms will be addressed in the telemovie.

"When we say football in Malaysia, we mean bolasepak ... There's a scene in the show where Cikgu Malik says he plays football and was sent to play American football instead. It's hilarious," she offered.

The cast said they thoroughly enjoyed their experience overseas, despite the strenuous work schedule and having to wake up at 4am each day. Zhafir said he loved visiting Times Square the most, being the home to Broadway, while Akhmal was most taken by the sight of Lady Liberty.

Oh My English! received a grant from the United States Department of State and the Embassy of the United States of America in Malaysia to film the telemovie in the US.

Asked if there will be other international editions of the telemovie, the cast cheekily responded, "We hope so."

*Oh My English! Hello America premieres tonight at 9pm on Astro TVIQ (Astro Ch 610) and Astro Maya HD (Astro Ch 135).

'Justified' to end after S6

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 09:25 PM PST

The TV drama, currently in its fifth season, will end its run sometime next year.

FX's Justified will end after its sixth season, network chief John Landgraf announced at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Los Angeles.

Landgraf said the decision was made by showrunner Graham Yost and lead actor Timothy Olyphant, and that he would have loved for the show to continue. "It's one of my favourite shows," Landgraf said.

"We talked about it a year ago and they felt that the arc of the show and what they had to say would be best served by six years, six seasons ... and so I accepted their decision. We try as much as we can not to make business drive creative."

Season Five of the cop show premiered on Jan 7 in the US. The series, based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, follows a lawman in rural Kentucky bending rules as he takes on colourful adversaries. Leonard later wrote the novel Raylan about the show's title character.

Justified has been one of FX's most acclaimed shows, earning acting nominations for Olyphant. Margo Martindale won an Emmy in 2011 for her portrayal of criminal matriarch Mags Bennett. — Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates


Exclusive: U.S. government failed to secure Obamacare site - experts

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:05 PM PST

BOSTON (Reuters) - A group of cyber security professionals is warning that the U.S. government has failed to implement fixes to protect the HealthCare.gov website from hackers, some three months after experts first pointed out the problem.

David Kennedy, head of computer security consulting firm TrustedSec LLC, told Reuters that the government has yet to plug more than 20 vulnerabilities that he and other security experts reported to the government shortly after HealthCare.gov went live on October 1.

Hackers could steal personal information, modify data or attack the personal computers of the website's users, he said. They could also damage the infrastructure of the site, according to Kennedy, who is scheduled to describe his security concerns in testimony on Thursday before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

"These issues are alarming," Kennedy said in an interview on Wednesday.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees the site's operations, provided Reuters with a statement saying it takes the concerns seriously.

"To date there have been no successful security attacks on HealthCare.gov and no person or group has maliciously accessed personally identifiable information from the site," the statement said.

"Security testing is conducted on an ongoing basis using industry best practices to appropriately safeguard consumers' personal information."

HealthCare.gov lets consumers shop for insurance plans under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, which mandates health insurance for all Americans.

The site, which is meant to serve millions of consumers in 36 states, was crippled by technology errors in the first two months after its launch on October 1. The Obama administration's efforts to repair the site helped it to work more smoothly beginning in December, but problems with data transmission remain.

Kennedy said he last week presented technical details describing the vulnerabilities in the site to seven independent cyber security experts, who reviewed videos of potential attack methods as well as logs and other documentation.

They wrote notes to the House Committee saying they were concerned about the site's security, which Kennedy provided to Reuters and will be released on Thursday to the committee led by Republicans who oppose the Affordable Care Act.

Members of the security community have been publicly pointing out problems with the site and say they have been privately providing the government with technical details of those issues since early October.

At a November Science Committee hearing, Kennedy and three other expert witnesses said they believed the site was not secure and three of them said it should be shut down immediately.

'FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED'

Kennedy and his peers who reviewed his work ahead of Thursday's hearing said the site still has serious security vulnerabilities that can be viewed from the outside.

"The site is fundamentally flawed in ways that make it dangerous to people who use it," said Kevin Johnson, one of the experts who reviewed Kennedy's findings.

Johnson said that one of the most troubling issues was that a hacker could upload malicious code to the site, then attack other HealthCare.gov users.

"You can take control of their computers," said Johnson, chief executive of a firm known as Secure Ideas and a teacher at the non-profit SANS Institute, the world's biggest organization that trains and certifies cyber security professionals.

He declined to provide further details about that vulnerability, saying he was concerned the information could be used by malicious hackers to launch attacks.

Kennedy said he learned of that particular attack method from another security researcher who had identified and tested it.

Yet Kennedy said he identified many other problems on his own, conducting what is known as "passive analysis" of the site, by using an ordinary Web browser and other software tools to look at HealthCare.gov's content and architecture from the outside.

He said he did not take the additional step of hacking into the site to look for other problems because he did not have permission from the government.

