AFP, ROME: More than two million pilgrims are expected to throng the streets of Rome for the beatification ceremony of John Paul II on May 1, leaving travel agencies desperate for accommodation and hotel prices soaring.
The Vatican expects as many as two and a half million people to flock to the ceremony, according to Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The ceremony will be led by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter's Square, where John Paul II's funeral took place only six years ago.
"Since the beatification announcement, bookings have exploded," said Giuseppe Roscioli, head of Federalberghi Roma, which represents around 500 hotels and offers around 90,000 of the capital's 150,000 beds.
Hotels and city authorities are bracing themselves for crowds as big as the ones that descended on the Vatican when John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, after a pontificate that spanned a quarter century.
Roscioli said the Vatican's decision to hold the celebration on May 1 complicated matters, because it coincides with a public holiday in much of Europe and is a peak period of tourism in Italy.
"It's like wanting to organise an event in Monaco during the Formula One Grand Prix. It's absurd. It?s obvious that the Vatican's calendar has nothing to do with day-to-day life," he said.
"Our hotels published this year's prices last year, when we had no idea what date the beatification would be. If a hotel wants to raise its prices it risks being punished by the law," said Roscioli.
However, since the date was announced, prices have sky-rocketed. Some two-star hotels are hoping for 330 euros ($447) a night and some four-stars are asking 1,760 euros ($2,386) for a suite.
Specialist religious tourism agency Raptim said it has been swamped by requests from Africa, Brazil and John Paul II's homeland of Poland in particular.
"We have 500 people on the waiting list and we're still getting requests!" said group leader Gabriella Pandolfini.
Despite logistical problems plaguing some pilgrims planning their trip to Rome, excitement reigns in one of the city's most unusual watering holes, Pub John Paul II, which opened last year in the city centre.
"John Paul II is the saint for youth and we want this place to be a place to remember him," said Massimo Camussi, who is organising musical evenings and film showings at the pub in the run-up to the beatification.
The pub first opened as a kind of permanent reminder of World Youth Day, which was celebrated in Rome to mark the Catholic Church's Jubilee in 2000.
The Vatican has yet to publish the details for the big day, but sources suggest a vigil may be held in Rome's Circus Maximus arena the evening before the beatification, with a mass in St. Peter's Square on the day.
The Vatican square will be open from midnight the night before the ceremony and entrance to the basilica will be free for pilgrims.
The celebrations may turn out to cost Rome's city hall dearly though. When mourners flocked for John Paul II's funeral, the city's cleaning bill came to eight million euros.
US lawmaker resigns after online personal ad flap
AFP, WASHINGTON: A married US lawmaker resigned after apparently sending a shirtless photo of himself and flirty messages to a woman not his wife in reply to her online personal ad.
Republican Representative Christopher Lee stepped down after the gossip website Gawker posted what it identified as a photograph of him, flexing in a mirror, and said he had sent it to an unidentified woman, 34.
Gawker said Lee had sent it in response to her appeal in the "Women for Men" section of personals on the popular classifieds website Craigslist in which she invited men "financially and emotionally secure" to "prove to me not all CL (Craigslist) men look like toads."
"I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness," Lee said in a statement released by his office hours after the story broke.
"The challenges we face in western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately," he said.
Gawker published emails in which Lee -- which the site said was 46, married, with one son -- described himself as a lobbyist, "a very fit fun classy guy," 39, and divorced and vows: "I promise not to disappoint."
Republican Representative Christopher Lee stepped down after the gossip website Gawker posted what it identified as a photograph of him, flexing in a mirror, and said he had sent it to an unidentified woman, 34.
Gawker said Lee had sent it in response to her appeal in the "Women for Men" section of personals on the popular classifieds website Craigslist in which she invited men "financially and emotionally secure" to "prove to me not all CL (Craigslist) men look like toads."
"I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness," Lee said in a statement released by his office hours after the story broke.
"The challenges we face in western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately," he said.
Gawker published emails in which Lee -- which the site said was 46, married, with one son -- described himself as a lobbyist, "a very fit fun classy guy," 39, and divorced and vows: "I promise not to disappoint."
Tunisia's interim leader to hold talks with unions
AFP, TUNIS: Tunisia's interim president Foued Mebazaa announced that talks with unions would be held soon, after he was given wide powers to restore order following the ouster of ex-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Tunisia's Senate agreed unanimously to grant powers to Mebazaa. The upper house followed the lead of the lower house of parliament which on Monday authorised that he could rule by decree.
"These social negotiations are the best framework for dialogue and consultation to resolve the social situation of all categories of people in all sectors," Mebazaa said on national television, marking his first direct address to the nation since taking power on January 15 -- the day after Ben Ali fled the country.
He called for "patience" on the part of Tunisians as the country remains mired by turmoil.
"Your demands are legitimate, but you must understand the difficult situation in which our country is confronted," Mebazaa said.
A stray bullet from the gun of a soldier who fired warning shots to disperse a crowd in Tunis meanwhile wounded a 26-year-old man, witnesses said.
They said the crowd of jobless people had massed outside the social affairs ministry, which on Tuesday began distributing a dole to the handicapped and unemployed.
The shots were fired as the crowd refused to line up before the offices opened but instead tried to force a way in, the witnesses said.
The measures voted by parliament empowers Mebazaa to sidestep the assembly made up mostly of followers of Ben Ali and decide key issues by decree, relating notably to the transition to democracy and the holding of elections within six months.
These include a possible general amnesty, human rights legislation, the organisation of political parties and a new electoral code.
Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said that parties banned under Ben Ali would be made legal within days ahead of "transparent and fair elections with the participation of all the parties."
The transitional government has banned Ben Ali's ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Assembly, and accused loyalists of the former leader ousted on January 14 of attempting to foment unrest so as to block the transition to democracy.
Mass protests sparked partly by poverty and unemployment erupted across the country last month, resulting in Ben Ali's ouster. Pockets of unrest remain and police, closely associated with the hated Ben Ali regime, have played no role in restoring law and order.
On Tuesday the government called up reservists to bolster the army which has been carrying out security duties to help keep order.
Some 234 people have been killed during the unrest in Tunisia and 510 have been injured, an official source told AFP on Tuesday. The United Nations last week had put the figure at 219.
Ghannouchi Wednesday called on Tunisians to return to work, saying the country had suffered "considerable losses" because of the unrest.
The head of the Tunis-based African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told AFP the bank would be prepared to give Tunisia substantial additional funding to help it face up to immediate problems.
And a group of French travel agents visiting the country said they planned a strong promotional drive to encourage the return of tourists within weeks. The industry, one of Tunisia's main sources of income, saw a 40 per cent drop in revenue in January and February is expected to be similar.
Tourism Minister Mehdi Houas said that with the eventual lifting of the curfew and the return of security, "We are counting on a real recovery around March-April."
Tunisia's Senate agreed unanimously to grant powers to Mebazaa. The upper house followed the lead of the lower house of parliament which on Monday authorised that he could rule by decree.
"These social negotiations are the best framework for dialogue and consultation to resolve the social situation of all categories of people in all sectors," Mebazaa said on national television, marking his first direct address to the nation since taking power on January 15 -- the day after Ben Ali fled the country.
He called for "patience" on the part of Tunisians as the country remains mired by turmoil.
"Your demands are legitimate, but you must understand the difficult situation in which our country is confronted," Mebazaa said.
A stray bullet from the gun of a soldier who fired warning shots to disperse a crowd in Tunis meanwhile wounded a 26-year-old man, witnesses said.
They said the crowd of jobless people had massed outside the social affairs ministry, which on Tuesday began distributing a dole to the handicapped and unemployed.
The shots were fired as the crowd refused to line up before the offices opened but instead tried to force a way in, the witnesses said.
The measures voted by parliament empowers Mebazaa to sidestep the assembly made up mostly of followers of Ben Ali and decide key issues by decree, relating notably to the transition to democracy and the holding of elections within six months.
