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SYDNEY, NSW, Australia / The Sydney Morning Herald / Life & Style / People / February 15, 2010

By Philip Sherwell, New York

FOR nearly four decades Hugh Hefner has revelled in a life of hedonistic indulgence and excess in the faux Tudor and Gothic opulence of the 29-room Playboy Mansion.

The founder of Playboy magazine has enjoyed the company of a revolving harem of hand-picked Playmates and thrown legendary parties lavish even by Los Angeles standards, while overseeing an adult entertainment empire.

Hugh Hefner

The 83-year-old, often pictured in his red velvet smoking jacket, has shown no sign of allowing advancing years to affect his libidinous lifestyle.

But Hefner is now being sued by a disgruntled shareholder who claims he is putting his sybaritic desires above the interests of a business that has been in financial free-fall in recent years.

Los Angeles investor David Brown alleges that ''Hef'' sabotaged potential deals for the sale of Playboy Enterprises late last year because he wanted to cling to his hedonistic existence.

His lawsuit claims that, in spite of Playboy's huge losses in recent years, ''Hefner has continued to live the good life and make sure everyone knows it''.

It cites various reports that the prospective deals were scuppered by Hefner's desire ''to support a gluttonous lifestyle'' and ''to continue staying at the Playboy mansion until his death''.

Despite his personal fortune, the mogul does not own the mansion.

He pays rent for partial use of the estate, an arrangement unlikely to survive a company takeover as the property has been an integral part of the business brand since its purchase in 1971.

Playboy Enterprises is a publicly listed company but Hefner holds 70 per cent of voting shares, effectively giving him a veto over any decision.

He also remains editor-in-chief of the magazine that he first published with a young Marilyn Monroe on the cover in 1953.

Three potential buyers for the stricken business backed out of talks in November and December last year after Hefner allegedly ''scuttled'' hopes of a deal. TELEGRAPH
[rc]

Copyright © 2010. Fairfax Digital

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LONDON, England / The Daily Mail / News / February 2, 2010

By Daily Mail Reporter

Europe's oldest man has celebrated his 110th birthday at his Cornish home and says fresh air and good country food have helped him live so long.

He first received a card when he was 100 and received one every year from 105 to 110.

Stanley Lucas celebrated his 110th birthday in his home town of Bude, Cornwall surrounded by friends and family and his seventh card from the Queen

More than 70 of Mr Lucas's friends and family joined the celebration, including his daughter Phyllis and her husband Gordon, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

'It was fun,' he said. 'My grandchildren and great-grandchildren came.'

Mr Lucas was born more than a century ago, on January 15, 1900 and served in both World Wars.

'I was called up three times - twice for the First World War and once for the Second World War,' said Mr Lucas.

In his lifetime, Albert Einstein published the theory of relativity, the Wright brothers flew the first plane and Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon.

Mr Lucas ran the family farm at Great Beer, near Bude, until 1948 and was co-founder and leader of Stratton Young Farmers Club.

He moved to the village of Poughill just outside Bude in 1948 and later served as vice chairman of Bude Town Council.

Before that, he remembers the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, when he passed the crown to George VI so he could marry his lover, the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

He remembers getting his first telephone in 1938 and his first motor car in the early 1940s.

'It was a Trojan car - and I also had a Titan tractor,' he said. 'Driving the car for the first time was enormous fun.
'There were no driving tests. I picked it up then I had to drive it home. I ran my brother-in-law to Plymouth and I hadn't driven five miles ever.

'We somehow made it there and back in one piece.'

Mr Lucas married his wife Ivy, a farmer's daughter whom he met at Bude Fair, in 1926. They were married until Ivy passed away in 1963.

He attributes his long life to fresh West country air and good country food, saying he's had 'lots of outdoor living and I've never travelled far.'

Plus the 110-year-old has never smoked and only has the odd glass of sherry.
He played bowls for Cornwall in the 1970s and was a keen football player.

A supporter of Plymouth Argyle, he even has a birthday card signed by all the members of the team.

