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Pokemon Go is the mobile game taking the world by storm. Busy gamers are seen Pokemon hunting everywhere. However, today disappointed Indian gamers started putting up complains on social media site Twitter about the game not working properly on their devices.&nbsp;
<div class="twitter-block">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pokemon?src=hash">#pokemon</a> go..game open without showing pokestop,pokemon or gym, no data,just empty map,happening all over india <a href="https://twitter.com/PokemonGoApp">@PokemonGoApp</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NianticLabs">@NianticLabs</a>
&mdash; Abhinav Raj (@piratekingRAJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/piratekingRAJ/status/756357333521924096">July 22, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>
 
According to one of the tweets, the game is opening without any data, and is not showing any map, gym or pokestop. But not all gamers from India are facing the trouble, as one comment read, &quot;It&#39;s not blocked, working fine in Mumbai and Delhi region. Kolkata and South not working&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Another user accused developers Niantic for deliberately stopping India from playing the game. Some suggested the server might be down. There has been no reply from Niantic&#39;s side yet. 
 
Niantic has earned huge profits from Pokemon GO. Today the much awaited game has finally launched in Japan. 
 
(WION)

A disappointed Indian gamer accused developer Niantic of deliberately stopping India from playing

Pokemon Go is the mobile game taking the world by storm. Busy gamers are seen Pokemon hunting everywhere. However, today disappointed Indian gamers started putting up complains on social media site Twitter about the game not working properly on their devices. #pokemon go..game open without showing pokestop,pokemon or gym, no data,just empty map,happening all over india @PokemonGoApp @NianticLabs — Abhinav Raj (@piratekingRAJ) July 22, 2016 According to one of the tweets, the game is opening without any data, and is not showing any map, gym or pokestop. But not all gamers from India are facing the trouble, as one comment read, "It's not blocked, working fine in Mumbai and Delhi region. Kolkata and South not working". Another user accused developers Niantic for deliberately stopping India from playing the game. Some suggested the server might be down. There has been no reply from Niantic's side yet. Niantic has earned huge profits from Pokemon GO. Today the much awaited game has finally launched in Japan. (WION)

Indians unable to play Pokemon Go as app removes pokemons, gyms and stops from map

From lonely pensioners to Japanese schoolgirls with shattered dreams, Takanobu Nishimoto and his crew of middle-aged men will lend an ear to clients who would never dream of spilling their guts to a therapist or worse, their families. 
 
Anyone in need of company can sign up to his online service to rent an &quot;ossan&quot;, a man aged between 45 and 55 &nbsp;for 1,000 Yen ($10) an hour. 
 
&quot;For me, the service is a hobby more than anything,&quot; says Nishimoto, who first came up with the concept four years ago and who now has a growing network of some 60 men across Japan. 
 
&quot;The initial idea was to improve the image of guys my age, people who might not be spring chickens anymore and not taken so seriously.&quot; 
 
And while the 48-year-old professional fashion coordinator is used to renting himself out, he insists conversation is all he offers to between 30 and 40 clients a month, roughly 70 per cent of whom are women. 
 
&quot;The people who rent me are just asking me to keep them company for an hour or two, mainly to listen to them,&quot; he tells AFP between sessions, giving the example of a woman in her 80&#39;s who would book him every week for a walk around the local park. 
 
&quot;I almost became like her son,&quot; he says. 
 
Other clients include a fisherman who was sick of waiting in solitary silence for a catch, a college student with ambitions to get into show business but who lacked family support&nbsp;and an awkward young employee who did not know how to behave around his direct supervisor. 
 
Japan has struggled with problems of social isolation, most notably the phenomenon of &quot;hikikomori&quot; where people, often teens and young adults, refuse to leave the house or engage socially, instead opting to play video games or remain in their rooms. 
 
But the people who come to Nishimoto do not suffer from detachment from society or challenges adjusting to it. 
 
Rather, those who use the service say it allows them to forget the expectations of their family and friends and speak freely -- an option which experts say is especially useful in Japan, where social roles can be tightly defined and expectations rigid. 
 
&quot;There&#39;s a different &#39;me&#39; depending on whether I&rsquo;m with my friends, my family, or my boyfriend,&quot; says 24-year-old Nodoka Hyodo after her session with Nishimoto. 
 
She explains: &quot;I create a &#39;me&#39; in relation to others. Here, all that disappears because I&rsquo;m talking to someone I don&rsquo;t know, thanks to him, I feel like I&rsquo;m understanding myself better.&quot; 
 
Psychologist Hiroaki Enomoto stresses that in Japan there are social norms governing what can and can&rsquo;t be said even with close associates. 
 
&quot;When you come up against something new, it might be difficult to talk about this with someone because you might not necessarily have a suitable person in your existing circles,&quot; he tells AFP. 
 
&quot;It&rsquo;s difficult to know how to express yourself without bothering someone else.&quot; 
 
But by renting an &quot;ossan&quot; the relationship becomes a commercial one and thus follows different rules. 
 
In recent years, a number of agencies have been offering &quot;rent-a-friend&quot; services paid by the hour. 
 
Customers can rent an agency employee as a fake friend, family member, or companion for various occasions such as weddings, funerals, and parties. Some use them just to have a conversation partner to ease times of loneliness and isolation in old age. 
 
The married Nishimoto says he has considered stopping the service several times, but found that he needed his clients just as much as they needed him. 
 
&quot;I never know exactly what they&rsquo;re going to ask for when they rent me, and of course that&rsquo;s a bit scary, but it&rsquo;s also why it&rsquo;s so interesting. Honestly, I&rsquo;ve never had problems with any weird clients... I&rsquo;ve had plenty of emotional experiences.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Takanobu Nishimoto is used to renting himself out, but he insists conversation is all he offers to between 30 and 40 clients a month

From lonely pensioners to Japanese schoolgirls with shattered dreams, Takanobu Nishimoto and his crew of middle-aged men will lend an ear to clients who would never dream of spilling their guts to a therapist or worse, their families. Anyone in need of company can sign up to his online service to rent an "ossan", a man aged between 45 and 55 for 1,000 Yen ($10) an hour. "For me, the service is a hobby more than anything," says Nishimoto, who first came up with the concept four years ago and who now has a growing network of some 60 men across Japan. "The initial idea was to improve the image of guys my age, people who might not be spring chickens anymore and not taken so seriously." And while the 48-year-old professional fashion coordinator is used to renting himself out, he insists conversation is all he offers to between 30 and 40 clients a month, roughly 70 per cent of whom are women. "The people who rent me are just asking me to keep them company for an hour or two, mainly to listen to them," he tells AFP between sessions, giving the example of a woman in her 80's who would book him every week for a walk around the local park. "I almost became like her son," he says. Other clients include a fisherman who was sick of waiting in solitary silence for a catch, a college student with ambitions to get into show business but who lacked family support and an awkward young employee who did not know how to behave around his direct supervisor. Japan has struggled with problems of social isolation, most notably the phenomenon of "hikikomori" where people, often teens and young adults, refuse to leave the house or engage socially, instead opting to play video games or remain in their rooms. But the people who come to Nishimoto do not suffer from detachment from society or challenges adjusting to it. Rather, those who use the service say it allows them to forget the expectations of their family and friends and speak freely -- an option which experts say is especially useful in Japan, where social roles can be tightly defined and expectations rigid. "There's a different 'me' depending on whether I’m with my friends, my family, or my boyfriend," says 24-year-old Nodoka Hyodo after her session with Nishimoto. She explains: "I create a 'me' in relation to others. Here, all that disappears because I’m talking to someone I don’t know, thanks to him, I feel like I’m understanding myself better." Psychologist Hiroaki Enomoto stresses that in Japan there are social norms governing what can and can’t be said even with close associates. "When you come up against something new, it might be difficult to talk about this with someone because you might not necessarily have a suitable person in your existing circles," he tells AFP. "It’s difficult to know how to express yourself without bothering someone else." But by renting an "ossan" the relationship becomes a commercial one and thus follows different rules. In recent years, a number of agencies have been offering "rent-a-friend" services paid by the hour. Customers can rent an agency employee as a fake friend, family member, or companion for various occasions such as weddings, funerals, and parties. Some use them just to have a conversation partner to ease times of loneliness and isolation in old age. The married Nishimoto says he has considered stopping the service several times, but found that he needed his clients just as much as they needed him. "I never know exactly what they’re going to ask for when they rent me, and of course that’s a bit scary, but it’s also why it’s so interesting. Honestly, I’ve never had problems with any weird clients... I’ve had plenty of emotional experiences." (AFP)

Japanese 'rent men': Middle-aged men who are paid just to listen

Anita Dongre, who designed a dress worn by Kate Middleton during her India visit in April, has the Duchess of Cambridge on her mind for her upcoming line. 
 
Middleton looked stunning in Dongre&#39;s printed tunic and the designer is hoping to work with her again on her next collection. 
 
&quot;That (moment) was very special for me. She carried it off beautifully and made the dress look so amazing. I am looking to dress her up again. I hope that happens soon. I am working on a collection with her in my mind. She is my muse. She is so gorgeous and I love her style sense,&quot; Anita told PTI. 
 
The 52-year-old designer said once she is done creating designs, she will get in touch with Middleton&#39;s stylist. 
 
Dressing up the Duchess was not only a special moment for Dongre but it has proved to be a game changer for the designer internationally. 
 
Dongre said it has opened the global market for her like never before. 
 
&quot;For the first time, we had a lot of non-Indian clients. The label has got popular globally. Even men abroad notice the dress and say, &#39;This is Kate Middleton dress&#39;. I get orders till now. I find it unbelievable that a dress could turn so big. I feel great,&quot; she said. 
 
(PTI)

The Duchess of Cambridge looked stunning in Dongre's printed tunic and the designer is hoping to work with her again on her next collection

Anita Dongre, who designed a dress worn by Kate Middleton during her India visit in April, has the Duchess of Cambridge on her mind for her upcoming line. Middleton looked stunning in Dongre's printed tunic and the designer is hoping to work with her again on her next collection. "That (moment) was very special for me. She carried it off beautifully and made the dress look so amazing. I am looking to dress her up again. I hope that happens soon. I am working on a collection with her in my mind. She is my muse. She is so gorgeous and I love her style sense," Anita told PTI. The 52-year-old designer said once she is done creating designs, she will get in touch with Middleton's stylist. Dressing up the Duchess was not only a special moment for Dongre but it has proved to be a game changer for the designer internationally. Dongre said it has opened the global market for her like never before. "For the first time, we had a lot of non-Indian clients. The label has got popular globally. Even men abroad notice the dress and say, 'This is Kate Middleton dress'. I get orders till now. I find it unbelievable that a dress could turn so big. I feel great," she said. (PTI)

Indian designer Anita Dongre's next collection inspired by Kate Middleton

At times, the speech was drowned out by the cheering crowds in the arena of the Republican National Convention. Social media crowned a new political star. Some Republicans said they were seeing the US president they longed for. 
 
It was Ivanka Trump&rsquo;s night. 
 
The eldest daughter of New York businessman-turned-presidential nominee Donald Trump almost stole the show on Thursday night with a speech about her father that roused a packed Cleveland convention hall, broadcast to millions. 
 
On Google, there were more searches for Ivanka Trump than for her father. 
 
The 34-year old businesswoman and former model talked about her father&#39;s yearning to improve America, childcare, equal pay for women and other issues close to her heart, with a poise some found befitting of the White House. 
 
&quot;Okay, why isn&#39;t @IvankaTrump running for President?&quot; television actor Anson Mount said in a Twitter post. 
 
&quot;One of the best speeches - if not the best speech - tonight,&quot; said Chris Herrod, a 50-year-old delegate from Utah who had worked for Trump&#39;s vanquished rival Ted Cruz, the US senator from Texas. 
 
One of Trump&#39;s five children, Ivanka was chosen to introduce her father, who then officially accepted the Republican Party&#39;s presidential nomination. Since Trump announced his intention to run for the White House last year, she has been steadily drawn into her father&rsquo;s presidential campaign along with her 35-year-old husband Jared Kushner. 
 
The couple both take part in the Trump campaign&rsquo;s &ldquo;family meeting&rdquo; each Monday morning, helping make decisions about spending and strategy, according to a source familiar with the meetings. 
 
Among the children, Ivanka is the one who is often the bridge to women voters and seems to have the mission of selling her father&#39;s softer side. When she is not involved in the campaign, she helps to run the family&#39;s sprawling business empire from its New York City headquarters. 
 
This week in Cleveland she has been everywhere, lobbying for her father with delegates and donors, appearing in television interviews and leaving a trail of picture-taking fans in her wake. One man, a Republican delegate in Cleveland, carried a placard all week around the convention that read: &ldquo;Ivanka, 2024. First Female President&rdquo;. 
 
Her star turn in Cleveland was one of the top trending topics on Twitter late on Thursday, with about 121 tweets mentioning her name posted every minute. Overall sentiment on her was more positive than negative by a ratio of 3 to 1, according to analytics firm Zoomph. 
 
Ivanka missed her one chance to date to vote for her father: she had not changed her party registration from Democrat to Republican in time to cast a ballot in the April 19 New York primary election. 
 
She more than compensated on Thursday night, some convention delegates said. 
 
&quot;She gave us enormous insight into him and the kind of man he is,&quot; said retiree Fernando C deBaca, a 78-year-old New Mexico delegate. 
 