These include a possible general amnesty, human rights legislation, the organisation of political parties and a new electoral code.
Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said that parties banned under Ben Ali would be made legal within days ahead of "transparent and fair elections with the participation of all the parties."
The transitional government has banned Ben Ali's ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Assembly, and accused loyalists of the former leader ousted on January 14 of attempting to foment unrest so as to block the transition to democracy.
Mass protests sparked partly by poverty and unemployment erupted across the country last month, resulting in Ben Ali's ouster. Pockets of unrest remain and police, closely associated with the hated Ben Ali regime, have played no role in restoring law and order.
On Tuesday the government called up reservists to bolster the army which has been carrying out security duties to help keep order.
Some 234 people have been killed during the unrest in Tunisia and 510 have been injured, an official source told AFP on Tuesday. The United Nations last week had put the figure at 219.
Ghannouchi Wednesday called on Tunisians to return to work, saying the country had suffered "considerable losses" because of the unrest.
The head of the Tunis-based African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told AFP the bank would be prepared to give Tunisia substantial additional funding to help it face up to immediate problems.
And a group of French travel agents visiting the country said they planned a strong promotional drive to encourage the return of tourists within weeks. The industry, one of Tunisia's main sources of income, saw a 40 per cent drop in revenue in January and February is expected to be similar.
Tourism Minister Mehdi Houas said that with the eventual lifting of the curfew and the return of security, "We are counting on a real recovery around March-April."
N. Korea says no need for more meetings with South
AFP, SEOUL: North Korea said Thursday there was no need for further dialogue with South Korea, a day after military talks aimed at easing months of high tensions broke down.
The North's delegation, in a statement on Pyongyang's official news agency, blamed a plot by "a handful of traitors" including the South's defence and unification ministries for the collapse of the talks.
"As it has become clear that the traitors don't want improvement in North-South relations and avoid dialogue, our military and the people don't feel the need any more to continue trying to talk to them," it said.
The two-day talks were the first since the North's shelling of a South Korean island on November 23, which killed four people including two civilians and sharply raised regional tensions.
Seoul also accuses its neighbour of torpedoing a warship in March last year with the loss of 46 lives. The North denies involvement in the ship's sinking.
The North's side walked out of the talks Wednesday after rejecting the South's demands for an apology for both incidents, the South's defence ministry said.
The meeting at the border village of Panmunjom had been intended to set the agenda and date for a high-level military meeting.
"Our military and people love peace more than anyone else, but they never beg for peace," the North's statement said. "It is our tradition to respond to dialogue with dialogue and confrontation with confrontation."
The North says its attack on Yeonpyeong was in response to a South Korean live-fire drill there, which dropped shells into waters claimed by the North.
It says high-level talks should focus not on the incidents but on general ways to avoid provocations by either side.
The South's defence ministry said Wednesday it was still open to high-level military dialogue if the North accepted its proposals.
The US State Department said the North's walkout was a "missed opportunity" to show it is sincere about improving ties. The Pentagon also urged it to resume dialogue with the South.
The breakdown of the talks complicated efforts by the United States and China to revive stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programmes.
Washington says Pyongyang must improve ties with Seoul before the six-party negotiations -- which offer diplomatic and economic benefits in return for denuclearisation -- can resume.
The North, in a shift of rhetoric, has been repeatedly calling in recent weeks for talks with the South.
Some analysts said the military dialogue could still resume despite Thursday's statement.
"The North lacks sincerity while the South needs flexibility," said Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.
"Following a cooling-off period, both sides are likely to return to the table as they need to engage in dialogue. This is also wanted by China and the United States."
However Kim Yeon-Chul of Inje University in Gimhae city said the North was unlikely to accept responsibility for the warship incident, especially after a UN Security Council statement failed to identify who was responsible.
"Even if the North comes back to dialogue, no progress is expected as long as the South lumps the sinking and shelling incidents together and demands an apology," Kim told AFP.
"The North is willing to apologise over the shelling but it will never accept responsibility for the sinking."
The North's delegation, in a statement on Pyongyang's official news agency, blamed a plot by "a handful of traitors" including the South's defence and unification ministries for the collapse of the talks.
"As it has become clear that the traitors don't want improvement in North-South relations and avoid dialogue, our military and the people don't feel the need any more to continue trying to talk to them," it said.
The two-day talks were the first since the North's shelling of a South Korean island on November 23, which killed four people including two civilians and sharply raised regional tensions.
Seoul also accuses its neighbour of torpedoing a warship in March last year with the loss of 46 lives. The North denies involvement in the ship's sinking.
The North's side walked out of the talks Wednesday after rejecting the South's demands for an apology for both incidents, the South's defence ministry said.
The meeting at the border village of Panmunjom had been intended to set the agenda and date for a high-level military meeting.
"Our military and people love peace more than anyone else, but they never beg for peace," the North's statement said. "It is our tradition to respond to dialogue with dialogue and confrontation with confrontation."
The North says its attack on Yeonpyeong was in response to a South Korean live-fire drill there, which dropped shells into waters claimed by the North.
It says high-level talks should focus not on the incidents but on general ways to avoid provocations by either side.
The South's defence ministry said Wednesday it was still open to high-level military dialogue if the North accepted its proposals.
The US State Department said the North's walkout was a "missed opportunity" to show it is sincere about improving ties. The Pentagon also urged it to resume dialogue with the South.
The breakdown of the talks complicated efforts by the United States and China to revive stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programmes.
Washington says Pyongyang must improve ties with Seoul before the six-party negotiations -- which offer diplomatic and economic benefits in return for denuclearisation -- can resume.
The North, in a shift of rhetoric, has been repeatedly calling in recent weeks for talks with the South.
Some analysts said the military dialogue could still resume despite Thursday's statement.
"The North lacks sincerity while the South needs flexibility," said Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.
"Following a cooling-off period, both sides are likely to return to the table as they need to engage in dialogue. This is also wanted by China and the United States."
However Kim Yeon-Chul of Inje University in Gimhae city said the North was unlikely to accept responsibility for the warship incident, especially after a UN Security Council statement failed to identify who was responsible.
"Even if the North comes back to dialogue, no progress is expected as long as the South lumps the sinking and shelling incidents together and demands an apology," Kim told AFP.
"The North is willing to apologise over the shelling but it will never accept responsibility for the sinking."
Shot US lawmaker starts speaking, 'asks for toast'
AFP, LOS ANGELES: US lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords has begun speaking as she continues her stunning recovery a month after being shot in the head -- and one of her first requests was for toast.
The 40-year-old, shot at point-blank range by a reportedly unstable gunman on January 8, is talking more and more every day as she undergoes intensive rehabilitation in a hospital in Houston, Texas, said a spokesman Wednesday.
"All I can tell you is that she requested toast... she asked for it at breakfast the other day. And she's speaking more and more and doing more and more with each passing day," said the spokesman, C.J. Karamargin.
"Needless to say we are jubilant at this news... We've said many times that the congresswoman is improving in all areas, and this is one of them," he told AFP.
Democrat Giffords was gunned down in a shooting rampage which killed six people, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, at a public meeting she was giving in Tucson, Arizona.
A bullet went through her brain. She was initially treated in intensive care in Tucson, but was transferred to Houston where she moved to the TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital at the end of January.
"The congresswoman is undergoing rigorous therapy every day, including speech therapy, and (doctors are) doing an absolutely fabulous job of working with her on all sorts of language and speech exercises," said the spokesman.
"She too is working very hard, and clearly its paying off," he added.
"We have a great combination.... We have a team at a world renowned hospital using their expertise and resources to push her, and we've got a congresswoman who has no shortage of grit and determination pushing herself."
Giffords' husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, said last week that he will go ahead with leading the final mission of the space shuttle Endeavour -- and forecast that his wife would attend the April 19 launch.
"That is Mark's goal, Mark's hope, and given the milestones that she's reaching every day, every week, we are confident she's going to make Mark happy," said her spokesman.
