Things are looking up for Netflix. DreamWorks Animation, the folks behind the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda series, is dropping HBO and will now release its movies first via Netflix , reports the New York Times . The deal starts in 2013, and will cost Netflix a hefty $30 million per picture—…
Continue reading …You just can’t Mace people discreetly these days, given the ever-ready video cams and cells phones everywhere. Now Wall Street protesters are screaming pepper-spray abuse by New York cops, and emerging videos and photos of the weekend’s confrontation between police and demonstrators appear to be backing them up. A number…
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Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer say they ‘lived in world of lies and false hope’ during the 781 days they spent in detention Two American hikers detained in Iran for more than two years have described the anguish of being denied contact with their families or news about their case, saying they “lived in a world of lies and false hope”. Addressing reporters in New York shortly after arriving in the US following their release from prison last week , Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer, both 29, said they were hugely happy to be free but felt no sense of gratitude towards authorities in Tehran. “We want to be clear: they do not deserve undue credit for ending what they had no right and no justification to start in the first place,” Fattal said. “From the very start, the only reason we have been held hostage is because we are American.” The pair were seized along with fellow American Sarah Shourd in July 2009 by Iranian guards while they were hiking in Iraq’s Kurdish region, near an unmarked border with Iran. Fattal and Bauer were convicted of spying last month . Shourd, who became engaged to Bauer during their detention, was released separately last year. The men, standing with Shourd, 31, on Sunday, said they went on repeated hunger strikes to pressure authorities into passing them the daily letters written by their families. Eventually they were told their relatives had stopped writing. The last direct contact the pair had came in May 2010, when their mothers were allowed a brief visit to Tehran, and for the most part the men were held in near isolation. Fattal said: “Solitary confinement was the worst experience of all of our lives. We lived in a world of lies and false hope.” He added: “Many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them.” He and Bauer were reunited with their families, and Shourd, in Oman on Wednesday. Relatives said the men described trying to keep fit by lifting water bottles and ripping cloth from blindfolds to keep their sandals on their feet, so they could run. Before Shourd was repatriated she and Bauer forged a romance during the maximum of an hour a day they were permitted to be together. He proposed to her, creating a makeshift engagement ring using threads taken from his shirt. She told reporters: “Shane and Josh and I are beginning our lives again, and there are so many new joys that await us. I’ve never felt as free as I feel today.” The couple had, as yet, made no wedding plans, she added. Fattal and Bauer, who took turns reading parts of a prepared statement and did not take questions, said they would never know if they had even crossed the border into Iran, but if they had done so it was entirely accidental. The three hikers, Bauer said, “oppose the US policies towards Iran which perpetuate this hostility”. After 781 days in detention, the men had been given no clue their release was imminent, Fattal said, describing how he and Bauer had expected to be returned to their cells as usual after their brief daily outdoor exercise. Instead, they were given civilian clothes and taken to another part of the prison where an Omani diplomat told them: “Let’s go home.” Within hours they were being flown to Oman. The release, styled by Iran as a gesture of clemency, involved a $1m (£640,000) bail payment. The men’s families say they do not know who paid this. Some speculation suggests Oman could have done so. Shourd was released after a similar payment was made. Iran Middle East United States Oman US foreign policy Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Nepalese monastery is enjoying a surge in popularity after spiritual leader introduces martial arts classes A Buddhist monastery near Kathmandu is enjoying a surge in popularity after its spiritual leader directed its 300 nuns to use martial arts techniques. Enrolment is rising and Buddhist nuns as far afield as the Himachal Pradesh in India want to become kung fu instructors. The Druk Gawa Khilwa (DGK) nunnery near the Nepalese capital teaches its nuns a mixture of martial arts and meditation as a means of empowering the young women. In Buddhism, like many religions, the voices of women have traditionally been muted. But the leader of the 800-year-old Drukpa – or Dragon – order, to which DGK belongs, is determined to change all that. “As a young boy growing up in India and Tibet I observed the pitiful condition in which nuns lived,” says His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the Drukpas. “They were considered second-class while all the privileges went to monks. I wanted to change this.” Although nuns have usually carried out only household chores in Buddhist monasteries, the nuns of DGK, who come from places as far apart as Assam, Tibet and Kashmir, are taught to lead prayers and given basic business skills. Nuns run the guest house and coffee shop at the abbey and drive DGK’s 4X4s to Kathmandu to get supplies. But for many, the breakthrough was the introduction of kung fu three years ago, shortly after the Gyalwang Drukpa visited Vietnam and observed female martial arts practitioners there. “Spiritual and physical wellbeing are equally important for our nuns,” says the leader. Sister Karuna, a soft-spoken young nun from Ladakh in the north of India, says kung fu has given the nuns self confidence and also helps in meditation. “We love kung fu,” said Karuna, as she prepared to swap her maroon prayer robe for a martial arts suit with a bright yellow sash. “Now we know we can defend ourselves. We also have the fitness for long spells of meditation.” Jigme Thubtem Palmo, 32, who left her family and a career as a police officer in Kashmir six years ago to join the monastery, says young women in the region are now more interested in becoming nuns than before. “We will soon build facilities for 500 nuns,” she said. The shaven-headed DGK nuns recently stunned an audience with a colourful martial arts display at the third annual Drukpa council summit held in Ladakh. Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, a former librarian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, says she will introduce kung fu at the nunnery she has set up in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. “It’s excellent exercise, good for discipline, concentration and self-confidence,” says Palmo. “Also, when any young men in the area know nuns are kung fu experts, they stay away.” Nepal Buddhism Religion guardian.co.uk
