Sound of silence as French sports mourns Charlie Hebdo victims

PARIS - Many stood in somber, respectful silence, some proudly waved French flags, others dreamed up original slants on the "Je Suis Charlie" rallying calls of global defiance.

Across the football and rugby grounds of France, in the English Premier League and even thousands of meters high up in the Swiss Alps, emotional tributes continued to be paid to the 17 victims of this week's Paris massacres.


In the Top 14 rugby championship, European and French champions Toulon set the tone.

For colorful Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal, it was a particularly poignant afternoon.

Comic book magnate Boudjellal had edited the early works of Stephane Charbonnier and Bernard Verlhac, two of the cartoonists slain by Islamist militants at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris.

Spectators had greeted Toulon and Castres by holding up pieces of paper with 'Nous Sommes Tous Charlie' ('We Are All Charlie') printed on them.

The players lined up wearing shirts also with the words 'Nous Sommes Tous Charlie', 'Je Suis Charlie', and 'Je Suis Policier' (three police officers were also killed in the bloody spree).

Photos of four of the dead cartoonists then appeared on the big screen at the Stade Mayol.

"We are all beginning to realize the seriousness of what took place," said Racing-Metro's French international fullback Brice Dulin. "It is important that we show our support."

Toulon fans also adapted their club song, 'Pilou-Pilou' for the occasion with the final line of 'Because Toulon' amended to 'Because Charlie.'

However, not all sports arenas in France were in the mood for respectful contemplation.

At Bastia's Stade Furiani in Corsica, where the home team was playing Paris Saint Germain, the minute's silence was perfectly observed.

But some fans then unfurled a banner bearing the words 'Qatar finances PSG and terrorism' in a crude reference to the Paris club which is financed by the Gulf state.

French international footballer Bafetimbi Gomis had a hand in Swansea's goal in the 1-1 English Premier League draw against West Ham and marked his assist by running down the pitch waving a French flag.

The 29-year-old previously played in France with Saint-Etienne, Troyes, and Lyon.

"I thought that was a really nice touch," said Swansea coach Garry Monk.

"He is very passionate about his country and where he is from and that showed in his celebration and why he got the flag."

In Italy, Roma's French coach Rudi Garcia handed out crayons to journalists at a press conference so they could pen tributes to the fallen.

"I am French and I am in mourning...just like the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo, we also seek to entertain. That's why I feel as if I am one of them."

At a World Cup giant slalom skiing event at the Swiss resort of Adelboden, Frenchman Alexis Pinturault finished third before turning his attentions to the dead in Paris.

The 23-year-old Olympic bronze medalist held up a banner on the podium with the words 'Je ski Charlie' ('I ski Charlie').

"For me it was important to show solidarity with the events which happened in France. Maybe one day it will happen here in Switzerland, for one never knows when these attacks can happen and it is good to show solidarity," he said.

In Spain, there was also a minute's silence observed at all top-flight football games including a packed-out Bernabeu, the home of Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Birdman’ flying high as Hollywood prepares for Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES | The race to the Oscars begins in earnest Sunday when Hollywood’s A-listers gather for the Golden Globes, with dark comedy “Birdman” leading the pack in the quest for awards glory.

The film — starring onetime “Batman” star Michael Keaton as a washed-up film actor trying to revive his career on stage — earned seven nods for the Globes, the first major event in Tinseltown’s annual awards season.

Coming-of-age drama “Boyhood” and Nazi code-breaking thriller “The Imitation Game” starring Britain’s Benedict Cumberbatch are also in strong position with five nods apiece.

Cumberbatch and his co-star Keira Knightley are among a batch of Britons tipped for gold at the Globes.

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are in the running for their heartrending performances as British physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane in “The Theory of Everything,” and Rosamund Pike has earned praise for her searing turn as a wronged wife in “Gone Girl.”

Comic actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will be hosting the show for the third straight year.

Some critics have highlighted the lack of a clear frontrunner, in contrast to previous years like in 2012, when “The Artist” had a virtual lock on Best Picture prizes straight through to the Oscars.