The shooting triggered a wave of soul-searching about America's deeply-divided political culture, highlighted by President Barack Obama in an address at a memorial for the victims in Tucson itself.
The suspected killer, Jared Lee Loughner, has been charged with three federal counts including attempted assassination of a member of Congress. The next court hearing is scheduled for March 9.
Investigators found documents at his home, including an envelope on which were written "Giffords," "My Assassination" and "I planned ahead," as well as what looked like Loughner's signature.
It also emerged that he had bought the gun and ammunition used in the attack legally in local stores, and had left rambling and semi-coherent messages online, suggesting he was angry at the government.
Kelly, 46, took a leave of absence to be at his wife's side after the shooting, but announced last week that he would resume training to command the 14-day mission, scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA had named a backup commander to train with the other five crew members, but the space agency said Kelly's experience and many months of mission-specific training made him the best choice.
The 40-year-old, shot at point-blank range by a reportedly unstable gunman on January 8, is talking more and more every day as she undergoes intensive rehabilitation in a hospital in Houston, Texas, said a spokesman Wednesday.
"All I can tell you is that she requested toast... she asked for it at breakfast the other day. And she's speaking more and more and doing more and more with each passing day," said the spokesman, C.J. Karamargin.
"Needless to say we are jubilant at this news... We've said many times that the congresswoman is improving in all areas, and this is one of them," he told AFP.
Democrat Giffords was gunned down in a shooting rampage which killed six people, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, at a public meeting she was giving in Tucson, Arizona.
A bullet went through her brain. She was initially treated in intensive care in Tucson, but was transferred to Houston where she moved to the TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital at the end of January.
"The congresswoman is undergoing rigorous therapy every day, including speech therapy, and (doctors are) doing an absolutely fabulous job of working with her on all sorts of language and speech exercises," said the spokesman.
"She too is working very hard, and clearly its paying off," he added.
"We have a great combination.... We have a team at a world renowned hospital using their expertise and resources to push her, and we've got a congresswoman who has no shortage of grit and determination pushing herself."
Giffords' husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, said last week that he will go ahead with leading the final mission of the space shuttle Endeavour -- and forecast that his wife would attend the April 19 launch.
"That is Mark's goal, Mark's hope, and given the milestones that she's reaching every day, every week, we are confident she's going to make Mark happy," said her spokesman.
The shooting triggered a wave of soul-searching about America's deeply-divided political culture, highlighted by President Barack Obama in an address at a memorial for the victims in Tucson itself.
The suspected killer, Jared Lee Loughner, has been charged with three federal counts including attempted assassination of a member of Congress. The next court hearing is scheduled for March 9.
Investigators found documents at his home, including an envelope on which were written "Giffords," "My Assassination" and "I planned ahead," as well as what looked like Loughner's signature.
It also emerged that he had bought the gun and ammunition used in the attack legally in local stores, and had left rambling and semi-coherent messages online, suggesting he was angry at the government.
Kelly, 46, took a leave of absence to be at his wife's side after the shooting, but announced last week that he would resume training to command the 14-day mission, scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA had named a backup commander to train with the other five crew members, but the space agency said Kelly's experience and many months of mission-specific training made him the best choice.
FARC hostage release begins in Colombia
AFP, VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia: Colombia's FARC guerrillas set free the first of five promised hostages as they began the most significant release of President Juan Manuel Santos' tenure.
The guerrillas freed Marcos Baquero, 33, to intermediaries at an undisclosed site in the central Meta department. He was flown to Villavicencio, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Bogota, aboard a Brazilian air force helicopter with Red Cross markings.
The remaining four hostages will be released in different parts of the country in staggered intervals over the next few days.
A crowd of supporters and co-workers cheered and clapped as Baquero's wife Olga and sons Samir, 10, and Emmanuel, two, rushed to meet him on the tarmac and covered him with hugs and kisses.
The ex-hostage presented his children with an ocelot -- a wild cat common in parts of South America -- that he brought from the jungle along with a sketchbook full of pictures.
"I'm enormously happy to know that I'll be going to my home, to my wife," Baquero told reporters in Villavicencio.
Guerrillas with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) kidnapped Baquero, a local councilman and member of Colombia's Green Party, in late June 2009.
He was released earlier Wednesday to a team of intermediaries that included former senator Piedad Cordoba, two ICRC delegates, and a representative of the NGO Colombians for Peace, said International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokeswoman Maria Cristina Rivera.
"We are very happy that this first operation was very successful," the ICRC delegate in Colombia, Christophe Beney, told reporters in Bogota.
FARC rebels have pledged to release a Colombian marine and another municipal council member on Friday near the town of Florencia in southeastern Colombia, and a police major and a soldier on Sunday in Ibaque in the center of the country.
The five were kidnapped in separate incidents over a two year period between 2007 and 2009.
Baquero said he plans to organize a march to demand that the FARC release all their hostages.
"It's very difficult, painful and sad to be in the jungle," he said. "We have to end this kidnapping because it is very tough on the country and there are many families that are suffering this, not just mine."
Baquero said that the ocelot "was my companion in captivity. I talked to him."
Brazil provided two helicopters and crews for the mission, and the Colombian military cooperated by suspending operations in a huge swath of southern Colombia from 2300 GMT Tuesday to 1100 GMT Thursday.
FARC, which has been at war with the Colombian government since 1964, has between 7,000 and 11,000 fighters and is holding at least 19 soldiers and police officers hostage.
The FARC last released hostages in March 2010, when they freed a Colombian soldier they had held for more than 12 years.
The rebels have long demanded a hostage-for-prisoner swap, something both Santos and his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, have refused to consider.
The guerrillas freed Marcos Baquero, 33, to intermediaries at an undisclosed site in the central Meta department. He was flown to Villavicencio, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Bogota, aboard a Brazilian air force helicopter with Red Cross markings.
The remaining four hostages will be released in different parts of the country in staggered intervals over the next few days.
A crowd of supporters and co-workers cheered and clapped as Baquero's wife Olga and sons Samir, 10, and Emmanuel, two, rushed to meet him on the tarmac and covered him with hugs and kisses.
The ex-hostage presented his children with an ocelot -- a wild cat common in parts of South America -- that he brought from the jungle along with a sketchbook full of pictures.
"I'm enormously happy to know that I'll be going to my home, to my wife," Baquero told reporters in Villavicencio.
Guerrillas with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) kidnapped Baquero, a local councilman and member of Colombia's Green Party, in late June 2009.
He was released earlier Wednesday to a team of intermediaries that included former senator Piedad Cordoba, two ICRC delegates, and a representative of the NGO Colombians for Peace, said International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokeswoman Maria Cristina Rivera.
"We are very happy that this first operation was very successful," the ICRC delegate in Colombia, Christophe Beney, told reporters in Bogota.
FARC rebels have pledged to release a Colombian marine and another municipal council member on Friday near the town of Florencia in southeastern Colombia, and a police major and a soldier on Sunday in Ibaque in the center of the country.
The five were kidnapped in separate incidents over a two year period between 2007 and 2009.
Baquero said he plans to organize a march to demand that the FARC release all their hostages.
"It's very difficult, painful and sad to be in the jungle," he said. "We have to end this kidnapping because it is very tough on the country and there are many families that are suffering this, not just mine."
Baquero said that the ocelot "was my companion in captivity. I talked to him."
Brazil provided two helicopters and crews for the mission, and the Colombian military cooperated by suspending operations in a huge swath of southern Colombia from 2300 GMT Tuesday to 1100 GMT Thursday.
FARC, which has been at war with the Colombian government since 1964, has between 7,000 and 11,000 fighters and is holding at least 19 soldiers and police officers hostage.
The FARC last released hostages in March 2010, when they freed a Colombian soldier they had held for more than 12 years.
The rebels have long demanded a hostage-for-prisoner swap, something both Santos and his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, have refused to consider.