&quot;She&#39;s (an) enormously capable young lady, as is her brother. We&#39;re going to see the beginning of a dynasty here.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

On Google, there were more searches for Ivanka Trump than for her father. People on social media wanted her to run for president instead

At times, the speech was drowned out by the cheering crowds in the arena of the Republican National Convention. Social media crowned a new political star. Some Republicans said they were seeing the US president they longed for. It was Ivanka Trump’s night. The eldest daughter of New York businessman-turned-presidential nominee Donald Trump almost stole the show on Thursday night with a speech about her father that roused a packed Cleveland convention hall, broadcast to millions. On Google, there were more searches for Ivanka Trump than for her father. The 34-year old businesswoman and former model talked about her father's yearning to improve America, childcare, equal pay for women and other issues close to her heart, with a poise some found befitting of the White House. "Okay, why isn't @IvankaTrump running for President?" television actor Anson Mount said in a Twitter post. "One of the best speeches - if not the best speech - tonight," said Chris Herrod, a 50-year-old delegate from Utah who had worked for Trump's vanquished rival Ted Cruz, the US senator from Texas. One of Trump's five children, Ivanka was chosen to introduce her father, who then officially accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination. Since Trump announced his intention to run for the White House last year, she has been steadily drawn into her father’s presidential campaign along with her 35-year-old husband Jared Kushner. The couple both take part in the Trump campaign’s “family meeting” each Monday morning, helping make decisions about spending and strategy, according to a source familiar with the meetings. Among the children, Ivanka is the one who is often the bridge to women voters and seems to have the mission of selling her father's softer side. When she is not involved in the campaign, she helps to run the family's sprawling business empire from its New York City headquarters. This week in Cleveland she has been everywhere, lobbying for her father with delegates and donors, appearing in television interviews and leaving a trail of picture-taking fans in her wake. One man, a Republican delegate in Cleveland, carried a placard all week around the convention that read: “Ivanka, 2024. First Female President”. Her star turn in Cleveland was one of the top trending topics on Twitter late on Thursday, with about 121 tweets mentioning her name posted every minute. Overall sentiment on her was more positive than negative by a ratio of 3 to 1, according to analytics firm Zoomph. Ivanka missed her one chance to date to vote for her father: she had not changed her party registration from Democrat to Republican in time to cast a ballot in the April 19 New York primary election. She more than compensated on Thursday night, some convention delegates said. "She gave us enormous insight into him and the kind of man he is," said retiree Fernando C deBaca, a 78-year-old New Mexico delegate. "She's (an) enormously capable young lady, as is her brother. We're going to see the beginning of a dynasty here." (AFP)

Social media crowns Ivanka Trump as new political star

Filmmaker JJ Abrams and the team of &quot;Star Trek Beyond&quot; paid tribute to one of the cast members, Anton Yelchin, who died last month after a freak automobile accident at his home in Studio City. 
 
The film&#39;s team was present at the San Diego Comic-Con and after it took to the stage, Abrams said &quot;something was missing&quot;, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 
 
&quot;There is something missing tonight. There is someone missing tonight,&quot; said producer Abrams, standing alongside stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana.&nbsp;Yelchin played Chekov in three of the films in the rebooted franchise. 
 
&quot;As wonderful as this is to be here with all of you and to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, there is something wrong tonight,&quot; said Abrams, who directed Yelchin in the first two Star Trek films, released in 2009 and 2013, and produced Beyond. 
 
On stage, the &quot;Star Trek&quot; alums were joined by newcomers Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, and director Justin Lin, all of whom also honoured the late 27-year-old actor. 
 
&quot;Anton Yelchin should be here,&quot; Abrams continued. &quot;Anton&#39;s parents are here, Irina and Victor. We love their son, and if I could ask everyone to have a moment of silence for our dear friend Anton.&quot; 
 
Following the moment of silence, the San Diego Symphony began to play a medley of Star Trek theme music. During the performance, a light show appeared above the audience&#39;s heads while fireworks exploded over the marina. 
 
Quinto, who plays Spock in the series, also said a few words for the late Leonard Nimoy, who died earlier this year.&nbsp;&quot;I just want to take a moment to honour him, to acknowledge him, to celebrate him and to love him. We all carry him with us in our hearts tonight,&quot; Quinto said. 
 
&quot;Beyond&quot; sees the crew of the USS Enterprise separated following an attack lead by the dictator Krall (Elba) that leaves them stranded in a hostile, mysterious world. The movie hits the US theatres today. 
 
(PTI)

Yelchin played Chekov in three of the films in the rebooted franchise. The film's team was present at the San Diego Comic-Con

Filmmaker JJ Abrams and the team of "Star Trek Beyond" paid tribute to one of the cast members, Anton Yelchin, who died last month after a freak automobile accident at his home in Studio City. The film's team was present at the San Diego Comic-Con and after it took to the stage, Abrams said "something was missing", according to The Hollywood Reporter. "There is something missing tonight. There is someone missing tonight," said producer Abrams, standing alongside stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana. Yelchin played Chekov in three of the films in the rebooted franchise. "As wonderful as this is to be here with all of you and to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, there is something wrong tonight," said Abrams, who directed Yelchin in the first two Star Trek films, released in 2009 and 2013, and produced Beyond. On stage, the "Star Trek" alums were joined by newcomers Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, and director Justin Lin, all of whom also honoured the late 27-year-old actor. "Anton Yelchin should be here," Abrams continued. "Anton's parents are here, Irina and Victor. We love their son, and if I could ask everyone to have a moment of silence for our dear friend Anton." Following the moment of silence, the San Diego Symphony began to play a medley of Star Trek theme music. During the performance, a light show appeared above the audience's heads while fireworks exploded over the marina. Quinto, who plays Spock in the series, also said a few words for the late Leonard Nimoy, who died earlier this year. "I just want to take a moment to honour him, to acknowledge him, to celebrate him and to love him. We all carry him with us in our hearts tonight," Quinto said. "Beyond" sees the crew of the USS Enterprise separated following an attack lead by the dictator Krall (Elba) that leaves them stranded in a hostile, mysterious world. The movie hits the US theatres today. (PTI)

JJ Abrams, cast and crew honour Anton Yelchin at 'Star Trek Beyond' premiere

Twitter was embroiled in controversy on Wednesday after banning an editor at the conservative Breitbart website for fueling a stream of abuse that drove &quot;Ghostbusters&quot; star Leslie Jones to quit the social network. 
 
The ban on Milo Yiannopoulos, the website&#39;s tech editor known for provocative posts, sparked protests from his supporters but praise from others&nbsp;while triggering debate over free speech on social media. 
 
A hashtag war erupted between Yiannopoulos supporters united by the banner #FreeMilo and his critics, who rallied under #LoveForLeslieJ. 
 
Yiannopoulos hit back at the ban saying &quot;Twitter has confirmed itself as a safe space for Muslim terrorists and Black Lives Matter extremists, but a no-go zone for conservatives.&quot; 
 
The suspension came a day after Jones, who is African-American, said she was leaving Twitter after being bombarded by Internet trolls likening her to an ape among other racist slurs. 
 
&quot;I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart. All this cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the shit I got today... wrong,&quot; the &quot;Saturday Night Live&quot; comedian and actress said late Monday. 
 
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded with a tweet to Jones saying he was &quot;following&quot; and asking her to contact him directly. 
 
Yiannopoulos&#39;s Twitter account, which had more than 338,000 followers, was later blocked. 
 
&quot;People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter,&quot; the company said in a statement. 
 
&quot;But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online.&quot; 
 
Free speech, hate speech : 
 
Critics of Yiannopoulos said he incited his followers to bombard the actress with racial comments, while his supporters claimed he was targeted for his views. 
 
Commenting on a tweet in which Jones said she had been called an ape, and &quot;received a pic with semen on my face&quot;, Yiannopoulos responded: &quot;If,&nbsp;at first, you don&#39;t succeed (because your work is terrible), play the victim. EVERYONE GETS HATE MAIL FFS.&quot; 
 
His tweet reportedly triggered a torrent of abuse towards the 48-year-old &quot;Ghostbusters&quot; star who responded by taking screenshots and retweeting the slurs, saying they had made her &quot;numb&quot;. 
 
After being subjected to hours of harassment from Yiannopoulos&#39;s supporters, Jones called him out: &quot;@Nero you can say what you want about my work but when you support hate, that&#39;s not right. Wonder do your readers know you support hate!!&quot; 
 
Twitter&#39;s actions were set to further intensify a simmering debate on how social media platforms regulate offensive or inappropriate conduct. 
 
One Twitter user, Sara Levine, welcomed the ban on Yiannopoulos, tweeting, &quot;Racists shouldn&#39;t be allowed to silence others.&quot; 
 
But Twitter user John Nolte responded, &quot;Basically, the corporate fascists at @Twitter silenced someone for criticising and mocking a rich and powerful movie star.&quot; 
 
Both Twitter and Facebook have banned thousands of suspected jihadists for seeking to incite or celebrate violence&nbsp;and have targeted users for harassment and insults. 
 
But the platforms have been navigating a fine line, staying open to controversial views while keeping out violent or abusive content. 
 
Matthew Ingram, a Fortune magazine writer who blogs for the Nieman Journalism Lab, suggested that this time, Twitter may have gone too far. 
 
&quot;I know this isn&#39;t going to be a popular opinion, but I don&#39;t think Milo said anything to Leslie Jones that deserves a permanent ban,&quot; Ingram tweeted. 
 
A &#39;learning moment&#39; : 
 
Some analysts argue that social media platforms need to develop a code that mirrors constitutional free speech rights. 
 
&quot;Corporate platforms have, in many ways, taken on the role of the town square, or public sphere,&quot; said a blog post this year from Jillian York, a writer, and activist who works with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. 
 
&quot;It is impossible to ignore the effect corporate limitations on speech can have on societies.&quot; 
 
Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which seeks to combat racism, maintained that social media firms have a right to set their own standards. 
 
&quot;These aren&#39;t First Amendment (constitutional) questions at all. Twitter and others are private corporations that have no obligation to allow these kinds of speech,&quot; Potok told AFP. 
 
Potok said the lack of any policy led to chaos at the online service Reddit, which he said &quot;turned into a hellhole for anyone who wasn&#39;t a hater&quot; before it implemented guidelines. 
 
&quot;If these organisations say they have a no-hate policy, they ought to enforce it,&quot; he said. 
 
Jennifer Lambe, a University of Delaware professor of communications specialising in free speech issues, said there is no easy answer for social networks. 
 
&quot;They can do whatever they want, but there could be a backlash if they start censoring things right and left,&quot; she said. 
 
Danielle Citron, a University of Maryland law professor and author of a book &quot;Hate Crimes in Cyberspace&quot;, called the incident &quot;a learning moment&quot;. 
 
&quot;I applaud Twitter for its approach in this area,&quot; Citron said. &quot;If you chase people offline with racist and intimidating speech, that&#39;s too much. Twitter and other platforms are contributing to social norms on free expression.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The suspension came a day after Leslie Jones said she was leaving Twitter after being bombarded by Internet trolls likening her to an ape

Twitter was embroiled in controversy on Wednesday after banning an editor at the conservative Breitbart website for fueling a stream of abuse that drove "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones to quit the social network. The ban on Milo Yiannopoulos, the website's tech editor known for provocative posts, sparked protests from his supporters but praise from others while triggering debate over free speech on social media. A hashtag war erupted between Yiannopoulos supporters united by the banner #FreeMilo and his critics, who rallied under #LoveForLeslieJ. Yiannopoulos hit back at the ban saying "Twitter has confirmed itself as a safe space for Muslim terrorists and Black Lives Matter extremists, but a no-go zone for conservatives." The suspension came a day after Jones, who is African-American, said she was leaving Twitter after being bombarded by Internet trolls likening her to an ape among other racist slurs. "I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart. All this cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the shit I got today... wrong," the "Saturday Night Live" comedian and actress said late Monday. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded with a tweet to Jones saying he was "following" and asking her to contact him directly. Yiannopoulos's Twitter account, which had more than 338,000 followers, was later blocked. "People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter," the company said in a statement. "But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online." Free speech, hate speech : Critics of Yiannopoulos said he incited his followers to bombard the actress with racial comments, while his supporters claimed he was targeted for his views. Commenting on a tweet in which Jones said she had been called an ape, and "received a pic with semen on my face", Yiannopoulos responded: "If, at first, you don't succeed (because your work is terrible), play the victim. EVERYONE GETS HATE MAIL FFS." His tweet reportedly triggered a torrent of abuse towards the 48-year-old "Ghostbusters" star who responded by taking screenshots and retweeting the slurs, saying they had made her "numb". After being subjected to hours of harassment from Yiannopoulos's supporters, Jones called him out: "@Nero you can say what you want about my work but when you support hate, that's not right. Wonder do your readers know you support hate!!" Twitter's actions were set to further intensify a simmering debate on how social media platforms regulate offensive or inappropriate conduct. One Twitter user, Sara Levine, welcomed the ban on Yiannopoulos, tweeting, "Racists shouldn't be allowed to silence others." But Twitter user John Nolte responded, "Basically, the corporate fascists at @Twitter silenced someone for criticising and mocking a rich and powerful movie star." Both Twitter and Facebook have banned thousands of suspected jihadists for seeking to incite or celebrate violence and have targeted users for harassment and insults. But the platforms have been navigating a fine line, staying open to controversial views while keeping out violent or abusive content. Matthew Ingram, a Fortune magazine writer who blogs for the Nieman Journalism Lab, suggested that this time, Twitter may have gone too far. "I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I don't think Milo said anything to Leslie Jones that deserves a permanent ban," Ingram tweeted. A 'learning moment' : Some analysts argue that social media platforms need to develop a code that mirrors constitutional free speech rights. "Corporate platforms have, in many ways, taken on the role of the town square, or public sphere," said a blog post this year from Jillian York, a writer, and activist who works with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "It is impossible to ignore the effect corporate limitations on speech can have on societies." Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which seeks to combat racism, maintained that social media firms have a right to set their own standards. "These aren't First Amendment (constitutional) questions at all. Twitter and others are private corporations that have no obligation to allow these kinds of speech," Potok told AFP. Potok said the lack of any policy led to chaos at the online service Reddit, which he said "turned into a hellhole for anyone who wasn't a hater" before it implemented guidelines. "If these organisations say they have a no-hate policy, they ought to enforce it," he said. Jennifer Lambe, a University of Delaware professor of communications specialising in free speech issues, said there is no easy answer for social networks. "They can do whatever they want, but there could be a backlash if they start censoring things right and left," she said. Danielle Citron, a University of Maryland law professor and author of a book "Hate Crimes in Cyberspace", called the incident "a learning moment". "I applaud Twitter for its approach in this area," Citron said. "If you chase people offline with racist and intimidating speech, that's too much. Twitter and other platforms are contributing to social norms on free expression." (AFP)

Twitter stirs debate as 'troll' banned over racist abuse against blacks and Muslims

If Rio residents think the curvy ancient Greek goddess stamped on the Olympic medals looks familiar, they wouldn&#39;t be wrong: she&#39;s modelled on Brazilian women. 
 
