Life in North Korea: lies, potatoes and cable TV

(NORTH, THEIR, PEOPLE, STATE, REFUGEES, GENERAL)

By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Koreans who recently arrived in the South live in a world of contradictions where their upbringing instills them with reverence for Kim Jong-il but their daily struggle leads them to believe he is a brutal despot.
By all accounts, they say North Korea is gradually spiralling out of control, its economy dysfunctional while people are suspicious of one another because of a network of informants.
They also speak of a sense of normalcy in the North. Most left for the chance of a better life in the South but they are uncertain if they can find their way in the competitive capitalist state.
The following is a snapshot of life in North Korea, compiled from accounts given by refugees who recently arrived in the South. Their identities are not disclosed because they fear persecution for family and relatives back home.
"SAD TO SEE THE DEAR GENERAL SO FEEBLE"
It is a political crime to talk about the family of leader Kim Jong-il but many recently arrived refugees said the average North Korean is probably aware of foreign media reports that Kim`s youngest son Jong-un may likely take over. Most North Koreans have no idea that Kim, 67 and thought to have suffered a stroke a year ago, has three sons.
"In Pyongyang, you take it for granted that leadership will be inherited," one refugee Park said, adding she knew Kim Jong-il had two daughters and a son and his name was Jong-nam. That is the portly and oldest of Kim`s three known sons, believed to have fallen from his father`s favor years ago after being arrested for trying to enter Japan on a forged passport.
"I don`t want to say Kim Jong-il is bad," another refugee Choi said. "It`s the people who report to him who are not doing their job right. They make false reports." Choi said she knew from experience that crop production is something that gets most often falsified "so as not to make the General worry."
Most refugees still call Kim Jong-il the "General" as has been taught to them by state propaganda and have bought into, at least partially, his carefully crafted cult of personality.
Park said she knows Kim often stays up at night worried about the lives of the people. "It is true that he has sacrificed so much for the people," she said. "The general has aged a lot," she said of her impression of seeing recent pictures of Kim looking frail and perhaps debilitated by the stroke.
"SOLDIERS FOR FIGHTING? NOT HERE"
North Korea is the world`s most militarized state compared to its population with a standing army of more than 1.1 million. Service is mandatory and can be as long as 10 years. The might of the army is "invincible," according to state media but the refugees are rather cynical about the ill equipped force.
"When I look at them, the army that I`ve seen will be busy running away from a war," another refugee Kim said. "Maybe they have the real army for war kept away at some other place."
Low morale and corruption in the military are so widespread that it is the norm rather than the exception for soldiers to be extorting bribes from merchants crossing the Chinese border.
"We say something is wrong with you if you did not save enough in 10 years of service at the border to go home, get married and start a family," Kim said.  Continued...
Original article

Book Talk: Author Adichie doesn`t mind her own business

(ADICHIE, NOVEL, FICTION, STORIES, ABOUT, STORY)

By Pauline Askin
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a professional eavesdropper: she admits a lot of what she writes is based on what she`s overheard.
Adichie, whose second novel "Half of a Yellow Sun" won her the Orange Prize for fiction in 2007, says that while most of her characters are inspired by the stories her family tell, she`s also heard some incredible tales at cafes in the United States or while shopping at markets back home.
She recently released a collection of short stories, "The Thing Around Your Neck," that tell even more tales -- deceptively simple stories set in Nigeria and abroad that explore complex themes such as loneliness, cultural alienation and relationships.
Born in Nigeria in 1977, Adichie grew up in the university town of Nsukka. She moved to the United States to attend college, graduating with a major in communication and also holds masters degrees in creative writing and African studies.
Adichie`s first novel, 2003`s "Purple Hibiscus," earned her rave reviews, the Best First Book award in the Commonwealth Writers` Prize and comparisons with renowned Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, author of the widely read "Things Fall Apart."
Adichie, who was in Sydney recently to attend a writers` festival, spoke to Reuters about the art of telling stories:
Q: You are praised for your story-telling abilities. How different is a story-teller from an author?
A: "I don`t know really. I think of myself as a story teller. I think there are writers that are less interested in stories in the conventional sense and more interested in using words to create atmosphere or mood."
Q: So what inspired the stories in your book?
A: "I love eavesdropping! For me fiction is using stories I have heard or read or seen, so I`m very much an eavesdropper. I never mind my business and I ask people personal questions and I use it in my fiction, but I make changes to it. So a lot of my fiction starts from that, from real stories. Not necessarily about myself, I don`t like writing about myself."
Q: What do you find attractive about the short story format compared to the novels you`ve written?
A: "I like both forms really. Sometimes there`s a sense when people talk about short stories as somehow they are the less accomplished sibling of the novel. I think both are complete forms and both difficult to write."
Q: What does the title of your book signify?
A: "`The Thing Around Your Neck` is the title of one of the stories in the book. It`s about immigration, about the alienation one feels when one leaves home and goes to a different place. In some ways most of the stories are about that, so it seemed right to make sense to call it that."
Q: What other themes run through your book?  Continued...
Original article