Egypt threatens crackdown but protesters stay put
AFP, CAIRO: Egypt's government warned of a military crackdown as massive rallies against President Hosni Mubarak spread and reports surfaced that the army had detained and tortured pro-democracy activists.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched on parliament from the epicentre of the uprising in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the largest protests since the revolt began, as unrest spread across the nation.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned the army, until now a mostly neutral force, would intervene if the protests against Mubarak's 30-year-old US-backed rule escalated.
"If chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step... which would lead to a very dangerous situation," the official MENA news agency said, paraphrasing Abul Gheit's interview with Arabic-language satellite television channel Al-Arabiya.
His remarks came after newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman warned of a possible "coup" in the absence of a peaceful transfer of power.
Abul Gheit slammed the United States for "imposing" its will on Egypt by demanding immediate reforms.
"When you speak about prompt, immediate, now, as if you are imposing on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that has always maintained the best of relationship with the United States, you are imposing your will on him," he said.
Shortly after his comments, Washington renewed its calls on the Egyptian army to show restraint.
The protesters however showed no sign of backing down on their demand for Mubarak to go as tens of thousands of people filled Cairo's Tahrir Square well into the third week of a revolt.
Around a thousand marched on parliament to demand its members' resignation, vowing to remain until the legislature -- widely seen as unfairly dominated by the ruling party -- is dissolved.
Meanwhile, rights groups and demonstrators told Britain's Guardian newspaper that the army had secretly detained hundreds of anti-government protesters, some of whom were tortured.
"Their range is very wide, from people who were at the protests or detained for breaking curfew to those who talked back at an army officer or were handed over to the army for looking suspicious or for looking like foreigners," Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Cairo, said.
"It's unusual and to the best of our knowledge it's also unprecedented for the army to be doing this," he added.
"They put me in a room... then soldiers started kicking me. They got a bayonet and threatened to rape me with it.
"They said I could die there or I could disappear into prison and no one would ever know," he added.
In Tahrir Square, volunteers built portable toilets, indicating the protesters have no intention of leaving the "liberated" area, now a sprawling tent city with sound stages, flag vendors and a mobile phone charging station.
On Wednesday, unrest gripped the remote oasis of Kharga, where at least five people were killed and 100 wounded when security forces opened fire on demonstrators, a security official told AFP.
In the Suez Canal city of Port Said, some 3,000 protesters stormed a government building, torching office furniture and the governor's car. There were other protests across the country.
The 82-year-old Mubarak has charged Suleiman, his longtime intelligence chief, with drawing selected opposition groups into negotiations on democratic reform before elections due in September.
Some parties have joined the talks, but the crowds in Tahrir Square insist that Mubarak must go before they will halt the
protest.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's best organised opposition group despite a half century of illegality, meanwhile moved to reassure observers who fear an Islamist takeover should Mubarak's regime be toppled.
"The Muslim Brotherhood does not seek power. We do not want to participate at the moment," senior leader Mohammed Mursi told reporters, adding that the movement would not field a presidential candidate.
The United States is watching events in the most populous Arab country with great concern, hoping the transition to elected rule can take place without a descent into violence, or an Islamist or military takeover.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the government had yet to meet the "minimum threshold" of reform demanded by Egyptians.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched on parliament from the epicentre of the uprising in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the largest protests since the revolt began, as unrest spread across the nation.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned the army, until now a mostly neutral force, would intervene if the protests against Mubarak's 30-year-old US-backed rule escalated.
"If chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step... which would lead to a very dangerous situation," the official MENA news agency said, paraphrasing Abul Gheit's interview with Arabic-language satellite television channel Al-Arabiya.
His remarks came after newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman warned of a possible "coup" in the absence of a peaceful transfer of power.
Abul Gheit slammed the United States for "imposing" its will on Egypt by demanding immediate reforms.
"When you speak about prompt, immediate, now, as if you are imposing on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that has always maintained the best of relationship with the United States, you are imposing your will on him," he said.
Shortly after his comments, Washington renewed its calls on the Egyptian army to show restraint.
The protesters however showed no sign of backing down on their demand for Mubarak to go as tens of thousands of people filled Cairo's Tahrir Square well into the third week of a revolt.
Around a thousand marched on parliament to demand its members' resignation, vowing to remain until the legislature -- widely seen as unfairly dominated by the ruling party -- is dissolved.
Meanwhile, rights groups and demonstrators told Britain's Guardian newspaper that the army had secretly detained hundreds of anti-government protesters, some of whom were tortured.
"Their range is very wide, from people who were at the protests or detained for breaking curfew to those who talked back at an army officer or were handed over to the army for looking suspicious or for looking like foreigners," Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Cairo, said.
"It's unusual and to the best of our knowledge it's also unprecedented for the army to be doing this," he added.
"They put me in a room... then soldiers started kicking me. They got a bayonet and threatened to rape me with it.
"They said I could die there or I could disappear into prison and no one would ever know," he added.
In Tahrir Square, volunteers built portable toilets, indicating the protesters have no intention of leaving the "liberated" area, now a sprawling tent city with sound stages, flag vendors and a mobile phone charging station.
On Wednesday, unrest gripped the remote oasis of Kharga, where at least five people were killed and 100 wounded when security forces opened fire on demonstrators, a security official told AFP.
In the Suez Canal city of Port Said, some 3,000 protesters stormed a government building, torching office furniture and the governor's car. There were other protests across the country.
The 82-year-old Mubarak has charged Suleiman, his longtime intelligence chief, with drawing selected opposition groups into negotiations on democratic reform before elections due in September.
Some parties have joined the talks, but the crowds in Tahrir Square insist that Mubarak must go before they will halt the
protest.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's best organised opposition group despite a half century of illegality, meanwhile moved to reassure observers who fear an Islamist takeover should Mubarak's regime be toppled.
"The Muslim Brotherhood does not seek power. We do not want to participate at the moment," senior leader Mohammed Mursi told reporters, adding that the movement would not field a presidential candidate.
The United States is watching events in the most populous Arab country with great concern, hoping the transition to elected rule can take place without a descent into violence, or an Islamist or military takeover.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the government had yet to meet the "minimum threshold" of reform demanded by Egyptians.
5 most inappropriate Valentine's Day movies
AP, LOS ANGELES: Anyone can run out and rent a romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts for Valentine's Day. Anyone can stream the latest innocuous offering from Drew Barrymore — or Jennifer Aniston, or Kate Hudson.
But it requires real guts to sit down with that special fellow or lady in your life and take in one of these massively uncomfortable choices. So here, without any needless flowery language, are the five most inappropriate movies to watch with someone you love on Valentine's Day:
• "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966): Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor chew up the scenery and tear each other apart as the boozy and bickering husband and wife George and Martha. In adapting Edward Albee's painfully honest play, director Mike Nichols burst onto the scene with this, his first feature ("The Graduate" came the following year). He gets up close and personal to provide an intimate view of the carnage. Burton and Taylor start out slyly needling each other in front of their poor, unsuspecting guests, then humiliating each other, and by the end, they're threatening all-out war. That they were married to each other in real life — for the first time — only added to the intrigue. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards, it won five, including best actress for Taylor's scathing performance.
• "Closer" (2004): Another from Nichols, this time adapting a London stage production by playwright-screenwriter Patrick Marber. But it's reminiscent of "Virginia Woolf" for its intense performances and raw emotions. Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and, yes, Julia Roberts fall giddily in love with each other, but don't be fooled: This is the furthest thing possible from a date movie. These inordinately beautiful people do extraordinarily ugly things to one another — Portman, playing a stripper in her first truly grown-up role, commits some of her offenses in little more than a G-string — and the way they destroy each other and themselves is both brutal and breathtaking to watch.