'ONLY SPECULATING'

Waylon Krush, chief executive of a firm known as Lunarline that has done security work for the Department of Health and Human Services, said he questions Kennedy's conclusions that were drawn without launching attacks on the website.

"Anybody who brings testimony that says there is a vulnerability on HealthCare.gov is only speculating unless they have actually executed the code, at which point they are hacking a government website and that would be illegal," said Krush, who will also testify before the committee on Thursday.

Krush said he has not reviewed Kennedy's findings or done any work on the HealthCare.gov site itself.

"If I said everything was perfect, I would just be speculating because I did not work on the site," he said.

One security flaw that Kennedy first uncovered and reported to the government in October exposes information including a user's full name and email address. He said he wrote a short computer program in five minutes that automatically collects that data, which was able to import some 70,000 records in about four minutes.

He said the information was accessible via the Internet and he did not have to hack the site to get it. He declined to elaborate.

John Strand, a principal with Black Hills Information Security and a SANS Institute trainer who also reviewed Kennedy's findings, said he was concerned about what might have been uncovered if Kennedy had conducted a more in-depth probe and actually attempted to hack into the site.

He said he supports a recent move by the House of Representatives to force the government to disclose breaches whenever they occur. The government is generally not required to notify the public when its systems are compromised.

"We don't know how bad it is because they don't have to tell us," Strand said.

Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the government should quickly move to plug the security flaws that have already been reported by security experts.

"If Americans' information is not secure, then the theft of their identities is inevitable and dangerous," he said. "The President should take swift action to ensure that the American people are not the next target of cyber criminals."

The government said on Saturday that Accenture Plc would replace CGI Federal, a subsidiary of CGI Group, as the lead contractor for the Obamacare enrollment website.

U.S. to airlift Rwandan forces into Central African Republic

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:45 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will soon begin flying Rwandan troops into the Central African Republic, possibly starting on Thursday, in its second such operation in support the African Union's efforts to stem bloodshed there, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the airlift operation could last just over a month and would involve two U.S. military C-17 aircraft.

The airlift mission would be very similar to the one the United States carried out flying forces from Burundi into the Central African Republic late last year, the official said.

Rwanda's foreign minister has been quoted telling local radio that the country would send around 800 troops.

The U.S. aircraft would fly out of Uganda into Rwanda's capital Kigali, where they would load before proceeding onto Bangui in the Central African Republic, the official said.

A Muslim rebel coalition, Seleka, seized power in Central African Republic last spring, unleashing a wave of killings and looting that in turn sparked revenge attacks by the "anti-balaka" Christian militia.

The United Nations estimates that months of fighting in the landlocked former French colony has displaced around 1 million people, or just over a fifth of the population.

The national death toll is difficult to estimate. More than 1,000 people were killed in Bangui alone last month and sporadic violence has continued despite the presence of 1,600 French troops and 4,000 African Union peacekeepers.

France's U.N. envoy said on Wednesday that the level of hatred in Central African Republic between Muslims and Christians had been underestimated and is creating a "nearly impossible" situation for African Union and French forces to combat.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to submit a report to the Security Council next month with recommendations for a possible U.N. peacekeeping force that would take over from the African troops.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau in New York; Editing by Eric Walsh)

'Vaping' a slow burner in China, world's maker of e-cigarettes

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:35 PM PST

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - When Qu Liang's wife became pregnant, the 30-year-old Shanghai salesman switched from smoking to "vaping", a practice uncommon in China although it is the world's leading producer of electronic cigarettes.

E-cigarettes were invented about a decade ago by a Chinese medical researcher and the country supplies nearly all global demand. Puffing on the devices, or vaping, is surging worldwide, but it forms only a tiny part of China's 1.2 trillion yuan (about $200 billion) cigarette business.

Now, rising public awareness about the hazards of smoking, coupled with China's hardening stance on smoking in public, is opening up an opportunity for e-cigarettes to make inroads into the world's biggest tobacco market.

"As more and more places become off limits to smoking, I find myself using e-cigarettes more often," said Qu. Since starting using the product six years ago for health reasons, Qu has started selling e-cigarettes himself, expanding the business from exports to the domestic market this year.

E-cigarettes are mostly sold online in China, where government regulation around the product is still lax. Countries like Singapore and Brazil currently ban e-cigarettes.

Centred in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, Chinese manufacturers including Shenzhen Smoore Technology, FirstUnion Group, Shenzhen Seego Technology Co Ltd and Ruyan Tech make around 95 percent of the world's e-cigarettes, slim, battery-powered metal tubes that turn nicotine-laced liquid into vapour that is inhaled.

Vaping is potentially a healthier alternative to smoking as the absence of combustion averts some of the harmful side-effects of tobacco smoke. But a big issue is the lack of long-term scientific evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes, prompting critics like the British Medical Association to warn of the dangers of their unregulated use.