New book spotlights black America in Obama era

(BLACK, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN, THEIR, SUCCESS, SIEGEL)

By Matthew Bigg
ATLANTA (Reuters Life!) - A new book attempts to dig beneath the euphoria that swept black America when Barack Obama became president to ask the question: what, if anything, actually changed?
"Family Affair: What it Means to be African American Today" is a collection of short, autobiographical essays in which 76 black professionals detail how their families played a role in their success, either as springboards, or barriers to be overcome.
It`s one of a slew of books published since the November election in which authors examine the changes in U.S. society that allowed Obama, the first African American president, to run successfully.
In essay after essay in "Family Affair", the short answer to the `what changed?` question comes through: everything and nothing.
Many of the contributors argue that Obama`s election -- and their own success -- reflect changes brought about by the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
A number credit self-belief in their success, while some also cite their reliance on the classic American virtues of hard work and self-reliance.
"The idea was to provide a platform for African Americans to discuss their issues on their own terms. The black community is often at times framed through someone else`s lens," said editor Gil Robertson.
"It was high time that we take control of how that identity is and how it is seen," he said in an interview.
"MORE OPEN CLIMATE" TO DISCUSS RACE
The book`s contributors include actors, singers, models and business leaders, but surrounding them is the sense that they have emerged from a community that struggles.
Black Americans, who represent around 13 percent of the U.S. population, lag national averages in terms of income, life expectancy, infant mortality, education and health.
Max Siegel, who grew up in an abusive and unstable household and is now an influential sports executive, attributes his success to high self-esteem promoted by some of those who brought him up, despite the challenges.
"They constantly reassured us that we were special and good and that we should be comfortable with that," said Siegel, who is now president of global operations at Dale Earnhardt, the top motor sports franchise in the NASCAR (North American Stock Car Auto Racing).
Siegel argued that the increasing openness to dialogue about misunderstandings between racial groups was one benefit of last year`s election that would have a lasting impact.
"As a society, even though we have a long way to go, the climate is such that we can talk about some of these issues more openly," he said in an interview.  Continued...
Original article

Corsican wines fight their corner for survival

(CORSICAN, ISLAND, PRODUCTION, HECTOLITERS, PERCENT, THERE)

By Marcel Michelson
BORDEAUX (Reuters Life!) - Corsican wine growers are seeking recognition beyond their faithful band of followers as European Union uprooting plans and high transport costs in crisis times threaten to sound a death knell for the sector.
Corsica is the third wine producing island in the Mediterranean, behind Sicily and Sardinia of Italy and its production of some 350,000 hectoliters (9 million U.S. gallons) of wines make up just a few percentages of the total French production. But the sector is the biggest export activity in value and volume of the island and, together with the tourism sector, one of the pillars of an insular economy.
According to Bernard Sonnet, the director of the Corsican winemakers organization CIV Corse, demand for Corsican wines tops at least 500,000 hectoliters a year, but prices are relatively low -- most are below 10 euros ($14) a bottle, many below 5 euros.
That is partly the fault of the Corsicans themselves.
In the 1960s, Algerian independence saw many Corsicans flock back to the island, where a race to production ensued and the island made some two million hectoliters of wines a year. Not all of it was of good quality.
More recently, however, there has been a lot of attention to quality and there are now nine AOC wines (appelation d`origine controllee) that have to adhere to quality guidelines.
The production of the year 2007-2008, at 340,340 hectoliters, was for one third in AOC and two thirds in vins de pays and vins de cepages.
"There is too much wine in Europe and France and the decision by the European Union to impose uprooting campaigns has reduced our production," Sonnet said, adding that another 10 percent of the wine growing area was set to be cleared.
And there lies a danger -- the average production of the past five years was 370,000 hectoliters which comes down to 54 hectoliters per 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of vines and that, according to CIV Corse, is the absolute critical economic floor below they should not descend.
"My biggest challenge is to make the wines of Corsica known," said CIV Corse president Jean-Marc Venturi told Reuters at Vinexpo -- the big wine and spirits industry fair held every two years in Bordeaux.
The Corsicans were out in force at the fair with a big tented restaurant where star Corsican chefs prepared meals and guests could taste the many different Corsican wines.
The people from the island claim they have been making wines for at least 20 centuries, with a specific climate of high and snowy peaks and a record sunny hours for France, at 2,885 hours per year.
There are 950 wine growers, often still family-owned operations as specific tax exemptions given by Napoleon to his birth island mean that the land owners do not pay death tax. Some 1,500 people work in the sector that has annual sales of 120 million euros.
The Corsicans drink about half of their wine themselves, at 44 percent, another 28 percent goes to the rest of France and there remains 28 percent for export to countries such as Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
Of the AOC wines, 56 percent is rose and the rose wines are experiencing a bit of a trend at the moment. The reds make up 33 percent and the whites 11 percent.  Continued...
Original article

In U.S. scandals, wives don`t stand by their men

(WOMEN, PUBLIC, HUSBAND, AFFAIR, ABOUT, EDWARDS)

