Lack of outdoor play space forces children indoors

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Most American parents think their children do not spend enough time playing outdoors and many youngsters, particularly in poor areas, have no access to a community playground, according to a new U.S. survey.
The Harris poll of 1,677 parents of two to 12 year olds showed that 92 percent say their children spend less time playing outside than they did when they were growing up.
Forty-one percent of parents said their youngsters did not have a community playground and nearly a quarter did not live within a five-minute walk of an outdoor play space.
"Not all children have access to public outdoor play space or facilities," Harris said in a statement.
"Kids in rural areas are least likely to have access to a local park .. and kids in the lowest family income bracket, less than $50,000 a year, are least likely to have access to a community playground," it added.
Lack of exercise, along with too much time in front of televisions and computer screens and fast food diets, have been blamed for the growing obesity rates among American children.
Health experts advise children to exercise more outdoors but eight in 10 parents said youngsters do not have enough opportunities to play outside, mainly because a park or playground is too far away.
Harris said children spend about eight hours each week playing indoors and an equal amount of time watching TV or movies, but only six hours playing outdoors. Many parents think it should be twice that amount.
"Parents report that their kids spend less than an hour per day engaged in unstructured play outdoors, on average," said Harris, which conducted the poll commissioned by KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that organizes community playing building projects.
Almost 90 percent of parents think outdoor activities are important for their child's development and 96 percent think it is necessary to keep their offspring physically fit, according to the poll.
Parents said having more time, encouraging their children to spend time outdoors and more nearby facilities would help to increase the amount of time children play outside.

Source: Reuters

Hollywood, Bollywood meet Bradford: "City of Film"

By Paul Lauener
LONDON (Reuters) - Bradford, an industrial city in the north of England, has been named the world's first "City of Film" by the United Nations, ahead of more immediately famous movie capitals such as Hollywood or Cannes.
UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural arm, said it was awarding Bradford the title on the basis of its historic links to the production and distribution of films, its media and film museum and its "cinematographic legacy."
The honor may be a surprise to many as Bradford, previously known as the "wool capital of the world," is probably best known as a city of around 500,000 people that was once a center of the industrial revolution.
"Becoming the world's first City of Film is the ultimate celebration of Bradford's established and dynamic history in film and media," said Colin Philpott, director of Bradford's highly regarded National Media Museum.
"With the UNESCO City of Film designation, Bradford will now go on to achieve inspirational projects in film."
While not as glamorous as Los Angeles or the French Riviera, Bradford does have a strong tie to cinema and film.
It has been the location for several movies including "Yanks," starring Richard Gere, and "The Railway Children," a 1970s classic about the tribulations of Victorian children whose father goes missing.
Monty Python's ground-breaking "The Meaning of Life" and the controversial hit "Rita, Sue and Bob Too," about a married man who cannot choose between two teenage lovers, were also filmed in the city.
And in recent years Bradford has developed a close relationship with Bollywood too, hosting the International Indian Film Festival awards in 2007.
Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Slumdog Millionaire" who originally hails from Bradford, said the city had played a crucial role in the story of cinema and deserved to be recognized.
"This is superb news for Bradford and is testimony to the city's dedication to the film and media industry," he said.
Bradford's seven floor National Media Museum has 3D cinemas and a 'Magic Factory', which explains the basic principles behind photography, television and animation.
The museum attracted more than 700,000 visitors in 2007, making it one of the most popular museums in Britain outside London.

Source: Reuters

Last round called for the Amsterdam "beer bike?"

By Aaron Gray-Block
AMSTERDAM (Reuters Life!) - Although famous for a love of bicycles as the city's preferred transport, Amsterdam officials are starting to draw the line at a popular "beer bike."
The bike, which can seat at least 10 people around a central "bar" as they pedal through the city center, is a frequent sight in the Dutch capital and is said to be popular with stag and hen (bachelor and bachelorette) parties. A non-drinker steers the bike.
But two accidents involving the bikes since the start of April has prompted the city councilor responsible for transport, Hans Gerson, to investigate how many bikes there are and whether they pose a problem.
"This beer bike is completely legal, but he (Gerson) is not very enthusiastic about this idea of people drinking while being amongst traffic," a spokeswoman said.
But she downplayed the possibility of a ban, stressing the alderman is looking into various options.
Ard Karsten, owner of beerbike.co.uk which rents bikes to tourists, said he was open to talks with the council, adding his company only rents a beer bike out with a driver and has never been involved in an accident.
A compromise could involve the council obligating all firms to supply a driver with the bike, he said.
"We're not out on the street en masse and it's simply controllable. It is about fun and teambuilding," Karsten said. "We have a very beautiful route and people simply enjoy it, but some people ruin it for others."
A spokesman for the Amsterdam city center district, Ton Boon, said the bike was already banned in the red light district and welcomed Gerson's inquiry. "It causes a lot of nuisance."
Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool had reported earlier this week an accident last weekend resulted in various injures, while three women were injured two weeks ago.
"It is an uncontrolled projectile," motorcyclist Karin Wolfs, who was involved in an accident was quoted as saying.
(Editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: Reuters