• "Blue Velvet" (1986): Nothing is ever what it seems in a David Lynch movie, and that certainly applies to love, as well. So a severed ear found lying in a field is so much more than just a severed ear — it's the key to a disturbing, underground world of twisted romance. Beneath a veneer of genteel suburbia, Kyle MacLachlan gets sucked into the bizarre lives of Dennis Hopper as a nitrous oxide-addicted criminal, and Isabella Rossellini as his masochistic sexual slave. Voyeurism and depravity, Roy Orbison and Pabst Blue Ribbon all collide hypnotically here. Lynch alternates between glib satire and a much darker, starker exploration of secret fears and desires.
• "Natural Born Killers" (1994): Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis fall in love and kill people, and fall deeper in love and kill more people, and become media darlings in the process. It's sort of romantic ... in its own way. Oliver Stone isn't exactly subtle in his satirical exploration of underserved fame and all its trappings; as is his tendency, he throws everything at us, from various film stocks and frenetic camera angles to an editing style that suggests he cut the film in a Cuisinart. But he was onto something back then, and the thirst for juicy scandal continues to go unquenched, no matter how questionable a person's actions are.
• "Fatal Attraction" (1987): It's long since become a shorthand for stalking — for crazy, clingy women who are too delusional to take "no" for an answer. All you have to do is mention boiling a bunny and everyone knows what you're talking about. But back in its day, believe it or not, people actually took this movie seriously as a suspenseful thriller. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture and best actress for Glenn Close's indelible performance as a spurned, vengeful mistress. If director Adrian Lyne's sleek, steamy film has taught us anything, it's that it is so much easier to stick with your husband or wife than indulge in an afternoon tryst. So maybe this is a good movie to see with the one you love after all.
But it requires real guts to sit down with that special fellow or lady in your life and take in one of these massively uncomfortable choices. So here, without any needless flowery language, are the five most inappropriate movies to watch with someone you love on Valentine's Day:
• "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966): Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor chew up the scenery and tear each other apart as the boozy and bickering husband and wife George and Martha. In adapting Edward Albee's painfully honest play, director Mike Nichols burst onto the scene with this, his first feature ("The Graduate" came the following year). He gets up close and personal to provide an intimate view of the carnage. Burton and Taylor start out slyly needling each other in front of their poor, unsuspecting guests, then humiliating each other, and by the end, they're threatening all-out war. That they were married to each other in real life — for the first time — only added to the intrigue. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards, it won five, including best actress for Taylor's scathing performance.
• "Closer" (2004): Another from Nichols, this time adapting a London stage production by playwright-screenwriter Patrick Marber. But it's reminiscent of "Virginia Woolf" for its intense performances and raw emotions. Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and, yes, Julia Roberts fall giddily in love with each other, but don't be fooled: This is the furthest thing possible from a date movie. These inordinately beautiful people do extraordinarily ugly things to one another — Portman, playing a stripper in her first truly grown-up role, commits some of her offenses in little more than a G-string — and the way they destroy each other and themselves is both brutal and breathtaking to watch.
• "Blue Velvet" (1986): Nothing is ever what it seems in a David Lynch movie, and that certainly applies to love, as well. So a severed ear found lying in a field is so much more than just a severed ear — it's the key to a disturbing, underground world of twisted romance. Beneath a veneer of genteel suburbia, Kyle MacLachlan gets sucked into the bizarre lives of Dennis Hopper as a nitrous oxide-addicted criminal, and Isabella Rossellini as his masochistic sexual slave. Voyeurism and depravity, Roy Orbison and Pabst Blue Ribbon all collide hypnotically here. Lynch alternates between glib satire and a much darker, starker exploration of secret fears and desires.
• "Natural Born Killers" (1994): Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis fall in love and kill people, and fall deeper in love and kill more people, and become media darlings in the process. It's sort of romantic ... in its own way. Oliver Stone isn't exactly subtle in his satirical exploration of underserved fame and all its trappings; as is his tendency, he throws everything at us, from various film stocks and frenetic camera angles to an editing style that suggests he cut the film in a Cuisinart. But he was onto something back then, and the thirst for juicy scandal continues to go unquenched, no matter how questionable a person's actions are.
• "Fatal Attraction" (1987): It's long since become a shorthand for stalking — for crazy, clingy women who are too delusional to take "no" for an answer. All you have to do is mention boiling a bunny and everyone knows what you're talking about. But back in its day, believe it or not, people actually took this movie seriously as a suspenseful thriller. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture and best actress for Glenn Close's indelible performance as a spurned, vengeful mistress. If director Adrian Lyne's sleek, steamy film has taught us anything, it's that it is so much easier to stick with your husband or wife than indulge in an afternoon tryst. So maybe this is a good movie to see with the one you love after all.
'Beliebers' fill downtown LA for Bieber premiere
AP, LOS ANGELES: The city got a bad case of Bieber fever on Tuesday, when hundreds of Justin Bieber fans — along with his famous friends Miley Cyrus, Will Smith, Usher and Selena Gomez — filled the L.A. Live complex for the premiere of the teen pop star's first movie, "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never."
The mostly 'tween and teen crowd, many in homemade T-shirts proclaiming themselves to be Bieber's No. 1 fan, packed the LA Live plaza hours ahead of the screening, hoping for a star sighting.
"We just wanted to see if we could get a glimpse of Justin," said 15-year-old Hanna Hamersley, who wore a purple hand-painted T-shirt, a homemade Justin Bieber headband and purple "Never Say Never" 3-D glasses.
Part concert film and part biopic, "Never Say Never" tells the story of Bieber's rise from a small-town street performer to a bona fide pop sensation with hit songs, a best-selling book and more than seven million followers on Twitter. It shows a young Bieber pounding away on the drums and busking on the streets of Ontario, Canada, before rising to fame through YouTube and Twitter, and eventually performing at Madison Square Garden.
"It was the greatest movie ever," said 13-year-old Hanna Zeile. "I would watch it over and over."
Indeed, Hanna and her two friends said they planned to see the movie again on Wednesday and on Friday, when it opens nationwide.
Twelve-year-old Bella Garcia said she planned to see the movie at least twice more.
"I loved all the baby videos and footage of him as a kid," Bella said. "He had no music lessons as a kid. That really inspired me."
Sisters Megan and Emily Bratta also appreciated seeing Bieber's childhood home videos and deep musical roots. Their mom, Gayla, said she was unexpectedly taken with the young musician.
"I was very impressed," she said. "I didn't know he had such raw, true talent."
Bieber's fans — who call themselves "Beliebers" — play a big role in "Never Say Never." They're shown throughout the film in their T-shirts, singing along with his songs and crying from sheer joy at seeing him in person.
Fans in the theater screamed and waved glow sticks during the 3-D concert footage, just like fans at his actual concerts. (Movie-bound parents: Bring earplugs.)
"I'm so happy I have such amazing fans," Bieber said as he introduced the film. "Tonight isn't even about me. It's about spreading the message that anything is possible."
The mostly 'tween and teen crowd, many in homemade T-shirts proclaiming themselves to be Bieber's No. 1 fan, packed the LA Live plaza hours ahead of the screening, hoping for a star sighting.
"We just wanted to see if we could get a glimpse of Justin," said 15-year-old Hanna Hamersley, who wore a purple hand-painted T-shirt, a homemade Justin Bieber headband and purple "Never Say Never" 3-D glasses.
Part concert film and part biopic, "Never Say Never" tells the story of Bieber's rise from a small-town street performer to a bona fide pop sensation with hit songs, a best-selling book and more than seven million followers on Twitter. It shows a young Bieber pounding away on the drums and busking on the streets of Ontario, Canada, before rising to fame through YouTube and Twitter, and eventually performing at Madison Square Garden.
"It was the greatest movie ever," said 13-year-old Hanna Zeile. "I would watch it over and over."
Indeed, Hanna and her two friends said they planned to see the movie again on Wednesday and on Friday, when it opens nationwide.
Twelve-year-old Bella Garcia said she planned to see the movie at least twice more.
"I loved all the baby videos and footage of him as a kid," Bella said. "He had no music lessons as a kid. That really inspired me."
Sisters Megan and Emily Bratta also appreciated seeing Bieber's childhood home videos and deep musical roots. Their mom, Gayla, said she was unexpectedly taken with the young musician.