By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Standing by your man suddenly seems to be going out of fashion for some American women in the public eye.
This month, the wives of at least two famous men caught cheating -- sexually and financially -- very openly declared that their spouses` behavior was actually quite scandalous.
Ruth Madoff, reacting to her husband Bernard being sentenced to 150 years in prison for bilking investors with a massive Ponzi scheme, said she felt "embarrassed," "ashamed" and "betrayed" by a man she had known for half a century.
"The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years," she said in a statement shortly after her husband`s sentencing on Monday.
Last week, after South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford tearfully admitted to an affair with a woman in Argentina, his wife Jenny -- who was not by his side at his public confession -- left little doubt about her feelings.
"His career is not a concern of mine," she told reporters at a vacation home. "He`s going to have to worry about that. I`m worried about my family and the character of my children."
Political analysts said the new attitude reflects generational and social change -- at least for some women in the United States.
"The old model didn`t work," said Karlyn Bowman, an analyst of U.S. public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute.
The image of the tearful wife, hiding behind sunglasses, next to her husband while he unloaded his sins to the world, was "intensely embarrassing" and some women are deciding they do not have to follow that path, she said.
"It may be that women just feel that they can do whatever they want," Bowman said.
Of course, the quiet, supportive wife remains a public pillar for many scandal-hit men -- just look at former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer`s wife Silda, whose wordless turn at his side last year when he admitted visiting prostitutes drew some sharp commentary.
And it wasn`t that long ago when Hillary Clinton, then first lady, weathered the storm beside her husband, President Bill Clinton, over his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in the White House in the late 1990s.
More recently, Elizabeth Edwards, whose husband John Edwards ran for president as a Democrat last year, publicly spoke out about his infidelity while promoting her memoir "Resilience."
Edwards, who is battling cancer, told talk show host Oprah Winfrey of her shock at hearing from her husband that he had continued an affair with campaign worker Rielle Hunter after telling her in December 2006 he had slept with another woman.
"All the work we`d done, all the trust we had tried to build in the past year-plus, all thrown out the window," she said.
(Editing by John O`Callaghan)
Original article

Police question Michael Jackson`s doctor

(MICHAEL, JACKSON, ANGELES, POLICE, DEATH, MURRAY)

Michael Jackson, the King of pop
Michael Jackson - pop music legend
Russia had special romance with Michael Jackson - expert
Fans sing Michael Jackson’s songs on Los Angeles streets
MOSCOW, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - Los Angeles police have held an "extensive interview" with the cardiologist who tried to resuscitate Michael Jackson before his death, amid uncertainty over the causes of the pop legend`s cardiac arrest.
Dr Conrad Murray reportedly disappeared several hours after Jackson`s death at the age of 50 on Thursday, and failed to sign a death certificate.
"Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician who was with Michael Jackson at the time of his collapse, voluntarily contacted the Los Angeles Police Department," a police statement released on Saturday night said.
Detectives "met with Dr. Murray and conducted an extensive interview. Dr. Murray was cooperative and provided information which will aid the investigation."
The death of the `King of Pop` has dominated the global media over the past three days, and social networking and video sites have been flooded with tributes. While grieving fans have been celebrating Jackson`s musical legacy, several questions have arisen over the circumstances of his death.
The Rev Jesse Jackson, a long-serving politician who has been maintaining close contact with Michael Jackson`s family, told reporters that the doctor had failed to speak to relatives after the death, and that many questions remained unanswered.
"When did the doctor come? What did he do? Did he inject him? If so, with what? Was he on the scene twice? Did he use the Demerol? It`s a very powerful drug. Was he injected once? Was he injected twice?"
However, a lawyer for Murray insisted that his client was not being treated as a suspect in Jackson`s death.
"It`s a human tragedy and he`s upset obviously over the loss of Mr. Jackson. But he is not a suspect in the death of Mr. Jackson," Matthew Alford said
 
Original article

Consumers indulge to lift spirits, food makers say

(MORE, CHOCOLATE, SALES, CHEESE, TRADE, PEOPLE, YOU`RE)

