Federer downs Ferrer to reach ATP semis

Switzerland's Roger Federer returns to
Spain's David Ferrer

AFP - Roger Federer clinched a place in the semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals on Thursday as the defending champion ground out a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over Spain's David Ferrer at London's O2 Arena.

Federer required a straight sets win over the fourth seed to seal his spot in the last four with one Group B match to spare and he reached that goal despite a scrappy performance that included 39 unforced errors.

While Federer was some way from his best, the world number two displayed his priceless knack of elevating his game on the big points as the 31-year-old extended his winning run at the Tour Finals to 12 matches.

As well as securing his semi-final berth, Federer also achieved a notable personal landmark by recording his 70th match win of the year -- the first time he has done that since he was at the very peak of his form in 2006.

It was a familiar story for Ferrer, who has now lost all 14 of his meetings with Federer, and the Spaniard will need a victory over Janko Tipsarevic in his final match on Saturday to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Celtic stun Barcelona as Bayern hammer Lille

Barcelona wasted their first chance to reach the Champions League last 16 after a surprise defeat by Celtic but Manchester United edged through and six-goal Bayern Munich rocketed closer to progression on Wednesday.

Favourites Barca lost 2-1 in Glasgow after Victor Wanyama and Tony Watt struck in a famous win for the Scottish champions, who exposed the continued defensive frailties of the slick passing Catalans with non-stop energy and physicality.

Lionel Messi pulled one back late on but the point that would have put the Group G leaders through was not forthcoming even if they still lead Celtic by two points and Benfica, 2-0 winners over Spartak Moscow, by five with two to play.

"It's right up there, one of the proudest moments of my career. This is monumental," Celtic manager Neil Lennon told reporters. His side had also led at the Nou Camp before a late 2-1 loss last month.

"We wanted to do ourselves justice and we surpassed that. We've beaten the best club in the world. It was a stiff examination and we came through it with flying colours."

United came from behind to win 3-1 at Braga after a Robin van Persie strike, Wayne Rooney's penalty and Javier Hernandez's scrappy goal in the final 10 minutes sealed a knockout stage berth as group winners following a painful early exit last term.

A powercut after Alan's opening penalty for the Portuguese hosts had held up the Group H game for around 10 minutes in the second half but United roared back.


Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro bagged a 15-minute first-half hat-trick to help hosts Bayern batter Lille 6-1 and top Group F with nine points alongside Valencia, 4-2 victors at home to BATE Borisov thanks to Sofiane Feghouli's brace.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern, beaten by Chelsea in last season's final, were 5-0 up at halftime against the hapless Ligue 1 outfit after Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben had also hit the net.

Toni Kroos made it six in the second period after Salomon Kalou's meaningless effort for Lille.

(REUTERS)

Germany probes Swiss bank UBS over tax evasion

AFP - Authorities in southwestern Germany are investigating the German branch of Swiss banking giant UBS over suspicion of aiding tax evasion, a public prosecutor said Thursday.

"We are investigating officials of the bank whose names are still not known, and customers. It concerns the suspicion of aiding tax evasion," Peter Lintz, the public prosecutor in the city of Mannheim, said.

"Staff of the bank are suspected of having helped customers take money from Germany to Switzerland," he said, confirming a report in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper.

During a search of the Frankfurt premises of the bank in May, evidence, primarily electronic data, was seized and is currently being examined, he said.

UBS chief Axel Weber said in a German press interview in August that his bank had "zero tolerance" for tax fraud.

Germany and Switzerland have drawn up a tax deal aimed at ending spats over alleged tax evasion but the treaty is currently facing opposition by some lawmakers in the German upper house of parliament.

The Holders by Julianna Scott

17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called 'experts' who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland's perceived problem, Becca doesn't buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland's family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what's best for Ryland.

What they find at St. Brigid's is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family's heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they've been waiting for. However, they are all--especially Becca--in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There's an attraction between Becca and Alex that can't be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.

Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he's settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he's done?

WTM: Celebs out in force as travel expo enjoys visitor rise

World Travel Market 2012, the global event for the travel industry, has got off to a flying start with exhibitor invitation visitors up five percent on last year’s event. Delegates included a host of travel celebrities who made guest appearances on the stands.