&quot;Rio de Janeiro is a city full of curves in the sea and hills, just like the body of the Brazilian woman,&quot; said sculptor Nelson Carneiro, 60, who created the 5,130 bronze, silver and gold medals at the national mint, called Casa da Moeda, near Rio de Janeiro. 
 
Carneiro says the sensuous side of the city inspired his depiction on the medals of the Greek goddess Nike ahead of the Summer Games starting August 5. 
 
&quot;I gave Nike curves. I gave her bigger thighs and hips,&quot; he said. 
 
Nike, the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, has been the face of Olympic medals since the 2004 Athens Games, with the Parthenon temple in the background. 
 
&quot;However, each country can make its own adaptations,&quot; said Carneiro, who works with some 2,800 other people at the mint. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s a special medal made for the world&#39;s biggest event. When the athlete receives that medal, I&#39;ll feel as if I&#39;ve also been decorated,&quot; Carneiro said. 
 
The medals may celebrate ancient tradition, but the technology mixes artisanal and 21st century techniques. 
 
First, Carneiro sculpts the design in clay and this is copied by a 3D printer. A steel mold is used to stamp the medals in a hydraulic press and medals are then polished to remove imperfections. 
 
Fortress : 
 
The national mint is in an out of the way neighborhood of Santa Cruz, a town north of Rio de Janeiro. Visitors to the facility, which is surrounded by towers and surveillance cameras, are searched as they come in - and when they leave. 
 
&quot;This is also where we make the coins and bank notes circulating in the whole country, as well as Brazilian passports and postal stamps,&quot; said the head of the medals section, Victor Hugo Berbert. 
 
Work on the medals started a month ago and will go right up to July 31, less than a week before the opening ceremony. The Olympics will have 2,488 medals and the Paralympics, which run from September 7-18, will have 2,642. 
 
Each medal weighs 17.6 ounces (500 grams), 20 per cent more than the ones handed out in London and heavier than in any previous Olympics. 
 
The coveted gold medals are not really gold - they have 17.4 ounces (494 grams) of silver and just 0.2 ounces (six grams) of gold plating. 
 
&quot;If they were solid gold it would cost a fortune,&quot; Berbert said, without disclosing the prices. 
 
Silver medals are fully silver. The bronze medals, though, are arguably brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, rather than bronze which typically mixes copper and tin. 
 
Paralympic medals contain small steel balls to help identify them by sound for those with poor vision. 
 
(AFP)

Sculptor Nelson Carneiro, 60, who created the 5,130 bronze, silver and gold medals at the national mint gave a local flavour to his work

If Rio residents think the curvy ancient Greek goddess stamped on the Olympic medals looks familiar, they wouldn't be wrong: she's modelled on Brazilian women. "Rio de Janeiro is a city full of curves in the sea and hills, just like the body of the Brazilian woman," said sculptor Nelson Carneiro, 60, who created the 5,130 bronze, silver and gold medals at the national mint, called Casa da Moeda, near Rio de Janeiro. Carneiro says the sensuous side of the city inspired his depiction on the medals of the Greek goddess Nike ahead of the Summer Games starting August 5. "I gave Nike curves. I gave her bigger thighs and hips," he said. Nike, the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, has been the face of Olympic medals since the 2004 Athens Games, with the Parthenon temple in the background. "However, each country can make its own adaptations," said Carneiro, who works with some 2,800 other people at the mint. "It's a special medal made for the world's biggest event. When the athlete receives that medal, I'll feel as if I've also been decorated," Carneiro said. The medals may celebrate ancient tradition, but the technology mixes artisanal and 21st century techniques. First, Carneiro sculpts the design in clay and this is copied by a 3D printer. A steel mold is used to stamp the medals in a hydraulic press and medals are then polished to remove imperfections. Fortress : The national mint is in an out of the way neighborhood of Santa Cruz, a town north of Rio de Janeiro. Visitors to the facility, which is surrounded by towers and surveillance cameras, are searched as they come in - and when they leave. "This is also where we make the coins and bank notes circulating in the whole country, as well as Brazilian passports and postal stamps," said the head of the medals section, Victor Hugo Berbert. Work on the medals started a month ago and will go right up to July 31, less than a week before the opening ceremony. The Olympics will have 2,488 medals and the Paralympics, which run from September 7-18, will have 2,642. Each medal weighs 17.6 ounces (500 grams), 20 per cent more than the ones handed out in London and heavier than in any previous Olympics. The coveted gold medals are not really gold - they have 17.4 ounces (494 grams) of silver and just 0.2 ounces (six grams) of gold plating. "If they were solid gold it would cost a fortune," Berbert said, without disclosing the prices. Silver medals are fully silver. The bronze medals, though, are arguably brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, rather than bronze which typically mixes copper and tin. Paralympic medals contain small steel balls to help identify them by sound for those with poor vision. (AFP)

Greek goddess on Olympics medal gets Brazilian curves

Gamers in Japan, home of Nintendo Co&#39;s Pokemon, waited in vain today for the launch of its smash-hit mobile game amid reports that the developers behind it had hit the brakes, concerned that overwhelming demand would overload server capacity. 
 
Nintendo&#39;s shares suffered a rare bad day since Pokemon GO took the world by storm, tumbling 13 per cent on the disappointment. Even so, the stock has gained 86 per cent since its US launch earlier this month, adding $17 billion to its market capitalisation. 
 
&quot;Isn&#39;t Japan the home of Pokemon? I beg them to hurry up!&quot; said Toshihide Onchi, a 40-year-old system engineer who took part in the trial of the game&#39;s beta version. 
 
Late on Tuesday, technology news site TechCrunch and other media outlets reported the launch would take place the following day. TechCrunch later reported a postponement, but said the rollout for one of the world&#39;s most critical gaming markets was still imminent. 
 
A spokeswoman for Pokemon Company, which created the game along with Nintendo and Google-spinoff Niantic, declined to comment on the report, reiterating that nothing had been decided over the Japan launch date. Nintendo referred any queries regarding Pokemon GO to Pokemon Company. 
 
Investors and analysts are betting the success of game, available officially in 35 countries and played in many more, will be transformational for Nintendo. While Pokemon GO will not prove a major direct boost, it could prompt Nintendo to cash in more effectively on an extensive cupboard of characters. 
 
Until Pokemon GO, the company had focused on more profitable consoles and snubbed mobile games.&nbsp;Niantic CEO John Hanke told Reuters on Friday the developers were being extra-cautious in Japan, given the level of expectation and sheer number of players. 
 
&quot;The technical challenge for us is having enough server capacity on the back end to handle that number of users,&quot; he said. 
 
Pokemon GO, which marries a classic 20-year-old franchise with augmented reality, is on its way to becoming the first mobile game to break the $4 billion-per-year barrier, beating Candy Crush Saga, according to Macquarie Research. 
 
Others too have benefited from the craze. Shares of Japan&#39;s McDonald&#39;s Holdings Co ended up 9.8 per cent after the TechCrunch report said the fast-food chain operator would become the game&#39;s first sponsor. 
 
TechCrunch said the sponsorship would see McDonald&#39;s 3,000 plus fast food restaurants across Japan become &quot;gyms&quot;, or battlegrounds, for Pokemon collectors. The chain already gives away Pokemon-themed toys with its Happy Meals.&nbsp;McDonald&#39;s Japan declined to comment. 
 
(Reuters)

Niantic CEO said developers were being extra-cautious in Japan, fearing servers would overload given the level of expectation

Gamers in Japan, home of Nintendo Co's Pokemon, waited in vain today for the launch of its smash-hit mobile game amid reports that the developers behind it had hit the brakes, concerned that overwhelming demand would overload server capacity. Nintendo's shares suffered a rare bad day since Pokemon GO took the world by storm, tumbling 13 per cent on the disappointment. Even so, the stock has gained 86 per cent since its US launch earlier this month, adding $17 billion to its market capitalisation. "Isn't Japan the home of Pokemon? I beg them to hurry up!" said Toshihide Onchi, a 40-year-old system engineer who took part in the trial of the game's beta version. Late on Tuesday, technology news site TechCrunch and other media outlets reported the launch would take place the following day. TechCrunch later reported a postponement, but said the rollout for one of the world's most critical gaming markets was still imminent. A spokeswoman for Pokemon Company, which created the game along with Nintendo and Google-spinoff Niantic, declined to comment on the report, reiterating that nothing had been decided over the Japan launch date. Nintendo referred any queries regarding Pokemon GO to Pokemon Company. Investors and analysts are betting the success of game, available officially in 35 countries and played in many more, will be transformational for Nintendo. While Pokemon GO will not prove a major direct boost, it could prompt Nintendo to cash in more effectively on an extensive cupboard of characters. Until Pokemon GO, the company had focused on more profitable consoles and snubbed mobile games. Niantic CEO John Hanke told Reuters on Friday the developers were being extra-cautious in Japan, given the level of expectation and sheer number of players. "The technical challenge for us is having enough server capacity on the back end to handle that number of users," he said. Pokemon GO, which marries a classic 20-year-old franchise with augmented reality, is on its way to becoming the first mobile game to break the $4 billion-per-year barrier, beating Candy Crush Saga, according to Macquarie Research. Others too have benefited from the craze. Shares of Japan's McDonald's Holdings Co ended up 9.8 per cent after the TechCrunch report said the fast-food chain operator would become the game's first sponsor. TechCrunch said the sponsorship would see McDonald's 3,000 plus fast food restaurants across Japan become "gyms", or battlegrounds, for Pokemon collectors. The chain already gives away Pokemon-themed toys with its Happy Meals. McDonald's Japan declined to comment. (Reuters)

Delayed Pokemon Go launch upsets Japanese gamers

Legions of Pokemon fans were left disappointed on Wednesday after a rumoured release of the franchise&#39;s hugely popular smartphone game in Japan proved wrong. 
 
The app has now been released in more than 30 countries, but Japan, where Nintendo started the mythical creature franchise 20 years ago has been kept waiting with no official launch date. 
 
Technology website TechCrunch on Tuesday had flagged the rollout in Japan, but it backtracked within a day, saying it had been delayed. 
 
The Nikkei business daily said Japanese fans may get relief this week. 
 
But the agonising wait sparked a round of national hand-wringing in Japan Wednesday. 
 
&quot;Pokemon Go: When will it come out in Japan?&quot; cried a headline in the afternoon edition of the top-selling Yomiuri newspaper. 
 
But some took to social media to express their frustration at the delay in launching the game on Pokemon&#39;s home turf. 
 
&quot;Wouldn&#39;t it be better to say that the Japan release will be in the autumn if the Pokemon Go release is delayed several times and cause this confusion?&quot; @im_usami001 wrote on Twitter. 
 
User @aquasonic00 added: &quot;Wanting to play Pokemon Go in Japan ASAP (o^^o).&quot; 
 
Nintendo and the Pokemon Company have declined to comment on any official release date. US-based Niantic -- which developed the game -- has not replied to requests for comment. 
 
Forbes earlier cited Niantic chief executive John Hanke as saying worries that Japan&#39;s server capacity was not powerful enough to keep up with expected demand delayed the game&#39;s rollout. 
 
Since its global launch two weeks ago, Pokemon Go has sparked a worldwide frenzy among users who have taken to the streets with their smartphones in a bid to capture and train the creatures for battles. 
 
(AFP)

'Pokemon Go: When will it come out in Japan?' cried a headline in the afternoon edition of the top-selling Yomiuri newspaper

Legions of Pokemon fans were left disappointed on Wednesday after a rumoured release of the franchise's hugely popular smartphone game in Japan proved wrong. The app has now been released in more than 30 countries, but Japan, where Nintendo started the mythical creature franchise 20 years ago has been kept waiting with no official launch date. Technology website TechCrunch on Tuesday had flagged the rollout in Japan, but it backtracked within a day, saying it had been delayed. The Nikkei business daily said Japanese fans may get relief this week. But the agonising wait sparked a round of national hand-wringing in Japan Wednesday. "Pokemon Go: When will it come out in Japan?" cried a headline in the afternoon edition of the top-selling Yomiuri newspaper. But some took to social media to express their frustration at the delay in launching the game on Pokemon's home turf. "Wouldn't it be better to say that the Japan release will be in the autumn if the Pokemon Go release is delayed several times and cause this confusion?" @im_usami001 wrote on Twitter. User @aquasonic00 added: "Wanting to play Pokemon Go in Japan ASAP (o^^o)." Nintendo and the Pokemon Company have declined to comment on any official release date. US-based Niantic -- which developed the game -- has not replied to requests for comment. Forbes earlier cited Niantic chief executive John Hanke as saying worries that Japan's server capacity was not powerful enough to keep up with expected demand delayed the game's rollout. Since its global launch two weeks ago, Pokemon Go has sparked a worldwide frenzy among users who have taken to the streets with their smartphones in a bid to capture and train the creatures for battles. (AFP)

Japan Pokemon fans in agonising wait for game launch

A toilet-themed cafe where customers dine on meatballs floating in soup-filled latrines may not be everyone&#39;s idea of haute cuisine, but Indonesians are flocking to become privy to the latest lavatorial trend. 
 
Guests at the &quot;Jamban Cafe&quot; sit on upright toilets around a table where food is served in squat loos. 
 
On a recent visit to the venue, in Semarang on Java island, traditional Indonesian &quot;bakso&quot; -- a type of meatball -- bobbed in a murky soup in one toilet, while a second contained a brightly-coloured, alcohol-free cocktail. 
 
For those who found the whole experience too nauseating, there was a sick bag hanging by the entrance. 
 
Other places, such as Taiwan and Russia, are home to similar themed restaurants, but Indonesia&#39;s modest version has a key difference, it aims to educate people about sanitation and encourage the increased use of toilets. 
 
&quot;I was disgusted at first, but I eventually ate some of the food out of curiosity,&quot; said customer Mukodas, a 27-year-old who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name. 
 