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Nepalese monastery is enjoying a surge in popularity after spiritual leader introduces martial arts classes A Buddhist monastery near Kathmandu is enjoying a surge in popularity after its spiritual leader directed its 300 nuns to use martial arts techniques. Enrolment is rising and Buddhist nuns as far afield as the Himachal Pradesh in India want to become kung fu instructors. The Druk Gawa Khilwa (DGK) nunnery near the Nepalese capital teaches its nuns a mixture of martial arts and meditation as a means of empowering the young women. In Buddhism, like many religions, the voices of women have traditionally been muted. But the leader of the 800-year-old Drukpa – or Dragon – order, to which DGK belongs, is determined to change all that. “As a young boy growing up in India and Tibet I observed the pitiful condition in which nuns lived,” says His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the Drukpas. “They were considered second-class while all the privileges went to monks. I wanted to change this.” Although nuns have usually carried out only household chores in Buddhist monasteries, the nuns of DGK, who come from places as far apart as Assam, Tibet and Kashmir, are taught to lead prayers and given basic business skills. Nuns run the guest house and coffee shop at the abbey and drive DGK’s 4X4s to Kathmandu to get supplies. But for many, the breakthrough was the introduction of kung fu three years ago, shortly after the Gyalwang Drukpa visited Vietnam and observed female martial arts practitioners there. “Spiritual and physical wellbeing are equally important for our nuns,” says the leader. Sister Karuna, a soft-spoken young nun from Ladakh in the north of India, says kung fu has given the nuns self confidence and also helps in meditation. “We love kung fu,” said Karuna, as she prepared to swap her maroon prayer robe for a martial arts suit with a bright yellow sash. “Now we know we can defend ourselves. We also have the fitness for long spells of meditation.” Jigme Thubtem Palmo, 32, who left her family and a career as a police officer in Kashmir six years ago to join the monastery, says young women in the region are now more interested in becoming nuns than before. “We will soon build facilities for 500 nuns,” she said. The shaven-headed DGK nuns recently stunned an audience with a colourful martial arts display at the third annual Drukpa council summit held in Ladakh. Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, a former librarian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, says she will introduce kung fu at the nunnery she has set up in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. “It’s excellent exercise, good for discipline, concentration and self-confidence,” says Palmo. “Also, when any young men in the area know nuns are kung fu experts, they stay away.” Nepal Buddhism Religion guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Nepalese monastery is enjoying a surge in popularity after spiritual leader introduces martial arts classes A Buddhist monastery near Kathmandu is enjoying a surge in popularity after its spiritual leader directed its 300 nuns to use martial arts techniques. Enrolment is rising and Buddhist nuns as far afield as the Himachal Pradesh in India want to become kung fu instructors. The Druk Gawa Khilwa (DGK) nunnery near the Nepalese capital teaches its nuns a mixture of martial arts and meditation as a means of empowering the young women. In Buddhism, like many religions, the voices of women have traditionally been muted. But the leader of the 800-year-old Drukpa – or Dragon – order, to which DGK belongs, is determined to change all that. “As a young boy growing up in India and Tibet I observed the pitiful condition in which nuns lived,” says His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the Drukpas. “They were considered second-class while all the privileges went to monks. I wanted to change this.” Although nuns have usually carried out only household chores in Buddhist monasteries, the nuns of DGK, who come from places as far apart as Assam, Tibet and Kashmir, are taught to lead prayers and given basic business skills. Nuns run the guest house and coffee shop at the abbey and drive DGK’s 4X4s to Kathmandu to get supplies. But for many, the breakthrough was the introduction of kung fu three years ago, shortly after the Gyalwang Drukpa visited Vietnam and observed female martial arts practitioners there. “Spiritual and physical wellbeing are equally important for our nuns,” says the leader. Sister Karuna, a soft-spoken young nun from Ladakh in the north of India, says kung fu has given the nuns self confidence and also helps in meditation. “We love kung fu,” said Karuna, as she prepared to swap her maroon prayer robe for a martial arts suit with a bright yellow sash. “Now we know we can defend ourselves. We also have the fitness for long spells of meditation.” Jigme Thubtem Palmo, 32, who left her family and a career as a police officer in Kashmir six years ago to join the monastery, says young women in the region are now more interested in becoming nuns than before. “We will soon build facilities for 500 nuns,” she said. The shaven-headed DGK nuns recently stunned an audience with a colourful martial arts display at the third annual Drukpa council summit held in Ladakh. Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, a former librarian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, says she will introduce kung fu at the nunnery she has set up in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. “It’s excellent exercise, good for discipline, concentration and self-confidence,” says Palmo. “Also, when any young men in the area know nuns are kung fu experts, they stay away.” Nepal Buddhism Religion guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The boss of a Hells Angels gang was killed and two rival bikers were injured in a weekend shootout at a Nevada casino. A second drive-by shooting of a biker later triggered a state of emergency in the town of Sparks, though it wasn’t clear if the shootings were related….