London exhibition showcases brilliance of Baroque

By Josie Cox
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - An exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum explores the different strands of the opulent Baroque genre through art, architecture and performance from four continents and nearly two centuries.
"Baroque 1620-1800: Style in the Age of Magnificence" provides insight into the genre, representative of the growing influence of the Roman Catholic Church, that spread from Italy and France to the rest of the world through traveling craftsmen, artist and architects.
"Baroque is one of the most exuberant and dazzling design styles there has ever been," Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum Mark Jones said, adding that the exhibition -- unlike any other before -- examines all the different elements of Baroque.
Lacquered casks and vases, adorned with precious jewels and intricate paintings, convey the obsession with beauty characteristic of a time at which the Roman Catholic Church was reacting against many revolutionary movements.
One focal point of the exhibition, which runs until July 19, is a giant altar showing the Virgin of Sorrows, with a gilded frame and twisted columns typical of Central American Baroque.
Originally on display in Mexico in 1690, the Virgin's realistic glass eyes appear to be teary and appealing to the viewer's emotions. Painted panels on either side of her represent episodes in Christ's life.
Another dimly lit room, filled with music from the 1676 opera Atys, conveys the importance of Baroque theater for power struggles between the European courts, as rulers strove to topple each other, with magnificent costumes and props.
The paintings on display frequently feature an interplay between swirls of light and shadow, adding dramatic effect, movement and variety to the rich colors of the artwork.
Holy images and a large section of the exhibition dedicated to the papacy and the church, reveal just how interlocked secular and religious elements of Baroque are.
Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini was a sculptor and artist who worked for a whole succession of Popes for more than 50 years.
His life-size figure of Neptune, wielding his trident astride the sea-god Triton, convey themes of power, conquest and command which so often surface in the genre.
To convey the sheer magnitude characteristic of the style, music-backed video projections enable visitors to take a virtual tour up and down the facades of Paris' Palace of Versailles, Sicily's Syracuse Cathedral and Vienna's Upper Belvedere Palace.
St. Peter's Square, directly in front of the papal enclave in Vatican City and redesigned by Bernini from 1656 to 1667, is also brought into the museum by means of a giant screen, taking visitors of the exhibition back to the roots of Baroque.
(Editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: Reuters

Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Lecce, Italy's Baroque pearl