&quot;I think the idea is pretty interesting because if you try to have a campaign without a gimmick like this, the information won&#39;t stick.&quot; 
 
Another customer, 15-year-old Annisa Dhea, conceded she initially found the toilet treats &quot;a bit unappealing&quot; but felt somewhat reassured after &quot;the owner told me that the food was clean and hygienic&quot;. 
 
The cafe, whose name &quot;Jamban&quot; means toilet in Indonesian -- has been open since April and currently only welcomes small groups who book ahead. 
 
Owner Budi Laksono, a public health expert who used to work for the local government, hosts discussions with customers and shows them videos as he seeks to encourage people to use dedicated facilities for their bodily functions. 
 
Millions of Indonesians live below the poverty line and the country has one of the world&#39;s highest rates of open defecation -- defecating outside and not in a designated toilet -- a practice blamed for spreading disease. 
 
&quot;This cafe serves as a reminder that many people in Indonesia still do not have toilets,&quot; said Laksono, 52. 
 
However, he admitted that his unusual approach had sparked some controversy in the Muslim-majority country. 
 
&quot;Many critics say the cafe is inappropriate and against Islamic law,&quot; he said. 
 
(AFP)

Jamban Cafe aims to educate people about sanitation and encourage use of toilets in a country where open defecation is a huge issue

A toilet-themed cafe where customers dine on meatballs floating in soup-filled latrines may not be everyone's idea of haute cuisine, but Indonesians are flocking to become privy to the latest lavatorial trend. Guests at the "Jamban Cafe" sit on upright toilets around a table where food is served in squat loos. On a recent visit to the venue, in Semarang on Java island, traditional Indonesian "bakso" -- a type of meatball -- bobbed in a murky soup in one toilet, while a second contained a brightly-coloured, alcohol-free cocktail. For those who found the whole experience too nauseating, there was a sick bag hanging by the entrance. Other places, such as Taiwan and Russia, are home to similar themed restaurants, but Indonesia's modest version has a key difference, it aims to educate people about sanitation and encourage the increased use of toilets. "I was disgusted at first, but I eventually ate some of the food out of curiosity," said customer Mukodas, a 27-year-old who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name. "I think the idea is pretty interesting because if you try to have a campaign without a gimmick like this, the information won't stick." Another customer, 15-year-old Annisa Dhea, conceded she initially found the toilet treats "a bit unappealing" but felt somewhat reassured after "the owner told me that the food was clean and hygienic". The cafe, whose name "Jamban" means toilet in Indonesian -- has been open since April and currently only welcomes small groups who book ahead. Owner Budi Laksono, a public health expert who used to work for the local government, hosts discussions with customers and shows them videos as he seeks to encourage people to use dedicated facilities for their bodily functions. Millions of Indonesians live below the poverty line and the country has one of the world's highest rates of open defecation -- defecating outside and not in a designated toilet -- a practice blamed for spreading disease. "This cafe serves as a reminder that many people in Indonesia still do not have toilets," said Laksono, 52. However, he admitted that his unusual approach had sparked some controversy in the Muslim-majority country. "Many critics say the cafe is inappropriate and against Islamic law," he said. (AFP)

Indonesia's toilet-themed cafe serves food in squat loos

Superheroes, wizards, and Jedi Knights have descended on the Venezuelan capital.&nbsp;And while they may not be able to save the country from its spiralling economic crisis, fans at Caracas Comic-Con are counting on their heroes to at least help them escape their real-world problems for a while. 
 
For three weekends, through July 31, fans are paying tribute to the worlds of comic books, video games and sci-fi at the 10th Caracas Comic-Con, the local edition of the international pop culture fest.&nbsp;It comes at a time when a punishing recession, food shortages, hyperinflation and violent crime have left Venezuelans desperate for heroes, or even villains, to come to the rescue. 
 
&quot;It gives us space to breathe in the middle of this political situation,&quot; said Jhoan Guzman, a 25-year-old chemist who is today wearing the white face paint and red lipstick of his alter ego: Batman&#39;s arch-enemy, Joker.&nbsp;&quot;This is an alternative to help us forget the world we&#39;re living in, to enjoy ourselves doing something we love.&quot; 
 
Instead of lining up outside the supermarket for basic necessities, attendees flock to a convention hall in a Caracas mall to pay homage to their favourite pop culture phenomena: The Avengers, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokemon and Game of Thrones, among others. 
 
Some even show up in costume, just like at other Comic-Cons worldwide, chief among them the giant gathering each July in San Diego, though here the get-ups are often cobbled together using whatever materials are at hand.&nbsp;Ann Mary Fayard, a 34-year-old fashion designer, was decked out as Harley Quinn, the Joker&#39;s sidekick, a costume she made from scraps. 
 
&quot;I recycle everything. Whatever cloth is left over, design materials. I save money and tap of my ingenuity,&quot; she said. &quot;I like &#39;cosplay&#39; (costume role-play) because I can let my imagination fly. It&#39;s a way to free your mind of so many problems and spend time doing something else.&quot; 
 
Venezuela is teetering on the brink of collapse, devastated by the global plunge in prices for its main export, oil.&nbsp;President Nicolas Maduro&#39;s government is struggling to contain the crisis, fueling opposition calls for an end to 17 years of leftist rule. 
 
The doom and gloom have not kept self-described &quot;geeks&quot; from shelling out 1,800 bolivars (about $3 at the latest official exchange rate), more than a week&#39;s pay at minimum wage, to attend Caracas Comic-Con.&nbsp;Convention organiser Daniela Paolillo said she expected some 20,000 visitors.&nbsp; 
 
One of the top issues they are talking about, said Paolillo, is when they will be able to play Pokemon Go, the wildly popular video game in which players roam the real world hunting for cartoon monsters with their cell phones.&nbsp;Thyfany Ron, a member of the Pokemon Venezuela fan club, said there is still no local release date for the game.&nbsp;And it is unclear how safe it would be for players in a country with one of the world&#39;s highest rates of violent crime, where smartphone users are frequent targets on the street. 
 
But Comic-Con is a time to forget all that, said Maria Pinto, a 19-year-old psychology student dressed up as Star Butterfly from the animated fantasy series &quot;Star vs the Forces of Evil&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;re living in times of crisis, but we&#39;re looking for a way to free ourselves and shed that stress,&quot; she said. 
 
(Reuters)

It comes at a time when a punishing recession, food shortages, hyperinflation and violent crime have left Venezuelans desperate for heroes

Superheroes, wizards, and Jedi Knights have descended on the Venezuelan capital. And while they may not be able to save the country from its spiralling economic crisis, fans at Caracas Comic-Con are counting on their heroes to at least help them escape their real-world problems for a while. For three weekends, through July 31, fans are paying tribute to the worlds of comic books, video games and sci-fi at the 10th Caracas Comic-Con, the local edition of the international pop culture fest. It comes at a time when a punishing recession, food shortages, hyperinflation and violent crime have left Venezuelans desperate for heroes, or even villains, to come to the rescue. "It gives us space to breathe in the middle of this political situation," said Jhoan Guzman, a 25-year-old chemist who is today wearing the white face paint and red lipstick of his alter ego: Batman's arch-enemy, Joker. "This is an alternative to help us forget the world we're living in, to enjoy ourselves doing something we love." Instead of lining up outside the supermarket for basic necessities, attendees flock to a convention hall in a Caracas mall to pay homage to their favourite pop culture phenomena: The Avengers, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokemon and Game of Thrones, among others. Some even show up in costume, just like at other Comic-Cons worldwide, chief among them the giant gathering each July in San Diego, though here the get-ups are often cobbled together using whatever materials are at hand. Ann Mary Fayard, a 34-year-old fashion designer, was decked out as Harley Quinn, the Joker's sidekick, a costume she made from scraps. "I recycle everything. Whatever cloth is left over, design materials. I save money and tap of my ingenuity," she said. "I like 'cosplay' (costume role-play) because I can let my imagination fly. It's a way to free your mind of so many problems and spend time doing something else." Venezuela is teetering on the brink of collapse, devastated by the global plunge in prices for its main export, oil. President Nicolas Maduro's government is struggling to contain the crisis, fueling opposition calls for an end to 17 years of leftist rule. The doom and gloom have not kept self-described "geeks" from shelling out 1,800 bolivars (about $3 at the latest official exchange rate), more than a week's pay at minimum wage, to attend Caracas Comic-Con. Convention organiser Daniela Paolillo said she expected some 20,000 visitors. One of the top issues they are talking about, said Paolillo, is when they will be able to play Pokemon Go, the wildly popular video game in which players roam the real world hunting for cartoon monsters with their cell phones. Thyfany Ron, a member of the Pokemon Venezuela fan club, said there is still no local release date for the game. And it is unclear how safe it would be for players in a country with one of the world's highest rates of violent crime, where smartphone users are frequent targets on the street. But Comic-Con is a time to forget all that, said Maria Pinto, a 19-year-old psychology student dressed up as Star Butterfly from the animated fantasy series "Star vs the Forces of Evil". "We're living in times of crisis, but we're looking for a way to free ourselves and shed that stress," she said. (Reuters)

Superheroes, wizards descend on Venezuela to fight economic crisis

Romanian legend Radu Beligan, who held the Guinness record as the world&#39;s oldest theatre actor, has died at age 97 in a hospital in the capital Bucharest, medical staff said. 
 
After a prolific career spanning more than 70 years, the star passed away in his sleep today, said the director of the Elias hospital, Dana Safta. 
 
Beligan last performed in April at the National Theatre in Bucharest, where he had played a lead role in Jean Anouilh&rsquo;s &#39;Number Number&#39; to sellout audiences since 2004. 
 
Born on December 18, 1918, Beligan made his debut in 1937 in Bucharest in a stage version of &#39;Crime and Punishment&#39;, a classic Russian novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. 
 
He went on to star in some 100 plays and films and became a well-known TV and radio personality.&nbsp;But he was also criticised in artists&#39; circles for his membership of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party between 1969 and 1989. 
 
After the fall of communism, he was forced to step down as director of the National Theatre in 1990 after protests from his peers.&nbsp;In December 2013, the Guinness World Records awarded Beligan the title of &quot;oldest active theatre professional&quot;. 
 
The vote raised some eyebrows in Russia, where actor Vladimir Zeldin celebrated his 101st birthday earlier this year on stage in Moscow. 
 
(AFP)

After a prolific career spanning more than 70 years, the star passed away in his sleep today

Romanian legend Radu Beligan, who held the Guinness record as the world's oldest theatre actor, has died at age 97 in a hospital in the capital Bucharest, medical staff said. After a prolific career spanning more than 70 years, the star passed away in his sleep today, said the director of the Elias hospital, Dana Safta. Beligan last performed in April at the National Theatre in Bucharest, where he had played a lead role in Jean Anouilh’s 'Number Number' to sellout audiences since 2004. Born on December 18, 1918, Beligan made his debut in 1937 in Bucharest in a stage version of 'Crime and Punishment', a classic Russian novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. He went on to star in some 100 plays and films and became a well-known TV and radio personality. But he was also criticised in artists' circles for his membership of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party between 1969 and 1989. After the fall of communism, he was forced to step down as director of the National Theatre in 1990 after protests from his peers. In December 2013, the Guinness World Records awarded Beligan the title of "oldest active theatre professional". The vote raised some eyebrows in Russia, where actor Vladimir Zeldin celebrated his 101st birthday earlier this year on stage in Moscow. (AFP)

World's oldest theatre actor dies at age 97

Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and virus-carriers live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said today. 
 
New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said the authors of a comprehensive analysis in The Lancet HIV journal. 
 
It was published to coincide with the International AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa to assess progress in stemming an outbreak that has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s. 
 
The report paints &quot;a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections,&quot; according to lead author Haidong Wang from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle. 
 
This could be worsened by &quot;stagnating&quot; funding for HIV/AIDS programmes and medicines. 
 
&quot;Therefore, a massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the estimated $36 billion (33 billion euros) needed every year to realise the goal of ending AIDS by 2030,&quot; IHME director Christopher Murray said in a statement. 
 
Over the past 15 years, countries have contributed $110 billion in &quot;development assistance&quot; for HIV/AIDS programmes. 
 
Today, there are some 38.8 million people living with the AIDS-causing virus, a steady increase from 28 million in 2000 thanks to the advent in 1996 of life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). 
 
Annual AIDS deaths have declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2015. 
 
There is no AIDS cure or vaccine. 
 
ART cocktails suppress the virus, enabling people to live long lives, though the drugs are expensive and can have side effects. 
 
 
Dramatic change required 
 
Use of antiretrovirals, for long the preserve of the rich, grew from 6.4 percent of infected men in 2005 to 38.6 percent ten years later, and from 3.3 percent to 42.4 percent for women over the same period, the study found. 
 
Another factor that has helped cut the death rate was education and medicines to prevent infected women passing the virus onto their unborn children, said the report. 
 
The study saw researchers collate HIV data recorded from 1980 to 2015 for 195 countries. 
 
In spite of advances, most countries are still far from achieving the UNAIDS goal of ensuring that by 2020, 90 percent of infected people will know their status, and 90 percent of those will receive ART. 
 
In 2015, 41 percent of HIV-infected people received ART, said the report. 
 
The picture varied vastly between countries and regions. 
 
In 2015, 1.8 million new HIV infections, some 75 percent, were in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 212,500 (8.5 percent) in south Asia. 
 
&quot;The highest rates of infection were in southern Africa, with more than one percent of the population per year becoming infected in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland,&quot; said the report. 
 
In Europe, the highest rate of new infections was in Russia (57,340) and Ukraine (13,490). 
 
&quot;Global efforts have had less impact on the incidence of new infections than on HIV mortality,&quot; concluded the report. 
 