Nevertheless, the e-cigarettes market is growing fast, although it is still only a tiny proportion of the global tobacco business. Last weekend, Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were seen smoking e-cigarettes at the globally televised Golden Globes awards ceremony.

Some analysts predict e-cigarettes could outsell conventional cigarettes within a decade, particularly as Big Tobacco grapples with declining sales due to government regulation and health-aware consumers.

E-cigarette sales in the United States grew at 115 percent each year between 2009 and 2012, and could grow us much as 240 percent this year, according to experts. The global e-cigarette market could increase fivefold to $10 billion by 2017, according to some estimates.

CHINA'S TANTALISING MARKET

For Chinese manufacturers of e-cigarettes, while the export market is surging, the domestic potential is tantalising.

Even a tiny portion of its 300 million-plus smokers would offer an attractive prize. In 2012, Chinese smoked a total of 2.46 trillion cigarettes - 4.8 per person, per day - and the country accounts for one-third of global consumption.

"The harsher control of tobacco is great news for electric cigarettes," said Lai Baosheng, general manager of e-cigarette maker Smoore, adding lax smoking rules in China had previously slowed the development of the business.

Beijing has moved to clamp down on smoking, reinforcing a ban on officials smoking in public and increasing the price of tobacco by 5 percent this month. Health authorities said they would enforce a ban on smoking in public places nationwide this year - a law that has long been in the works.

Smoore shipped over 100 million e-cigarettes to mostly Europe and the United States in 2013 with a sales value of 800 million yuan, double the level a year before, although Lai says the company is starting to eye the opportunity within China as smoking rules harden.

Analysts say China's domestic market would have to eventually open up to e-cigarettes.

"There's an unavoidable logic here that eventually no one will smoke regular tobacco on this planet," said Shane MacGuill, London-based tobacco analyst at Euromonitor.

"China won't be able to become a kind of ghetto of tobacco, so there will have to be some movement towards an alternative, though how soon it's going to happen I'm not sure. It will happen but it will take longer."

Tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco Plc and Philip Morris International Inc as well as independent U.S. firms already source e-cigarettes from China. But e-cigarettes could also give them entry into the Chinese market - currently tobacco sales in China are largely governed by a state monopoly.

Tobacco imports made up less than 1 percent of China's market in 2012, according to Euromonitor, with the China National Tobacco Corporation dominating 98 percent of the domestic market, according to a paper from Brookings.

E-cigarettes offer a potential route into China's closely controlled tobacco market for brands such as Lorillard Inc's blu e-cigarette, Philip Morris parent Altria's MarkTen, BAT's Vype or Reynolds American Inc's Vuse.

With China's large state-owned tobacco firms largely steering clear of e-cigarettes - only one has made an obvious mention of looking into the technology - global Big Tobacco could target wealthier, more health-conscious smokers in China's urban centres.

But regulation of China's e-cigarettes market is still in flux, and there are serious obstacles, not least China's reluctance to risk losing the massive tax revenues currently derived from regular tobacco. The country could also decide to control any e-cigarette market as strictly as it does the traditional tobacco industry, leaving little room for outside players.

"Nonetheless, I think it has to be seen as a potential way in to the Chinese market," said Eddy Hargreaves, tobacco analyst at Cannacord Genuity.

"The potential generally is huge and we'd expect it (to catch on in China), albeit it at a slower rate to the United States and Europe." ($1 = 6.0412 Chinese yuan)

(Additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Kazunori Takada and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Investing foibles: Failure is an orphan

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 06:41 PM PST

IF YOU are like most investors, you probably mistake catching a wave for being able to swim fast.

And considering that you also very likely can't swim fast or invest well, that is a dangerous combination.

It is easy to observe that people are more likely to give themselves credit for good investment returns while blaming their reverses on things outside their control, but now at last we have data.

A new study by Dutch academics Arvid Hoffmann and Thomas Post of Maastricht University (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2367230) was able to quiz customers of a discount brokerage about how good they felt they were while also gaining access to their trading records.

The results are startling, if not surprising.

Investors who beat the median return agree more with a statement asserting that their performance reflects skill, and the higher their returns go the more they agree. What's more, overall market returns have no bearing on how investors rate themselves, suggesting they invest in a bit of a psychological bubble.

This destructive human foible, sometimes called the self-attribution or self-serving bias, may well help us to survive a hostile world and still keep plugging.

It might have been a useful trait when looking for berries or animals to eat thousands of years ago, but it has the potential to be highly destructive when it comes to managing finances.

The study looked at 787 clients of an online Dutch brokerage during 2008-2009 with an average portfolio at that firm of just over 54,000 euros. Some may find it significant that 93% of the sample of these deluded fools were male. After all, the old saying is that "success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan".

Nobody mentioned mothers.

Now, you might say all of this is obvious, but if you do I hope you are an index fund investor. Anyone looking at investment returns in the real world can see evidence that investors, as a breed, are not in touch with their actual level of skill.