By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Specialty-food makers showcasing wares this week say anxious consumers are consoling themselves, and buoying the gourmet industry, by seeking solace in tasty treats from chocolate sushi to lavender-laced cheese.
Fancy-food makers, more than 2,000 of which were exhibiting at the annual trade show in New York, say consumers may not buy big-ticket items amid the recession but they will allow themselves smaller indulgences.
"People may not be buying flat-screen TVs, but they will buy lobster mac and cheese," said Cal Hancock, whose Maine-based Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. sells the frozen delicacy. "It`s the ultimate comfort food."
Paul Ioanidis, of Jer`s Handmade Chocolates in Solana Beach, California, said sales are strong. "People will indulge a little bit to feel better, and premium chocolates are a pretty inexpensive way to feel good," he said.
The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, which sponsors the trade show, said the industry had $60 billion in U.S. sales in 2008. Fifty-eight percent of its manufacturers reported a drop in sales last year, due to economic pressures.
The research also found that a downturn in restaurant sales has helped specialty foods as consumers cook more at home. That move away from restaurant dining has been evident in sales trends, several vendors said.
`YOU USE MORE SEASONING`
"If you`re going to save money, you`re not going to eat in restaurants so much. If you`re cooking at home, you use more seasoning," said Joe Walker of Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, based in Ville Platte, Louisiana.
Hoping to woo the more selective, less extravagant consumer with smaller, less expensive products, Chuao Chocolatier of Carlsbad, California, makes versions of its candy, such as dark chocolate with chipotle, that retail for 99 cents.
"This is our answer to the economy," said Brooke Feldman, communications manager. "It`s chocolate for the people."
Some retailers opted for a twist on traditional favorites.
Rogue Creamery of Central Point, Oregon, offered cheddar cheese flavored with lavender, Das Foods of Highwood, Illinois, had lollipops flavored with maple and bacon, and Romanicos Chocolate of Miami offered candies shaped like sushi.
Others are backing basics, such as Woeber Mustard Manufacturing Co of Springfield, Ohio, where horseradish sauce remains the strongest seller.
"We`ve seen high-end products go down, and more basic products increase," said Christopher Woeber, project manager at the 104-year-old family business.
(Editing by Will Dunham)
Original article

Reggaeton fever shakes up Cuba`s culture

(REGGAETON, CUBAN, MUSIC, OFFICIAL, LATIN, CULTURAL, CUBA`S)

By Esteban Israel
HAVANA (Reuters) - To record his next hit El Micha, one of the rising stars of Cuba`s reggaeton music blending reggae, Latin and electronic rhythms, just has to knock on his neighbor`s door.
A microphone plugged into an old computer in an apartment in Havana`s working-class suburb of Reparto Electrico serves as the studio where some of Cuba`s most successful reggaeton songs are recorded.
"Reggaeton is unstoppable because it is recorded at home. It is totally independent," says Michael "El Micha" Sierra, 27, a former basketball player whose bottom row of gold teeth flash when he gives one of his frequent broad smiles.
With little official support or air time on state-controlled radio, the songs Cuban reggaeton artists record in makeshift studios lined with egg cartons for sound insulation are mostly transmitted though homemade CDs and on computer flash memory sticks.
That is how the tropical fever of reggaeton is sweeping communist-ruled Cuba, captivating its youth and enraging a cultural establishment alarmed by the vulgarity of some of its lyrics, which include phrases like "Coge mi tubo" ("Grab my pipe") and "Metela" ("Stick it in").
"Cubans know about music and if they picked reggaeton they have to be respected. The people are the ones who decide," said Sierra.
Reggaeton, a cocktail of reggae, Latin and electronic rhythms, first emerged in Puerto Rico in the mid-1990s and has
spread rapidly though Latin America. In Cuba, it is played on crowded buses, shakes neighborhood windows with its throbbing bass and packs discos night after night.
Its vibrations even seem to be shaking Cuba`s cultural establishment, decades after the island shook the entertainment music world with its native-born mambo and cha cha cha.
Like hip hop, its relative, reggaeton chronicles real life in the streets. But its popularity stems from a catchy, sensual rhythm that is perfectly suited for dance-crazy Cubans.
OFFICIAL ALARM OVER "NEOLIBERAL" MUSIC
"Teachers and family cannot be naive regarding this matter," warned state-controlled TV as it showed 6-year-olds doing covers of Puerto Rican reggaeton megastar Daddy Yankee.
That was the latest sign of official alarm over what the authorities see as a vulgarization of Cuban culture.
The official daily Juventud Rebelde called reggaeton a reflection of "neoliberal thinking" and Culture Minister Abel Prieto said it should be "pushed away."
"In the cultural world there is concern about the excessive popularity of reggaeton," Julian Gonzalez, president of the National Council for Visual Arts, told Reuters.  Continued...
Original article

Queen Elizabeth faces wait for palace repairs

(MILLION, ROYAL, PALACE, POUNDS, GOVERNMENT, BUCKINGHAM, WOULD)

By Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Queen Elizabeth faces a long wait for repairs to the roof of Buckingham Palace unless the government stumps up extra cash, royal accounts showed on Monday.
Her treasurer, Alan Reid, said a backlog of "essential" maintenance would reach 40 million pounds over the next decade if there is no increase in annual funding.
Key projects facing at least a 10-year wait include the 13 million pounds renewal of lead and slate roofs at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and the 4.5 million pound refurbishment of state rooms at both properties.
Also facing a decade of delays are replacements to the palace`s heating and electricity services, as well as the replacement of aging cast iron and lead Victorian water mains at the castle.
Reid, known as the Keeper of the Privy Purse, said royal officials would continue to negotiate with the government "to improve the assessment of the additional funding required."
The government would have to increase support to 19 million pounds a year from 15 million to avoid the backlog, a senior Buckingham Palace source told Reuters.
But with Britain suffering its most severe economic downturn for 60 years, extra taxpayer funds for the royals may be hard for the government to justify.
A parliamentary committee said earlier this month the queen should open Buckingham Palace more often to tourists to help raise money for repairs, a recommendation royal officials are studying.
The government covers the cost of the royal family`s official duties in return for the queen surrendering the revenue from royal property held by Crown Estate and other hereditary sources, which reached 211 million pounds in 2007.
Royal expenditure rose 1.5 percent to 41.5 million pounds in the last financial year, after allowing for inflation.
Reid said this was equivalent to just 69 pence per person in Britain, a rise of 3 pence over the year before.
But anti-monarchist pressure group Republic said the comparison was meaningless, adding that the published expenditure did not include the cost of security.
"Every year the palace press office tries to justify the cost of the monarchy by dividing the official figure by 60 million," said Republic spokesman Graham Smith.
"With that sort of accounting you can justify pretty much anything."
(Editing by Steve Addison)
Original article