By Valentina Za
LECCE, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Tucked away in the heel of the Italian "boot," the town hosting the Group of Eight's finance ministers this weekend has a lot to offer its visitors.
Famous for its voluptuous Baroque architecture, Lecce has an elegant city center which has earned the town nicknames such as "Florence of the South," "Baroque pearl" or "Apulia's Athens."
To find out why, just wander through the center and admire the facades of the buildings, all carved in a soft local stone with a warm sandy color. And when the Mediterranean sun hits too hard, sit down for an iced coffee sweetened with almond milk.
FRIDAY
6:30 p.m. Step into the heart of Lecce, a city of about 95,000 people, and start to get familiar with its web of narrow alleys by stopping for a drink in an atmospheric little square known as Corte dei Cicala (the Cicadas' Court).
Part of the nearby Liberrima bookshop, the All'ombra del Barocco cafe (1, Corte dei Cicala, +39 0832 242 626) occupies a cozy corner with its shaded outdoor tables and offers a fine view of one of Lecce's numerous Baroque churches, Sant'Irene. 8:30 p.m. Lecce's Apulia region has a traditional diet in which vegetables feature heavily, followed by fish. The two Earth and Sea menus of the Picton restaurant (14, via Idomeneo, +39 0832 332 383) allow a vast choice, especially when ordering starters. Follow up with a tuna filet pasta dish and jumbo prawns with bread crumbs.
SATURDAY
9 a.m. Start your tour of Lecce from Piazza Sant'Oronzo, named after the town's patron saint, whose statue crowns a pillar in the middle of the square.
Next to the column, find the remains of a Roman amphitheatre as well as an unusually shaped building known as The Seat. Built in the 16th century, the squared construction with large pointed windows was home to the local administration until 1851. Note the portal of the nearby St Mark's chapel: the lion, symbol of the Venetian Republic, testifies to the close ties between Venice and Lecce.
10 a.m. Facing the Roman amphitheatre is Caffe Alvino (24, Piazza Sant'Oronzo, +39 0832 246 748), one of Lecce's best-known cafes. Recently renovated, Alvino is worth a stop for a coffee and a taste of Lecce's trademark sweet, the 'pasticciotto', a pastry filled with custard cream. 10:30 a.m. From the square take Via Vittorio Emanuele II to reach the spectacular Piazza Duomo. The cathedral's square is closed on three sides so that, on accessing it through a passage guarded on each side by statues of saints standing on a balcony, one has the impression of entering a stage. The theatrical effect is even greater at night when the square is beautifully lit. Next to the cathedral are the bishop's residence, with its elegant loggia, and the seminary's building, whose courtyard treasures an artfully sculpted stone well. 11:30 a.m. Resume your tour and head to the Santa Croce Basilica (Via Umberto I), considered the acme of Lecce's Baroque monuments next to the former Celestine convent. Let the wealth of the decoration dazzle you as your eyes wander from the mythological animals to the festoons and numberless angels. 1 p.m. Stop for lunch at the Il Giardino restaurant (10, Via Cesare Battisti, +39 0832 309 612) where you can dine among orange trees in a pleasant courtyard. The chef recommends egg pasta sheets with prawns and monkfish -- the poor man's lobster. Leave some room for a 'spumone', a local hazelnut ice-cream. 3 p.m. Visit Lecce's 16th century castle, named after the Spanish king Charles V (Viale 25 Luglio, +39 0832 244 845). The castle was built as part of an ambitious project to strengthen the area's defensive system after the Ottomans sacked the coastal town of Otranto, southeast of Lecce, in 1480.
5 p.m. Lecce's shopping district occupies the newer part of the center, developing down Via Salvatore Trinchese until the modern Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini. If you wish to remain in the older neighborhood, though, you will find quite a few shops, often selling artisans' works, along Via Giuseppe Palmieri and on the side streets off Via Vittorio Emanuele II. 8 p.m. Take a deeper dip into the Apulia region's gastronomic tradition with dinner at Trattoria Cucina Casereccia (19, Via Colonnello Costadura, +39 0832 245 178) commonly known as Le Zie. In this homely setting go for a staple dish like 'ciceri e tria', homemade pasta with chickpeas. 11 p.m. To enjoy old Lecce by night your address is Piazzetta Raimondello Orsini. Here you can join customers of wine bars La Tipografia (+39 0832 307 024) and Corte dei Pandolfi (+39 0832 332 309) drinking and chatting outdoors.
SUNDAY
10 a.m. Spend time visiting a permanent exhibition of local handicrafts (21, Via Francesco Rubichi). Lecce's craftsmen are famous for their papier-mache works, often representing characters from a Christmas creche. The artisan tradition also includes pottery, embroidery and wrought iron. 1 p.m. Lunch at Osteria degli Spiriti (4, Via Cesare Battisti, +39 0832 246 274). Try 'polpette', meat balls with a tomato sauce, or 'fave e cicorie', bean puree with wild chicory. The ample wine list offers both regional and national names. 3 p.m. For a last stroll in the center return to Via Vittorio Emanuele II, which then becomes Via Giuseppe Libertini and takes you to the Chiesa del Rosario -- with its exuberant facade rich in sculpted flowers -- and Porta Rudiae, once one of the four access points to the city.
Old palaces built by Lecce's wealthy families are as much of an attraction as the city's religious monuments, so watch for the carved decorations of portals and balconies. Particularly noteworthy are palaces Marrese (Piazzetta Ignazio Falconieri) and Persone (Via Vittorio Emanuele II).
Among the many Baroque churches don't miss San Matteo (Via dei Perroni) with its peculiar concave-and-convex facade, partly decorated by scales. 5 p.m. Don't leave Lecce without having an ice-cream from Gelateria Natale (7, Via Salvatore Trinchese, +39 0836 256 060). If you don't have a sweet tooth, try a 'rustico', with its phyllo dough stuffed with bechamel and tomato sauce. Walk down the same road to Avio Bar (16, Via Salvatore Trinchese, +39 0832 304 150), famous also for its iced coffee.
(Editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: Reuters

