Saturday, June 16, 2007

Angry fans of popular Indian film actor Rajinikanth rioted in 10 cinemas in Malaysia after the release of the actor’s latest movie was delayed by technical problems.

The release of Sivaji: The Boss was supposed to occur simultaneously across southern India and Tamil-speaking parts of Malaysia on Thursday. But not enough prints of the film were available, so cinemas in Malaysia had to resort to trying to screen digital versions of the movie on equipment they were unfamiliar with, which led to the delays and glitches. Fans found the situation unacceptable.

According to a report in today’s New Straits Times, the worst-hit in the mayhem was the Sri Intan Theatre in Klang, in Selangor state. Patrons had started lining up at 4 p.m. local time (0800 GMT), and waited five hours for the show to start.

Due to technical problems, it started late at 10:30 p.m., with tickets for both the 9 p.m. and midnight shows fully booked. Then, halfway through the film, at around 11:30 p.m., the screening was halted due to “technical problems”, according to the cinema manager, and could not be fixed.

The management announced that the show had to be cancelled and offered to refund the ticket money, but then the crowd became unhinged. Glass displays, lights and speakers were smashed. The screen and curtains were torn. Chairs were ripped apart, and wood panelling damaged. According to another local daily, The Star, angry fans even briefly set fire to the building, but it was quickly extinguished by cinema staff.

The Sri Intan has suspended screenings while repairs are made. Damage is been estimated at 70,000 Malaysian ringgit (about US$20,000).

In Ipoh, about 125 miles (200 kilometres) north of Kuala Lumpur, police were summoned to control unruly crowds at the Sri Kinta cinema. A cinema manager was beaten by irate fans, and he was taken to the hospital with head injuries that required stitches.

Police were also called in at a cinema Penang, where patrons banged on ticket counters, demanding refunds and that the movie be shown. The first showing finally got under way after a three-hour delay.

Fistfights broke out at a cinema in Rawang, where fans threw bottles and smashed glass cases.

In Kuala Lumpur, the venerable Coliseum Theatre also had an unruly crowd.

“People grew impatient and started pushing, resulting in a broken glass panel at the counter. We only got the movie at 4:30 p.m. and started selling the tickets at 4:45 p.m.,” theater owner Chua Seong Siew was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times.

The movie distributor said the delay was due to not enough prints of the film being sent from AVM, the Chennai-based production company.

“Rain and delay in getting the digital password from India for security reasons to beat piracy were the primary reasons for the delay and cancellations. Because of the rain, our delivery was affected and as a result, there was a delay in the screening of the movie,” S. Vel Paari, head of distributor Pyramid Saimira Theatre Chain, was quoted as saying by The Star.

Paari said he had ordered 53 copies of the film, but only got 42.

“The remaining 11 prints had to be downloaded through the Internet,” he explained to The Star.

The film, Sivaji: The Boss, is a 185-minute cavalcade of action, romance and song-and-dance numbers, starring Rajinikanth, one of the most popular stars of Tamil cinema, which is also known as “Kollywood“, the second-largest of the Indian film industry after the Hindi-language “Bollywood“. Budgeted at US$15 million, which is huge by Indian-industry standards, the film is said to be the most expensive yet made in India.

The film’s flamboyant 57-year-old star, Rajnikanth, has a cult-like following in Tamil-speaking southern India, and tickets to the film have been sold out for weeks.

In Malaysia, about 10 percent of the population of 26 million are ethnic Indians, most of them Tamil.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

In France, voting has traditionally been a low-tech experience: voters isolate themselves in a booth, put a pre-printed sheet of paper indicating their candidate of choice into an envelope. After officials verify the voter’s identity, the voter drops the envelope into the ballot box and signs the voting roll. French electoral law rather strictly codifies the proceedings. Since 1988, ballot boxes must be transparent so that voters and observers can witness that no envelopes are present at the start of the vote and that no envelopes are added except those of the duly counted and authorized voters. Candidates can send representatives to witness every part of the process. In the evening, votes are counted by volunteers under heavy supervision, following specific procedures.