“It seems like a real toss-up,” Tom Nunan of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television told AFP, adding that actors in this year’s race “are all giving career-best performances.”

TRUE STORIES

This year’s crop of hotly-tipped movies is heavy on true stories: four of the five Globes best drama nominees are based on real-life events.

Among the historical figures featured are Hawking, British mathematician Alan Turing and Martin Luther King Jr.

But “Birdman” will be the film to beat in the Best Musical or Comedy category at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the 72nd Globes ceremony begins at 5:00 pm Sunday (0100 GMT Monday).

The movie also earned nods for best actor for Keaton, best supporting actor (Edward Norton), best supporting actress (Emma Stone) and best director (Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu).

Keaton is facing stiff competition from Ralph Fiennes (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), Bill Murray (“St. Vincent”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Inherent Vice”) and Austrian Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz (“Big Eyes”).

Stone also has her work cut out against Amy Adams (“Big Eyes”), Britons Emily Blunt (“Into the Woods”) and Helen Mirren (“The 100-Foot Journey”), child prodigy Quvenzhane Wallis (“Annie”) and veteran Julianne Moore (“Maps to the Stars”).

On the drama side — unlike the Oscars, the Globes have separate categories for musical/comedies and for dramas — the best film shortlist is topped by “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater’s film about a boy growing up, shot over 12 years.

While “Boyhood” has been widely tipped, its four rivals – “Foxcatcher,” “The Imitation Game,” “Selma” and “The Theory of Everything” — are all strong contenders.

BRITISH GENIUSES

Comic Steve Carell has impressed with a rare serious performance in “Foxcatcher,” but is vying for the best actor prize against a pair of Britons paying math wizards — Cumberbatch as Turing and Redmayne as Hawking.

Britain’s David Oyelowo — who plays King in “Selma” — and Jake Gyllenhaal in lurid crime drama “Nightcrawler” round out the category.

On the small screen, “Fargo” took the most nominations with five.

In the television categories, critics see a free-for-all now that the widely acclaimed “Breaking Bad” is no longer on the air or in the running.

Victories for either “House of Cards” for best drama series and “Orange is the New Black” for best comedy would be sweet for Netflix as on-demand video streaming throws mainstream network television for a loop.

The Globes are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and, while less prestigious than the Academy Awards, they still have huge marketing impact for those nominated and the eventual winners.

Unlike the Oscars, which are voted on by some 6,000 industry members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Globes are selected by fewer than 100 journalists from the HFPA.

Traditionally, the Globes ceremony is more relaxed than the Oscars, notably due to the fact that alcohol is freely available to the audience.

“The Golden Globes is traditionally a much more amusing television program,” as opposed to the “stodgy” Oscars, Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, told AFP.

This year’s Academy Awards will be held on February 22. Oscar nominations will be announced next week, on January 15.

source: interaksyon.com

China dating app helps gay men banish the blues - and AIDS

BEIJING -- Hua Ruobin started using Blued two years ago to meet other gay men in China, setting up weekend dinners or dates in karaoke bars.

The gay dating app has been a godsend for Hua, allowing the university student in the southern city of Guangzhou to privately contact Chinese men seeking same-sex companionship.

Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but remains a taboo subject in the world's most populous country.

"I found nine (gay friends) through the app," said Hua, 22, who felt he could never talk to his heterosexual friends about being gay. "Now I have a group of friends just like me to whom I can open my mind."

Blued is the brainchild of Ma Baoli, 36, a former policeman who quit his job to play Cupid to millions of gay men in China.

The free Chinese-language app uses the GPS capability of users' smartphones to identify nearby members. As with other dating apps, users can scan profiles, chat privately with the potential Mr Right or hang out in a group chatroom.

Blued quickly found favor with gay people, adding 15 million users in two years. There is scope for expansion, with Ma's company raising $30 million last year from a US venture capital firm. Its long-term goal is to list on the Nasdaq.

"That would be an even better way to show off China's development than a big advertisement in Times Square," said Ma, referring to New York's most famous intersection.