When asked if he had any vices, Mr Lucas replied: 'Oh, I'm not going to tell you everything.' [rc]

© Associated Newspapers Ltd

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SEATTLE, Washington / Seattle Post Intelligencer / TV Guide / January 22, 2010

By Joyce Eng, TV GUIDE

Betty White and the word "retire" don't go together. The word isn't even in her vocabulary, she says.

"Why should I retire from something I love doing? You can't get rid of me that way!" she tells TVGuide.com. "It's been 61 years. It doesn't seem that long, but I've been so lucky to kind of do a little of everything. How lucky can one person be?"

Watch clips of Betty White

Longevity in show business requires a little bit more than luck. White, who turned 88 on January 17, is working more than ever these days, proving that her charm and wit are timeless. In six decades, White's ubiquity on the big and small screens has made her an indelible part of entertainment, netting her six Emmys and a place in the Television Hall of Fame. She will get another honor Saturday: the Life Achievement Award at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (8/7c, TNT and TBS).

"I keep waiting for them to call and say, 'Whoops! We made a mistake! We got the wrong name.'" White says. "I can't be coy about it. I am so excited. I nearly fainted. It's just a tremendous honor and I'm just so appreciative."

Sandra Bullock, her co-star in The Proposal, will present the award. White says she does not have a prepared speech. "Everybody works differently, but that's just the way I work," she says. "But I have to put my mental editor to work because I kind of have a bawdy sense of humor and I have to watch it!"

Betty White says of the SAG acronym: "It makes me nervous. I always want to put my arm under my boobs." Photo By John Shearer, Getty Images for ATI. Photo and Caption Courtesy: USA Today

See photos of White throughout the years

That saucy humor, combined with her sweet but sassy personality, has been White's trademark since she got her big break in 1949, flexing her ad-libbing skills on Hollywood on Television, Al Jarvis' live variety show, six days a week — a daunting task sure to flummox many performers. "What a great way to learn about television. It kept you on your toes," she says.

She started hosting the show in 1952, the same year she launched a sitcom, Life With Elizabeth — for which she won her first Emmy — and then racked up a slew of hosting gigs and guest spots on sitcoms and game shows, most notably on Password. "I loved Password for not only the game, but I also kind of liked the guy in the middle," White says, referring to host Allen Ludden, whom she married in 1963. Ludden died from cancer in 1981.

Merging her two "great joys" — show business and animals — White created The Pet Set in 1971, a spotlight show on celebrities and their pets that made her feel "like a kid in the candy store." "We'd do an interview with the pet and we'd send the pet off, but I'd keep the celebrity as my co-host through the show," she says. "Whatever kind of dog or cat or whatever he had, I would do a breed spot and show all the varieties of that particular breed. So I was up to my derriere in dogs and cats, which was wonderful!"

Betty White: Animal work gives me the greatest joy

Then came the tart and man-hungry "Happy Homemaker," Sue Ann Nivens, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show — for which she won two Emmys. She struck Emmy gold again for her charmingly dim Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. Unsurprisingly, she names both iconic roles as career highlights.

"That was such fun. But it's the writing that you get. Trust me, an actor can't do it unless it's on the page! Actors will take all the credit in the world, but if it's not on the page, it doesn't work. I've been blessed," she says. "And how great that [The Golden Girls] still re-runs? Flipping the dial, some rerun from 100 years ago comes on and I watch and go 'I never did that!' I have no recollection of it at all!"

In the last two decades, White has also dipped into drama with turns on The Practice and Boston Legal, and an extended arc on The Bold and the Beautiful. "I never imagined any of this would happen," she says. "It's the typical actor syndrome. Once a job is over, you'll never work again, until the phone rings. It's been wonderful lately. And I have no regrets at all. A couple of them, I'm glad I didn't take!"

White has already shot a Disney comedy, You Again, starring Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver, and has booked a guest spot in the TV Land comedy pilot Hot in Cleveland.

And after that?

"What else do I have lined up? Well, it's only ... the morning!" she quips. "I don't have anything else right now, but I'm available!" [rc]

©1996-2009 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC

Those who enjoy this feature on Betty White
may also visit: Betty White: At 88, this dame's still game

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LONDON, England / The Guardian / Culture / Art & Design / January 21, 2010

Actor, director, screenwriter, composer – and now (at 72) painter. Anthony Hopkins has been busy

By Simon Hattenstone

City Scene - Painting by Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins is at home in California – ­Malibu to be precise, on the beach. It is late afternoon, the sun is dipping, everything is lovely. I am at home in London. It is 1am, cold and windy, and I am dribbling into my sofa.