The Monday of WTM is an exhibitor invite-only day with the aim of allowing exhibitors to hold discussions and negotiations with those buyers that they want to conduct business with.

The first day of WTM 2012 saw almost 8,000 (7,992) exhibitor invitations attend, according to unaudited figures. This compares to 7,614 on the first day of WTM 2011, which was 14 percent up on the year before.More than 200 of the exhibitor invitee buyers took part in the highly successful Speed Networking session, which took place before the event opened to allow even more time for exhibitors and buyers from WTM Meridian Club to negotiate and conclude deals at WTM 2012.

Furthermore, more than 30 luxury travel buyers had pre-scheduled business appointments with luxury travel brands in the session – A Taste of ILTM at WTM.Reed Travel Exhibitions Director, WTM, Simon Press said: “I am delighted with the attendance figures for the day of WTM 2012. World Travel Market is all about exhibitors doing business with WTM Meridian Club buyers. The exhibitor invitation policy for the day of WTM was introduced to allow exhibitors to negotiate business deals with those buyers they want to sign contracts with.
“The WTM Speed Networking session was the busiest ever with more than 200 buyers and 400 exhibitors taking part, setting up a highly successful day and WTM 2012.The show also welcomed a host of celebrities, including actor and adventurer Charley Boorman, who starred with his close friend and fellow thespian Ewan McGregor in the epic TV series “Long Way Round”, a motorcycle trip across Europe and Asia, and “Long Way Down” from Scotland to Cape Town.

For his latest adventure, Charley returning to South Africa for an intense six-week road trip. Extreme Frontiers: South Africa, a four-part series for Channel 5, was sponsored by Mantis Collection and South African Tourism.

Meanwhile the presenter Ben Fogle made a special appearance on the Azores Stand.”

Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt Reveals She's Turning Down Work To Enjoy Married Life

Wedged in between Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt (squeal) and the very handsome Luke Evans from the new Hobbit trilogy we were more than content at the WGSN Global Fashion Awards dinner at The Savoy last night. Joanne, 32, who walked up the aisle with her IT director husband James Cannon a couple of weeks ago told us that she’s taking a break from acting for a few months to enjoy married life.

‘I’m just enjoying it at the moment. I keep turning down work but I should probably stop doing that soon! It was the most amazing day, we are really happy,' she said. 'We haven’t had time for a honeymoon yet but I think we’ll go next year or the year after. We’re looking at The Maldives.’

A Royal Affair (2012)

Director of the movie is Nikolai Arcel and the writer is Badil Steensen-Leth (novel), and Rasmus Heisterberg (screenplay). Alicia Vikander, Mads Mikkelsen and Mikkel Boe Folsgaard are starring in the movie with the genres Drama History and Romance.  Mikkel Følsgaard as Christian VII of Denmark is acting a mad man in the flick.
SYNOPSIS: En kongelig affære as it is known in Danish stars Alicia Vikander as the young queen Caroline, older and wiser beyond her years, who is married off to insane King Christain VII (Mikkel Følsgaard). The immature King behaves outrageously in society while holding his court to ransom, much to Caroline’s disgust.
It is the early 1770s when Enlightenment thinking is spreading fast across Europe and regal rule is being questioned by the socialists. In Denmark, one believer, a young German physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), successfully gets the position as Christian’s personal physician and begins to change the country’s way of ruling. He also starts a torrid love affair with the despairing young queen. Together they begin a revolution that changes a nation forever and seals their fate.
Movie is shot mainly in Europe in Czech Republic and Germany.
Film was released in UK on 15th June, 2012 and on 31st of August in USA in Telluride Film Festival.

Brad Pitt To Launch Furniture Line

By Paras Pitafi
Entertainment Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

Is there anything Brad Pitt can't do?

The Killing Them Softly star has teamed up with furniture maker Frank Pollaro to create a collection of furnishings, Architectural Digest re
ports.

The line includes a dining table, a cocktail table, several side tables, a few club chairs and a bathtub for two in Statuario Venato marble. According to Architectural Digest, Pitt's designs "incorporate the idea of a single line" and "that line can be geometric, as in the case of a 17-foot-long wood dining table" or "sinuous, as with a glass-top side table that features a wispy spiraling metal base finished in 24k gold."

