AFP Video: The Sand Storm |
- AFP Video: The Sand Storm
- Seven arrests in English spot-fixing probe
- A video that condenses 23 Michelin stars in 60 seconds (VIDEO)
- Sir Richard Branson reveals new details on ‘Virgin Hotels’
- Why Xi Jinping and the Pope should compare notes — William Pesek
| Posted: 03 Apr 2014 05:56 PM PDT Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is the subject of a short crowd-funded sci-fi film, 'The Sand Storm,' (or '沙尘暴') directed by TED Talks co-founder Jason Wishnow with cinematography from Chris Doyle.  |
| Seven arrests in English spot-fixing probe Posted: 03 Apr 2014 05:47 PM PDT
The 13 men, aged between 18 and 30, were being interviewed at police stations across Britain as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and money laundering, the NCA said. The original six suspects were arrested in December following an undercover investigation by British newspaper The Sun on Sunday. They were bailed to return on April 8. The newspaper said that former Portsmouth player Sam Sodje had allegedly told an undercover reporter he could arrange for players to get booked during English second-tier matches in return for tens of thousands of pounds. The 34-year-old also claimed that he could fix matches in the Premier League and was even prepared to rig games at this year's World Cup in Brazil, the newspaper reported. Blackburn Rovers striker DJ Campbell was confirmed to be one of the six players who had been arrested in December, while Oldham Athletic pledged to conduct an investigation after one of their players was implicated. In a statement, English football's governing body, the Football Association, said: "The FA has been made aware of developments in relation to an ongoing NCA investigation, including a number of further arrests. "We are liaising with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time." — AFP |
| A video that condenses 23 Michelin stars in 60 seconds (VIDEO) Posted: 03 Apr 2014 05:45 PM PDT LONDON, April 4 ― If you've never had the chance to dine at a Michelin-starred restaurant, a new 60-second video takes viewers on a culinary journey across a constellation of restaurants that collectively boasts 23 stars. It's food porn at its best, providing rapid-fire shots of kitchens at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, The Fat Duck, Hibiscus, Mugaritz, and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. Set to the soundtrack of "Food, Glorious Food," from the musical "Oliver!," the video goes behind the scenes into the making of edible art worthy of a Michelin star. Seafood stocks simmer, eggplants are blistered over an open fire, and artichoke hearts sizzle in a pan of fat in a dizzying montage of food porn. The video was produced by Oramatv.com for The Staff Canteen, a YouTube channel created for professional chefs and food lovers. Watch the video at http://bit.ly/1mD3D92. ― AFP-Relaxnews
|
| Sir Richard Branson reveals new details on ‘Virgin Hotels’ Posted: 03 Apr 2014 05:42 PM PDT
According to information outlined in a new infographic released from Virgin, the inaugural Virgin Hotel is slated to open in Chicago's central business district, The Loop, and feature 210 rooms, 38 suites, and 2 'Rock Star' rooms. And in line with the brand's overall branding strategy, Virgin Hotels will target a creative, high-income audience by pitching a "sophisticated hotel experience." Other specs for the hotel include a rooftop lounge, the Boheme, two restaurants, a coffee and wine bar; gym, yoga and relaxation center; business area, theater and dance floor. The hotel takes over the 27-storey landmark Old Dearborn Bank Building and is expected to open in September. Target markets for the development of Virgin Hotels include major global cities around the world including New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Madrid and Sao Paulo. Expect the hotel brand to represent Branson's signature flashy, brash style: audacious and innovative. Branson has also expressed interest in moving his Virgin brand into the cruise industry, telling German business daily Handelsblatt that he's already in negotiations with shipyards in Italy and Germany. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Why Xi Jinping and the Pope should compare notes — William Pesek Posted: 03 Apr 2014 05:28 PM PDT April 4 — Xi Jinping and Jorge Mario Bergoglio would seem like natural enemies. The Chinese president runs a government that squashes religious freedom, limits procreation and has a dismal human-rights record. Bergoglio — better known as Pope Francis — wants access to Xi's many citizens in order to spread the Catholic Church's teachings, challenge the Communist Party's hold on dogma and even reach out to North Korea. Yet these world leaders should really be sharing notes. The tasks facing the two men who took office just one day apart in 2013 are surprisingly similar — and not just because both lead flocks that number more than 1 billion people each, notes Stephan Richter, publisher of online magazine the Globalist. "This is only where the stunning parallels start," writes Richter. "China's Communist Party and the Catholic Church share more than certain organisational characteristics, including being heavily male-dominated power structures. In addition, they both offer up ideologies or faith systems with an absolutist claim. That isn't an easy proposition in an era when fewer and fewer people are inclined to adhere to such rigid propositions." When you look at the daunting challenges facing Xi and the pope, you really have to wonder if this is a matter of what Richter calls "two shepherds, two cultural revolutions." Both have lots of housekeeping to do to shake up rigid bureaucracies that traffic more in ethical failures and corruption than their predecessors wanted to admit. Both are redoubling efforts to reduce poverty. Both face powerful and shadowy resistance to their pledged reforms. Both the Communist Party and the Vatican suffer from disillusionment and a loss of legitimacy among the masses. And, despite the best of intentions, it's entirely unclear if either man will succeed. Pope Francis, of course, has made headlines for saying and doing previously unthinkable things. Purging and investigating church leaders who were once thought untouchable — including those involved with the Vatican Bank — is causing shock waves. So are the pontiff's moves to take on the church's biggest scandals. His call for bishops around the globe to poll Catholics about the appeal of church teachings is a revolutionary step all its own. Xi, too, seems to be trying to purge the system. He spent the first 12 months in office solidifying his power base. As Year 2 begins, though, the gloves may be coming off. The investigation into ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang and his family and cronies — which has netted an estimated $14.5 billion worth of illegitimate assets — may be the biggest corruption probe in modern history. Also this week, a former senior military officer, General Gu Junshan, was charged with misuse of state funds and abuse of power. Retired General Xu Caihou, a former vice chairman of the military commission under former President Hu Jintao, is also being investigated for corruption. These moves suggest Xi's anti-graft campaign could go deeper than officialdom anticipated. It's early, and Xi could just be looking for some easy targets to buttress his good- governance bona fides — or just robbing Peter to pay Paul. But it's hard to exaggerate the chilling effect all this is having in Beijing. Should these purges continue, Xi would have a freer hand to turn his big rhetoric of changing China's growth model into reality. After all, getting China's government out of the economy requires reining in the powerful state-owned enterprises and shadow-banking interests that enrich party members. Just as a kind of mafia inside the Vatican's "Roman Curia" bureaucracy has much to lose from Pope Francis's shakeup, the many millionaires and billionaires China Inc. has created are facing uncomfortable scrutiny. Xi knows that ultimately he will have to stamp out the land grabs, illicit trading, insider trading and rent seeking that have tarnished Beijing's image if he is to promote real change. Xi also seems to understand, like the pope, that he needs to develop a better sense of his flock's grievances and concerns. Along with his roles as president, military chief and party general secretary, Xi recently added Internet czar. While aimed at silencing dissent, the move is also about gauging public opinion. What's the biggest threat to the Communist Party's legitimacy — graft, slowing economic growth, pollution, lavish lifestyles of public officials or the one-child policy? Sinister as it is, obsessive monitoring of chat rooms and microblogging sites gives Xi a window into his subjects' thinking. The big question is how far these men will go to make opaque and excessively top-down organisations more transparent. I'll defer to Vaticanologists on Pope Francis, but I fear there's a limit to what Xi will do in his 10 years in office. "Bringing more openness is a risky manoeuvre, not just because it will raise the ire of many insiders," Richter explains. "It can also easily turn into the proverbial Pandora's box." Even so, it's heartening to see Xi beginning to address the official corruption eating away at China's political soul. And if he ever needs a comrade to chew things over with, he may find one in the most unexpected of places. — Bloomberg View * William Pesek is a Bloomberg columnist. **This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malay Mail Online | All To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