&quot;Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require a dramatic change in how HIV prevention is pursued.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997

Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and virus-carriers live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said today. New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said the authors of a comprehensive analysis in The Lancet HIV journal. It was published to coincide with the International AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa to assess progress in stemming an outbreak that has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s. The report paints "a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections," according to lead author Haidong Wang from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle. This could be worsened by "stagnating" funding for HIV/AIDS programmes and medicines. "Therefore, a massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the estimated $36 billion (33 billion euros) needed every year to realise the goal of ending AIDS by 2030," IHME director Christopher Murray said in a statement. Over the past 15 years, countries have contributed $110 billion in "development assistance" for HIV/AIDS programmes. Today, there are some 38.8 million people living with the AIDS-causing virus, a steady increase from 28 million in 2000 thanks to the advent in 1996 of life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). Annual AIDS deaths have declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2015. There is no AIDS cure or vaccine. ART cocktails suppress the virus, enabling people to live long lives, though the drugs are expensive and can have side effects. Dramatic change required Use of antiretrovirals, for long the preserve of the rich, grew from 6.4 percent of infected men in 2005 to 38.6 percent ten years later, and from 3.3 percent to 42.4 percent for women over the same period, the study found. Another factor that has helped cut the death rate was education and medicines to prevent infected women passing the virus onto their unborn children, said the report. The study saw researchers collate HIV data recorded from 1980 to 2015 for 195 countries. In spite of advances, most countries are still far from achieving the UNAIDS goal of ensuring that by 2020, 90 percent of infected people will know their status, and 90 percent of those will receive ART. In 2015, 41 percent of HIV-infected people received ART, said the report. The picture varied vastly between countries and regions. In 2015, 1.8 million new HIV infections, some 75 percent, were in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 212,500 (8.5 percent) in south Asia. "The highest rates of infection were in southern Africa, with more than one percent of the population per year becoming infected in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland," said the report. In Europe, the highest rate of new infections was in Russia (57,340) and Ukraine (13,490). "Global efforts have had less impact on the incidence of new infections than on HIV mortality," concluded the report. "Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require a dramatic change in how HIV prevention is pursued." (AFP)

2.5 million people suffer from HIV every year

American network USA on Monday postponed sniper drama &quot;Shooter&quot; in the wake of the police killings in Louisiana, the latest in a string of releases hit by real-life violence. 
 
Based on the 2007 film starring Mark Wahlberg, the show was originally due to air on July 19&nbsp;but was pushed back a week after five officers were killed by a sniper in Dallas. 
 
The network has now bumped it off the summer schedule altogether after three more officers were shot dead by a lone gunman in Baton Rouge on Sunday. 
 
&quot;After further consideration, USA Network, Paramount TV, and Universal Cable Productions have decided to move the premiere of &#39;Shooter&#39; to the fall,&quot; USA network owner NBCUniversal said in a statement. 
 
The show stars Ryan Phillippe as a marine coaxed out of retirement to stop the assassination of the president before he is framed for a crime he did not commit. 
 
The announcement comes a month after a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando left 49 people dead, and 10 days after the Dallas shooting during a protest against the killings of two black men by police. 
 
It was the second premiere in recent days hit by gun violence after action thriller &quot;Bastille Day&quot;, starring Idris Elba, was pulled from French theaters following the Nice truck attack. 
 
The action movie, in which Elba plays a CIA agent aiming to thwart a terrorist plot to bomb Paris on the national holiday, was released in France on Wednesday. 
 
The following day, 31-year-old&nbsp;father of three Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed 84 people and wounded around 300 when he drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day on the French Riviera. 
 
According to Variety magazine, distributors StudioCanal suspended trailers and took down posters for the film on Friday, but decided to leave the decision on whether to pull the movie to individual cinemas. 
 
The company announced on Saturday, however, that the movie had been withdrawn out of respect for the victims and their families. 
 
Satellite broadcaster Sky postponed the launch of the second season of drama series &quot;The Tunnel&quot; after 32 died in the March attacks on Brussels airport and metro system. 
 
Nicolas Boukhrief&#39;s &quot;Made in France&quot;, which follows a journalist who infiltrates a jihadist cell planning attacks in the city centre of Paris, was pulled twice due to terrorist attacks. 
 
It was first delayed after jihadists struck the French capital in January 2015, killing 17 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket. 
 
Pretty Pictures picked up the film, but a new release date of November 2015 was shelved when the Islamic State group organised an attack on a Parisian concert hall, stadium and restaurants and bars, killing 130 people. 
 
(AFP)

The announcement comes a month after a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando left 49 people dead

American network USA on Monday postponed sniper drama "Shooter" in the wake of the police killings in Louisiana, the latest in a string of releases hit by real-life violence. Based on the 2007 film starring Mark Wahlberg, the show was originally due to air on July 19 but was pushed back a week after five officers were killed by a sniper in Dallas. The network has now bumped it off the summer schedule altogether after three more officers were shot dead by a lone gunman in Baton Rouge on Sunday. "After further consideration, USA Network, Paramount TV, and Universal Cable Productions have decided to move the premiere of 'Shooter' to the fall," USA network owner NBCUniversal said in a statement. The show stars Ryan Phillippe as a marine coaxed out of retirement to stop the assassination of the president before he is framed for a crime he did not commit. The announcement comes a month after a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando left 49 people dead, and 10 days after the Dallas shooting during a protest against the killings of two black men by police. It was the second premiere in recent days hit by gun violence after action thriller "Bastille Day", starring Idris Elba, was pulled from French theaters following the Nice truck attack. The action movie, in which Elba plays a CIA agent aiming to thwart a terrorist plot to bomb Paris on the national holiday, was released in France on Wednesday. The following day, 31-year-old father of three Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed 84 people and wounded around 300 when he drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day on the French Riviera. According to Variety magazine, distributors StudioCanal suspended trailers and took down posters for the film on Friday, but decided to leave the decision on whether to pull the movie to individual cinemas. The company announced on Saturday, however, that the movie had been withdrawn out of respect for the victims and their families. Satellite broadcaster Sky postponed the launch of the second season of drama series "The Tunnel" after 32 died in the March attacks on Brussels airport and metro system. Nicolas Boukhrief's "Made in France", which follows a journalist who infiltrates a jihadist cell planning attacks in the city centre of Paris, was pulled twice due to terrorist attacks. It was first delayed after jihadists struck the French capital in January 2015, killing 17 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket. Pretty Pictures picked up the film, but a new release date of November 2015 was shelved when the Islamic State group organised an attack on a Parisian concert hall, stadium and restaurants and bars, killing 130 people. (AFP)

Latest American television drama 'Shooter' shelved after attacks

In an experiment that acknowledges the modern era&#39;s shortening attention spans, mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital on Monday launched a concerto for Instagram with movements of 15 seconds. 
 
The Israeli artist, who has led a revival of his instrument and regularly plays premier classical venues, posted the first of five movements of his &quot;InstaConcerto&quot;. 
 
Avital plans to post the subsequent movements of the concerto - composed by Slovak-born conductor and pianist Peter Breiner - each day on his Instagram account at @aviavital. 
 
&quot;We wanted to raise questions with this project, both about the artistic value of the composition within the given restrictions of the time-frame, and about the attention span of our generation and its relationship to classical music,&quot; Avital said in a statement. 
 
In Western classical music, the definition of a concerto has varied through history but is generally thought to consist of a soloist accompanied by an orchestra. 
 
Avital said he wanted to keep to 15 seconds to keep with the classic limits of Instagram. He performed the InstaConcerto with the Kremerata Baltica, an orchestra of young musicians from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 
 
But classical music still values decorum more than other genres, with most concert halls frowning on audience members who use mobile telephones during performances. 
 
Avital has for several years been a regular presence in the world&#39;s leading concert halls as he both performs folk music and adapts the Western classical canon to the mandolin, a sort of plucked lute. 
 
He embraced the challenge of Instagram much like some writers saw possibilities in Twitter, which confines users to 140 characters. 
 
(AFP)

More classical musicians embrace social media as a way to promote themselves

In an experiment that acknowledges the modern era's shortening attention spans, mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital on Monday launched a concerto for Instagram with movements of 15 seconds. The Israeli artist, who has led a revival of his instrument and regularly plays premier classical venues, posted the first of five movements of his "InstaConcerto". Avital plans to post the subsequent movements of the concerto - composed by Slovak-born conductor and pianist Peter Breiner - each day on his Instagram account at @aviavital. "We wanted to raise questions with this project, both about the artistic value of the composition within the given restrictions of the time-frame, and about the attention span of our generation and its relationship to classical music," Avital said in a statement. In Western classical music, the definition of a concerto has varied through history but is generally thought to consist of a soloist accompanied by an orchestra. Avital said he wanted to keep to 15 seconds to keep with the classic limits of Instagram. He performed the InstaConcerto with the Kremerata Baltica, an orchestra of young musicians from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. But classical music still values decorum more than other genres, with most concert halls frowning on audience members who use mobile telephones during performances. Avital has for several years been a regular presence in the world's leading concert halls as he both performs folk music and adapts the Western classical canon to the mandolin, a sort of plucked lute. He embraced the challenge of Instagram much like some writers saw possibilities in Twitter, which confines users to 140 characters. (AFP)

Israeli artist Avital experiments with "InstaConcerto"

The anticipated &quot;Star Wars: Episode VIII&quot; will pick up from the cliffhanger in the final scene of &quot;The Force Awakens&quot;, fans of the franchise were told at the final day of the three-day Star Wars celebration in London. A&nbsp;new Han Solo was also unveiled at the event for a stand-alone film on the much-loved character. 
 
Director Rian Johnson said &quot;Episode VIII&quot;, due out in theatres in December 2017, will break &quot;a long-standing &#39;Star Wars&#39; tradition&quot; as each of the previous &quot;Star Wars&quot; films has picked up at least a year after the events of its predecessor. 
 
&quot;I didn&#39;t want to skip ahead. That last moment of (Episode) VII, I want to see what happens next,&quot; Johnson told fans on Sunday. 
 
&quot;Episode VIII&quot; is the next installment in Walt Disney Co&#39;s latest &quot;Star Wars&quot; trilogy that kicked off with last year&#39;s &quot;The Force Awakens&quot;, featuring a new generation of characters led by Daisy Ridley&#39;s Rey and John Boyega&#39;s Finn. 
 
Johnson said &quot;Episode VIII&quot; will get &quot;to the heart&quot; of the new characters and challenge them. 
 
&quot;The first film was this incredible explosion of adventure and excitement that sets up these characters and then just out of necessity it&#39;s very natural that in the second film that we start zooming in on the characters,&quot; Johnson said. 
 
New Han Solo treat for fans 
 
On Sunday, rising star Alden Ehrenreich, 26, was officially introduced as Han Solo in a franchise spin-off due out in May 2018 that will follow an origin story of the handsome, rogue space smuggler made famous by Harrison Ford.&nbsp;&quot;As a kid, this character especially, you play make-believe and you kind of imagine what it would be like,&quot; Ehrenreich said. 
 
The biggest applause went to veteran &quot;Star Wars&quot; actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who played siblings Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the franchise.&nbsp;Hamill said fans always ask if he and Fisher have a sibling-like relationship, to which he replies, &quot;Yeah, we fight all the time and we&#39;re not speaking to each other for years at a time.&quot; 
 
Disney is releasing three stand-alone films that will explore new realms and stories outside of the trilogies first set up in George Lucas&#39; 1977 &quot;Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope&quot;.&nbsp;On Friday, fans were shown exclusive footage from &quot;Rogue One: A Star Wars Story&quot;, out this December, which features a new host of characters. 
 
(Reuters)

Director Rian Johnson departs long-standing Star Wars tradition of picking up story at least a year after the events of its predecessor

The anticipated "Star Wars: Episode VIII" will pick up from the cliffhanger in the final scene of "The Force Awakens", fans of the franchise were told at the final day of the three-day Star Wars celebration in London. A new Han Solo was also unveiled at the event for a stand-alone film on the much-loved character. Director Rian Johnson said "Episode VIII", due out in theatres in December 2017, will break "a long-standing 'Star Wars' tradition" as each of the previous "Star Wars" films has picked up at least a year after the events of its predecessor. "I didn't want to skip ahead. That last moment of (Episode) VII, I want to see what happens next," Johnson told fans on Sunday. "Episode VIII" is the next installment in Walt Disney Co's latest "Star Wars" trilogy that kicked off with last year's "The Force Awakens", featuring a new generation of characters led by Daisy Ridley's Rey and John Boyega's Finn. Johnson said "Episode VIII" will get "to the heart" of the new characters and challenge them. "The first film was this incredible explosion of adventure and excitement that sets up these characters and then just out of necessity it's very natural that in the second film that we start zooming in on the characters," Johnson said. New Han Solo treat for fans On Sunday, rising star Alden Ehrenreich, 26, was officially introduced as Han Solo in a franchise spin-off due out in May 2018 that will follow an origin story of the handsome, rogue space smuggler made famous by Harrison Ford. "As a kid, this character especially, you play make-believe and you kind of imagine what it would be like," Ehrenreich said. The biggest applause went to veteran "Star Wars" actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who played siblings Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the franchise. Hamill said fans always ask if he and Fisher have a sibling-like relationship, to which he replies, "Yeah, we fight all the time and we're not speaking to each other for years at a time." Disney is releasing three stand-alone films that will explore new realms and stories outside of the trilogies first set up in George Lucas' 1977 "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope". On Friday, fans were shown exclusive footage from "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", out this December, which features a new host of characters. (Reuters)

Episode VIII to break Star Wars tradition; new Han solo unveiled

Ukrainian activist Anastasiya Melnychenko&#39;s campaign to shatter taboos over rape opened floodgates in her homeland and neighbouring Russia recently. It was yet another online discussion blaming a rape victim for provoking her attacker that prompted her courageous move.&nbsp; 
 
In response Melnychenko typed out an unflinching account of a string of sexual assaults she suffered throughout her life, then posted it on Facebook with the hashtag #IAmNotAfraidToSpeak, later repeated in Ukrainian and Russian. 
 
Melnychenko&#39;s campaign lead hundreds of women in Ukraine and Russia to share their own personal stories of sexual violence, a subject that is more often hushed up or ignored.&nbsp;For many of the women, it was a powerful way to release pent-up painful memories. 
 
&quot;I was a schoolgirl&nbsp;when it happened. A young guy followed me to my house, pulled me by the jacket and put his hands up my skirt&quot;, wrote 30-year-old art critic Asia Bazdyrieva. 
 
&quot;I was 19, it was my boyfriend&#39;s pal. He was two metres (six foot five) tall, very big and strong. The street was completely empty and I was afraid to resist. He raped me,&quot; posted mother-of-four Valeriya Bezlepkina. 
 