An architecture buff, Pitt, 48, is no stranger to great design. "I've been doodling ideas for buildings and furniture since the early 1990s, when I first discovered [Charles Rennie] Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright," he says. "Actually, I found Wright in college, when looking for a lazy two-point credit to get out of French. It forever changed my life."

After Hurricane Katrina, Pitt used his passion to create his Make It Right Foundation, which relies on prominent architects to create quality affordablAlthough his regular meetings with Pollaro lasted "anywhere from seven to ten hours" and he describes himself as "bent on quality to an unhealthy degree", when asked how he feels about being called a furniture designer, Pitt hesitates to answer.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he says.

Pitt's collection will be unveiled Nov. 13 - 15 in New York.

Wyss Institute Models a Human Disease in an Organ-on-a-Chip

Engineers are developing "organs-on-a-chip", microchips lined with living cells that mimic the structure and biochemical behaviour of a human organ, making drug screening much easier. The image below belongs to one of the first "lungs-on-a-

chip" and it is roughly the size of a memory stick. This technology could also put an end to animal experimentation.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have mimicked pulmonary edema in a microchip lined by living human cells, as reported today in the journal Science Translation Medicine. They used this "lung-on-a-chip" to study drug toxicity and identify potential new therapies to prevent this life-threatening condition.

The study offers further proof-of-concept that human "organs-on-chips" hold tremendous potential to replace traditional approaches to drug discovery and development.

"Major pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time and a huge amount of money on cell cultures and animal testing to develop new drugs," says Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., founding director of the Wyss Institute and senior author of the study, "but these methods often fail to predict the effects of these agents when they reach humans."

How To Remove Paint Odor With An Onion

With the new season upon us you may be thinking of changing up your home by painting your rooms a new color. But with the cold weather, you may not be so inclined to open your windows to air out the paint odor. According toShelfLifeAdvice.com there may be a way to keep your home smelling fresh... without freezing.

After you’re done painting, cut an onion in half. Then, place each piece at the ends of the room. This should absorb the odor and the site says your space won’t smell oniony either.

If you’re not using a brand of low VOC paints, which tend to only give off a slight smell, this is a great tip to help keep the stench out of the room.

Solar car competition held in Chile

A pilot remains on board of a Chilean solar car to participate in the Atacama Solar Race, which is the second version of the solar car competition in Latin America, in Plaza de la Ciudadania, in the city of Santiago, capital of Chile, on Nov. 7, 2012. The race will be held from Nov. 15 to 19 in the Atacama Desert. 

Zhejiang University Week kicks off in Germany

Prestigious Zhejiang University of China launched week-long activities here on Wednesday to present its disciplinary advantages and latest achievements.

"Zhejiang University Week" was jointly organized by Zhejiang University, Berlin Institute of Technology (TUB), Free University of Berlin (FUB) and Humboldt University of Berlin.

The event, held during the 2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue, aims to further promote China's education and culture in Europe and enhance substantive cooperation between Zhejiang University and its counterparts in Germany and Europe as a whole.

"We hope this year's activities, with the participation of the younger generation of scholars and students, would contribute remarkably to the bilateral friendship and close ties between Chinese and German universities," said Yang Wei, president of the Zhejiang University.

"Universities cannot solve the society's problems by themselves and within their own framework. They have to expand their cooperation," said TUB President Dr.-Ing. Joerg Steinbach in an interview with Xinhua.

"So the need for internationalization is absolutely assisting. Therefore, it is helpful to work with the most distinguished and most famous universities worldwide," he said.

"We have 30 years' experience in cooperating with Zhejiang University, and their projects always proceed very well. We are looking forward to pursuing this kind of cooperation with great expectation," he said.

In Berlin, Zhejiang University formally launched a scholarship for foreign students which aims to attract more outstanding students from Europe and other parts of the world to study in Zhejiang University.

S. Korean students take all-important college entrance exam

The annual college entrance exam was held Thursday in education-obsessed South Korea, with early- morning planes being grounded, military exercises suspended and the morning rush hour rescheduled.

All was to ensure that test-takers have the best possible chance to do well on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) given once a year.

This year, around 670,000 students headed to 1,191 test sites nationwide to take the exam believed to determine the course of their lives.