Not just a dating app

LGBT activists in China say Blued has helped gay men develop a positive self-image and fight social prejudices that force homosexuals to stay anonymous.

"It is not only a hook-up app any more, but also spreading knowledge about the community," said Raymond Phang, an organizer of the annual Shanghai Pride celebrations.

Ma's efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS have found support from a government eager to promote safe sex among gay Chinese.

At the Beijing headquarters of Ma's firm, app users can take free HIV tests, administered only by gay members of a staff of more than 50, so as to minimize any potential embarrassment.

A red ribbon icon on the app gives Blued users easy access to information on condom use and AIDS. It offers authorities a way to reach out to gay men, a group the World Health Organization says is at high risk of catching the disease.

"On the street, it is difficult for researchers to find gay groups," said Ma. "We could help the government to help the people that it can't reach."

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook buys video startup QuickFire

Social network operator Facebook Inc said it bought QuickFire Networks, a startup that helps view high-quality video with low bandwidth.

QuickFire announced the acquisition on its blog on Thursday.

Facebook and QuickFire did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Facebook’s acquisition of the video technology company comes a day after it said in a blog it averaged more than 1 billion video views every day since June 2014.

source: interaksyon.com

Fed looks past a world in turmoil, confident in U.S. recovery

WASHINGTON - U.S. central bankers have looked beyond a global deflation threat, fear of energy-sector bond defaults, and a surge of oil patch layoffs to reach what appears to be a firm conclusion: the U.S. recovery is here to stay.

New trade data released on Wednesday and signs of ever-stronger consumer spending confirmed the United States remains the bright spot in a global economy plagued by uncertainty.

The trade deficit shrank in November to less than $40 billion, providing a boost to growth as Americans spent less on imported oil.

Meanwhile, the first corporate reports from the Christmas season showed at least some of that money trickling into stores as J.C. Penney Co Inc. said same-store sales rose 3.7 percent in November and December, pushing the company's stock up nearly 20 percent.

At its December policy-setting meeting, according to minutes released on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve took close stock of plunging world oil prices and turmoil in Europe and decided that those negative trends would not undo that underlying strength.

"Several participants ... suggested that the real economy may end up showing more momentum than anticipated, while a few others thought that the boost to domestic spending coming from lower energy prices could turn out to be quite large."

The minutes set the stage for what could be a key economic theme this year: how the global system will react as Fed policy diverges from that of other major central banks.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are expected to further loosen monetary conditions in coming weeks or months, while the luster has fallen from emerging markets that had been attracting record levels of investment in recent years.

"These minutes defined the environment post-tapering," said Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist at Prudential Fixed Income in New Jersey. "If the Fed moves aggressively it would suck up capital from emerging markets."

Global conditions have arguably weakened since the Fed's Dec. 16-17 meeting, and the minutes note that the United States would not be immune if the world economy turns sharply down.

There is already fallout. Credit analysts have honed in on the debts of companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production, with Standard & Poor's downgrading half a dozen firms at the end of 2014 and concluding the entire sector will be under pressure if prices remain so low.

Workers have taken a hit not just directly among energy firms but in affiliated industries. U.S. Steel announced this week it was laying off 756 workers due to weakening demand for steel pipe and other products used by energy firms.

But the positive impulse from cheap oil is only beginning, according to analysts, and is expected to keep the Fed firmly on track even if it pushes inflation further from the central bank's target in coming months.

The narrowing trade deficit prompted analysts to up their estimates for 2014 economic growth.

The fall in oil prices also was putting hundreds of billions of dollars in the pockets of consumers, a trend that started to show up in earnest in November's retails sales. The December numbers are expected to be strong as well, with the National Retail Federation forecasting 4.1 percent overall growth over the year before.

Falling yields

Even the steady drop in U.S. bond yields says less about expectations for future interest rates than it does about the oil-driven path of inflation and its longer-term impact on the economy, Cornerstone Macro economist Roberto Perli said in a recent analysis.

Bond yields were dropping, he said, in part because the amount investors demanded to offset inflation was falling faster even as expectations for economic growth continued to increase.