In the past, voting machines, though authorized by law, were scarce. But this year, during presidential elections (the first round was April 22, the second is on May 6), the country is shaken by controversy about the machines intended to count about 1.5 million votes.

As in the United States, there is a group of academic computer scientists that oppose voting machines. They argue that voting machines replace a public, easily understandable counting process, where large-scale fraud would entail large-scale corruption, by an opaque process where votes are counted by machines that voters have to blindly trust. Voting machines have to be approved by the Ministry of the Interior, but this approval is based on confidential reports by private companies. Opponents to the machines point out that the Ministry was long held by Nicolas Sarkozy, who happens to be the leading candidate. Opponents also list a number of weaknesses and discrepancies that have occurred in other countries using voting machines.

All main political parties except UMP, Mr Sarkozy’s ruling party, oppose the voting machines. Some citizens have filed for court injunctions against the voting machines. Opponents have given detailed instructions that voting witnesses should check whether the machines correspond exactly to an approved type, including software versions, and fulfill all legal conditions. In a sign of the frenzy over the issue, on April 12 the Ministry of the Interior issued a last-minute authorization for a specific model (hardware, firmware). The stakes are high: votes on unapproved machines should be canceled by the Constitutional Council for the official count.

The opposition has crystallized on the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Issy’s mayor, André Santini is a well-known technophile; his city organizes a “World E-Gov Forum”. Here too, last minute fixes are at work. The machines delivered to the city are of a yet-to-be-approved type. The manufacturer, the American company ES&S voting systems, is now delivering older 2005 machines. Le Monde reports that other municipalities have already replaced their recent machines by an older, approved, model.

Proponents of the machines, such as the French company France Élection, claim they are being defamed and dispute the competence of their critics. Elected officials supporting the machines claim the machines save on paper, time, and the need to find volunteers to count votes.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Police in Melbourne, Australia are on the hunt for a gunman who killed a man and injured two others in the city’s central business district this morning.

Officials warned all office workers to remain indoors, and train services to Flinders Street Station were temporarily on hold, as investigations were carried out on the intersection of Flinders Lane and William Street.

Malcom Bates, who witnessed the shootings at around 8:15 a.m., said the gunman grabbed a woman from inside a taxi. “The lady got away and he turned and shot three people basically point blank,” Mr Bates said. “I was right across the road”. He said that the incident took no longer than the “wink of an eye”.

Paramedics struggled to revive the one victim for almost an hour before declaring him dead at the scene. The two injured people have been taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition.

Police believe the incident began at the Bar Code 24-hour bar in King Street, when a woman attempted to get into a taxi. She was apparently grabbed by the hair by the gunman who then shot her and two men who attempted to come to her aid.

Police have identified the gunman as Christopher Wayne Hudson, aged 29. They believe him to be a member of the Hells Angels bikie gang. Police have described Hudson as about 180 cm tall, with short brown hair and wearing a dark tracksuit top and dark denim jeans.

A building worker on a construction site on the corner of Queen and Flinders Streets has reportedly discovered a handgun. It is understood the gunman may have thrown the weapon into the site as he fled the scene.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Discount retailer Kmart Corp. announced Wednesday morning it will buy department store operator Sears, Roebuck & Co.. The deal is to cost $11.5bn and will lead to the creation of the third-largest U.S. retailer, after Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and replacing Target at number three.

The new company, which is to be called Sears Holdings and be based near Chicago, will have $55 billion in annual revenue and nearly 3,500 retail stores. Edward Lampert, the chairman of Kmart, will become the chairman of the new company, while Alan Lacy, current chairman and chief executive of Sears will be the new chief executive. Sears CEO Alan Lacy, speaking about the deal, promised up to $500 million a year in savings within three years from improved efficient, greater purchasing power and possible store closures. The stores will retain their current names.