The score a student earns on the exam is a key decider of college entrance. In South Korean society, attendance at a prestigious school is crucial in obtaining a successful job.

Under government orders, many businesses and the stock market opened one hour later than usual to alleviate the traffic conditions for students on their way to the test.

Planes were banned to land or take off at local airports during the listening portions of the test as part of noise control measures.

Buses and subway trains extended their rush hour services to help all exam-takers arrive on time.

The military halted firing drills to give students quiet time, and traffic was restricted within 200 meters of each of the test centers.

More than 3,000 police cars were mobilized to escort latecomers to the test.

Younger students gathered in large groups outside each test site, some having arrived before dawn, to cheer on test-takers. "I came here to support my seniors as they are taking the most important exam of their lives," Kim Min-young, a 17-year-old student, said as she was handing out warm teas to arriving students at Pungmoon Girls' High School in central Seoul. "All students have studied so hard just for this day. I hope they all do well on this exam," said Kim.

It is not just students placed under enormous pressure on this very day, but their parents. "I believe my son would do his best during the exam as he did so during preparations," said Noh Young- jae, the 49-year-old mother of a high-school senior. "I hope he gets the best result as he studied hard for this day during the past three years in high school."

Headline November9,2012

''THE GRAND MASTER OF PLASTIC ART!''

Jeff Koons art is shiny, brash, genius and fun but it might make you question the sanctity of human soul? Jeff  Koons is a pair of eyes on holiday, fully alert to Art History as both delight and burden. He picks out cheap objects, shiny goofy images and slick pieces of merchandise and makes a fetish out of them; he offers them a sort of iconic seriousness which they cannot possibly bear and thus he creates images filled with irony, and, dare I say it, with unique silliness.

It is hard not to feel that one of the reasons why Koons work is so popular and so valuable is that there is something bravely juvenile about his imagination.

It is difficult to think of him as an adult. It is sad (or maybe an also uplifting and hilarious) fact about the world that we inhabit that ''the infantile and juvenile'' are more fun and somehow richer in texture than the stuff that takes time and intelligence to experience.

You can bring your inner kid to a Jeff Koons show, but the question remains what do you do with your inner self while you are looking at his work?

I blame America, but maybe that is too easy, Or I blame Andy Warhol. or I blame some postmodernist theorists, too numerous and obscure to mention. Somebody is clearly to blame for establishing the idea that icons from sports to Hollywood or cartoon shows or cheap mass-produced inflatable objects from advertising or pieces of general kitsch are worthy of close attention and even reverence.

On the other hand. there is no need to be earnest. Some of Koons images, the madder the better, give cheap pleasure. And there's nothing nicer than cheap pleasure. Some of his efforts play sexulaise and play generally with innocence are subversive and almost serious, from a strange angel; ''it really makes you wonder if humans are humans at all.'' And this seems to me to be a good thing for an artist to wonder about.

The world for Jeff Koons is the real one. The one we inhabit; it is filled with advertising, neon, trash, colour photographs, TV images, plastic objects, things waiting to be discarded.

There is no culture other than popular culture. Plastic for Koons is what trees were for Corot or skin was for Rembrandt.

Art is a sort of play. And Koons is one rare master of it. There is no getting away fro him.

Goog Night & god Bless!

Another united state: Puerto Rico votes for statehood

While Puerto Ricans are unable to vote in the presidential election, 65 percent of the US island territory’s four million citizens on Tuesday voted in favor of becoming the 51st US state – an action that President Obama said he supports.
While Americans voted in the general election, Puerto Ricans went to the polls to choose statehood or the status quo before answering a follow-up question to specify their will. Nearly 54 percent sought to change the territory’s 114-year relationship with the US. Only four percent of the islanders voted for complete independence, while 31 percent hoped for sovereign free association and 65 percent favored joining the US.
This election marks the first time that a majority of Puerto Ricans voted in favor of statehood in a nonbinding referendum. Almost 80 percent of eligible Puerto Rican voters took part in the referendum, which was the fourth in 45 years. Both Obama and Mitt Romney said they supported such a referendum, with the president making a promise to respect the will of the people.
“I believe the country should become a 51ststate because the US has influenced our country completely and we are Americanized completely 100 percent, there’s no differentiation,” a young woman told the German news source, Deutsche Welle.
“Puerto Rico has to be a state. There is no other option,” 25-year-old Jerome Lefebre of San Juan told the Associated Press. “We’re doing ok, but we could do better. We would receive more benefits, a lot more financial help.”
If Puerto Rico were to become the 51stUS state, its residents would be subject to federal taxes, which they are currently exempt from.
But Puerto Ricans cannot vote themselves into statehood. The decision lies with the US Congress, and some predict that statehood still lies in the very distant future. Puerto Ricans on Tuesday also voted for their congressional representative in Washington. Partial election results show Alejandro Garcia Padillo in the lead, who supports the island’s status quo. Pro-statehood Gov. Luis Fortuno was lagging in the votes as of Wednesday morning.