&quot;I was a young girl with freckles from a poor district. Violence was a common thing there, familiar to every girl I knew&quot;, shared famous restaurant critic Aurora Ogorodnyk. 
 
Melnychenko&#39;s openness helped to break down a wall of silence that activists say exists around the issue of sexual violence - and especially rape - in the ex-Soviet region. 
 
&quot;In our society blaming the victim is the norm,&quot; Melnychenko shared. 
 
&quot;That is why women are silent about the abuse. They do not talk about these incidents to their relatives or to the police because they are afraid of being condemned.&quot; 
 
&#39;Violence loves secrecy&#39;&nbsp; 
 
In Ukraine - a country of some 45 million inhabitants - only around 320 cases of rape or attempted rape were registered by the authorities last year. 
 
Rights activists insist that the small number of reported attacks does not represent the true scale of the problem.&nbsp;&quot;Sexual violence is a subject that gets disregarded&quot;, says Anna Sayenko, a lawyer from La Strada Ukraine, an international women&#39;s rights centre.&nbsp;In most cases women do not immediately go to a police station for a forensic examination due to fears of being judged by society, Sayenko said. 
 
Psychologist Alevtyna Shevchenko says such sharing of experiences works as a sort of group therapy, where the interaction between the participants encourages even those who are usually silent to talk. 
 
&#39;Brave pioneers&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Not all reaction to the campaign has been positive, however. 
 
Some online commentators, mainly men, accused the participants of &quot;exhibitionism&quot; and performing a &quot;public striptease&quot;, with one labelling the campaign a &quot;festival of homemade porn&quot;. 
 
But broadly speaking the response appears to have been supportive and a Ukrainian lawmaker on Tuesday said that deputies were already collecting signatures to change legislation on sexual violence against women after reading the posts. 
 
Melnychenko hopes that she and the women who have come forward with their experience -- especially those who spoke about being raped - have sparked a shift in the discussion that will bring about a real change in Ukraine. 
 
&quot;Public debate is a big step for our society,&quot; she said. 
 
&quot;Thanks to these brave pioneers, other women have realised that they are not alone and they have more support than they thought.&quot; 
 
By breaking through the fear of how people will react, Melnychenko&#39;s online campaign appears to have struck a deep chord with women in both Ukraine and Russia. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Yet another online discussion blaming a rape victim for having provoked her attacker prompted her to start

Ukrainian activist Anastasiya Melnychenko's campaign to shatter taboos over rape opened floodgates in her homeland and neighbouring Russia recently. It was yet another online discussion blaming a rape victim for provoking her attacker that prompted her courageous move. In response Melnychenko typed out an unflinching account of a string of sexual assaults she suffered throughout her life, then posted it on Facebook with the hashtag #IAmNotAfraidToSpeak, later repeated in Ukrainian and Russian. Melnychenko's campaign lead hundreds of women in Ukraine and Russia to share their own personal stories of sexual violence, a subject that is more often hushed up or ignored. For many of the women, it was a powerful way to release pent-up painful memories. "I was a schoolgirl when it happened. A young guy followed me to my house, pulled me by the jacket and put his hands up my skirt", wrote 30-year-old art critic Asia Bazdyrieva. "I was 19, it was my boyfriend's pal. He was two metres (six foot five) tall, very big and strong. The street was completely empty and I was afraid to resist. He raped me," posted mother-of-four Valeriya Bezlepkina. "I was a young girl with freckles from a poor district. Violence was a common thing there, familiar to every girl I knew", shared famous restaurant critic Aurora Ogorodnyk. Melnychenko's openness helped to break down a wall of silence that activists say exists around the issue of sexual violence - and especially rape - in the ex-Soviet region. "In our society blaming the victim is the norm," Melnychenko shared. "That is why women are silent about the abuse. They do not talk about these incidents to their relatives or to the police because they are afraid of being condemned." 'Violence loves secrecy' In Ukraine - a country of some 45 million inhabitants - only around 320 cases of rape or attempted rape were registered by the authorities last year. Rights activists insist that the small number of reported attacks does not represent the true scale of the problem. "Sexual violence is a subject that gets disregarded", says Anna Sayenko, a lawyer from La Strada Ukraine, an international women's rights centre. In most cases women do not immediately go to a police station for a forensic examination due to fears of being judged by society, Sayenko said. Psychologist Alevtyna Shevchenko says such sharing of experiences works as a sort of group therapy, where the interaction between the participants encourages even those who are usually silent to talk. 'Brave pioneers' Not all reaction to the campaign has been positive, however. Some online commentators, mainly men, accused the participants of "exhibitionism" and performing a "public striptease", with one labelling the campaign a "festival of homemade porn". But broadly speaking the response appears to have been supportive and a Ukrainian lawmaker on Tuesday said that deputies were already collecting signatures to change legislation on sexual violence against women after reading the posts. Melnychenko hopes that she and the women who have come forward with their experience -- especially those who spoke about being raped - have sparked a shift in the discussion that will bring about a real change in Ukraine. "Public debate is a big step for our society," she said. "Thanks to these brave pioneers, other women have realised that they are not alone and they have more support than they thought." By breaking through the fear of how people will react, Melnychenko's online campaign appears to have struck a deep chord with women in both Ukraine and Russia. (AFP)

Ukrainian activist talks about rape on Facebook, and floodgates open

Supermodel Kate Moss has been accused by her former step-father for not providing any kind of medical help to him. 
 
Geoff Collman, 75, who was with Moss&#39; mother, Linda, for 25 years, is battling cancer. The couple parted ways back in 2014, reported Mirror. 
 
Collman slammed the British-born diva for not even calling him once. 
 
&quot;I would have thought she would have called and said, Do you want some private medical help?&quot; Collman said. 
 
Admitting the downfall of his relationship with Moss, he added, &quot;After a 20-year relationship I&#39;d expect at least a call.&quot; 
 
&quot;Every time I see her grinning in the paper with a bloke, I think I could be dead in an hour,&quot; he added. 
 
Collman has known Moss, now 42, since she was 13 and throughout that time he took her to modelling assignments and met her boyfriends including &quot;Pirates of the Caribbean&quot; star Johnny Depp. 
 
(AFP)

'I would have thought she would have called and said, Do you want some private medical help?' Collman said

Supermodel Kate Moss has been accused by her former step-father for not providing any kind of medical help to him. Geoff Collman, 75, who was with Moss' mother, Linda, for 25 years, is battling cancer. The couple parted ways back in 2014, reported Mirror. Collman slammed the British-born diva for not even calling him once. "I would have thought she would have called and said, Do you want some private medical help?" Collman said. Admitting the downfall of his relationship with Moss, he added, "After a 20-year relationship I'd expect at least a call." "Every time I see her grinning in the paper with a bloke, I think I could be dead in an hour," he added. Collman has known Moss, now 42, since she was 13 and throughout that time he took her to modelling assignments and met her boyfriends including "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp. (AFP)

Kate Moss' stepdad Geoff Collman slams her for no medical aid

Riches from the Palace of Versailles, including a harp belonging to Marie Antoinette, will travel to Australia, the country&#39;s national gallery said on Monday, as part of a display never seen outside France. 
 
More than 130 paintings, tapestries, pieces of furniture, statues and other objects from Versailles, one of France&#39;s grand museums, will be on display in the Australian capital Canberra from December. 
 
&quot;The Palace of Versailles has never before lent a collection like this, drawn from all over the palace, to an exhibition outside France,&quot; National Gallery of Australia director Gerard Vaughan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.&nbsp;Items making the long journey include a marble bust of Louis XIV, a formal portrait of Marie Antoinette, and the 1.5-tonne statue of Latona and Her Children from one of the main fountains of Versailles outside Paris. 
 
&quot;Versailles: Treasures from the Palace&quot; will also showcase personal items, including Marie Antoinette&#39;s hand-crafted chair and harp. 
 
President of the Palace of Versailles, Catherine Pegard said it was the first time the items from the museum had travelled so far from France.&nbsp;Speaking from Canberra, she told AFP it was important to show that the landmark museum was not closed in on itself but &quot;open to the world&quot;. 
 
The exhibition, which will run from 9 December 2016 to 17 April 2017, had been under discussion for several years, she said. 
 
&quot;We thought that Canberra was a wonderful place because it is so different from Versailles but, at the same time, the power is located in Canberra as it was in Versailles,&quot; she added. 
 
(Reuters)

More than 130 paintings, tapestries, pieces of furniture, statues and other objects from Versailles will make the trip to Canberra

Riches from the Palace of Versailles, including a harp belonging to Marie Antoinette, will travel to Australia, the country's national gallery said on Monday, as part of a display never seen outside France. More than 130 paintings, tapestries, pieces of furniture, statues and other objects from Versailles, one of France's grand museums, will be on display in the Australian capital Canberra from December. "The Palace of Versailles has never before lent a collection like this, drawn from all over the palace, to an exhibition outside France," National Gallery of Australia director Gerard Vaughan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Items making the long journey include a marble bust of Louis XIV, a formal portrait of Marie Antoinette, and the 1.5-tonne statue of Latona and Her Children from one of the main fountains of Versailles outside Paris. "Versailles: Treasures from the Palace" will also showcase personal items, including Marie Antoinette's hand-crafted chair and harp. President of the Palace of Versailles, Catherine Pegard said it was the first time the items from the museum had travelled so far from France. Speaking from Canberra, she told AFP it was important to show that the landmark museum was not closed in on itself but "open to the world". The exhibition, which will run from 9 December 2016 to 17 April 2017, had been under discussion for several years, she said. "We thought that Canberra was a wonderful place because it is so different from Versailles but, at the same time, the power is located in Canberra as it was in Versailles," she added. (Reuters)

Treasures of Versailles to go on display in Australia

She is emerging as the go-to star for big budget action blockbusters, knocking human and alien heads together in Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy&nbsp;and Star Trek. 
 
But 38-year-old US actress Zoe Saldana isn&#39;t averse to giving her real-life adversaries a kicking either, with Star Trek&nbsp;grandee George Takei and English James Bond&nbsp;novelist Anthony Horowitz the latest in her firing line. 
 
Takei - in the headlines last week for criticising the upcoming Star Trek Beyond&nbsp;for giving his old character Hikaru Sulu a gay back story - ought to get out more, according to Saldana. 
 
&quot;I think that he&#39;s still too personally attached to this character that he created and I think that he needs to find that line between his personal life and this character,&quot; she told AFP ahead of the movie&#39;s July 22 US release. 
 
Openly-gay Takei took to Facebook on Wednesday to say that while he was &quot;delighted&quot; with the idea of LGBT characters in Star Trek, he didn&#39;t think writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung should &quot;tinker with an existing character&quot;. Pegg, along with current Sulu actor John Cho and other cast members have defended the decision, but have been less forthright in their responses to Takei&#39;s criticisms than Saldana, who suggested she found them insulting. 
 
&quot;Maybe that&#39;s not the way (Takei) played him, but that&#39;s the way we decided to go,&quot; the actress, who took on the role of Nyota Uhura from series original Nichelle Nichols, told AFP. 
 
&quot;It is an alternate universe and maybe Uhura is gay too and that&#39;s why her and Spock maybe may not work. Is Nichelle Nichols going to come and insult the whole franchise?&quot; 
 
&#39;I am black&#39; 
 
Saldana, born in the United States to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents, grew up in New York before moving to the Dominican Republic at the age of 10 when her father was killed in a car crash. 
 
Although ballet was her first love, she got into acting on her return to the US as a teenager and began bagging TV roles by the late 1990s.&nbsp;She appeared in more than a dozen films over the following decade, including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl&nbsp;in 2003 and, fittingly, as a Star Trek&nbsp;fan in Steven Spielberg&#39;s The Terminal&nbsp;in 2004. 
 
Her big break came, though, in the 2009 movie reboot of the Star Trek&nbsp;film series by JJ Abrams. 
 
She has since been exploring the far reaches of the universe as blue-skinned Na&#39;vi heroine Neytiri in James Cameron&#39;s Avatar&nbsp;(also 2009) and green alien assassin Gamora in Marvel&#39;s Guardians of the Galaxy.&nbsp;It was another kind of skin tone alteration that caused her the most controversy, when she became embroiled in a &quot;blacking up&quot; scandal earlier this year for her portrayal of African American singer Nina Simone. 
 
&quot;There&#39;s no one way to be black,&quot; the mother of 20-month-old twin boys told Allure magazine in response to the criticism that she had darkened her skin and worn facial prosthetics in the widely-panned &quot;Nina&quot;. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am black. I&#39;m raising black men. Don&#39;t you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain.&quot; 
 
&#39;No more space&#39; 
 
In fact, Saldana has spoken frequently about prejudice in Hollywood, whether it be the backlash against the gay Sulu storyline, sexism, ageism or racism. 
 
Star Trek Beyond&nbsp;is Saldana&#39;s third film with her friend Idris Elba, who found himself at the centre of a controversy last year when new James Bond novelist Anthony Horowitz described the actor as &quot;too street&quot; to play the spy.&nbsp;Saldana brings up the episode unprompted as she is singing Elba&#39;s praises, her expression darkening and her contagious smile contorting suddenly into a defiant sneer as she lets off a volley of one-syllable words you&#39;d never hear Uhura use. 
 
&quot;What kind of ignorant comment to make is that? Just say &#39;I don&#39;t see James Bond as a black man.&#39; I would respect that more than hiding behind some cowardly, stupid answer,&quot; Saldana said. 
 
Star Trek Beyond, a swash-buckling return to the knockabout fun of the first of the new films, looks likely to enjoy a generous reception from the critics, who gave a press screening in LA this week to an enthusiastic ovation. 
 
With the Guardians of the Galaxy&nbsp;sequel coming in 2017 and the announcement of a new Avatar&nbsp;movie, it seems Saldana&#39;s place in the stratosphere is safe for the foreseeable future. 
 
&quot;Hopefully that will be enough space for me for now. No more space,&quot; she said. 
 