Take data from research company Dalbar Inc, which looked at aggregate mutual fund sales, redemptions and exchanges and found that in the 20 years to 2011 the average US mutual fund investor made just 2.1 percent annually. That's partly split between 3.8% returns on equity funds and just 1.0% on fixed income, but still.

For comparison's sake, the S&P 500 stock index returned 7.8% annually during this period, gold made 7.6%, bonds 6.5% and single-family houses 2.5%. Given that inflation was 2.5%, we clearly have a lot of bad investors out there, and based on the new data, many probably think this is someone else's fault.

THE REAL COSTS

But why is it so costly to think you are good and fail to reckon with your actual faults?

Earlier studies linked over-confidence with a host of destructive behaviours. For example, a study by Barber and Odean in 2001 showed a strong association between over-confidence and over-trading.

Trading costs money, even at an online brokerage, and the more you do it the better you have to be to beat the costs. Trading often also exposes the lucky to repeated chances to outlast their good fortune. Very few people have the discipline to leave a casino after winning their first hand of blackjack, but statistically most people ought to.

Over-confidence also leads to under-diversification, according to a 2008 study by Goetzmann and Kumar. Diversified portfolios produce better returns with less volatility. That lower volatility is crucial, in that investors have a marked tendency to react to downdrafts in their wealth by selling up, crystallizing a loss.

The deeply ironic thing, and here I speak only on the basis of personal observation and anecdote, is that over-confidence may well be one of the best traits to have in order to convince someone else to give you money to manage.

Other than good three- or five-year returns, I am betting that an air of calm confidence is a money manager seeking new assets' best friend.

For a bit of context, hedge funds, which charge a massive 2% of assets under management and 20% of returns, only made about 13% last year as an industry, as against 20-38% returns from the major indices.

This suggests two potential strategies.

First, find an unassuming, modest, self-doubting fund manager and give them your money.

Second, put it in index funds.

On the whole, I'd advise solution two – Reuters. 

Perodua 2013 sales up 3.7% to 196,100 units, targets 197,000 cars in 2014

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 06:43 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Perodua sales rose 3.7% year-on-year to 196,100 units in 2013, mainly on the back of strong demand for its S-Series variants, the company said on Thursday.

For 2014, Perodua is targeting a 0.2% growth to 197,000 units, as it's new plant begins operations and requires time to adjust.

On exports, Perodua president and CEO Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said the company is looking to rationalise it's strategy on destination as well as product line-up.

Perodua exports to seven countries, namely Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Mauritius, Singapore, Brunei and Nepal.

Bursa Secuirities queries Hong Leong Capital over share price rise

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 06:38 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Securities has on Thursday queried Hong Leong Capital over the unusual rise in its share price in recent months.

At 10.30am, HL Cap was up 76 sen to RM12.60 with 4,100 shares done.

The FBM KLCI was up 1.69 points to 1,825.72. Turnover was 534.39 million shares valued at RM355.09mil. There were 248 gainers, 265 losers and 274 counters unchanged.

Bursa Securities said investors should take note of the company's reply to the unusual market activity query which woul be posted at Bursa Malaysia's website under the company announcements.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Palm oil promo in Iran and Pakistan

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

PUTRAJAYA: Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas is leading a palm oil promotion mission to Iran and Pakistan.

The visit, which started yesterday and expected to end on Jan 21, will explore areas for cooperation between the private sector in Malaysia and their counterparts in Pakistan and Iran.

Bilateral discussions will take place to explore exports of palm oil products with the private sector associations in the two countries.

Douglas will open a Palm Oil and Trade Seminar (POTS) in Pakistan, besides launching a Pocketbook on Palm Oil Uses in the Urdu language.

This pocketbook contains information on the palm oil industry in Malaysia and the use of palm oil products for both food and non-food purposes.

Cash crop: A worker plucking oil palm fruits which are later loaded onto a lorry (pic, above) for processing at a mill.

During POTS Pakistan, Douglas will witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Erafeed Sdn Bhd and Chapri Group.

The MOU designates Chapri Group Pvt Ltd, the largest importer of palm kernel cake from Malaysia, as a main agent to distribute palm-based animal feed.

Douglas will also visit Port Qasim Authority to assess the progress of joint venture projects between Malaysian and local companies in the areas of refining.

In Teheran, Douglas will open POTS Teheran and launch the Pocketbook in the Persian language, as part of promotion and efforts to strengthen the market share of Malaysian palm oil in Iran.

In 2012, Pakistan was Malaysia's second largest trading partner among the countries in South Asia.

Malaysia-Pakistan bilateral trade in 2012 was valued at RM6.5bil.

Among the products exported, palm oil accounts for the largest segment with an export value of RM4bil.

Other commodity products exported to Pakistan in 2012 include products based on rubber valued at RM76.9mil, cocoa at RM33.8mil and pepper at RM2.42mil.