"I was very impressed," she said. "I didn't know he had such raw, true talent."
Bieber's fans — who call themselves "Beliebers" — play a big role in "Never Say Never." They're shown throughout the film in their T-shirts, singing along with his songs and crying from sheer joy at seeing him in person.
Fans in the theater screamed and waved glow sticks during the 3-D concert footage, just like fans at his actual concerts. (Movie-bound parents: Bring earplugs.)
"I'm so happy I have such amazing fans," Bieber said as he introduced the film. "Tonight isn't even about me. It's about spreading the message that anything is possible."
Jude Law, Sienna Miller split up for second time
AP, LONDON: Sienna Miller's spokeswoman says the actress and Jude Law have split up for a second time.
Publicist Tori Cook said Wednesday that 29-year-old Miller and the 38-year-old "Sherlock Holmes" star are no longer in a relationship.
The couple met on the set of "Alfie" in 2003 and later became engaged, but separated after Law admitted a fling with his children's nanny in 2005. They resumed their relationship in 2009 and had been living together in London.
Law has three children with his ex-wife, actress and designer Sadie Frost. He also fathered a child in 2009 during a brief relationship with model Samantha Burke.
Publicist Tori Cook said Wednesday that 29-year-old Miller and the 38-year-old "Sherlock Holmes" star are no longer in a relationship.
The couple met on the set of "Alfie" in 2003 and later became engaged, but separated after Law admitted a fling with his children's nanny in 2005. They resumed their relationship in 2009 and had been living together in London.
Law has three children with his ex-wife, actress and designer Sadie Frost. He also fathered a child in 2009 during a brief relationship with model Samantha Burke.
Russian tycoon film stolen a second time: director
Reuters, BERLIN: The finished version of a German documentary about jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was reported stolen last week in Berlin.
Director Cyril Tuschi told Reuters it was the second time that material for his film "Khodorkovsky" has been stolen in the past few weeks. The first time the film was taken from his hotel room on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
"I booked a flight to Bali...to do the final editing on my laptop," he said. "And after four days, when I had just finished, it got stolen out of my hotel room."
Berlin police are investigating the second theft in which two hard drives and two laptops containing the film were stolen from the office of Tuschi's production company. So far police have no leads.
The film will still premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14 as planned after Tuschi delivered an earlier version to the festival, should the material stolen in Bali not be recovered.
"In Bali, I didn't take (the theft) seriously," Tuschi said. "People joked to me and said 'even Trotsky got killed in Mexico'."
Khodorkovsky traces the trial and imprisonment of the former oligarch and Kremlin critic who was once one of the world's wealthiest men before he was convicted in Russia on multi-billion dollar theft and money laundering charges.
The former head of defunct Yukos oil company was first jailed in 2003 and his prison term was lengthened in December by six years to 2017. An unfinished version of the documentary was screened for Berlin press in late January. One attendee said that the film was "extremely well-crafted" and presented a "neutral view."
Director Cyril Tuschi told Reuters it was the second time that material for his film "Khodorkovsky" has been stolen in the past few weeks. The first time the film was taken from his hotel room on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
"I booked a flight to Bali...to do the final editing on my laptop," he said. "And after four days, when I had just finished, it got stolen out of my hotel room."
Berlin police are investigating the second theft in which two hard drives and two laptops containing the film were stolen from the office of Tuschi's production company. So far police have no leads.
The film will still premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14 as planned after Tuschi delivered an earlier version to the festival, should the material stolen in Bali not be recovered.
"In Bali, I didn't take (the theft) seriously," Tuschi said. "People joked to me and said 'even Trotsky got killed in Mexico'."
Khodorkovsky traces the trial and imprisonment of the former oligarch and Kremlin critic who was once one of the world's wealthiest men before he was convicted in Russia on multi-billion dollar theft and money laundering charges.
The former head of defunct Yukos oil company was first jailed in 2003 and his prison term was lengthened in December by six years to 2017. An unfinished version of the documentary was screened for Berlin press in late January. One attendee said that the film was "extremely well-crafted" and presented a "neutral view."
Justin Bieber film a solid bid for credibility
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: Setting out to demonstrate that overnight sensations deserve respect too, Justin Bieber should make believers out of all but the most hardened of skeptics with "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," which opens Friday.
An energetic 3D portrait of the global superstar as a down-to-earth teen from small-town Canada, the 105-minute documentary works overtime (by about 10 minutes too long) to change his perception from fluke Internet phenom to the hardest working 16-year-old on the planet.
And it generally succeeds, too, thanks to a visually energetic approach by director Jon Chu that keeps all the obligatory backstage/onstage bits moving fluidly.
In a business where timing is everything, the Paramount release is perfectly positioned for maximum impact especially considering an ambitious media blitz that saw Bieber extending his demographic reach with appearances on "The Daily Show" and "Late Show With David Letterman."
Unlike, say, the 2009 Jonas Brothers 3D concert film, which felt like it came out a couple of years too late, "Never Say Never" is striking while the fever's still hot, which should translate into more Miley-sized returns. "Hannah Montana" debuted to $31.1 million three years ago, and "Jonas Brothers" to just north of $12 million.
Starting off, appropriately, on a YouTube page, where Bieber famously overtook the sneezing pandas and cute kitties singing a cover of Chris Brown's "With You," the film follows the trajectory of its main man's career from behind his kiddie drum kit to the mighty Madison Square Garden stage, which, incidentally, was sold out in a mere 22 minutes.
Along the way we meet his young, devout Christian single mom, Pattie (who gave birth to The Bieb when she was all of 18) and his baby-faced manager, Scooter Braun, not to mention several of his more famous, early adherents, including Usher and prolific producer Antonio "L.A." Reid, who in the remarkably self-possessed Bieber saw a musical Macaulay Culkin.
Director Chu, who infuses the film with the same lively zip he lent "Step Up 3D" (although here he's working with a more intriguing "script"), keeps things disarmingly real for the most part, and even manages to work in a little drama when it appears Bieber's raggedy voice may not bounce back in time for the MSG gig.
And much like in Chu's previous film, the 3D pops mainly in the performance sequences, in which he's joined by the likes of Usher, Cyrus, Ludacris and Jaden Smith, where all the fist-pumping, dancing lasers and cascading ticker tape work to heightened effect.
But where the film ultimately hits home is with the more intimate, backstage stuff.
Under the protective wing of an on-the-road support system serving as, in the words of one of his crew, a highly functional dysfunctional family, Bieber manages to make his film's inspirational message heard loud and clear:
Despite your preconceived notions, he's just your average, everyday multiplatinum-selling teen idol who still likes to kick back with his Stratford, Ontario, homies and grab a slice at the corner pizza joint.
After saying grace, naturally.
An energetic 3D portrait of the global superstar as a down-to-earth teen from small-town Canada, the 105-minute documentary works overtime (by about 10 minutes too long) to change his perception from fluke Internet phenom to the hardest working 16-year-old on the planet.
And it generally succeeds, too, thanks to a visually energetic approach by director Jon Chu that keeps all the obligatory backstage/onstage bits moving fluidly.
In a business where timing is everything, the Paramount release is perfectly positioned for maximum impact especially considering an ambitious media blitz that saw Bieber extending his demographic reach with appearances on "The Daily Show" and "Late Show With David Letterman."
Unlike, say, the 2009 Jonas Brothers 3D concert film, which felt like it came out a couple of years too late, "Never Say Never" is striking while the fever's still hot, which should translate into more Miley-sized returns. "Hannah Montana" debuted to $31.1 million three years ago, and "Jonas Brothers" to just north of $12 million.
Starting off, appropriately, on a YouTube page, where Bieber famously overtook the sneezing pandas and cute kitties singing a cover of Chris Brown's "With You," the film follows the trajectory of its main man's career from behind his kiddie drum kit to the mighty Madison Square Garden stage, which, incidentally, was sold out in a mere 22 minutes.