Kuwaiti director stages an Arabic Richard III

By Edith Honan
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - It's Shakespeare, but with a twist. The dialogue is in Arabic, women wear veils and a despot is persuaded to seize power on a TV chat show as world leaders call in encouraging words.
Kuwait-based director Sulayman Al-Bassam's "Richard III: An Arab Tragedy," which is part of the Muslim Voices Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, translates the 16th century play into a modern, Arab context.
"The project is not necessarily to make just a version of Richard III," Bassam said in an interview. "The project is to address a whole series of very relevant questions in which Shakespeare and Richard III are very useful traveling partners.
Although his version is faithful to the original text, Bassam admitted there were times when he was led to rewrite or to write new things and he took some liberties in the translation.
The play, commissioned by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company and first staged in 2007, will travel to Australia after its week-long New York run ends on Saturday. English subtitles accompany the Arab dialogue.
Bassam, 37, plays two minor roles -- a young prince who is executed in Richard's bloody rise to power, and a servant boy who becomes a henchman.
"That keeps me on my toes," he said.
The play is part of his larger project of using Shakespeare's works to hold a mirror up to contemporary civilization and to challenge perceptions about the Arab world.
In an earlier work, Bassam set Hamlet in a conference room in an unnamed Gulf state. In his version, Hamlet -- a young, foreign-educated prince -- evolves from a state of disillusionment to adopting "a radical Islamic agenda."
Bassam, who claims his work does not aim to advance any political position, said audiences often see the play through the prism of their own knowledge base and sometimes reach for a literal reading of the play.
"That's the funniest bit, how many Richard IIIs are created in people's minds as we do this in different parts of the world," he said.
Bassam's said his next project will be to adopt Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", which he said will pay tribute to the Islamic cultural movements of the 1950s and 1960s Egypt.
He is excited about staging the play in New York and enjoys introducing Western audiences to the Arabic language.
"A lot of audiences that we play to have never heard more than twenty or thirty seconds of the language," he said. "So, just the fact of listening to the language for an hour and 52 minutes and engaging it has a not insignificant value."
(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: Reuters

Global crisis breaks into Hungarian prisons

By Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST (Reuters Life!) - The financial crisis will hit you even if you are behind bars. Saved by a $25.1 billion IMF-lifeline in October, Hungary faces its worst crisis in almost two decades and as the economy slides deeper into recession and job losses accelerate, those on the inside are also feeling the pinch.
Penal authority BVOP, which oversees the operation of Hungary's 32 prisons, said this week it would temporarily shut down a facility in Budapest as "the economic crisis and lower state revenues urge a financial review by all organizations."
The decision is expected to save over 50 million forints ($253,500) this year and about 130 million in 2010. Staff and the 220 inmates held in that facility will be relocated to prisons elsewhere in Budapest.
The BVOP has said it was considering further measures to streamline its facilities across the country in an effort to save jobs as the government's fiscal cuts to avert a deficit overshoot also curbed its budget for the year.
Hungary's prisons are still 22 percent overcrowded despite the opening of two new facilities in 2008.
That is well below the glut seen five years ago, when overcrowding reached 60 percent, but earlier decisions to cut costs mean the lack of privacy will not be the only discomfort facing Hungary's 15,300 inmates.
In March, the BVOP director issued an order limiting the use of hot water for male prisoners to just over two hours a day, advised against the excessive use of water and electricity in prisons and also launched a review of meal rations.
Access to a wide range of television channels may also be reduced.
The BVOP has a budget of about 41 billion forints this year, lower than in 2008, and with a great chunk of that consumed by staff pay and taxes, prisons must cut back on operating costs as the body wants to avoid lay-offs.
That means prison staff must also tighten their belts.
The order issued in March limited extra work hours to a possible minimum, standardized fonts on print material and curbed the use of photocopiers, cut fuel expense reimbursements and ordered carpooling for staff reviewing facilities.
"I have just read that food rations were cut in the U.S., so I guess prisons are struggling everywhere," BVOP press chief Timea Szalai said.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: Reuters