The phone goes. It is Sir Anthony, to talk about his paintings. Next month the first British exhibition of his art will open in London, followed by ­another show in Edinburgh. In recent years, the 72-year-old actor has become something of a renaissance man: in 2007 he wrote, directed and scripted a film called Slipstream. Last year, his composition The Masque of Time was given its world premiere by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Now there's the painting.

Hopkins's paintings are varied and variable – ranging from traditional landscapes, to much darker and more garish images. I am looking at an idyllic scene when he calls: corn fields, white-blue skies and reds blobs that could be cattle or haystacks. It's all very calm. Well, yes, Hopkins says, so it should be. He has everything he wants: his lovely third wife, Stella, success, health. "Over the years, you settle into a ­calmness. I suppose what you're ­observing is my state of mind or state of being." But while he talks, I am looking at a painting that is anything but calm: a blood-red face, outlined in yellow, unsmiling and harsh. This is more how I imagined Hopkins's work would be: restless, melancholy, haunting.

The Welshman has played pretty much every kind of role there is, ­during a long career on stage and film. But there are two roles he excels in: the quietly repressed (the butler Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day, for which he was Oscar-nominated); and the hammily monstrous (Hannibal Lecter, for which he did win an Oscar). Perhaps it is not surprising that he does these two extremes so well. ­Hopkins, who left his first wife when his only child was tiny, has implied in interviews that he is a little ­emotionally stunted; he claims that, because he went to boarding school, he never really understood the ­nature of family or the role of a ­father. And, as he will freely admit, he has been monstrous in his time. There are ­myriad stories of him ­raging against light and dark in his ­alcoholic years, improvising on stage because he had forgotten his lines – sometimes ­brilliantly, often ­appallingly. But he stopped drinking a long time ago, in 1975, and for now there is the calm.

"Oh, I had a grand old time. I was a wild boy, yeah! Van Gogh type. I wouldn't have missed it. It was a lot of fun. I lived it up a storm. But it would have killed me. Over the years you get a little smarter. You slow down a bit, but I'm in full vigour. I'm on the ­treadmill every day and I lift weights and I'm very strong and powerful."

Strength is a recurring theme, as is family. He talks at length about his mother and father, the bakery they ran in Port Talbot. "They never had holidays. Dad worked 4am till 7pm. Then he went to bed. He was a strong man. And just before he died, he started painting. I've got three of his paintings here. My mother painted, too – beautiful flowers. They worked so hard, they gave me my values." When he was young, his father would leave a loaf for him in the oven. "And I'd cut it up and eat it. I was like a ­savage. I'd stuff it down with butter, peanut butter and bananas. I was a monster. Of course you become ­addicted to that. And that's my biggest downfall, bread – the sugar in the bread, I guess."

This is another thing that's changed: his diet. He used to eat junk on film sets, and put on loads of weight. How much? "Oh, I'm not going to tell you." Whisper it: it's just between me, you and Guardian readers. "Oh no, oh no . . . I was about 230lb. I'm down to 180 now. Good weight."

A few years ago, it was reported that Hopkins was giving up acting. "No, I didn't actually say that," he says gruffly. "I was doing Titus [with director Julie Taymor], which was a very complicated film. We were ­working at 4am and I was sitting in the freezing rain, covered in mud, and I said to someone, 'I think I've had it with this business, I'm a bit too old for this.' And someone said, 'Are you going to retire?' and I said, 'No, it's just a bit tough.' The Mail got hold of it and said, 'We hear you're retiring.' I said no, and it was in the press the next day. I was tired. Actors say this sometimes."

Actually, he says, his passion for ­acting has returned since he started composing and painting. "When it comes along, I enjoy it more because I'm laid back. My mind is clear, my body is clear. I'm fit and well, so I can apply all my strength and power to the movie."