Along the way we meet his young, devout Christian single mom, Pattie (who gave birth to The Bieb when she was all of 18) and his baby-faced manager, Scooter Braun, not to mention several of his more famous, early adherents, including Usher and prolific producer Antonio "L.A." Reid, who in the remarkably self-possessed Bieber saw a musical Macaulay Culkin.
Director Chu, who infuses the film with the same lively zip he lent "Step Up 3D" (although here he's working with a more intriguing "script"), keeps things disarmingly real for the most part, and even manages to work in a little drama when it appears Bieber's raggedy voice may not bounce back in time for the MSG gig.
And much like in Chu's previous film, the 3D pops mainly in the performance sequences, in which he's joined by the likes of Usher, Cyrus, Ludacris and Jaden Smith, where all the fist-pumping, dancing lasers and cascading ticker tape work to heightened effect.
But where the film ultimately hits home is with the more intimate, backstage stuff.
Under the protective wing of an on-the-road support system serving as, in the words of one of his crew, a highly functional dysfunctional family, Bieber manages to make his film's inspirational message heard loud and clear:
Despite your preconceived notions, he's just your average, everyday multiplatinum-selling teen idol who still likes to kick back with his Stratford, Ontario, homies and grab a slice at the corner pizza joint.
After saying grace, naturally.
Berlin film festival opens with "True Grit"
Reuters, BERLIN: The 2011 Berlin film festival opens on Thursday with Oscars darling "True Grit" kicking off the 10-day cinema showcase, where hundreds of movies vie for the attention of the world's media and industry buyers.
The Coen brothers' Western remake is already out in North America and so is not eligible for prizes at the closing ceremony on February 19, but it should ensure Hollywood glamour on the red carpet at Berlin's glitzy opening ceremony.
The story of a young girl's quest to track down her father's killer, starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, has garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, second only to "The King's Speech."
The 61st Berlin festival boasts its trademark mix of familiar faces and up-and-coming film makers, and, as usual, real world concerns are never far from the surface.
The spotlight on Thursday is likely to fall on the absent Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director who was invited to be on the jury but who was sentenced in December to six years in prison.
Panahi, whose film "Offside" won the festival's Silver Bear award in 2006, has been banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years.
"His conviction violates the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of art," the festival said. Five of his films, including Offside, will be screened during the event.
On Friday, "Margin Call," the debut feature of J.C. Chandor, promises to bring the drama of the 2008 financial crisis to the big screen, with Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore the big names performing in the Wall Street thriller. Also early on in the festival are two pictures focusing on the experiences of people living in dictatorships.
In competition, Paula Markovitch's directorial debut "The Prize" tells the story of seven-year-old Ceci who carries the burden of a "huge secret" in order to protect her family from repression under Argentina's military regime.
And outside the main competition lineup, "The Devil's Double" stars Dominic Cooper as the body double of Uday Hussein, the widely feared son of former Iraqi leader Saddam.
This year the festival aims to promote 3D, with the premieres of Wim Wender's 3D dance film about choreographer Pina Bausch and Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" about prehistoric paintings in France.
In competition is French director Michel Ocelot's "Tales of the Night," a 3D movie using silhouette animation introduced by Berlin director Lotte Reiniger almost a century ago.
British actor Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus" is also in competition. Fiennes, nominated for Oscars for his roles in "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List," plays the title role in the Shakespeare adaptation.
As well as premieres and showbusiness parties, Berlin runs a major film market where buyers and sellers meet on the sidelines of the festival in search of distribution and production deals.
The Coen brothers' Western remake is already out in North America and so is not eligible for prizes at the closing ceremony on February 19, but it should ensure Hollywood glamour on the red carpet at Berlin's glitzy opening ceremony.
The story of a young girl's quest to track down her father's killer, starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, has garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, second only to "The King's Speech."
The 61st Berlin festival boasts its trademark mix of familiar faces and up-and-coming film makers, and, as usual, real world concerns are never far from the surface.
The spotlight on Thursday is likely to fall on the absent Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director who was invited to be on the jury but who was sentenced in December to six years in prison.
Panahi, whose film "Offside" won the festival's Silver Bear award in 2006, has been banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years.
"His conviction violates the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of art," the festival said. Five of his films, including Offside, will be screened during the event.
On Friday, "Margin Call," the debut feature of J.C. Chandor, promises to bring the drama of the 2008 financial crisis to the big screen, with Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore the big names performing in the Wall Street thriller. Also early on in the festival are two pictures focusing on the experiences of people living in dictatorships.
In competition, Paula Markovitch's directorial debut "The Prize" tells the story of seven-year-old Ceci who carries the burden of a "huge secret" in order to protect her family from repression under Argentina's military regime.
And outside the main competition lineup, "The Devil's Double" stars Dominic Cooper as the body double of Uday Hussein, the widely feared son of former Iraqi leader Saddam.
This year the festival aims to promote 3D, with the premieres of Wim Wender's 3D dance film about choreographer Pina Bausch and Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" about prehistoric paintings in France.
In competition is French director Michel Ocelot's "Tales of the Night," a 3D movie using silhouette animation introduced by Berlin director Lotte Reiniger almost a century ago.
British actor Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus" is also in competition. Fiennes, nominated for Oscars for his roles in "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List," plays the title role in the Shakespeare adaptation.
As well as premieres and showbusiness parties, Berlin runs a major film market where buyers and sellers meet on the sidelines of the festival in search of distribution and production deals.
`Puppy Bowl' watched by 9.2 million viewers
AP, NEW YORK: The Super Bowl wasn't the only thing on TV last weekend to set a ratings record — so did the Puppy Bowl.
Animal Planet says 9.2 million viewers watched "Puppy Bowl VII" on Sunday. That's the most to watch the annual program, which has increased in popularity as a cuddly alternative to the Super Bowl.
Animal Planet counted its total viewers from the afternoon premiere and the subsequent five re-airings. The two-hour premiere drew an average of 1.7 million viewers, up from 1.1 million last year.
The Puppy Bowl consists of little more than dogs running around on a small, indoor football field. They score touchdowns if they cross a goal line with a chew toy.
The Super Bowl on Fox drew a record 111 million viewers.
BBC case fuels debate on changing the face of TV
AP, LONDON: One colleague offered her hair dye. Another told her "it's time for botox." A third said her wrinkles could be a problem in this new era of high-definition TV.
Veteran TV presenter Miriam O'Reilly was eventually taken off air, and she decided to fight back — challenging the venerable BBC in a closely watched age-discrimination case. Last month, a British employment tribunal ruled in her favor in a decision that provides fodder in a growing debate about age-discrimination in TV and film.
"The worldwide trend is to move away from age-based decisions in employment," said Martin Levine, a professor of law and gerontology at the University of Southern California, especially as many countries end mandatory retirement ages.
"I don't think any industry, even TV and film, are strong enough to stand up to these trends," he said in an interview.
Some media experts believe rapidly aging societies and rising retirement ages in the developed world may slowly start reshaping expectations about the kinds of faces people expect to see on the screen, opening the door to more roles for older people in visual media.
"Age has long been a blind spot because of the cult of youth surrounding TV," said Charlie Beckett, director of the London School of Economics' media think tank, adding the O'Reilly case is just the kind of "wake-up call" TV companies need regarding the age of the audience they serve and its expectations.
Shifting demographics will change how TV companies such as the BBC interpret their markets, their identity and their brand, he said — the only question is when.
On Jan. 14, the Employment Tribunal in London found that O'Reilly, a BBC-TV veteran, had been the victim of age discrimination when she was dropped in March 2009 from "Countryfile," a rural affairs TV show the British Broadcasting Corp. was redesigning and moving to prime time. Most, but not all, of the presenters who replaced O'Reilly, then 51, were younger than she was
During the case, witnesses testified about TV's relentless demand for "refreshing faces" and "spring chickens." O'Reilly told the tribunal she was stung by her colleagues' offhand comments about her need for fixers such as hair dye and botox.