Centenarians show it`s never too late to tweet

(PERCENT, CENTENARIANS, NEW, EVERCARE, THEIR, WOULD, LONGEVITY)

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Celebrities and hip adults aren`t the only people flocking to Twitter, the social-networking site. Even centenarians have learned to tweet.
Three percent of U.S. centenarians questioned in a new survey said they use the service that allows users to send short text messages, or tweets, of up to 140 characters at least once a week to keep in touch with their friends and family.
Another 10 percent sent emails to stay connected, 12 percent shared photos on the Internet and four percent downloaded music from the web.
"They are using new technologies, staying abreast of news and current events, and engaging in social networking -- all of which help to prevent chronic illnesses and contribute to greater longevity," said Dr Mark Leenay, the senior medical director and vice president of clinical affairs at Evercare, said in a statement.
The results of the survey of 100 centenarians commissioned by Evercare, one of the nation`s largest care coordination programs, challenge the stereotypes of aging.
Forget passing the day in a rocking chair. Fifty percent of centenarians keep fit by walking or hiking, eight percent prefer cycling and three percent break into a jog or run. One percent said they have tried Nintendo`s Wii Fit.
More than a quarter said they chatted on a cell phone at least once a week.
To keep their minds as agile as their bodies, 19 percent played a musical instrument or turned to a musical video game for entertainment or a mental workout.
Nearly 65 percent would dine with comedian Bill Cosby if given the opportunity to invite a celebrity to dinner.
If stranded on a desert island, two percent said they would want an iPod with them.
Evercare said the findings support the belief that a person`s longevity is based primarily on a person`s lifestyle rather than genetics.
More than 84,000 centenarians are living in the United States today. The number is expected to increase to 580,000 by 2040, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Original article

Downturn creates more working mothers in Asia

(WOMEN, THEIR, FAMILY, MOTHER, HARISH, CHILDREN, SURVEY)

By Miral Fahmy
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - The economic crisis is turning more Asian women into CFOs, or chief family officers, according to a new survey, juggling work and childcare as they try to boost the family income.
Three in four people in Asia believe women are capable of juggling work and family successfully, the massive survey of 33,000 people in 16 countries showed.
Asian women have long been part of the region`s workforce, but the global economic downturn has made having a job a necessity for most, according to the "Eye on Asia" poll by global marketing communications firm Grey Group.
"This, however, has put a lot of pressure on many women, who in addition to having a career, must also take on the role of chief family officer," Charu Harish, regional communications planning director for Grey Group Asia Pacific, told Reuters.
"Because of the traditional attitudes, women feel they must be the picture-perfect wife, mother and employee, which puts them in an unfair, and little recognized, position."
According to the survey, one of the largest snapshots of opinions and trends in the region, nearly 90 percent said it was necessary for mothers to work to contribute to the family income, especially in the current economic climate.
The same survey found that a majority -- 86 percent -- of Asia Pacific respondents worry about their finances and were saving for the future.
Over three-quarters believed women were capable of doing both -- taking care of the family and having a job at the same time -- even though, given a choice, many mothers would prefer to stay at home and watch their children grow up, Harish said.
Some 81 percent of mothers surveyed said they felt so busy these days that they did not spend enough time with their children, which Harish said, led to many mums over-indulging their children to assuage their guilt.
This was particularly the case in the fast-paced economies of Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, but less so in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.
"In many ways, women have evolved, while many men still maintain a traditional attitude and do not acknowledge that they need to take part in the child-minding and running the house," Harish said.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of Asians said they felt society supported working mothers, which, in many cases, meant grandparents taking care of the children.
Harish said that while this was the most convenient child-care solution, it was creating tension in families due to the generational gap. "The older generations believe in stronger discipline, while the parents tend to be more liberal, and their children even more so," she explained.
The survey polled 33,000 people in 16 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. For more details click on www.greyeyeon.asia
(Editing by Valerie Lee)
Original article