(AFP)

Saldana blasted George Takei's criticism of making the Star Trek character 'Sulu' gay in the upcoming movie

She is emerging as the go-to star for big budget action blockbusters, knocking human and alien heads together in Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Trek. But 38-year-old US actress Zoe Saldana isn't averse to giving her real-life adversaries a kicking either, with Star Trek grandee George Takei and English James Bond novelist Anthony Horowitz the latest in her firing line. Takei - in the headlines last week for criticising the upcoming Star Trek Beyond for giving his old character Hikaru Sulu a gay back story - ought to get out more, according to Saldana. "I think that he's still too personally attached to this character that he created and I think that he needs to find that line between his personal life and this character," she told AFP ahead of the movie's July 22 US release. Openly-gay Takei took to Facebook on Wednesday to say that while he was "delighted" with the idea of LGBT characters in Star Trek, he didn't think writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung should "tinker with an existing character". Pegg, along with current Sulu actor John Cho and other cast members have defended the decision, but have been less forthright in their responses to Takei's criticisms than Saldana, who suggested she found them insulting. "Maybe that's not the way (Takei) played him, but that's the way we decided to go," the actress, who took on the role of Nyota Uhura from series original Nichelle Nichols, told AFP. "It is an alternate universe and maybe Uhura is gay too and that's why her and Spock maybe may not work. Is Nichelle Nichols going to come and insult the whole franchise?" 'I am black' Saldana, born in the United States to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents, grew up in New York before moving to the Dominican Republic at the age of 10 when her father was killed in a car crash. Although ballet was her first love, she got into acting on her return to the US as a teenager and began bagging TV roles by the late 1990s. She appeared in more than a dozen films over the following decade, including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003 and, fittingly, as a Star Trek fan in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal in 2004. Her big break came, though, in the 2009 movie reboot of the Star Trek film series by JJ Abrams. She has since been exploring the far reaches of the universe as blue-skinned Na'vi heroine Neytiri in James Cameron's Avatar (also 2009) and green alien assassin Gamora in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. It was another kind of skin tone alteration that caused her the most controversy, when she became embroiled in a "blacking up" scandal earlier this year for her portrayal of African American singer Nina Simone. "There's no one way to be black," the mother of 20-month-old twin boys told Allure magazine in response to the criticism that she had darkened her skin and worn facial prosthetics in the widely-panned "Nina". "I'm black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am black. I'm raising black men. Don't you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain." 'No more space' In fact, Saldana has spoken frequently about prejudice in Hollywood, whether it be the backlash against the gay Sulu storyline, sexism, ageism or racism. Star Trek Beyond is Saldana's third film with her friend Idris Elba, who found himself at the centre of a controversy last year when new James Bond novelist Anthony Horowitz described the actor as "too street" to play the spy. Saldana brings up the episode unprompted as she is singing Elba's praises, her expression darkening and her contagious smile contorting suddenly into a defiant sneer as she lets off a volley of one-syllable words you'd never hear Uhura use. "What kind of ignorant comment to make is that? Just say 'I don't see James Bond as a black man.' I would respect that more than hiding behind some cowardly, stupid answer," Saldana said. Star Trek Beyond, a swash-buckling return to the knockabout fun of the first of the new films, looks likely to enjoy a generous reception from the critics, who gave a press screening in LA this week to an enthusiastic ovation. With the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel coming in 2017 and the announcement of a new Avatar movie, it seems Saldana's place in the stratosphere is safe for the foreseeable future. "Hopefully that will be enough space for me for now. No more space," she said. (AFP)

Zoe Saldana: action heroine fights in real and reel life

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural&nbsp;Organisation&nbsp;(UNESCO) today listed Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier&#39;s works, including the Indian city of Chandigarh which he planned in the 1950s, among its World Heritage Sites.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The decision was announced as the World Heritage committee meeting in Istanbul resumed for a day today, after being suspended a day earlier due to an abortive putsch bid in Turkey which claimed 161 lives.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;chosen creations of Le Corbusier&nbsp;include 17 sites across seven countries - France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, Japan and India - to show the global reach of the work of Charles-Edouard&nbsp;Jeanneret-Gris.&nbsp; 
 
The man who changed the world 
 
It&nbsp;wouldn&#39;t be an overstatement to say that a few people have changed the world we live in more than&nbsp;Le Corbusier, one of the fathers of modern architecture. 
 
From&nbsp;his&nbsp;modernist&nbsp;master&nbsp;planning&nbsp;of Chandigarh in northern India to Paris, which he dreamed of levelling to make way for his own more rational city, the Swiss-born designer was never afraid of thinking big.&nbsp;His ideas about utilitarian concrete buildings have altered the face of cities across the planet and have had an equally profound influence on urban planning.

He left his greatest mark on France, his adopted home, where no less than 10 of the 17 projects which UNESCO classified as world heritage sites are located.&nbsp;

From the La Cite&nbsp;Radieuse&nbsp;housing project in Marseille to the Dominican monastery of La Tourette near Lyon and La Villa&nbsp;Savoye&nbsp;near Paris, it is also where he left some of his greatest masterpieces.&nbsp;

His designs for functional apartment blocks surrounded by parks dominated France&#39;s postwar urban planning until eight years after his death in 1965 when it became clear that many were depressing and anonymous, and blamed for urban alienation.&nbsp;

&quot;You have to put him in context,&quot; said Vanessa Fernandez an expert at the Paris-Belleville School of Architecture.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&quot;He came from an incredible avant-garde in the 1930s&quot; when building techniques had yet to catch up with architects&#39;&nbsp;ideas.&nbsp;

&quot;After the war in the face of a baby boom and slum housing they had to build three million homes in 30 years.&quot;&nbsp;

Some of his &quot;vertical cities&quot; were adored by their residents, particularly his Marseille block built in 1945.&nbsp;

When the Mediterranean city was made a European cultural capital three years ago, La Cite&nbsp;Radieuse&nbsp;was one of its most visited attractions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Le Corbusier allowed light to bath the double-aspect duplexes with their open plan kitchens, then a design revolution.&nbsp;

Inside everything was planned to Le Corbusier&#39;s own human scale he called the &quot;modular&quot;, based on his ideal man, who, added Fernandez, was &quot;handsome, sporty and six foot&nbsp;tall&quot;.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;image, in fact, of the perfect Aryan. For the architect was also &quot;an out-and-out fascist&quot;, Xavier de&nbsp;Jarcy, one of his biographers&nbsp;said.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Another biographer, Francois&nbsp;Chaslin, said he was a longtime far-right supporter, who was &quot;active for 20 years in groups with a very clear ideology&quot;.&nbsp;

He said his anti-Semitic beliefs were &quot;kept hidden&quot; long after his death to protect his architectural legacy.&nbsp;

Soon after arriving in Paris in 1920 Le Corbusier hooked up with Pierre Winter, a doctor who headed France&#39;s Revolutionary Fascist Party, and worked with him to create the urban planning journal &quot;Plans&quot;. When it closed, they started another called &quot;Prelude&quot;.&nbsp;

Jarcy&nbsp;said that Le Corbusier wrote in support of Nazi anti-Semitism in &quot;Plans&quot; and in &quot;Prelude&quot; co-wrote &quot;hateful editorials&quot;.&nbsp;

His 1925 urban plan to flatten the historic&nbsp;centre&nbsp;of Paris included razing the Marais, a district long home to the capital&#39;s Jewish community.&nbsp;

In October 1940, after France had fallen to the Nazis, Le Corbusier wrote to his mother, &quot;Hitler can crown his life with a great work: the planned lay-out of Europe.&quot;&nbsp;

Writer Marc&nbsp;Perelmen, who has investigated the architect&#39;s ideas for more than three decades, said that Le&nbsp;Corbusiers&#39;s&nbsp;political and architectural ideas &quot;are viewed separately, whereas they are one and the same thing&quot;.&nbsp;

Born in Switzerland in 1887 as Charles-Edouard&nbsp;Jeanneret-Gris, the architect moved to Paris at 20 and adopted his maternal grandfather&#39;s name to show that man was capable of reinventing itself.&nbsp;

That was certainly true of his own life.&nbsp;

Despite his links with the wartime collaborationist Vichy regime, when he drowned in the sea&nbsp;metres&nbsp;from his famously tiny cabin he had built for himself on the French Riviera, he was given a state funeral at the Louvre.&nbsp;

(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

One of the fathers of modern architecture, the Franco-Swiss architect's ideas are known to have altered the face of cities around the world

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) today listed Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier's works, including the Indian city of Chandigarh which he planned in the 1950s, among its World Heritage Sites. The decision was announced as the World Heritage committee meeting in Istanbul resumed for a day today, after being suspended a day earlier due to an abortive putsch bid in Turkey which claimed 161 lives. The chosen creations of Le Corbusier include 17 sites across seven countries - France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, Japan and India - to show the global reach of the work of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris. The man who changed the world It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that a few people have changed the world we live in more than Le Corbusier, one of the fathers of modern architecture. From his modernist master planning of Chandigarh in northern India to Paris, which he dreamed of levelling to make way for his own more rational city, the Swiss-born designer was never afraid of thinking big. His ideas about utilitarian concrete buildings have altered the face of cities across the planet and have had an equally profound influence on urban planning. He left his greatest mark on France, his adopted home, where no less than 10 of the 17 projects which UNESCO classified as world heritage sites are located. From the La Cite Radieuse housing project in Marseille to the Dominican monastery of La Tourette near Lyon and La Villa Savoye near Paris, it is also where he left some of his greatest masterpieces. His designs for functional apartment blocks surrounded by parks dominated France's postwar urban planning until eight years after his death in 1965 when it became clear that many were depressing and anonymous, and blamed for urban alienation. "You have to put him in context," said Vanessa Fernandez an expert at the Paris-Belleville School of Architecture. "He came from an incredible avant-garde in the 1930s" when building techniques had yet to catch up with architects' ideas. "After the war in the face of a baby boom and slum housing they had to build three million homes in 30 years." Some of his "vertical cities" were adored by their residents, particularly his Marseille block built in 1945. When the Mediterranean city was made a European cultural capital three years ago, La Cite Radieuse was one of its most visited attractions. Le Corbusier allowed light to bath the double-aspect duplexes with their open plan kitchens, then a design revolution. Inside everything was planned to Le Corbusier's own human scale he called the "modular", based on his ideal man, who, added Fernandez, was "handsome, sporty and six foot tall". The image, in fact, of the perfect Aryan. For the architect was also "an out-and-out fascist", Xavier de Jarcy, one of his biographers said. Another biographer, Francois Chaslin, said he was a longtime far-right supporter, who was "active for 20 years in groups with a very clear ideology". He said his anti-Semitic beliefs were "kept hidden" long after his death to protect his architectural legacy. Soon after arriving in Paris in 1920 Le Corbusier hooked up with Pierre Winter, a doctor who headed France's Revolutionary Fascist Party, and worked with him to create the urban planning journal "Plans". When it closed, they started another called "Prelude". Jarcy said that Le Corbusier wrote in support of Nazi anti-Semitism in "Plans" and in "Prelude" co-wrote "hateful editorials". His 1925 urban plan to flatten the historic centre of Paris included razing the Marais, a district long home to the capital's Jewish community. In October 1940, after France had fallen to the Nazis, Le Corbusier wrote to his mother, "Hitler can crown his life with a great work: the planned lay-out of Europe." Writer Marc Perelmen, who has investigated the architect's ideas for more than three decades, said that Le Corbusiers's political and architectural ideas "are viewed separately, whereas they are one and the same thing". Born in Switzerland in 1887 as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, the architect moved to Paris at 20 and adopted his maternal grandfather's name to show that man was capable of reinventing itself. That was certainly true of his own life. Despite his links with the wartime collaborationist Vichy regime, when he drowned in the sea metres from his famously tiny cabin he had built for himself on the French Riviera, he was given a state funeral at the Louvre. (AFP)

UNESCO lists Le Corbusier's works among World Heritage Sites

Thousands of Kate Bush fans put on their best billowy red dresses and danced en masse in Melbourne today to one of the singer&#39;s most iconic songs Wuthering Heights. 
 
They donned matching red stockings and black wigs to mark The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, a re-enactment of the British star&#39;s classic 1978 debut music video in which she pirouettes and cartwheels in a misty field. 
 
Bush&#39;s distinctive voice and performance-art&ndash;style videos gained a global cult following and in 2013 theatre group Shambush gathered nearly 300 Kate Bushes to recreate her iconic frolic in the English city of Brighton. 
 
This inspired the Melbourne event, which has taken on a life of its own with similar dances also planned today in 21 cities around the world, coordinator Douglas Leitch said, including Berlin, Oslo, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. 
 
&quot;The whole idea really is just to get together and have fun and do our unique interpretation of the dance,&quot; the 44-year-old, who had an overwhelming response after advertising the day on Facebook, told AFP. 
 
He said at least 800 dresses had been bought for the occasion, with dance classes booked out across Melbourne as people prepared. Organisers today estimated around 2,000 people, young and old, took part. 
 
&quot;It is such a unique song from a unique artist. It resonates with people and that&#39;s why it&#39;s lasted,&quot; added Leitch. 
 
&quot;I don&#39;t know if Kate knows it&#39;s happening, because she&#39;s a bit of a recluse, but I&#39;m sure she might.&quot; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Fans donned matching red stockings and black wigs to mark The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, a re-enactment of her 1978 debut music video

Thousands of Kate Bush fans put on their best billowy red dresses and danced en masse in Melbourne today to one of the singer's most iconic songs Wuthering Heights. They donned matching red stockings and black wigs to mark The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, a re-enactment of the British star's classic 1978 debut music video in which she pirouettes and cartwheels in a misty field. Bush's distinctive voice and performance-art–style videos gained a global cult following and in 2013 theatre group Shambush gathered nearly 300 Kate Bushes to recreate her iconic frolic in the English city of Brighton. This inspired the Melbourne event, which has taken on a life of its own with similar dances also planned today in 21 cities around the world, coordinator Douglas Leitch said, including Berlin, Oslo, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. "The whole idea really is just to get together and have fun and do our unique interpretation of the dance," the 44-year-old, who had an overwhelming response after advertising the day on Facebook, told AFP. He said at least 800 dresses had been bought for the occasion, with dance classes booked out across Melbourne as people prepared. Organisers today estimated around 2,000 people, young and old, took part. "It is such a unique song from a unique artist. It resonates with people and that's why it's lasted," added Leitch. "I don't know if Kate knows it's happening, because she's a bit of a recluse, but I'm sure she might." (AFP)

2,000 fans re-enact Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights in Australia

Kids and adults were seen enjoying getting dirty on the first day of annual mud festival in the South Korean coastal city of Boryeong today. 
 