The BBC apologized to O'Reilly and offered to discuss future job opportunities with her, but the tribunal did not order it to pay damages.
In its judgment, the tribunal said: "The wish to appeal to a prime time audience, including younger viewers, is a legitimate aim. However, we do not accept that it has been established that choosing younger presenters is required to appeal to such an audience. It is not a means of achieving that aim.
"Even if it was ... it would not be proportionate to do away with older presenters simply to pander the assumed prejudices of some younger viewers."
The U.S. passed its Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1967. Britain didn't follow suit until 2006. The European Commission has its own directive on age and employment, but EU countries normally handle discrimination claims according to national law.
In general, such laws bar discrimination based on age in hiring, promotions, wages, termination of employment, layoffs and benefits. The U.N. says the number of people 65 and older is expected to more than double worldwide by 2050.
But age-related employment laws also can work the other way. The United States has set mandatory retirement ages for jobs such as commercial airline pilots, air traffic controllers and police officers because of the skills the jobs require and the safety of the people they serve.
As societies age, debates also have emerged in the United States about whether judges and doctors should have mandatory retirement ages, too, or even regular cognitive and physical screening, to make sure they retain their skills and sharpness of mind into their 70s and beyond.
But in most professions, a 50-something can't be hired or fired, or rejected as a job applicant, simply because the boss would like someone younger, as Hollywood recently discovered.
Last year, 17 TV networks and production studios, and seven talent agencies, reached an out-of-court settlement in class-action age discrimination lawsuit brought by 165 TV writers.
The companies — including major TV networks and talent agencies — denied ever using age discrimination while deciding whether to hire or represent the writers. But the settlement, regarding cases dating back nearly 10 years, paid the claimants a total of $70 million.
Another U.S. TV personality also has an age discrimination court case pending in New York.
In October, Sal Marchiano, a veteran TV sportscaster, filed suit in a federal court, accusing a former general manager of WPIX-TV/Channel 11 — owned by the Tribune Company — of age discrimination when she did not renew his contract in 2008. Marchiano — who is 69 years old, and had worked at the station for 14 years — is seeking his job back and damages.
Richard C. Wald, the Fred Friendly professor of Media and Society at Columbia University in New York, says that evolving social attitudes have vastly improved the roles and influence that women have in visual media in countries such as Britain — and that can be expected to carry over to the elderly.
"The truth is that 50-60 years ago, the BBC did not think that a woman's voice carried authority. Therefore no woman, young or old, could become a news presenter on an important program," he said.
Today, age for the intelligent woman is becoming an indicator of experience, wisdom, competence, as it is for the intelligent man, he said.
"I believe the changing roles of women will enhance the perception that competence is a value in both genders, that competence in news presentation — in a world beset with problems — is a great value and so perceptions of age will become more nuanced," Wald said.
Veteran TV presenter Miriam O'Reilly was eventually taken off air, and she decided to fight back — challenging the venerable BBC in a closely watched age-discrimination case. Last month, a British employment tribunal ruled in her favor in a decision that provides fodder in a growing debate about age-discrimination in TV and film.
"The worldwide trend is to move away from age-based decisions in employment," said Martin Levine, a professor of law and gerontology at the University of Southern California, especially as many countries end mandatory retirement ages.
"I don't think any industry, even TV and film, are strong enough to stand up to these trends," he said in an interview.
Some media experts believe rapidly aging societies and rising retirement ages in the developed world may slowly start reshaping expectations about the kinds of faces people expect to see on the screen, opening the door to more roles for older people in visual media.
"Age has long been a blind spot because of the cult of youth surrounding TV," said Charlie Beckett, director of the London School of Economics' media think tank, adding the O'Reilly case is just the kind of "wake-up call" TV companies need regarding the age of the audience they serve and its expectations.
Shifting demographics will change how TV companies such as the BBC interpret their markets, their identity and their brand, he said — the only question is when.
On Jan. 14, the Employment Tribunal in London found that O'Reilly, a BBC-TV veteran, had been the victim of age discrimination when she was dropped in March 2009 from "Countryfile," a rural affairs TV show the British Broadcasting Corp. was redesigning and moving to prime time. Most, but not all, of the presenters who replaced O'Reilly, then 51, were younger than she was
During the case, witnesses testified about TV's relentless demand for "refreshing faces" and "spring chickens." O'Reilly told the tribunal she was stung by her colleagues' offhand comments about her need for fixers such as hair dye and botox.
The BBC apologized to O'Reilly and offered to discuss future job opportunities with her, but the tribunal did not order it to pay damages.
In its judgment, the tribunal said: "The wish to appeal to a prime time audience, including younger viewers, is a legitimate aim. However, we do not accept that it has been established that choosing younger presenters is required to appeal to such an audience. It is not a means of achieving that aim.
"Even if it was ... it would not be proportionate to do away with older presenters simply to pander the assumed prejudices of some younger viewers."
The U.S. passed its Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1967. Britain didn't follow suit until 2006. The European Commission has its own directive on age and employment, but EU countries normally handle discrimination claims according to national law.
In general, such laws bar discrimination based on age in hiring, promotions, wages, termination of employment, layoffs and benefits. The U.N. says the number of people 65 and older is expected to more than double worldwide by 2050.
But age-related employment laws also can work the other way. The United States has set mandatory retirement ages for jobs such as commercial airline pilots, air traffic controllers and police officers because of the skills the jobs require and the safety of the people they serve.
As societies age, debates also have emerged in the United States about whether judges and doctors should have mandatory retirement ages, too, or even regular cognitive and physical screening, to make sure they retain their skills and sharpness of mind into their 70s and beyond.
But in most professions, a 50-something can't be hired or fired, or rejected as a job applicant, simply because the boss would like someone younger, as Hollywood recently discovered.
Last year, 17 TV networks and production studios, and seven talent agencies, reached an out-of-court settlement in class-action age discrimination lawsuit brought by 165 TV writers.
The companies — including major TV networks and talent agencies — denied ever using age discrimination while deciding whether to hire or represent the writers. But the settlement, regarding cases dating back nearly 10 years, paid the claimants a total of $70 million.
Another U.S. TV personality also has an age discrimination court case pending in New York.
In October, Sal Marchiano, a veteran TV sportscaster, filed suit in a federal court, accusing a former general manager of WPIX-TV/Channel 11 — owned by the Tribune Company — of age discrimination when she did not renew his contract in 2008. Marchiano — who is 69 years old, and had worked at the station for 14 years — is seeking his job back and damages.
Richard C. Wald, the Fred Friendly professor of Media and Society at Columbia University in New York, says that evolving social attitudes have vastly improved the roles and influence that women have in visual media in countries such as Britain — and that can be expected to carry over to the elderly.
"The truth is that 50-60 years ago, the BBC did not think that a woman's voice carried authority. Therefore no woman, young or old, could become a news presenter on an important program," he said.
Today, age for the intelligent woman is becoming an indicator of experience, wisdom, competence, as it is for the intelligent man, he said.
"I believe the changing roles of women will enhance the perception that competence is a value in both genders, that competence in news presentation — in a world beset with problems — is a great value and so perceptions of age will become more nuanced," Wald said.
Comedy Central picks up Norm Macdonald series
AP, NEW YORK: Norm Macdonald is returning to the news, specifically sports news.
The former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and "Weekend Update" anchor will star in "Sports Show with Norm Macdonald." Comedy Central announced Wednesday that it's picking up the series and ordering eight episodes.
The network said the show will feature Macdonald's "comedic take on the most topical and controversial stories from the sports world."
The show will be taped in front of a live studio audience. It's set to premiere in April.
The former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and "Weekend Update" anchor will star in "Sports Show with Norm Macdonald." Comedy Central announced Wednesday that it's picking up the series and ordering eight episodes.
The network said the show will feature Macdonald's "comedic take on the most topical and controversial stories from the sports world."
The show will be taped in front of a live studio audience. It's set to premiere in April.
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