Sri Lanka arrests astrologer over political prediction

By Ranga Sirilal
COLOMBO (Reuters) - A popular Sri Lankan astrologer was unable to foresee his own arrest after his family said on Friday he had been taken into custody by police for making an unfavorable political prediction against the president.
The police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested astrologer Chandrasiri Bandara after he predicted political changes unfavorable to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meeting of the main opposition United National Party.
"He is being questioned over a political statement he made," police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said, without elaborating.
Given that many Sri Lankans give credence to astrological predictions, astrologers can play a role in influencing decisions at the voting booth and have done so in the past.
Sri Lankans from all walks of life follow astrology very closely, and politicians frequently consult personal astrologers to help them decide the most auspicious day, hour and minute to do anything from facing elections to assuming office.
Bandara writes a popular astrology column, hosts TV and radio shows discussing horoscopes and gives private readings for a fee.
"He has been questioned for the last three days and he was taken into custody by the CID," a family member told Reuters, asking not to be named out of fear of reprisal.
Rajapaksa`s opponents say his administration has been intolerant of criticism, and has not stopped assaults and murders of journalists critical of his government. Rajapaksa has vowed to catch those responsible.
This week, a coalition of media and rights groups urged him to reconsider a decision to reinstate the long-unused Press Council, which has the power to jail and fine journalists.
"A media culture cannot be based on slapping charges against journalists, fining them or sending them to jail," the group said in a statement.
The government said the move was made on a parliamentary committee recommendation that it should be reinstated since the council`s staff and office rent was still being paid despite the fact it was doing no work.
"It was a directive by a parliamentary committee which some opposition members are also on," said A. Dissanayake, secretary of the Ministry of Mass Media and Information.
Sri Lanka has a decades-long history of violence against journalists, with killings, abductions and assaults being carried out and the perpetrators rarely being captured.
Dozens of journalists have fled Sri Lanka after receiving threats by unidentified groups since the end of the 25-year war against the Tamil Tiger separatists last month.
Security officials have warned they will arrest and prosecute for treason journalists they say have been on the Tigers` payroll in the last few years of the war.
(Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
Original article

Workplace theft saps Cuba`s state-run economy

By Tom Brown
HAVANA (Reuters) - In a cramped apartment just behind the renowned Partagas cigar factory in central Havana, the factory worker displayed his wares.
Shiny wooden boxes of Cohiba, Montecristo and Partagas cigars -- considered among the finest in the world -- emerged from a duffel bag as the worker, who gave his name as Jose but asked not to be identified further, offered them at a steep discount to those on sale in the Partagas store.
"This isn`t stealing. We do it to survive," said Jose, who explained that his wage in the factory amounted to less than $20 a month. Without slipping cigars out of the state-run business and selling them to tourists, he and his family would not get by, Jose said.
Cuba`s communist authorities take a dim view of such "survival" tactics, which have existed for years in some form or other in a society whose citizens often wryly joke "if it`s not illegal, it`s prohibited."
A popular Sunday night drama on state television highlights the crimes and punishment -- including long jail terms -- meted out to Cubans responsible for "counterrevolutionary" acts such as black market sales of goods, such as beef, cigars and rum.
"I could get in a lot of trouble just for talking to you ... I could go to prison," said the Partagas worker.
He and three fellow workers reaped just 20 percent of the revenues from the "bolsa negra" or black market deals, Jose said. Plant managers and foremen keep the other 80 percent and split it among themselves and police or Interior Ministry officials who turn a blind eye to the illicit sales, he said.
Former President Fidel Castro complained bitterly about theft from the workplace in a speech in November 2005. But he fell ill not long after that, and little seems to have been done about a problem so commonplace that Castro described it as having created a class of "nuevos ricos" or new rich which he said threatened the very lifeblood of the Cuban Revolution.
The government routinely blames many of Cuba`s economic problems on the U.S. trade embargo against the island that which has been in place since 1962.
"ESCAPE VALVE"
But the problem of theft from state-owned businesses is an embarrassment for a government that has long prided itself on socialist egalitarianism and a sense of ethical superiority.
President Raul Castro, who took over from his ailing elder brother Fidel last year, has called for more efficiency, austerity and sacrifice as the global recession squeezes the centralized Cuban economy with dips in foreign currency earners such as tourism and nickel.
Nevertheless, many Cubans see themselves as victims of a flawed economy and say workplace theft is one of the things still keeping the Cuban Revolution alive.
"It`s sort of our escape valve," said one taxi driver, who asked not to be named. "If they were to take that away people could get pretty angry and things might get out of hand."
Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, whose wry comments about daily life in Cuba have won her international acclaim, described pilfering from the workplace as "a socially accepted way of breaking the law" in a website posting this week.  Continued...
Original article