Glamour stripped of tax: Italian police seize fashion family castle over sale of Hugo Boss and Valentino

Italy’s financial police have confiscated a 15th Century castle, land and corporate holdings of 13 people "linked to one of Italy's most important families in the fashion and textile sector".

Assets worth over $83million have been seized in a tax probe over the 2007 sale of the Hugo Boss and Valentino fashion houses. 

A person familiar with the investigation told Reuters the people involved were allegedly linked to the Marzotto group and included members of the Marzotto family. Marzotto sold the Valentino Fashion Group – then including the Valentino and Hugo Boss labels – to a private finance group, the Telegraph reported.

The seized castle Villa Trissino Marzotto boasts over 50 rooms, and has been in the Marzotto family for six decades. According to the Financial Times, it has two Italian-style geometrical gardens, a forest, a road lined with lemon trees and over a hundred statues.

The Marzotto family members allegedly avoided Italian tax by using a Luxembourg-based holding company for the Valentino sale.

The newspaper reported that the assets were taken to cover $83million in taxes the 13 people are suspecting of having allegedly failed to pay when making a $255million capital gain from selling Valentino.

Those under investigation are suspected of not having filed tax returns.

Lawyers representing the Marzotto family insist bank documents show capital gains from the operation had been declared and taxed, the Telegraph informed.

"I acknowledge the seizure measures. I think it right only to point out that I did not have any operative position in the company in which I was a minority partner," Matteo Marzotto, a board member of the textile family group, said in a statement.

- Rt.com

Don’t drink and fly: Stolichnaya asks Paramount to remove vodka from ‘Flight’ film

Denzel Washington in ‘Flight’ directed by Robert Zemeckis

The maker of Budweiser and the US distributor of Stolichnaya have asked Paramount Pictures to remove branded bottles of beer and vodka from its new drama ‘Flight’ which depicts an alcoholic pilot flying while high on drink and drugs.

William Grant & Sons Inc., the New York-based distributor of Stolichnaya, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that the inclusion of ‘Stoli’ in the film from the Oscar-winning director of 'Forest Gump', Robert Zemeckis violates the company's internal code of responsible marketing. and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States' code of responsible practices.

"Considering the subject matter of the film ‘Flight’, it is certainly not a project in which we would have willingly participated," Jonathan Yusen, senior vice president of marketing in North America for William Grant & Sons, explained. "The inclusion directly contradicts the codes and our commitment to responsible marketing."

Although trademark and copyright laws prevent logos from being used without permission in films, filmmakers are granted "fair use" privileges under federal law, which doesn’t forbid certain use of protected materials without receiving permission from the rights holder, The Hollywood Reporter informed.

Meanwhile, St. Louis-based Budweiser has asked that its logo be removed or obscured from digital copies of the film and future versions due to be released on DVDs. "We would never condone the misuse of our products and have a long history of promoting responsible drinking and preventing drunk driving," Budweiser vice president Rob McCarthy said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Paramount declined to comment, while ‘Flight’ has already earned $24.9 million in its opening weekend.

Budweiser and ‘Stoli’ aren't the only alcoholic beverages the character of airline captain William "Whip" Whitaker helps himself to.

The pilot, portrayed by Denzel Washington, also goes for Smirnoff and Absolut vodkas. In one particular scene, the character looks an open hotel mini-bar, bringing the spotlight on a variety of alcoholic drinks.

Rt.com