The purchase will allow the two stores to sell each other’s brands, including Craftsman Tools, Kenmore, and Lands’ End from Sears, and Martha Stewart and Joe Boxer brands from Kmart. The move is considered a boon for Sears, which until recently has confined itself to malls, and can now sell its products in the many Kmart locations.

Shares of both companies soared after the announcement, Sears was up 22 percent on Wednesday, whilst Kmart gained 15 percent.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Wikinews reporter Nicholas Moreau contacted professional photographer David Fore of Lloyd David Photography to go to the recent Christy Carlson Romano concert at Sesame Place theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

Romano, perhaps best known for her breakout role in Even Stevens opposite Shia LaBoeuf, is presumably working towards a new album, regularly posting new singles to her MySpace profile. She is listed as “indie” on her profile, having originally been signed to Disney Records.

Romano has performed Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, as well as voice acting in the television series Kim Possible and video game Kingdom Hearts.

Sesame Place recently opened for the season, adding Abby Cadabby to its cast of life-size Muppets. The park offers a variety of wet and dry rides, as well as stage attractions. Christy performed at the park four times over last weekend, as well as riding in its daily Rock Around the Block Parade.

• Sesame Place theme park

Friday, September 2, 2005

HM King Mswati III of Swaziland has held a massive ceremony to find his 13th wife. More than 50,000 showed up to the unofficial call for brides. All potential brides who attended the two-day Reed Dance, held annually since 1999, were bare-breasted, wearing short, beaded skirts and were supposedly virgins.

As his country’s 37-year-old Ngwenyama (king), Mswati is the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mario Masuku, leader of the banned opposition party, said that “The Reed Dance has been abused for one man’s personal satisfaction. The king has a passion for young women and opulence.” Masuku’s comments were based on the fact that the Reed Dance traditionally celebrated virginity and womanliness.

“The king takes a wife whenever he wants, and that’s the way it is. This is our culture, and we will never change,” says Tsandzile Ndluva, 21, one of the dancers at the event.

Ludzidzini Royal Village also hosted the Great She-Elephant, their name for the country’s queen mother Ntombi Thwala. She was greeted by 50,000 people, which is 5% of the nation’s population. Their traditional ceremony for the She-Elephant includes dancing and building a wind-break for her out of reeds.

The King’s current wives include Inkhosikati LaMatsebula, Inkhosikati LaMotsa, Inkhosikati LaMbikiza, Inkhosikati LaNgangaza, Inkhosikati LaHwala, Inkhosikati LaMagwaza, Inkhosikati LaMasango, Inkhosikati LaGija, Inkhosikati LaMagongo, and Inkhosikati LaMahlangu. LaMbikiza has a Master’s Degree in Law.

He has 27 children from his first 13 wives and wives-to-be, and over 200 brothers and sisters, a result of his late father King Sobhuza II’s 70 wives. Mswati must look after all of these relatives with funds from the royal-owned company, Tibiyo TakaNgwane.

At the Reed Dance, Mswati repealed the law prohibiting sexual activity for girls younger than 18. This law was first enacted in 2001, to help in the fight against AIDS, which was, and still is, at crisis levels. The ban was set to end in 2006. The law was actually a revival of the ancient “umchwasho” rite, a Swazi tradition. In the first weeks this law was enacted, Mswati broke it himself, marrying Inkhosikati LaMagongo. This forced him to pay a fine of one cow.

Forty-percent of Swazis are HIV positive, including 42% of pregnant women, a matter that the King was taken to heart, to some extent. He has travelled internationally to try and raise money, increase awareness, and seek solutions to the epidemic. World-renowned musicians like Michael Jackson have signed on to record an album, to raise funds for orphans in the country. However, the young king does not seem to have realised the importance of leadership by personal example, and the Swaziland Ministry of Health website [1] shows little evidence of his government’s commitment to address the issue.

The King says he is suffering from stress, finding it difficult to cope with the pressure of work. He told BBC News “I find very little time with my family most of the time. I normally work until 11pm… and this makes me feel stressed because I’m being overworked, but I have to do everything possible to satisfy my people.”