According to the event organiser, about 580,000 locals and foreigners gathered to &#39;get messy&#39; at the city&#39;s 19th Mud Festival in Boryeong, located about 190km (120 miles) southwest of Seoul. 
 
&#39;I feel like a child&#39; 
 
The festival ritual is the same for all visitors as they arrive in clean clothes and soon get very dirty - so much so that they can hardly recognise themselves. 
 
&quot;I feel like a child again. I feel like when I was a little kid I used to run around at home and played in the mud and my mom always get mad at me. But now I can do whatever I want. So it&#39;s awesome to come back here enjoying myself with my friends having a great time. So it has been a lot of fun,&quot; 31-year-old US citizen, Anthony Lopeze, said. 
 
Some areas of the festival site allowed revellers to play in mud wrestling pits filled with grayish goo, as well as so-called mud prisons and also in mud baths. 
 
&quot;Actually it&#39;s pretty fun I grew up on the island, I&#39;m from island Guam. I&#39;m used be being outdoors, and I miss just like the outdoors. I enjoyed the mud I&#39;m used to being on the beach and I&#39;d just love the being outside,&quot; said Flores Rico, 23-year-old US citizen. 
 
Many South Korean families from various regions also enjoyed the muddy experience with their children. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re from a different region. It took about five hours by bus to be here. I&#39;m so happy to come Boryeong Mud Festival with my son and have a good time,&quot; 48-year-old South Korean father, Jeong Sang-yong said. 
 
The nine-day festival will continue until July 24. 
 
(Reuters)

Some areas of the festival site allowed revellers to play in mud wrestling pits filled with grayish goo

Kids and adults were seen enjoying getting dirty on the first day of annual mud festival in the South Korean coastal city of Boryeong today. According to the event organiser, about 580,000 locals and foreigners gathered to 'get messy' at the city's 19th Mud Festival in Boryeong, located about 190km (120 miles) southwest of Seoul. 'I feel like a child' The festival ritual is the same for all visitors as they arrive in clean clothes and soon get very dirty - so much so that they can hardly recognise themselves. "I feel like a child again. I feel like when I was a little kid I used to run around at home and played in the mud and my mom always get mad at me. But now I can do whatever I want. So it's awesome to come back here enjoying myself with my friends having a great time. So it has been a lot of fun," 31-year-old US citizen, Anthony Lopeze, said. Some areas of the festival site allowed revellers to play in mud wrestling pits filled with grayish goo, as well as so-called mud prisons and also in mud baths. "Actually it's pretty fun I grew up on the island, I'm from island Guam. I'm used be being outdoors, and I miss just like the outdoors. I enjoyed the mud I'm used to being on the beach and I'd just love the being outside," said Flores Rico, 23-year-old US citizen. Many South Korean families from various regions also enjoyed the muddy experience with their children. "We're from a different region. It took about five hours by bus to be here. I'm so happy to come Boryeong Mud Festival with my son and have a good time," 48-year-old South Korean father, Jeong Sang-yong said. The nine-day festival will continue until July 24. (Reuters)

580,000 locals, foreigners gather to 'get messy' on first day of South Korea's annual mud festival

Thousands of people gathered in France on Thursday to smash two records, for the world&#39;s longest picnic and the world&#39;s longest table cloth. 
 
The sun shone on the record breakers in Laval, north-west France, as they unravelled their 20 kilometre-long (12 miles) red and white check table cloth alongside the Mayenne river towpath. 
 
Hungry supporters of the attempt also brought ample quantities of bread, cheese and wine to try to break a second record -- for the world&#39;s longest picnic. 
 
The picnickers managed to stretch out for 2.5 kilometres, beating the 1.7 kilometres previously managed in South Africa. 
 
Both new records have yet to be verified by Guinness World Records. 
 
The length of the table cloth -- 20,427 metres to be precise -- was measured on a motor scooter by Isabelle Bouvet. 
 
The &quot;slightly crazy&quot; idea was the brainchild of Anne-Marie Amoros, the head of a local radio station who wanted to use the stunt to promote the area. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s an excuse for people to meet, to share an experience,&quot; she said. 
 
She used a fundraising website to persuade supporters to buy metres of tablecloth for 5 euros a piece ($5.50). 
 
(AFP)

The picnickers managed to stretch out for 2.5 kilometres, beating the 1.7 kilometres previously managed in South Africa

Thousands of people gathered in France on Thursday to smash two records, for the world's longest picnic and the world's longest table cloth. The sun shone on the record breakers in Laval, north-west France, as they unravelled their 20 kilometre-long (12 miles) red and white check table cloth alongside the Mayenne river towpath. Hungry supporters of the attempt also brought ample quantities of bread, cheese and wine to try to break a second record -- for the world's longest picnic. The picnickers managed to stretch out for 2.5 kilometres, beating the 1.7 kilometres previously managed in South Africa. Both new records have yet to be verified by Guinness World Records. The length of the table cloth -- 20,427 metres to be precise -- was measured on a motor scooter by Isabelle Bouvet. The "slightly crazy" idea was the brainchild of Anne-Marie Amoros, the head of a local radio station who wanted to use the stunt to promote the area. "It's an excuse for people to meet, to share an experience," she said. She used a fundraising website to persuade supporters to buy metres of tablecloth for 5 euros a piece ($5.50). (AFP)

French record breakers stage longest picnic on longest table cloth

His father wanted him to become a lawyer, and he nearly did. 
 
But Massimo Bottura&#39;s obsession with cooking instead has paid off: his restaurant, the Osteria Francescana, may have put the noses of conservative Italian chefs out of joint, but it now boasts the title &quot;best in the world&quot;. 
 
Set in the heart of Modena in northern Italy, the Osteria already boasted three Michelin stars before it snapped up first prize at the World&#39;s 50 Best Restaurants Awards in June thanks to a creative cuisine that reinvents Italian traditional dishes. 
 
Winning was a &quot;very emotional&quot; experience, Bottura told AFP, though he said one of the main differences between first and second place on the prestigious list was &quot;the number of interviews&quot; he is now asked to give. 
 
With its blue-grey walls, taupe carpet, artworks on the walls and photographs of the singer Edith Piaf, there are just 12 tables and most diners come for the tasting menu, with its 220 Euro ($245) price tag. 
 
The fare may be world class but this osteria does not take itself too seriously. A wax sculpture of a security guard by American artist Duane Hanson startles diners at the front entrance. The levity continues once seated. 
 
Dish names include &quot;An eel swimming up the Po River&quot; and &quot;Yellow is bello&quot;. 
 
Bespectacled Bottura, 53, worked on one of his signature creations, &quot;Memory of a mortadella sandwich&quot;, for four years. 
 
&#39;Follow your palate&#39; : 
 
&quot;I rely on my past, but I look at it critically and without nostalgia&nbsp;because I want to bring the best of the past into the future,&quot; he says. 
 
He says he has always &quot;sought to look at the world from under the table, with the eyes of a child stealing the pasta his grandmother&quot; is making from scratch. 
 
The kitchen -- and the table he hid under while his grandmother fought off his quick-fingered brothers with a rolling pin -- became &quot;my safety place&quot;. 
 
When he was 23-years old Bottura, who was famous for rustling up culinary delights for his friends, dropped his law studies to open a Trattoria in Campazzo, in the countryside around Modena in the Po River Valley. 
 
On his days off, he would study with French chef Georges Cogny, who had a restaurant two hours away. 
 
&quot;He said to me: &#39;always follow your palate&nbsp;because you have a great palate which will make Modena known around the world&#39;.&quot; 
 
Two years and an interlude in New York later, it was another Frenchman that changed his destiny, Alain Ducasse. 
 
After the Provencal food guru came to Bottura&#39;s Trattoria, the Italian ended up going to work for him in Monte Carlo for a time. 
 
Ducasse had a huge influence on him: &quot;He taught me to be obsessed: obsessed with quality ingredients, obsessed with detail&quot;. 
 
Back in Modena in 1995, he opened the Osteria. Never satisfied, he jumped at the chance five years later to learn from another great master, Spanish giant Ferran Adria. 
 
Adria taught Bottura the &quot;freedom to be creative&quot;, to think that &quot;a sardine can be worth as much as a lobster, but it all depends on whose hands it is in.&quot; 
 
&#39;Mouthfuls of passion&#39;: 
 
Bottura begins with local products and messes around with traditional recipes, drawing for inspiration on everything from his childhood kitchen to poetry, art, and music, &quot;compressing my passions into mouthfuls&quot;. 
 
His philosophy and creations at first perplexed and even angered Italy&#39;s culinary old guard. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s ironic, isn&#39;t it? Ten years ago they wanted to string me up in the main square because I &#39;destroyed&#39; our grandmothers&#39; recipes.&quot; 
 
With the world prize in the bag, Bottura turns his mind back to his social projects, particularly his war on food waste. 
 
His next big gig will see him set up a cafeteria in Rio which will transform leftover food from the Olympic Games Village into free meals for the poor living in the Brazilian city&#39;s favelas. 
 
Everything the excitable chef does comes with the support of his American wife Lara Gilmore, who left New York for him and gave the ok ay for his Spanish adventure even though she was pregnant at the time. 
 
&quot;I fell in love with Massimo&#39;s kitchen before actually falling in love with him,&quot; she says. 
 
&quot;He really got me with his creamy velvet artichoke soup.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

His next big gig will be in Rio which will transform leftover food from the Olympic Games Village into free meals for the poor

His father wanted him to become a lawyer, and he nearly did. But Massimo Bottura's obsession with cooking instead has paid off: his restaurant, the Osteria Francescana, may have put the noses of conservative Italian chefs out of joint, but it now boasts the title "best in the world". Set in the heart of Modena in northern Italy, the Osteria already boasted three Michelin stars before it snapped up first prize at the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards in June thanks to a creative cuisine that reinvents Italian traditional dishes. Winning was a "very emotional" experience, Bottura told AFP, though he said one of the main differences between first and second place on the prestigious list was "the number of interviews" he is now asked to give. With its blue-grey walls, taupe carpet, artworks on the walls and photographs of the singer Edith Piaf, there are just 12 tables and most diners come for the tasting menu, with its 220 Euro ($245) price tag. The fare may be world class but this osteria does not take itself too seriously. A wax sculpture of a security guard by American artist Duane Hanson startles diners at the front entrance. The levity continues once seated. Dish names include "An eel swimming up the Po River" and "Yellow is bello". Bespectacled Bottura, 53, worked on one of his signature creations, "Memory of a mortadella sandwich", for four years. 'Follow your palate' : "I rely on my past, but I look at it critically and without nostalgia because I want to bring the best of the past into the future," he says. He says he has always "sought to look at the world from under the table, with the eyes of a child stealing the pasta his grandmother" is making from scratch. The kitchen -- and the table he hid under while his grandmother fought off his quick-fingered brothers with a rolling pin -- became "my safety place". When he was 23-years old Bottura, who was famous for rustling up culinary delights for his friends, dropped his law studies to open a Trattoria in Campazzo, in the countryside around Modena in the Po River Valley. On his days off, he would study with French chef Georges Cogny, who had a restaurant two hours away. "He said to me: 'always follow your palate because you have a great palate which will make Modena known around the world'." Two years and an interlude in New York later, it was another Frenchman that changed his destiny, Alain Ducasse. After the Provencal food guru came to Bottura's Trattoria, the Italian ended up going to work for him in Monte Carlo for a time. Ducasse had a huge influence on him: "He taught me to be obsessed: obsessed with quality ingredients, obsessed with detail". Back in Modena in 1995, he opened the Osteria. Never satisfied, he jumped at the chance five years later to learn from another great master, Spanish giant Ferran Adria. Adria taught Bottura the "freedom to be creative", to think that "a sardine can be worth as much as a lobster, but it all depends on whose hands it is in." 'Mouthfuls of passion': Bottura begins with local products and messes around with traditional recipes, drawing for inspiration on everything from his childhood kitchen to poetry, art, and music, "compressing my passions into mouthfuls". His philosophy and creations at first perplexed and even angered Italy's culinary old guard. "It's ironic, isn't it? Ten years ago they wanted to string me up in the main square because I 'destroyed' our grandmothers' recipes." With the world prize in the bag, Bottura turns his mind back to his social projects, particularly his war on food waste. His next big gig will see him set up a cafeteria in Rio which will transform leftover food from the Olympic Games Village into free meals for the poor living in the Brazilian city's favelas. Everything the excitable chef does comes with the support of his American wife Lara Gilmore, who left New York for him and gave the ok ay for his Spanish adventure even though she was pregnant at the time. "I fell in love with Massimo's kitchen before actually falling in love with him," she says. "He really got me with his creamy velvet artichoke soup." (AFP)

Meet Massimo Bottura, chef of the world'd best restaurant

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, 72, is to become a father again for the eighth time. 
 
A spokesman for the veteran rock band on Friday confirmed media reports saying that Jagger&#39;s girlfriend, 29-year-old American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, was pregnant. 
 
Jagger, who turns 73 on July 26, already has seven children. He became a great-grandfather in 2014. 
 
Jagger&#39;s band-mate Ronnie Wood became a father again at the age of 68 in May, when his wife Sally, 38, gave birth to twin girls. 
 
(Reuters)

A spokesperson for the veteran singer said Jagger's girlfriend, 29-year-old American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, was pregnant

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, 72, is to become a father again for the eighth time. A spokesman for the veteran rock band on Friday confirmed media reports saying that Jagger's girlfriend, 29-year-old American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, was pregnant. Jagger, who turns 73 on July 26, already has seven children. He became a great-grandfather in 2014. Jagger's band-mate Ronnie Wood became a father again at the age of 68 in May, when his wife Sally, 38, gave birth to twin girls. (Reuters)

Mick Jagger to become father again for eighth time, at age 72

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