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Italian court hears 24-year-old is a ‘double soul’ as she appeals against conviction for murdering British student Meredith Kercher Amanda Knox is an “enchanting witch”, a woman with a “double soul” – part angel, part devil – her appeal hearing has been told by a lawyer representing the man Knox first accused of murdering Meredith Kercher. “Who is Amanda Knox?” Carlo Pacelli asked the judges and jury in a final address before the verdict, which is expected early next week. “Is she the mild, sweet young woman with no makeup you see before you today? Or is she, in fact, the one I have described and who emerges from the court papers on the basis of eyewitness portraits, given over to lust, narcotic substances and the consumption of alcohol?” The 24-year-old Knox, Pacelli said, was “the one and the other. In her, there is a double soul: the good, angelic, compassionate one … tender and ingenuous, and the Lucifer-like, demonic, satanic, diabolic one that at times wanted to live out borderline, extreme actions and dissolute behaviour.” The latter, he said, was the Amanda of the night in 2007 on which the British student Kercher was murdered in the hilltop city of Perugia. Pacelli was speaking on behalf of a Congolese barman, Patrick Lumumba, named by Knox as the killer in a controversial statement she made to police four days after Kercher’s body was discovered. Lumumba made himself a party to the case, as is permitted under Italian law, and his presence at the trial and appeal has had an important bearing on both. Knox subsequently withdrew the statement, which was signed at the end of an all-night interrogation without the presence of a lawyer or consular representative. She also later claimed she was repeatedly slapped by police during the questioning. The claim has earned her and her family, who repeated it, an action for slander by the Perugia force. At the request of Knox’s lawyers, Italy’s highest appeals court ruled the statement inadmissible. But it featured at the trial, and has been referred to repeatedly during her appeal because of Lumumba’s involvement. Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are appealing against their sentences, of 26 and 25 years respectively. On Saturday, the prosecution asked that, on the contrary, their jail terms should be increased to life on the grounds that they had no motive for the killing. A lower court found that Kercher died resisting involvement in a drug-fuelled sex session. Amanda Knox Meredith Kercher Italy John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Italian court hears 24-year-old is a ‘double soul’ as she appeals against conviction for murdering British student Meredith Kercher Amanda Knox is an “enchanting witch”, a woman with a “double soul” – part angel, part devil – her appeal hearing has been told by a lawyer representing the man Knox first accused of murdering Meredith Kercher. “Who is Amanda Knox?” Carlo Pacelli asked the judges and jury in a final address before the verdict, which is expected early next week. “Is she the mild, sweet young woman with no makeup you see before you today? Or is she, in fact, the one I have described and who emerges from the court papers on the basis of eyewitness portraits, given over to lust, narcotic substances and the consumption of alcohol?” The 24-year-old Knox, Pacelli said, was “the one and the other. In her, there is a double soul: the good, angelic, compassionate one … tender and ingenuous, and the Lucifer-like, demonic, satanic, diabolic one that at times wanted to live out borderline, extreme actions and dissolute behaviour.” The latter, he said, was the Amanda of the night in 2007 on which the British student Kercher was murdered in the hilltop city of Perugia. Pacelli was speaking on behalf of a Congolese barman, Patrick Lumumba, named by Knox as the killer in a controversial statement she made to police four days after Kercher’s body was discovered. Lumumba made himself a party to the case, as is permitted under Italian law, and his presence at the trial and appeal has had an important bearing on both. Knox subsequently withdrew the statement, which was signed at the end of an all-night interrogation without the presence of a lawyer or consular representative. She also later claimed she was repeatedly slapped by police during the questioning. The claim has earned her and her family, who repeated it, an action for slander by the Perugia force. At the request of Knox’s lawyers, Italy’s highest appeals court ruled the statement inadmissible. But it featured at the trial, and has been referred to repeatedly during her appeal because of Lumumba’s involvement. Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are appealing against their sentences, of 26 and 25 years respectively. On Saturday, the prosecution asked that, on the contrary, their jail terms should be increased to life on the grounds that they had no motive for the killing. A lower court found that Kercher died resisting involvement in a drug-fuelled sex session. Amanda Knox Meredith Kercher Italy John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Gucci is synonymous with glamour and success. But behind the Italian fashion house’s prosperity is an extraordinary story, of a family beset by controversy and war and a fashion label bolstered by the earliest kind of celebrity endorsement Jim Powell Imogen Fox
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