Ancient mass grave found on UK Olympics site

By Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - An ancient burial pit containing 45 severed skulls, that could be a mass war grave dating back to Roman times, has been found under a road being built for the 2012 British Olympics.
Archaeologists, who have only just begun excavating the site, say they do not yet know who the bones might belong to.
"We think that these dismembered bodies are likely to be native Iron Age Britons. The question is -- how did they die and who killed them," said dig head, David Score, of Oxford Archaeology.
"Were they fighting amongst themselves? Were they executed by the Romans? Did they die in a battle with the Romans?
"The exciting scenario for us possibly is that there were skirmishes with the invading Romans and that's how they ended up chopped up in a pit," he told Reuters.
When the main Roman invasion force landed in Britain in AD 43, Claudius' legions moved swiftly through western England to subdue fierce Celtic tribes.
The skulls and other bones were unearthed at a place called Ridgeway Hill, on the construction site of a new major relief road to Weymouth, on the Dorset coast in southwest England.
The seaside town -- in the heart of Thomas Hardy country -- is to host sailing events for the London Olympics.
The grave site is close to Maiden Castle -- Europe's largest Iron Age hill fort where local tribes are said to have staged a last stand against the Roman legions after the invasion.
Some historians believe the Romans sacked the site, butchering its population including women and children, before burning it to the ground.
Score said they had counted 45 skulls so far in the 6-meter wide pit, together with a tangle of torsos, arms and legs, More could be found in the coming weeks.
Most of the skulls were those of young men, supporting the theory they could have been killed in battle or executed en masse.
"One of the things that we will be looking for is do they have sword cut marks on the bones, and how were the heads dismembered: prior to or after death in an act of victory," Score said.
Archaeologists say they could also be Roman citizens or indigenous people who had died through disease or disaster.
Few artifacts have so far been found with the bones, though pottery shards dating to the late Iron Age and early Roman period have been found scattered around the pit. Continued...
Source: Reuters

The journey becomes art at Asian transport exhibit

By Miral Fahmy
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Transport is all about speed, convenience, predictability and the destination. Or is it?
A group of Southeast Asian artists would rather commuters slow down, focus on the journey, its impact on the environment and the urban landscape, and also take note of the emotions and the transience of life we often take for granted.
"We are all sharing one world," says Vietnamese photographer Tung Mai, one of 15 artists taking part in the "TransportASIAN" exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum.
"My main purpose is to ensure visitors become aware of the speed of their lifestyle, to slow down and to spend a little time to care for others, especially the less fortunate."
A play on words, the exhibition in part documents the history of transport in Asia through images, video and installations that also explore the process through the themes of time, space, action and fiction.
There is Tung Mai's photo wheel attached to a bicycle which visitors are asked to pedal backwards, not forwards, and the huge canvas-like works of Singaporean Samantha Tio who spent six months photographing lit-up vehicles on the night-time streets of four Asian cities, often up to six hours at a time.
"Transportation is a very relevant theme for contemporary Asia, where we have metropolises booming at unprecedented rates. Speed and progress are buzzwords for our leaders," Tio said.
"But it's when we slow ourselves down that we can actually appreciate and see. It's an amazing spiritual process."
Award-winning Singaporean Dominic Khoo chose to counter the anonymity and conformity of public transport by taking voyeuristic portraits of commuters lost in their own emotions.
There are also portraits of a dying form of transport in Asia, the rickshaw, as well as a video installation by Japanese-born Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba entitled "Breathing is Free" which highlights running as an efficient way to get places.
Efficiency and the environment define the works of Singapore-based Canadian artist Mark Kaufmann, who creates whimsical "time" and "flying" machines, reminiscent of the contraptions of previous centuries, out of scrap.
"In the future, with resources being depleted, we'll probably go back to using what we've got," he said. "Recycling, like time and patience, is an art form."
The finite nature of life is the main theme of the works of Spanish artist Xavi Comas, whose print and video project "Pasajero/Passenger," of Asian commuters and trains, is one of the exhibit's highlights.
"We are all travelers of life, a life which fleeting nature causes us to feel sorrow," he writes in the catalog. "However there is a depth and beauty to be found in this impermanence, when at least we recognize it."
TransportASIAN is on display at the Singapore Art Museum until August 11, 2009.
(Writing by Miral Fahmy, editing by Sugita Katyal)

