| ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people holding candles turned out at Rome's Colosseum to see Pope Francis mark the first Good Friday of his pontificate with a traditional "Way of the Cross" procession around the ancient amphitheatre. Francis, who was elected on March 13, sat under a red canopy on Rome's Palatine Hill as representatives of the faithful from around the world alternated carrying a wooden cross on the day Christians commemorated Jesus's death by crucifixion. "Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent," the Argentine pope said, speaking slowly in Italian and in a somber voice at the end of the evening service. "And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness. It is also reveals a judgment, namely that God, in judging us, loves us," he said. "Christians must respond to evil with good," he said, urging them to beware "the evil that continues to work in us and around us". The meditations for the 14 "stations of the cross" which commemorate events in the last hours of Jesus's life - from when Pontius Pilate condemned him to death to his burial in a rock tomb - were written by young people from Lebanon. The wooden cross was passed from one group and person to another - including a person in a wheelchair. Those who carried it came from Italy, India, China, Nigeria, Syria, Lebanon and Brazil. Several of the meditations, read by actors, referred to conflict in the Middle East and the suffering of its people. One meditation called the Middle East "a land lacerated by injustice and violence". Francis praised those Lebanese Christians and Muslims who tried to live together and who, he said, in doing so gave a sign of hope to the world. Prayers were read out for exploited and abused children, refugees, the homeless and victims of religious intolerance, war, violence, terrorism, poverty, injustice and drug addiction. There were also prayers against abortion and euthanasia. Good Friday is the second of four hectic days leading up to Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar. On Holy Thursday, two young women were among 12 people whose feet the pope washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite. After celebrating an Easter eve service, on Easter Sunday he will deliver his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message in St. Peter's Square. |
Pope leads traditional Good Friday rite at Rome Colosseum
Virtual reality, goggles and all, attempts return
| The virtual reality headset, the gizmo that was supposed to seamlessly transport wearers to three-dimensional virtual worlds, has made a remarkable return at this year's Game Developers Conference, an annual gathering of video game makers in San Francisco. After drumming up hype over the past year and banking $2.4 million from crowdfunding, the Irvine, Calif.-based company Oculus VR captured the conference's attention this week with the Oculus Rift, its VR headset that's more like a pair of ski goggles than those bulky gaming helmets of the 1990s that usually left users with headaches. "Developers who start working on VR games now are going to be able to do cool things," said Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey. "This is the first time when the technology, software, community and rendering power is all really there." While VR technology has successfully been employed in recent years for military and medical training purposes, it's been too expensive, clunky or just plain bad for most at-home gamers. Oculus VR's headset is armed with stereoscopic 3-D, low-latency head tracking and a 110-degree field of view, and the company expects it to cost just a few hundred bucks. A line at the conference snaked around the expo floor with attendees waiting for a chance to plop the glasses on their head and play a few minutes of "Hawken," an upcoming first-person shooter that puts players inside levitating war machines. Attendance was also at capacity for a Thursday talk called "Virtual Reality: The Holy Grail of Gaming" led by Luckey. When he asked the crowd who'd ordered development prototypes of the technology, dozens of hands shot into the air. "There's been a lot of promise over several decades with the VR helmet idea, but I think a lot of us feel like Oculus and other devices like it are starting to get it right," said Simon Carless, executive vice president at UBM Tech Game Network, which organizes the Game Developers Conference. "We may have a competitive and interesting-to-use device, which you could strap to your head and have really immersive gaming as a result." Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are reportedly working on similar peripherals, as are other companies. Luckey contends that the innovations Nintendo Co. made with its Wii U, Sony is planning with its upcoming PlayStation 4, and Microsoft is likely tinkering with for its successor to the Xbox 360 don't seem like enough. "We're seeing better graphics and social networks, but those aren't things that are going to fundamentally change the kind of experiences that gamers can have," said Luckey. A growing list of high-profile game makers have sung the device's praises, including Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, "Minecraft" mastermind Markus Persson, id Software's John Carmack, "Gears of War" chief Cliff Bleszinski and Valve boss Gabe Newell. Valve is planning to release a VR version of its first-person shooter "Team Fortress 2" for the Rift, but Luckey is hoping that designers in attendance at this week's conference begin creating games especially for the doodad. "The doors are already open," noted Luckey. "People are already telling us things they want to do with the Rift that they can't do with traditional games." Luckey said prototype versions of the technology are being distributed to developers now, and he anticipates releasing a version for consumers by next year. |