Just a Minute With: French actress Marion Cotillard

By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - French actress Marion Cotillard has gone from playing singing legend Edith Piaf to portraying the girlfriend of another kind of popular hero, bank robber John Dillinger.
In the movie "Public Enemies" opening on July 1, Cotillard plays Billie Frechette, a woman who fell in love with Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp, during his ill-fated cops-and-robbers war with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 1930s.
Cotillard won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Piaf in 2007 movie "La Vie en Rose." Her role in "Public Enemies" as the daughter of a Frenchman and an American Indian is her first since winning the Academy Award.
She spoke to Reuters in French from Chicago about her character Billie Frechette, her love of the Windy City and her upbringing in France in a family of actors.
Q: What did Billie Frechette see in John Dillinger that attracted her to him?
A: "At a young age, she was sent to a boarding school, and it was a very difficult place where they tried to erase everything that was Indian in her. And I think that she encountered there a great injustice, and she shared with Dillinger a suspicion of authority. I think the two of them saw that in each other and they fell in love immediately, and there was a very strong connection between them."
Q: Growing up in a household of actors, did you often practice scenes with your parents?
A: "Yes, because my parents were actors and theater directors. And my father was a director for children`s theater after having been a mime for a long time. So, seeing actors rehearse was something very familiar to me."
Q: Did that influence you as an actress?
A: "I was absolutely fascinated that you could make a living telling other people`s stories by imparting your emotion to them. And I always wanted to be an actress. My first work as an actress was when I was about five years-old."
Q: You played in a scene that young?
A: "I made two small movies for television. And before that I remember acting in a play with my mother, and it was very disorienting because I played the daughter of another actress. They were telling me that she was my mom, but I knew she wasn`t. In fact, my real mom was also on stage. I remember being very disoriented by that."
Q: How did you prepare for your English-speaking role in this movie?
A: "I worked with a speech coach for several months, and I had to relearn how to use my face and my body, because the way of saying certain letters is so different in French than in English, and it was very hard to train myself in that."
Q: What did you do for fun while you were shooting this movie in Chicago?  Continued...
Original article

Tate show takes wry look at habits of collecting

By Julie Mollins
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - The first of seven rooms containing a new exhibition at London`s Tate Britain museum is filled with the loud clackety-clack of 39 metronomes placed around its perimeter.
The racket from Martin Creed`s installation, cryptically titled "Work No. 112" and created over a nine-year period between 1995 and 2004, introduces the eclecticism of "Classified," on show until August 23.
Works by 15 contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Simon Starling, Rebecca Warren, Jake and Dinos Chapman, feature mundane objects from everyday life, with their meaning and significance reinterpreted in the gallery setting.
"It`s about the order of things and how artists make sense of the world around them to accomplish that," said Clarrie Wallis, a curator of contemporary British art.
"It is about collecting and how you group things together."
Hirst`s "Pharmacy," a self-contained room featuring glass-enclosed cabinets of medicine, makes a connection between the method of organizing medicine with the display of art.
"He draws links between belief systems and our relationship to medicine," Wallis said.
"There is also the sense of us trying to make sense of the world -- there`s an irony about it."
The exhibit also highlights the museum`s own role in collecting, classifying and displaying art objects, particularly with 34 wooden carvings in "The Chapman Family Collection."
Incense wafts amid the carvings, which sit on individual plinths to give the installation the mood of a traditional display of ethnographic objects in a museum at first glance.
It soon becomes apparent that the exhibit is a parody.
A carved representation of Ronald McDonald, the mascot of restaurant chain McDonald`s, pokes fun at the exploitation of so-called primitive art and methods of displaying it in a museum setting purely for its aesthetic value -- distanced from its sociological and religious function.
Starling`s "Work, Made-ready, Les Baux de Provence (Mountain Bike)" shows steps in the process of constructing an aluminum mountain bike, drawing attention to modernist notions of the alienating affect of mass production.
(Reporting by Julie Mollins; Editing by Steve Addison)
Original article

Plot thickens for versatile Serena

By Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) - Serena Williams spent less than an hour blasting her way into the third round at Wimbledon on Wednesday. That left plenty of time to work on her TV script.
Serena has been a fashion designer, actress and now it seems a writer as well. It is a miracle the American has managed to cram 10 grand slam titles into her busy schedule.
Sister Venus gave Serena a "How To" book on script-writing. It has clearly paid dividends.
After breezing past Australian Jarmila Groth on Court One, Serena, twice a Wimbledon women`s singles winner, revealed:
"I`m writing my script. You`ll be excited to know I wrote three parts already. I call it my treatment."
"I just love to write. Hopefully, it will be good," she said, eager to follow up script-writing after making a cameo acting appearance in the TV medical drama ER.
So what is the script all about?
"It`s a mixture between some of my favorite shows like Desperate Housewives, Sex in the City and actually Family Guy. It`s kind of those put together in one, if you can imagine."
Serena has also been writing her autobiography with the help of a ghostwriter.
"It has been an interesting process. Again, I love writing and it was just the right time. It was something I was actually working on for at least three years. It just all came together within the last year."
So what about the tennis?
Second seed Serena hardly needed to get into second gear to dispose of her overwhelmed Australian opponent 6-2 6-1.
But, ever the perfectionist, she said:
"For me there`s always room for improvement. I still think I could have returned better, came to the net a little bit more. That`s exciting to think I can do better."
Serena was full of sympathy for former champion Maria Sharapova, knocked out of Wimbledon earlier on Wednesday.  Continued...
Original article