"Investors might be tempted to assume that the bond market is sending a very bearish message about the U.S. economy, but in reality the bond market is saying exactly the opposite," Perli wrote.

"Growth expectations embedded in the 10-year yield have actually improved this month, and have been doing so ever since oil prices started to drop in the summer. The bond market shares our view that the drop in oil prices is a good thing for the aggregate U.S. economy."

source: interaksyon.com

18-year old linked to Charlie Hebdo attack hands himself in to police

PARIS -- An 18-year old man sought by police over Wednesday's shooting attack at satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo handed himself voluntarily to police in northeastern France, an official at the Paris prosecutor's office said.

Police are hunting three French nationals, including brothers Said Kouachi, born in 1980; Cherif Kouachi, born in 1982; and Hamyd Mourad born in 1996, after suspected Islamist gunmen killed 12 people.

The official, who declined to identify the man, said he had turned himself in at a police station in Charleville-Mézières, in northeastern France at around 2300 GMT.

BFM TV, citing unidentified sources, said the man had decided to go to the police after seeing his name in social media. It said other arrests had taken place in circles linked to the two brothers.

source: interaksyon.com

Daimler’s self-driving concept car turns into mobile living room

LAS VEGAS — Germany’s Daimler AG wants to reset consumers’ expectations about self-driving cars with its futuristic Mercedes-Benz F 015 concept, unveiled Monday evening at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“Anyone who focuses solely on the technology has not yet grasped how autonomous driving will change our society,” said Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche, one of this year’s keynote speakers at CES. “The car is growing beyond its role as a mere means of transport and will ultimately become a mobile living space.”

Until now, automakers such as Daimler and Volkswagen AG’s Audi have largely focused on developing automated systems, including braking and steering, that make cars safer and easier to operate.

The F 015 luxury sedan concept, with its spacious cabin and lounge-like seating for four, explores new possibilities for self-driving cars that can double as virtual living rooms on wheels. And in keeping with Mercedes tradition and the concept’s “luxury in motion” theme, the post-modern passenger space is trimmed in walnut veneer, nappa leather, polished aluminium and glass, with soft blue LED lighting.

The F 015 can be operated autonomously or manually. When the vehicle is in fully driverless mode, the four motorized lounge chairs can be rotated to allow face-to-face conversations. When required for manual operation, the driver’s chair swivels back to face forward.

To facilitate connectivity with the outside world, the F 015 is equipped with six digital display screens throughout the cabin. The screens can be activated via gestures, eye-tracking or touch.

Mercedes wrapped all that fancy hardware and software in a lightweight, impact-resistant structure of carbon-fibre, aluminium and high-strength steel. The concept was also designed to accommodate an electric motor and hydrogen fuel cell.

The F 015 represents a huge leap forward conceptually and stylistically from the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Intelligent Drive research vehicle that piloted itself on a 100-kilometer journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 2013.

The 2013 journey, made in a specially modified S-Class sedan equipped with various automated systems, traced the path driven 125 years earlier by Bertha Benz, wife of company co-founder Karl Benz, in one of the world’s first gasoline-powered automobiles.

Mercedes currently equips several of its production vehicles with a variety of semi-automated systems, including parking assist, traffic jam assist and steering assist.

The company’s forward vision, embodied in a project titled “City of the Future 2030+”, sees self-driving cars as a springboard for redesigning traffic-dense urban spaces with unique “safety” zones accessible only by autonomous vehicles.

source: interaksyon.com

Daughter of Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hilton founder dies at 67

LOS ANGELES - Francesca Hilton, daughter of Hollywood icon Zsa Zsa Gabor and the founder of the Hilton hotel empire, has died in Los Angeles aged 67, her publicist said Tuesday.

Hilton, the only daughter of Conrad Hilton, died late Monday in Cedars-Sinai hospital after an apparent heart attack or stroke, said spokesman Edward Lozzi.

She had in recent years been in legal dispute with her 97-year-old mother's latest husband, self-declared aristocrat Frederic von Anhalt, over access to the ageing star.