Iran is Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner among the countries in the Middle East. Bilateral trade between Iran in 2012 was recorded at RM4.6bil.

Among the commodity products, exports of palm oil were valued at RM1.95bil. — Bernama

Islamic finance expert gets Tokoh Perdana award

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

PUTRAJAYA: Bank Negara Syariah Advisory Council chairman Dr Mohd Daud Abu Bakar has been named the recipient of the Tokoh Perdana award in conjunction with this year's national-level Maulidur Rasul celebration.

The award carried a cash prize of RM50,000, a plaque, a certificate and a set of the Tafsir fi Zilal Al-Quran commentary of the Quran.

The Alor Setar-born Dr Mohd Daud, 50, is the founder of Amani Advisors Sdn Bhd, an Islamic financial company.

He is also listed among the 12 most respected individuals in the Islamic financial industry at present.

"This award will definitely bring motivation to me, my family and colleagues.

"We have 10 international companies and will expand the Malaysian-based ones to other places to bring the message of Islamic finance from the aspects of financial services and so forth," he said after receiving the award from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah at the celebration at Putra Mosque here yesterday.

Dr Mohd Daud said the award was also a recognition of his contribution in syariah entrepreneurship that would become a new career field in the Malaysian and global context.

Eight other individuals also received Maulidur Rasul awards, including Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib who described his award as a tribute to the soldiers who were killed during the intrusion in Lahad Datu last year as well as other security personnel who fought the intruders.

"The peace and unity that have been achieved all this while should be appreciated by further nurturing the country's harmony and safeguarding communal ties," he said.

Other recipients included the late Ahmad Ammar Ahmad Azam, 20, a Malaysian student active in volunteer work, who died after he was hit by an ambulance while crossing a road in Istanbul, Turkey, last November; former High Court judge Datuk Faiza Tamby Chik; former Federal Territory Mufti and the Putra Mosque's first imam Tan Sri Abdul Kader Talip; and Mohamad Azimi Kassim, radio presenter of Salam FM, which is operated by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

Others are former Malaysian ambassador to Egypt (2005-2009) Datuk Zainal Abidin Abdul Kadir; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Islam Hadhari Philosophy senior fellow Prof Datuk Dr Zakaria Stapa; and former Jakim training director and National Mosque counsellor Datin Rusmiati Harun. — Bernama

Related stories:
Make moderation a way of life, King tells Muslims
Selangor-born heroes receive posthumous recognition
States hold processions and religious activities

Chua: State govt has power to solve Allah issue

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

BATU PAHAT: The Selangor government should stop the blame game and accept more responsibility in resolving issues arising from non-Muslims using the kalimah Allah.

Former MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said Pakatan Rakyat, as the state administrator, could amend or abolish the current laws in the state which needed to be changed.

"DAP should not avoid the issue by saying that the legislation of the Selangor Non-Islamic Religious (Control of Propagation Muslims) Enactment 1988 was left by Barisan Nasional and MCA.

"They (Pakatan) have been in government for two terms with a two-thirds majority in Selangor and they have the power to make it right.

"There is no need to blame others. If you feel that it is not right, then just amend or abolish it and prove that you are a responsible government," he told reporters after attending the 13th anniversary dinner of the Taman Seri Jaya Tiong King Kong temple here on Monday.

Dr Chua added that the state government should seek an audience with the Sultan to resolve the issue.

The concerns over the issue surfaced after enforcement officers from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) seized copies of Christian publications, including Malay and Iban versions of the Bible, from the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia in Petaling Jaya on Jan 2.

Selangor DAP chairman Tony Pua had been reported as saying earlier that MCA was involved in the passing of the enactment prohibiting the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims.

On a separate note, Dr Chua, who did not seek re-election in the MCA election held on Dec 21, said that he was grateful to various organisations for extending invitations to their functions despite his current position.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Super Graphic: A Visual Guide To The Comic Book Universe

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

LOOK! Up on the shelf! It's a book! It's a comic! No! It's Super Graphic, the only book you'll ever need for all your comic-related infographic needs!

Ever wondered who has more trick arrows, Green Arrow of Hawkeye? Or how many times the letter "V" appears throughout V For Vendetta? What about which spy, Black Spy or White Spy, has the longest winning streak in Spy Vs. Spy? Or what Batman has had on his utility belt throughout the years?

Tim Leong's Super Graphic has all the answers for these questions, and more. From Marvel to DC, Calvin And Hobbes to Death Note, this book is a tongue-in-cheek, frequently hilarious depiction of the comics world in a nutshell, all brilliantly explained in colourful, easy to understand bubble charts, pie charts, bar charts, Venn Diagrams, maps, line graphs, and ... well, you get the picture.

But enough speech bubbles. The best way to convince you that this is THE most useful, informative and entertaining book about comics ever created (one that does not require too much reading), is to SHOW you what we're talking about!