Source: Reuters

Scale of mental illness in China underestimated

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A study in China has found that as many as 173 million adults, about 13 percent of the population, have some form of mental disorder, and 158 million of them have never received any professional help.
The study, published in the Lancet, said previous reports had substantially underestimated the extent of mental illness in China's 1.3 billion-strong population and the burden it placed on the quality of peoples' lives.
In many countries, neuropsychiatric conditions are the leading cause of ill health in men and women, with a disease burden far exceeding that of infectious diseases or cardiovascular disease.
However, efforts to improve services to people who are mentally ill have been hampered by a lack of data showing the extent and the seriousness of the problem.
The Chinese survey screened an initial total of 63,004 people in the four Chinese provinces of Shandong, Zhejiang, Qinghai and Gansu. These four provinces represent 12 percent of China's adult population.
Of these, 16,577 -- comprising mostly participants assessed to be at highest risk of suffering mental illness -- went through a second round of detailed testing by psychiatrists.
Findings showed that 17.5 percent of them (63,004) had some form of mental disorder, way higher than previous studies which reported figures of between 1.1 percent to 9.1 percent.
According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older, about one in four adults, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
Mental disorders include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and psychosis, like schizophrenia.
"Mood and anxiety disorders were more common in women than men and in individuals aged 40 years and older. Alcohol use disorders were 48 times more prevalent in men than in women, and people from rural areas were more likely to have depressive disorders and alcohol dependence than those from urban areas," wrote the researchers.
They were led by Professor Michael Phillips at the Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital.
Among people with mental illness, 24 percent reported that they were moderately or severely disabled by their illness. Yet only 8 percent of those with mental illness had ever sought any type of professional help.
Only 5 percent reported ever seeing a mental health professional.
"Projection of our results to all of China suggests that 173 million adults in the country have a mental disorder and 158 million of these have never received any type of professional help," they wrote.
They urged that more funds be set aside for these people.
"A major redistribution of societal and health resources is needed to address a problem of this size and will only happen with the active participation of powerful political, economic, social and professional stakeholders in the community."
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Source: Reuters

Generation Y advised to wean selves off parents' cash

By Belinda Goldsmith
CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Generation Y-ers expecting parents to foot their bills could be in for a rude awakening since the economic crisis hit, according to a poll.
A survey for Australia's St George Bank found almost two-thirds of Generation Y-ers -- people born from the mid 1980s to early 1990s -- are expecting their parents to help them out with their rent, their wedding and when buying a home.
However, the poll found many parents were no longer in a position to fund their children, with 70 percent of "baby boomers," or people in their 50s and 60s, suffering financially as a result of the global financial crisis.
"Clearly, most parents want to help their grown-up children but circumstances have changed for many and it's understandable that parents are now having to focus on their own needs and financial health," said bank spokesman Andrew Moore.
"As a result when it comes to paying for things like weddings, first home deposits, overseas travel and childcare, many Gen Ys must now stand on their own two feet ... the fall in parental financial support will no doubt be a significant blow to Gen Y who have grown accustomed to receiving parental help."
The survey of 1,000 Australians, conducted by Galaxy Research, found a growing disconnect between the expectations of Generation Y-ers, many of whom had a pampered youth, and what their parents can provide.
The poll found that 65 percent of Generation Y-ers had no knowledge of their parents' financial situation, yet 44 percent expected their parents to pay for all or part of their wedding, 40 percent expected help buying a house and 34 percent expected financial support for their education.
These expectations left more than 50 percent of parents feeling guilty when their children asked for help or support.
Four in five parents of adult children wished their children planned for their future better and spent less on non-essential items, saved more and become more financially independent.
Moore said the survey found that many Generation Y-ers just did not know how to budget or save.
"One in four Gen Ys say they have never had to budget and/or save, and a further 35 percent have only done so for a short period when saving for a particular item or holiday," he said.
"With the increasing pressure their parents are under with the GFC (global financial crisis), I strongly recommend that Gen Y take a more active role in managing their finances as they will be less able to turn to their parent for help."
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: Reuters

Travel Picks: World's top hotel mini-bars add luxury to nuts

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Hotel minibars catering for a discerning type of guest are becoming more inventive with luxurious items such as Champagne cocktails and designer clothing found alongside the drinks and snacks.
Men's website AskMen.com (www.askmen.com) has come up with a list of some of the world's top hotel minibars. This list is not endorsed by Reuters:
1. W Retreat & Spa, Maldives
The W Retreat & Spa has stocked its mini-bars with an unusual item -- a bikini by luxury beachwear label Heidi Klein. Crafted in W's signature purple, the bikini is a limited edition sold only on-site and comes with silver hammered-chrome detailing. If the bikini provided doesn't fit, a "Bikini Butler" is on-hand to measure guests for the right size.
2. Trump International Hotel, Chicago
Entrepreneur-cum-hotelier Donald Trump, who is a well-known teetotaler, has stocked the mini-fridges of his Chicago hotel with four hard-to-find waters -- Welsh Tau, Australian Tasmanian Rain, 420, and Bling H20.
3. The Levin Hotel, London
After a hard day of retail therapy in upscale Knightsbridge, unwind with a cocktail in your room with each suite installed with a Champagne cocktail minibar. Each fridge comes with half-bottles of Champagne, ingredients for mixing nine different Champagne cocktails and glasses in varying shapes and sizes.
4. The James Hotel, Chicago
Here the mini-bar boasts 13 top-shelf liquors and a mixing kit that includes glass, strainer, tongs, spoon, and corkscrew. There's also an extensive list of mixers, four varieties of eco-friendly water, and 16 snacks.
5. Gansevoort South, Miami
The Gansevoort South has beefed up its minibar and modified its prices to enable guests to drink and eat in the comfort of their own suites. There's recession-friendly Dean & Deluca treats for just $3, 375 ml bottles of Grey Goose, Bacardi and Bombay Sapphire, a variety of mixers, and appropriate glasses.
6. XV Beacon, Boston
Catering for jet-lagged guests, Boston's boutique hotel, XV Beacon, provides Sprayology in its mini-bar -- an all-natural sleep enhancer for $24 that also purports to flush away urban toxins.
7. Mondrian Hotel, Los Angeles
The minibars here contain an Alice in Wonderland Hand Mirror, designed by iconic visionary Benjamin Noriega-Oritz that is made from shatterproof acrylic. The retro-styled mirror costs $25 and is a perfect souvenir for guests to take home. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Japan brings reluctant public into crime trials