Monroe, Eisenhower letters to be auctioned
| NEW YORK (AP) — Marilyn Monroe's letter of despair to mentor Lee Strasberg, and Dwight D. Eisenhower's heartfelt missives to his wife during World War II are among hundreds of historical documents being offered in an online auction. Monroe's handwritten, undated letter to the famed acting teacher is expected to fetch $30,000 to $50,000 in the May 30 sale. "My will is weak but I can't stand anything. I sound crazy but I think I'm going crazy," Monroe wrote on Hotel Bel-Air letterhead stationery. "It's just that I get before a camera and my concentration and everything I'm trying to learn leaves me. Then I feel like I'm not existing in the human race at all." The 58 Eisenhower letters, handwritten between 1942 and 1945, range from news of the war to the Allied commander's devotion to his wife, Mamie. They are believed to be among the largest group of Eisenhower letters to survive intact and could bring up to $120,000, said Joseph Maddalena, whose Profiles in History is auctioning the items. They are among 250 letters and documents being sold by an anonymous American collector. Selected items will be exhibited April 8-16 at Douglas Elliman's Madison Avenue art gallery. Also included is a typed, undated draft letter from John Lennon to Linda and Paul McCartney that reflects the deep animosity between the two Beatles around the time of the foursome's formal 1971 breakup. The two-page letter is unsigned and contains corrections. A photographic logo on the stationery shows Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono within a circle with their lips almost touching. "Do you really think most of today's art came about because of the Beatles? I don't believe you're that insane — Paul — do you believe that? When you stop believing it you might wake up!" Lennon writes. It's expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000. Other highlights include two large photo albums that Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini exchanged prior to War World II. "When Mussolini and Hitler visited each other before the war, they would each have their photographers document their trips," Maddalena said. "They really documented the regalia, the flags, the uniforms, tanks and all the pomp and circumstance, and them speaking and reviewing the troops." The leather-bound albums, containing hundreds of images, have a pre-sale estimate of up to $50,000. The sale is the second of several planned online auctions of the anonymous collector's artifacts. The entire collection contains 3,000 items. |
'Lost in Thailand' clicked with modern focus
| HONG KONG (AP) — The director of China's biggest box-office hit says "Lost in Thailand" succeeded by showing a rarely seen subject: modern Chinese life. The historical epic, fantasy, action and thriller genres have long filled China's domestic movie screens. But "Lost in Thailand" was a low-budget and light-hearted road-trip tale about an ambitious executive who goes to Thailand to get his boss's approval for a business deal. Along the way he's pursued by a rival co-worker and encounters a wacky tourist who helps him rethink his priorities. "There is hunger from the audience for movies that talk about the real-life situation in China. That's why the movie rocked," said Xu Zheng, the film's director, writer and star. "There is a lack of films that talk about things that are related to the life of ordinary people" in China, he added. Unusually for a Chinese release, the movie was a moral comedy whose characters reflect stressed-out, overworked, wealth-obsessed China. Xu said his character, businessman Xu Lang, "represented the majority of the people, who are chasing after fame and desire, then becoming successful. That's what most of us do." The movie starts with the executive hardened by cutthroat business competition and worn out by family troubles. He and a wacky tourist, co-star Wang Baoqiang, experience a series of capers and mishaps in scenes heavy with slapstick humor. In the end, Xu Lang realizes he's had his priorities all wrong. "Lost in Thailand" smashed domestic box-office records, raking in 1.26 billion yuan ($200 million) last year, an especially surprising tally since it was not released until December. It edged out "Avatar" to become the biggest-grossing Chinese movie ever as China became the world's second-biggest movie market last year. Most other Chinese-made hits last year were in traditional categories, such as Jackie Chan's action flick "CZ12," which was the second-highest-grossing Chinese movie in 2012. The blockbuster success of "Lost in Thailand" may spur a wave of copycats. Xu has no plan yet for a sequel, but the state-run Xinhua News Agency has reported studios are lining up to "chase the craze" and a burst of such films could hit Chinese screens this year. With such a huge return from its $2.2 million budget, "some filmmakers have begun pondering how to replicate the film's box office miracle," Xinhua said. It did not mention any