Survey reveals infidelity best kept off the mobile

By Pauline Askin
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Having an affair? It pays to keep it low-tech, with a new Australian survey finding that a quarter of mobile phone users had discovered their partner, or heard that someone else`s, was cheating because of text messages.
The poll, conducted by dominant phone company Telstra Corp, also showed that one in five had sent a text message meant for their partner or lover to somebody else by mistake.
The "State of the Nation Report," which surveyed more than 1,200 mobile phone users in May, revealed that Australians were addicted Australians texting, with 30 percent saying SMSes were their preferred method of communication.
"Texting has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives," Glenice Maclellan, Telstra consumer executive director, said in a statement that added that the trend of prolific texting seems to be causing trouble when it comes to romance.
"This is an interesting reflection of Australia`s wider lifestyle trends," added social researcher Mark McCrindle in the statement accompanying the report.
"The fact that one in three prefer texting to other communication forms signals the natural fit of this technology to our increasingly time poor, busy lifestyles."
The survey showed that four in 10 mobile users send up to seven texts a day, with the bulk going to family and friends. Women, in particular, valued mobile phones because they enabled them to stay in touch with loved ones.
And Australians are not shy to text about anything, anywhere and at any time, with one in four using SMSes to announce a birth and nearly a fifth using it broadcast a job promotion.
Fifteen percent admitted they would text at a funeral, a wedding or a christening ceremony while 14 percent said they texted in church.
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)
Original article

Monkey business hard to sustain in slump, Goodall says

By Candida Ng
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Chimpanzees, long under threat from humans encroaching on their habitat, are now facing another risk caused by that same member of the Great Ape family: the global economic crisis, says primatologist Jane Goodall.
Funding to the Jane Goodall Institute, a nonprofit organization that aims to conserve primate habitats and increase awareness of animal welfare activities, has declined by about 10 percent since the financial crisis hit.
"Money that came in last year was less than we had expected," Goodall told Reuters in Singapore while visiting for events related to World Environment Day. "The private donors and some of the foundations pulled back."
The institute, which has an annual budget of $10-11 million which funds its activities in Africa, has had to dig into its endowment fund to keep some of its programs running. Some projects were cut and staff laid off.
Goodall, who rose to fame in the 1960s through her ground-breaking study of chimpanzees in East Africa, said the root cause of most problems was overpopulation and the materialism of most human societies.
"Underlying everything is the sheer number of people on the planet," said 75-year-old Goodall. "We take far, far, far, far more than our fair share of these precious natural resources."
"We have to help people understand that enough is enough. We have so much more than we need, we have a throwaway society."
Such strident demands on the environment have seen previously forested areas being taken over by humans for housing, agriculture and business, leading to a dwindling population of chimpanzees and other animals in the wild.
Goodall estimates there are currently there are about 300,000 chimpanzees spread across 21 nations in Africa, down from the 1-2 million in 1960.
The animal rights activist, who fulfilled her childhood dream to live in the wild and write books, spends 300 days a year on the road using her personal story and fame to inspire youth to become more environmentally responsible.
"Root & Shoots," a youth organization she started with 12 high-school students in Tanzania in 1991, now involves people from pre-schoolers to university students and prisoners across 111 countries. It aims to raise awareness about the planet.
"People understand a lot more, but it doesn't mean they always change their behavior though," Goodall said. "The last hurdle is to get people not only to understand, but take action. The bigger problem is that again, again and again that people honestly cannot believe that what they do makes a difference."
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: Reuters

Domestic abuse plagues India's upper crust

By Matthias WilliamsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - With stylish sunglasses on her head, brightly painted nails and dressed in black designer gear, the woman sitting at a trendy New Delhi cafe might not look like a battered wife.
But the woman, who asked that her name be withheld to protect her identity and that of her children, was abused for years by her husband, a lawyer.
"He strangled me, he spat on me, he slapped me," the woman, a 37-year-old mother of two who grew up in a wealthy London-based Indian family, told Reuters in an interview.
She is among millions of Indian women, from all classes, who are abused by their husbands. A recent government survey said one in three Indian women were victims of domestic violence.
Her education and status among India's elite gave little protection against her well-heeled and well-connected spouse.
After years of abuse, she took her husband to court under a landmark domestic violence act meant to protect battered wives and give stiff penalties to abusers, but so far to no avail.
"This law, which is enacted by the parliament in 2006, has not been taken seriously," her lawyer, K.K. Manan, told Reuters. "On one pretext or another, the case is being adjourned."
A total of 185,312 crimes against women were reported in India in 2007, compared to 164,765 in 2006. Rights groups say many more cases go unreported.
Domestic violence has long been in the public eye and the media regularly features cases of wife-beating over issues such as dowry, as well as torture and killings of women, especially in poorer households.
India's economic boom has brought a rise in affluent women, often with careers, who enjoy greater freedom than their parents' generation. They dress in Western clothes and visit restaurants, bars and night clubs.
These changes sometimes clash with hardline elements of what remains a largely conservative society. Even among India's upper crust, women's freedom can be superficial.MONEY AND POWER
The domestic violence act was meant for the first time to give protection and compensation for all kinds of abuse in the home, including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic.
Previously, for example, husbands could not be prosecuted for raping their wives, unless the wife was under the age of 15. The new law aims to pass sentence within 60 days of the first hearing.
But more than a year later, the woman's case is still bogged down and in early March she had to make yet another appearance at a special Delhi women's court. Continued...
Source: Reuters