"Hilton had recently been under extreme pressure after being successful in having a court... order her controversial stepfather to allow her to visit her mother and to stop spending her mother's money on himself," said Lozzi.

Born into a family of wealth and fame, she at one time dated actor Peter Sellers. She worked as a professional photographer, actress, and as a publicist in the 1980s.

Lozzi claimed that von Anhalt had "apparently" defied the court order allowing her to visit Gabor, a Hungarian-born actress and socialite who he said is now suffering total dementia and cannot speak.

Hilton "called her attorney Ken Kossoff... only hours before she died for him to take action... There is no secret about the ill feelings von Anhalt and Hilton have for each other," he said.

Her spokesman said he was shocked by her passing. "We were on the phone minutes before she died. We were discussing her book she was writing and a possible deal.

"She had to go to the restroom. She never made it out."

source: interaksyon.com

Former New York governor Mario Cuomo dies, 82

NEW YORK -- Mario Cuomo, the former New York governor who was once considered a prime candidate for the White House or the Supreme Court, died Thursday, US media reported. He was 82.

Cause of death was not specified, but Cuomo had been hospitalized in November with a heart condition.

The three-term Democratic governor died the same day as his oldest son, Andrew Cuomo, was inaugurated for a second term as New York governor.

"He couldn't be here physically today, my father. But my father is in this room. He's in the heart and mind of every person who is here," Andrew Cuomo said.

"His inspiration and his legacy and experience is what has brought this state to this point."

Known in part for his eloquent speeches and his steadfast opposition to New York reinstating the death penalty, Cuomo rose to national prominence thanks to a famous 1984 speech at the Democratic National Convention.

In it, he delivered a rebuttal to then President Ronald Reagan's depiction of America as a "shining city on a hill" filled with opportunity for all, saying instead that many Americans remained impoverished or feared losing their jobs.

"The hard truth is that not everyone is sharing in this city's splendor and glory," Cuomo told rapt Democrats in the San Francisco address.

"Mr. President, you ought to know that this nation is more a 'Tale of Two Cities' than it is just a 'shining city on a hill.'"

Despite being considered a possible frontrunner in subsequent presidential nomination battles, Cuomo never ran for the White House.

In 1993, he asked President Bill Clinton to consider him for the Supreme Court but he withdrew his candidacy just before an offer was made. Eventually, another New Yorker, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, secured the nomination. She still serves in the nation's top court.

Cuomo first became New York governor in 1982, and easily won reelection in 1986 and 1990.

But by 1994, following a recession and a weak economic recovery, New Yorkers were fed up with Cuomo. He lost fourth-term bid in a 1994 Republican landslide, with George Pataki the victor.

"Our deepest condolences on the passing of Gov Cuomo a proud son of immigrants, possessed of a soaring intellect & a great New Yorker," Pataki said in a Twitter message Thursday.

Other US politicians were also quick to pay tribute.

"Our country and our region lost a giant today with the passing of Governor Mario Cuomo," said Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey.

"He was a strong, eloquent leader who loved New York and its people. As an Italian-American, he was also a role model for future generations that anything was possible through hard work and education."

And New York Senator Chuck Schumer called him "a colossal political mind (who) represented the very best of public service; he leaves an indelible legacy on the state he loved."

source: interaksyon.com

Pope Francis criticizes corruption in Rome in New Year's Eve message

VATICAN CITY - In the traditional year-end Vespers prayers, Pope Francis denounced the corruption infecting the city of Rome.

Before thousands who were packed into Saint Peter's Basilica, he said: ”Without a doubt, the serious affairs of corruption in these recent days require serious heart-searching and action for a spiritual and moral rebirth of the city of Rome, as well as a commitment to build a more just and brotherly city, where the poor, the weak and the marginalized are at the center of our actions and daily activities."



He was referring to a police investigation that uncovered a network of connections between politicians and criminals in Rome.

The Pope delighted the masses after his homily when he paid a visit to the nativity in St. Peter's Square.

source: interaksyon.com