By Isabel Reynolds
TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Japan is counting down to its biggest legal revolution in 60 years, opening up its criminal justice system by bringing the public into court as lay judges -- but many say they'd rather leave it to professionals.
The new system, aimed at speeding up trials that have often dragged on for years, will require six members of the public chosen at random to join three professional judges to pass verdicts and sentences in serious criminal cases.
Media say August 3 will mark the start of the first of what are likely to be 2,000-3,000 such trials each year.
But opinion polls show almost half the population does not want to take part and many more are worried.
"Some people have said the trial system was difficult to understand, or that it was hard for ordinary people to use or to feel familiar with," said an official at the Justice Ministry, explaining the reasons for the change.
"Occasionally there were verdicts that didn't seem to quite chime with the views of the public," said the official, who declined to be named.
Japan introduced a limited jury system in the early 20th century, but suspended it during World War Two. Despite calls for it to be re-introduced, verdicts and sentencing have been the province of professional judges since then.
Neighboring South Korea has introduced a consultative jury system, but many prosecutors and even defense lawyers are reluctant to abandon the old way of doing things.
Japan's judges reach verdicts and pass sentences largely on the basis of paperwork. Many trials are very lengthy and usually end in a guilty verdict for more than 99 percent of cases.
One of the aims of the new system, from which defendants cannot opt out, is to reach a verdict in a few days.
PUBLIC UNEASE
Some Japanese reject the lay judge system entirely, and are campaigning to have it suspended. Family relations consultant Hiromi Ikeuchi says acting as a judge will be a needless burden on people who are not trained or paid to deal with the stress.
"It doesn't suit the Japanese temperament," she said. "I would not want my own 20-year-old daughter, for example, to have to examine disturbing photographic evidence from a rape-murder."
"If they want to open the legal system up to the public, they should just broadcast trials on television," Ikeuchi added.
Others are calling for changes in the system, which comes into force months after a previous legal shift allowed victims or their families to question the defendant in court. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Veteran Taiwan star looks to China as the future

By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - For years, many of the hottest entertainers in China have come from Taiwan and Hong Kong, places fans believe make for edgier performers. But veteran Taiwanese singer and actor Alec Su thinks this will change.
Su, still going strong two decades after starting his career and who is mobbed by fans whenever he sets foot in Beijing and other Chinese cities, believes the sheer size of the audience in mainland China is becoming a huge influence on the music scene.
"If you look at the population, there is a huge difference between Taiwan and Hong Kong and the mainland. Slowly but surely the mainland will be seen as a major market," Su told Reuters in a rare interview with foreign media.
"I believe that the influence of the mainland will only get bigger. They have the most people who will watch films, or listen to music," he added.
Hong Kong and Taiwan stars have been seen by mainland Chinese as cooler and more avant-garde than their domestic counterparts, who have to tread a cautious creative line to avoid getting into trouble with the Communist government.
Taiwan's Jay Chou in particular is massively popular in China, his face adorning countless advertisements.
But mainland pop singers such as Li Yuchun, winner of a television talent show in 2005, have already made inroads in an industry traditionally dominated by "outsiders."
"I think there's a lot of very good mainland singers, very creative. What they are writing about, their lives, have changed vastly because of China's opening up," Su said.
"Our mainlander friends see this as very cool. They won't necessarily feel the same way about Hong Kong or Taiwan."
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since 1949, when defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of a civil war. But since tensions between the two governments began to ease in the late 1980s, cultural and economic exchanges have rocketed, helped by a common language and culture.
Su owes his fame to Little Tigers, a Mandarin boy-band reminiscent of Take That or New Kids on the Block and which rocked the Chinese pop world from the late 1980s.
But in the often bubble-gum world of Mandarin pop music, where flash-in-the-pan singers change styles and even their names with alarming frequency, Su is a rare example of an artist who has maintained his popularity.
"I think I'm very lucky that I've always had opportunities," Su said bashfully when asked to explain his enduring appeal.
"Also, I'm a Virgo, I'm a perfectionist. I always put my whole heart into doing something. But of course I have to thank everyone for not getting fed up with me," he added with a laugh.
These days, though, Su spends more time acting. He has just done a voiceover for an MTV animation which aims to highlight the dangers of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Bad text messaging, e-mailing manners can be costly