Super Graphic is available at Kinokuniya, Suria KLCC.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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One more time with feeling

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

Sequels seem to be the trend for 2014. Here are the top 10 picks for the year.

22 Jump Street

Big, dumb cop (Channing Tatum) and squat, dorky cop (Jonah Hill) return to wreck more havoc. 21 Jump Street, a reboot of the TV show that made Johnny Depp's name, saw detectives Jenko and Schmidt pretend to be high school students in order to bust a drug ring. This time – in grand old comedy tradition – they're going to college.

Dumb And Dumber To

Dumb fun 20 years on as Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels return to the roles that made them decapitate a canary, upset a sea bass and pee over each other – all in the name of laffs! The Farrelly Brothers are back ferrying this one through a plotline that sees Harry (Daniels) and Lloyd (Carrey) track down one of their children in order to get them to agree to a life-saving kidney transplant. Will be dumb, but surely, no dumber than Dumb And Dumberer.

Toilet humour: After 20 years, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels return to the roles that made them decapitate a canary, upset a sea bass and pee over each other all for the sake of comedy.

Toilet humour: After 20 years, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels return to the roles that made them decapitate a canary, upset a sea bass and pee over each other all for the sake of comedy, in Dumb And Dumber To.

300: Rise Of An Empire

Props from the off for not doing a Jump Street and calling the thing 301. Swords, sandals, sex and slaughter come together in a gushing, rushing stream of sweat, blood, and errrr ... tears as the mighty Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) hacks his way through armies of musclebound meatheads and the odd demi-God or two. Based on Frank Miller's unpublished graphic novel, Xerses, and directed by Noam Murro, who snatches the baton from 300 director Zack Snyder.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Andy Serkis returns to the role that – in a just world – would have won him an Oscar nomination. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes sees revolutionary ape leader Caesar (Serkis, doing his finest mo-cap) train his band of super-intelligent simians in guerilla warfare. They're preparing for an attack from a human population decimated by the plague-like disease that became virulent at the end of 2011's Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. Among the victims of the sickness: James Franco and John Lithgow, who will not return for the sequel.

The Expendables 3

Sly Stone recruits a new generation of action heroes as his fearless band of hard-headed mercenaries is hunted down by their former ally, Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). The new blood includes such fresh names as Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Harrison Ford. There will be explosions and gunplay, fist fights and high kicks. Then aspirin, bed rest and many, many ice packs.

The Raid 2: Berandal

The trailer states The Raid 2: Berandal's purpose. Just over a minute of furious fist-fighting cut together with scenes of beautifully realised, horribly stylised gore. Welsh writer-director's Gareth Evans's first Raid film kept the fighting locked in an Indonesian tower block. The Raid 2 offers an open world, with Iko Uwais's good cop Rama is out on the town taking the fight to the gangsters. Let's hope – given the bigger target – it hits just as hard.

Join Hiccup and Toothless as they go on another round of adventure in How To Train Your Dragon 2.

Join Hiccup and Toothless as they go on another round of adventure in How To Train Your Dragon 2.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Dragons and vikings – always bringing each other down in Dreamworks Animation's smart, funny first film – finally learn to live without fighting tooth and scale for dominance. Yet as Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, Toothless, explore new lands they realise that not all humans are quite as willing to live and let lizard live. Featuring the voices of Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett and Gerard Butler.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

A second clutch of story strands from Frank Miller's future noir graphic novels. Miller will again collaborate with Robert Rodriguez, who has co-written the screenplay and will direct. Sin City survivors Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba and Mickey Rourke will be joined by out-of-towners Joseph Gordon Levitt, Eva Green and Josh Brolin for stories of knocked-down heroes, broken dames and lonely, grisly deaths.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part One

Dooo-Deeee-Doooo-Doooooo. The Mockingjay, Part One flits into view as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her band of Panam proto-revolutionaries take on the Capitol. The games are off. The fight is real. There's no glitz nor glamour left to win. Just a grubby scrum for ascension. Makes you wonder where Stanley Tucci's radioactive game show host is going to fit in. Mockingjay, Part 2 follows in 2015.

The Hobbit: There And Back Again

Are we there yet? Peter Jackson's gargantuan adaptation of JRR Tolkien's skinny kiddies' book reaches its third and final chapter. Bilbo and his boys have found the evil dragon Smaug, who's lolloped avariciously over their treasure. Can they best the giant and reclaim their prize? Will Bilbo finally find the courage to do more than whimper and hide? And will we stay awake until the end this time? The answers lie at the end of many more hours in Middle Earth. – Guardian News & Media

Blockbuster man

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

Jeremy Renner talks film, fatherhood and franchises.

While the past year has introduced Modesto native Jeremy Renner to fatherhood, don't expect the actor to begin starring in children's movies anytime soon.