specific projects, but other Chinese news sites have been buzzing about Raymond Yip's upcoming film about two brothers on a road trip. Yip directed 2010's "Lost on Journey," a sort of prequel to "Lost in Thailand" also starring Xu and Wang. The plot of his new film, "Along Crazy All The Way," which has a different cast, is being kept under wraps. But a hint can be found in the title, which is the same as one of two Chinese names given to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," the 1987 Hollywood comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy about a man trying to get home for Thanksgiving accompanied by an obnoxious salesman. Xu has acted in more than a dozen movies, but "Lost in Thailand" is his directorial debut. He said the film was greatly influenced by a few of his favorite Hollywood movies. "I did a lot of research before making the film and I used some films as reference, such as 'Rain Man,' (the Belgian film) 'The Eighth Day' and 'Midnight Run,'" Xu said. "These are movies about two people becoming friends along the way on a journey." Xu cited "Midnight Run" in particular as one of his favorites, and the parallels to his own film are evident. The 1998 film stars Robert DeNiro as a bounty hunter taking an ex-mob accountant played by Charles Grodin from New York to Los Angeles to collect a payment and trying to avoid the Mafia and the FBI along the way. Xu said he hasn't yet decided what his next project will be. He said he's had some offers to remake his movie but for now his priority will be on Chinese audiences. He might return to acting but is taking his time before making any decisions. |
SKorea cuts growth forecast, plans stimulus
| South Korea's government cut its forecast for growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy this year as exports stumble due to muted global demand and a weaker yen. The finance ministry said Thursday that South Korea's economy will expand 2.3 percent this year. Three months ago it forecast 3 percent growth for 2013. South Korean manufacturers are struggling with weak overseas demand and increased competition from Japan where a new government has talked down the value of the yen, giving a boost to its exporting powerhouses such as Toyota Motor Corp. The ministry said it will aid an economic recovery with a stimulus plan and spending more than 60 percent of the annual budget during the first half of the year. Details of the stimulus spending will be announced next month, it said. Hyundai Research Institute estimates that South Korea needs 11 trillion won ($9.9 billion) of extra government spending to add half a percentage point to growth. South Korea's economy grew 2 percent last year, the slowest pace in three years. The country's small domestic market means it is reliant on exporting to major economies such as China, Europe and the United States. None of those countries has fully recovered from the global recession in 2009. "A full-scale recovery is being delayed," the finance ministry said in a statement. The government estimates South Korea's exports were nearly flat during the first three months of 2013 over a year earlier, after a meager 0.3 percent growth in the final three months of 2012. It attributed the slow improvement in exports to the uncertain economic situations in the U.S. and Europe, as well as the weak yen that made South Korean products less competitive in key overseas markets than Japanese goods. The bleak economic picture adds to the challenges facing President Park Geun-hye during her first year in office. Park took office in Feb. 25 promising hefty welfare spending, more jobs and an increase of the country's middle class to 70 percent of the population from around 60 percent. The finance ministry said it needs a bigger budget to aid recovery, to create jobs and to carry out Park's policies and welfare programs during her five year, single term. However, it estimated tax revenues will be lower than expected because of slower growth. The ministry also pared its job market forecast. South Korea will add only 250,000 new jobs this year, 70,000 less than its previous estimate. It forecast the surplus in the current account, which is a broad measure of trade and investment balances with the rest of the world, to fall to $29 billion from $43 billion last year. Inflation pressure will be lower as consumer prices will likely increase 2.3 percent, not 2.7 percent. |
Comedian Anderson still hurting from diving mishap
| Comedian Louie Anderson says he's been in pain all week from a recent diving mishap during a taping of the ABC celebrity diving show "Splash." Anderson, who weighs more than 400 pounds, was trying to do a flip from the 5-meter board when he slammed into the water, landing on his face and chest. "If I were lying down right now, you would have to help me up," the 60-year-old Anderson said Wednesday. "It's been almost a week and it still hurts almost as much." Anderson, who skipped diving practice Tuesday night to take the stage in Sioux Falls, S.D., for a show benefiting the Brennan Rock & Roll Academy, said he asked the "Splash" staff after the accident if he was suffering internal bleeding or damage but was told no. "They said, 'That's your abs. You've never worked them,'" Anderson joked. "The last time I worked them was when I was struggling to get out of my mother. That was it, and I haven't worked them since." The American version of "Splash," a surprise hit that originated in Europe, has Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis coaching a diverse cast of celebrities that includes Detroit Lions lineman Ndamukong Suh, 2012 Miss Alabama Katherine Webb, basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and former Baywatch star Nicole Eggert. Anderson said he's not alone coming away with some bumps and bruises. "Ndamukong Suh hit his nose. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sprained his neck," he said. "Nicole was up on a handstand and she slammed her chest and stomach into the 5-meter board and then fell into the water — and then, two hours later, had to do the dive on TV." Anderson, who just learned how to swim five years ago, said he decided to give the show a try after producers showed him a clip of the Netherlands version. He said it's the most exciting thing he's ever done. "I'm at 23 feet, diving into 17 feet of water. I'm over 400 pounds," he said. "Who doesn't want to see that? I do. I'm always shocked that I can do it." The stand-up comedian said he's glad the show is catching on with viewers. "I didn't have any idea if it would be a hit or not," he said. "I was either going to be inspirational or a laughingstock. So I'm lucky that some people thought I did a good job." Anderson said he's having a lot of fun, but he's also trying to win. "I know people don't think I have a chance, but that's how I think," he said. "Why do it if you don't do it great?" |
For China Mobile, 4G and next iPhone are key to unlocking Apple demand
| China Mobile Ltd hopes to tap pent-up demand for Apple Inc smartphones by rolling out new 4G technology this year and having an iPhone model that will finally run on it. The world's largest mobile carrier - with more than twice as many subscribers as there are people in the United States - already has more than 10 million of its customers owning an iPhone even though the gadget doesn't properly work with the Chinese firm's homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G technology, which is not compatible with global technologies. That inferior technology, and the failure to offer customers an iPhone contract - which its main rivals do - has been a key reason for China Mobile's slowing profit growth. The company, valued at $220 billion or half an Apple, is expected to say on Thursday that its net income rose just 1.2 percent last year to 127.4 billion yuan ($20.5 billion), according to a Reuters poll of 13 analysts - the slowest growth since profits actually fell in 1999. While many of China Mobile's iPhone users have found clever ways around some of the carrier's limitations, the company wants to close the gap with its two smaller rivals - China Unicom and China Telecom - which already offer iPhone compatible technology. Industry experts expect Apple's next iPhone will support China Mobile's TD-LTE 4G technology, even though this will be less widely used than the FDD-LTE standard. "Apple's iPhones will be like a killer app for China Mobile once it gets its 4G up and running," said Huang Leping, an analyst at Nomura International in Hong Kong. "That will definitely boost user numbers, though it will weigh on the bottomline in the first year or so as China Mobile will most probably have to provide heavy handset subsidies for the iPhone." China Telecom, which signed up to sell the iPhone last year, increased its spending on handset subsidies by 50 percent in the first half of last year, and has seen its profits fall in the last three quarters on higher marketing and subsidy costs. NO-FRILLS Most of China Mobile's 715 million subscribers are no-frills users attracted to its wide network coverage across the vast country. Only a small number are premium, tech-savvy consumers. Just 13 percent of its users are on 3G, compared with one third at China Unicom and 44 percent at China Telecom, which use other variants of CDMA 3G technologies developed by global players such as Japan's NTT Docomo and Qualcomm Inc. Using the iPhone on China Mobile's homegrown 3G network can be as sluggish as being hooked up to a 2G network, but many users take advantage of the carrier's many wi-fi hot-spots for heavier data-crunching applications such as playing games and downloading software. Demand for the iPhone has spawned a cottage industry, with some local phone vendors selling SIM card cutters that act like a hole-punch to trim bigger cards to fit the smaller iPhone slots. Some China Mobile sales outlets offer on-the-spot SIM-trimming services as well as wi-fi cards that iPhone users can use in most hot-spots. China Mobile is aggressively pushing for 4G to improve the user experience in a market where chatting on Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat and checking microblogs on Sina Corp's Weibo are the norm among smartphone users. Analysts expect China Mobile to spend $3 billion this year on developing its 4G network, from a total capex budget of around $35 billion. The company's chairman Xi Guohua said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year that the carrier planned to build a TD-LTE 4G network with 200,000 base stations to cover more than 100 Chinese cities, home to 500 million potential users. While Beijing is likely to grant 4G licenses as early as the second half of this year, it will take at least 18 months for the technology and the handset market to be mature enough for large-scale commercialization, SWS Research analyst Jim Tang wrote in a recent report. |