By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A political coup in New York's statehouse can be traced back to an incident in which a top lawmaker so enraged a wealthy backer by peering at e-mails on his BlackBerry that his patron engineered his ouster.
One of the newer forms of poor office etiquette -- paying more attention to a hand-held device than to a conversation or business meeting -- happens so frequently that businesses are complaining it upsets workplaces, wastes time and costs money.
"It happens all the time, and it's definitely getting worse," said Jane Wesman, a public relations executive and author of "Dive Right In -- The Sharks Won't Bite."
"It's become an addiction," she said.
A third of more than 5,000 respondents said they often check their e-mails during meetings, according to a March poll by Yahoo! HotJobs, an online jobs board.
Such habits have their price, said Tom Musbach, senior managing editor of Yahoo! HotJobs.
"Things like BlackBerries fragment our attention span, and that can lead to lost productivity and wasted dollars because people aren't focused on their work, absolutely," he said.
REPRIMANDED FOR BAD MANNERS
In other Yahoo! HotJobs research, nearly a fifth of respondents said they had been reprimanded for showing bad manners with a wireless device. Yet even those who rail against such behavior admit to their own weakness.
"I catch myself driving in the car with my husband. He's talking to me and I'm downloading my e-mails," said Wesman. "You can't help yourself. There's this need to know what's going on."
But the constant pursuit of an e-mail fix may be costly. Research shows such multi-tasking can take more time and result in more errors than does focusing on a single task at a time.
"We know that if you have a person attending to different things at the same time, they're not going to retain as much information as they would if they attended to that one thing," said Nathan Bowling, an expert in workplace psychology at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
"If you're attending to multiple things at the same time, you often times don't learn anything," he said.
Then there's the risk of making someone really mad.
In the New York state political coup, billionaire businessman Tom Golisano said he grew angry after meeting this spring with state Democratic majority leader Malcolm Smith, who paid more attention to his BlackBerry than to issues at hand. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Gloom over California home prices hard to shake

By Jim Christie
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Matt Bording doubts many in his financial bind would agree that home prices in California are near a bottom. And there are many in his predicament.
Bording owes more on his mortgage than his Richmond, California house is worth so he is giving up on the loan.
"We're walking away," Bording told Reuters, noting he will soon hand his lender the keys to the three-bedroom house he bought with his wife in 2005 because its value has plunged with his zip-code's median home price over the last year.
"It's down about 60 percent," he said. "I don't see that rebounding in a realistic time frame."
Brisk sales of foreclosures are leading optimistic analysts to forecast an end to the misery of falling home prices in California, a first step to recovery in a key housing market at the epicenter of the U.S. mortgage crisis.
But Bording says his neighborhood is full of for-sale signs for known foreclosures and the disrepair of other houses suggest their owners share his view: "They may want to jump off a sinking ship."
BARGAIN HUNTING IN FORCE
Some analysts say the slide in home values in California has run its course thanks to buyers with government mortgages and investors snapping up foreclosed properties.
"We're running out of foreclosed units in most places," said Alan Nevin of MarketPointe Realty Advisors in San Diego. "It looks like we're straightening things out."
The state's median price for an existing, single-family home rose 1.4 percent in April from March to $256,700, marking two consecutive months of gains.
The median fell 36.5 percent from a year earlier, but that snapped a nine-month run of year-over-year declines in the 40-percent range.
Additionally, April's backlog of homes selling for $300,000 or less, where foreclosures are concentrated, would take 2.5 months to deplete, compared with 11.1 months a year earlier.
Strong demand at the lower-end of the state's housing market is bolstering the segment's home prices, a first step for broader price stability, said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors.
"It appears that the median price is now at or near the bottom," she said.
A LULL, NOT A BOTTOM Continued...
Source: Reuters