The two-time Academy Award nominee returns to the big screen in another decidedly adult feature, the acclaimed crime caper American Hustle. Set in a swirling world of corruption and cons, the film is loosely based on real-life FBI operations of the late 1970s and early 1980s run in New Jersey.

The fictional account follows a con man, his mistress and wife (Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, respectively) who work with an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to target a powerful mayor (Renner).

"I don't think my daughter will see any movies I do for a long, long time," Renner said in a phone interview from New York. "(Parenthood) is not going to change what I do. It changes how much I do. I am certainly very cognitive now of where things shoot; I don't want to be away from my family like I was for the past several years on the franchise run."

Renner, 42, and his ex-girlfriend welcomed a baby girl, Ava Berlin Renner, in March. Still, the actor said kiddie films don't fit his personality. "I don't have a very Disney spirit, anyway," he joked.

Both Renner and Scarlett Johansson will return as Hawkeye and Black Widow, respectively, in the second instalment of The Avengers.

Renner and Scarlett Johansson will reprise their roles in The Avengers.

Indeed, his track record is spiked with drama, action and darker roles, from his breakout performance in the 2002 indie Dahmer to his Oscar-nominated turn as a bomb squad sergeant in 2008's The Hurt Locker and his place in the 2012 mega-blockbuster The Avengers.

Now, as slick political operative Carmine Polito, Renner gets caught between the cons and the feds in American Hustle. Renner said it was the film's Oscar-nominated director, David O. Russell, who attracted him to the role. Russell has helmed such films as Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook.

"I am a big fan of his, the quirkiness of his movies, and I love his perception of human behaviour and character," Renner said. "There was no character when I signed up. But the way he spoke of the character got me to do it."

There also was the stellar cast Russell assembled. Each of the leading stars has at least one Academy Award nomination, Renner included.

"It's always a lovely thing to do and a learning opportunity to work with people like that," Renner said. "It felt pretty easy working together. It was not an easy movie to shoot. It was a 180-page script. It's not a movie studios make these days – a dense script and a dense story. But there's a lot going on, which makes it very exciting for audiences to watch.

Heroic return: Jeremy Renner will be back as Hawkeye in the second instalment of The Avengers which is slated to begin shooting in early 2014.

Heroic return: Jeremy Renner, who stars in The Avengers, says that kiddie films do not fit his personality.

"For us to make sense of it requires a lot of work throughout the day. We were improvising and making stuff up all the time. But working with such talented people is easy."

The cast includes Lawrence, 23, who won an Oscar for her last collaboration with Russell, Silver Linings Playbook, and has become a media darling of late thanks to her starring role in The Hunger Games franchise and her down-to-earth public persona.

"She is very, very grounded especially from such a young woman," Renner said. "She's got really great parents, a lot of her is because of them. She's a very grounded girl, but also from youth, trust and natural gift, she's also pretty fearless. She's pretty much like you'd think she'd be – a really sweet, sweet gal, a wonderful person. When you work with her, it's just, 'Let's just do this.'"

Next up for Renner will be a return to some big-name roles. He'll be back as Hawkeye in the second instalment of The Avengers, slated to begin shooting in early 2014, and then he has both another Bourne and Mission: Impossible movie in the works after that. It will be the first repeat performances for Renner. Coming back to those blockbuster roles poses its own challenges.

"It's exciting and exhilarating and daunting," he said. "I'm very excited for the idea of these things actually happening. I know they are happening at some point. But I don't think I'll really believe it until I'm actually on the set doing it. You know, I've been in this business for so long, there are lots of ways things can go. Those are all months and months, ahead for me. You probably know more than I do."

While the logistics and details of billion-dollar franchises like The Avengers and Bourne may be out of Renner's hands, he is taking control of his own destiny in other ways. His recently formed production company, The Combine, will release its first film the fourth quarter of 2014.

(From left) Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Rohm, Christian Bale and Renner in American Hustle.

(From left) Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Rohm, Christian Bale and Renner in American Hustle.

Renner also stars in the drama Kill The Messenger, which is the true story of a San Jose Mercury News reporter who became the target of a smear campaign after exposing a CIA scandal.

"I saw (the movie) this morning in editing and we're working away on getting that finished up," he said. "That's a pet project for us – me and the production company I started. It's our first movie out of the gate. I'm very proud of what we've done so far."

Renner said his work in franchise films affords him the luxury to focus on smaller projects, like Kill The Messenger. The movie also stars Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia and Rosemarie DeWitt.

"It's the brand, the kind of movies I really want to be doing consistently outside of the franchise work," Renner said. "It's a true story. There is an exciting world here, a world that is very interesting and still worthy of being on a big screen. TV is so good now, we thought, why not do a TV show, but for film? That's kind of where we're going with the company."

Yet a return to regular TV probably isn't in the cards for Renner. While he has dabbled with the medium, starring in 2009 in the short-lived cop show The Unusuals and appearing on everything from Angel to CSI and House, he said committing himself to small-screen stardom is too difficult on his schedule. – The Modesto Bee/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Romancing a tech world

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

In director Spike Jonze's new movie, Her, Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix get reaquainted.

You don't see many meaningful, honest and non-sexual friendships between men and women depicted on screen.Usually, they'll hook up, break up or some combination thereof.

But not in Spike Jonze's Golden Globe-winning Her (the film won Best Screenplay at the recent Golden Globe Awards), which stars Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix as two college buds who both become involved in the most impactful relationships of their lives: with computer operating systems.

And while they act as each other's support, nothing romantic ever passes between the two humans.

"That would have been weird. Say that to Joaquin and watch his face crumble," jokes Adams.

"Spike really does have really beautiful friendships with women, very much like the friendship with Theodore and Amy. I don't know the last time I've seen that. These are college buddies. There's a great love for each other."

The actors, both 39, co-starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2012 drama The Master, but didn't share many scenes together.

Screenwriter Spike Jonze, who wrote Her, won the best screenplay award at the 71st Golden Globe Awards earlier this week. AFP

Screenwriter Spike Jonze, who wrote Her, won the best screenplay award at the 71st Golden Globe Awards earlier this week. — AFP

"We did not really have a relationship on The Master. When we met on (Her), I met Joaquin. I see Joaquin. I know Joaquin. And he's beautiful. We got to sit in a room and just talk," says Adams.

And they wound up getting to know each other, says Jonze.

"As soon as they met (on Her), they had this history and turned it into this friendship," says Jonze.

"Amy in rehearsal came in like a force. Me and Joaquin are talking and she's like, 'What are we doing?'"

Indeed, in person, the two actors are contrasts. She's crisp and sparkly, unfailingly polite and eloquent. He's more introverted but also sweet, carrying this reporter's heavy bag without asking and cracking unexpected jokes at his own expense.

Phoenix is known to be press-averse, but he's actually not. His girlfriend, DJ Allie Teilz, has accompanied him while he does press, and he hugs her in between interviews.

"We were just doing these TV interviews. I did them with Amy and I haven't done those in probably six years. It wasn't that bad," he says.

Phoenix says he wishes he could promote a film after it opens, so audiences have no pre-conceived ideas about anything related to the project.

But, he acknowledges, "There's a part of me that's an idealist."

It's also why he immersed himself so fully in a movie that on paper seems a stretch.

Phoenix has few emotional scenes with an actual person.

And yet, somehow, he makes his intimate conversations with a voice (courtesy of Scarlett Johansson) seem real.

"At some point, it just becomes the norm. I don't know that there was this one moment. It was a slow process. We never judged the character. Spike and I never sat back and said he was a weirdo. We played it so straight. Humans are amazing, how we adapt to situations," says Phoenix.

How does Phoenix pick his projects, which have no through-line in terms of theme or genre?

"I don't know. I have a feeling and I can't articulate what that is. I just look for the feeling I want in something, that I have to do this. Is this an experience I want to have?" he says.

The three-time Oscar nominee made the biggest headlines of his career for his disastrous 2009 interview with David Letterman, and his reputed spurning of acting in favour of a rap career.

His brother-in-law Casey Affleck directed what was revealed to be a faux-documentary combined with performance art, I'm Still Here, which was released in 2010 and shredded by critics.

Was Phoenix surprised by the reaction to it?

"It was going to have this life no matter what we said or did. But there's something terrifying about it because you want to work again, and you don't want your personality and people's perceived ideas to affect your future work. We expected it somewhat," he says, with a shrug.

Adams, meanwhile, calls herself a workhorse and a perfectionist.

She has carved out a quiet, under-the-radar life for herself in Los Angeles, with her fiance Darren Le Gallo and daughter Aviana, three.

"I tell people that I think I have an invisibility cloak," she jokes.

At home, she is focused on her daughter, and tries to keep her phone away as much as possible when she's being a parent.

"I try to set it down. When I'm done with work, I'm her mum. I don't want there to be a crossover. It's going to happen, but I want to keep that separate as much as possible," she says.

There's something so sincere and frank about Adams, who next plays Lois Lane again in Batman vs. Superman, which starts shooting in 2014. She says she's thankful that the big-ticket production will distract her from any awards fixation.

Given the success she's had in 2013 (American Hustle is also an awards contender), how does she remain regular and accessible?

"Do I seem normal? I started normal, or so I think – I've waited on tables and I've temped and I've worked like a normal 20-year-old. I had two jobs in high school. It forms a different work ethic. We're all the same. I love what I do and I find it special to me, but I don't think I have an elevated status. Why does that make me better than you?" she says.

"When people are unpleasant, I tend to kill them with kindness. I take it on as a personal challenge. I will melt you! It beats being jaded." – USA Today/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

> Her opens in cinemas nationwide today.

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