Well, relatively laid back. Another story emerged a few months ago: that Hopkins had been reunited with his ­estranged daughter, Abigail. I tell him it was great to read this. Silence. Then a bark. "No, that's not true at all. No, I haven't seen her for years. No, that was some crap, that probably came from that garbage in the Mail. They're a bunch of assholes. I've had no ­contact with my daughter for years. That's her choice. Anyway, you move on. If people don't want to bother with me, fine. You know, God bless them, and move on. I don't hang out with negative people or people who bitch and moan about the injustices of the world. I don't waste any time with ­people like that."

Has this always been his philosophy? "Always. I don't like freeloaders, I don't like people who are negative. There was a guy here. I used to meet him for lunch, I always ended up picking up the tab. By the time I'd ­finished having lunch with him, I wanted to commit suicide because I felt so guilty about being happy when this guy was so fucking miserable. If people don't want to know me, then fine. I'll see them the next decade. Just get on with it. If you don't like life, do something about it, but don't bother me with it. Don't ­infect me with your plague." He pauses. "I'm a pretty tough guy, you know. I'm a pretty hard man. I've got a lot of compassion, but I don't waste time with people. Don't fuck with me, and I'll stay out of your way if you stay out of my way."

In 2007, when talking about the ­failure of his second marriage, Hopkins is reported to have said: "I'm devious, cruel, cunning and addictive." Is that another fiction? No, he says. "I don't think I'm devious any more. Maybe I was in my drinking days. Devious? Well, I'm an actor – all actors are ­devious. What was the other one? ­Addictive? Well, yeah, I like all the bad things in life. I used to love the booze. I like to do everything at great speed. That's an addiction, I guess. But now I've deliberately turned the dial down. I don't live at that pace anymore."

The playwright David Hare, who ­directed him in a production of King Lear, once said: "Tony is permanently in the grip of feelings he can't control." Roger Donaldson, who directed him in The Bounty, said Hopkins scared him to death. If he met his younger self, what would he make of him? "I wouldn't have wanted to meet myself as I was 30 years ago. I was horrible." He thinks, and reassesses. "No, I was just a bit confused, like all young ­people in the acting business. I look at them now and think, I've done all that, and try to smile about it. I don't want to ever go back." One reason he is so happy in LA, he says, is that it's easy to be ­solitary. "I don't have any friends in the acting business. I keep well away from them." Has he always been a loner? "Oh yeah. Do my own thing. Not answerable to anyone."

A happy marriage, his painting, composing, writing and acting (he has roles in the upcoming The Wolfman, and Thor): ­Hopkins couldn't be more content. But, as he's keen to stress, that doesn't mean he's getting soft. There is still plenty to grump about. He turns his ­attention to today's male movie stars and their ­penchant for mumbling (Hopkins has always prided himself on his diction). "Why don't people speak properly? There are a lot of young kids, good ­actors, but they are so macho they think it's sexy to whisper. I don't know what the hell they are talking about. They may as well put subtitles on them. I teach ­acting classes at UCLA, and I stand there and say, 'I can't understand one word you're ­saying, so how d'you ­expect me to sit in the audience?'"

What advice does he give them? "Clarity and courage, and just get on with it. That's my philosophy. Stop ­trying to impress people by mumbling, because it's boring, and stop belly-­aching. I don't waste time, you know." [rc]

© Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

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BRISBANE, Queensland / The Courier-Mail / Queensland / January 17, 2010

By Alex Murdoch

AT THE ripe old age of 94, "world's oldest lifesaver" is a tag Russell Barden wears with pride. He's earned it. With little more than a handful of years separating the Maroochydore man from his centennial, this grandfather of the sport has spent 30 years pounding the beach.

What makes Mr Barden's story even more unusual is that his passion did not strike until later in life – after he retired from a fulfilling career as a machine moulder with the NSW railways at the age of 62 and followed his daughter to Queensland.

The loveable larrikin learned to swim in waterholes around NSW before spending his youth as a jackeroo – a far cry from the Sunshine Coast's sandy beaches.

"I joined the army for a while (the light horse) but they kicked me out because they wanted me doing the job I was already doing," Mr Barden said.

He was 23 years old, the year was 1939, World War II was brewing and farming was a protected occupation.

So how did this boy from the bush become a guardian of the surf?

Maroochydore club records suggest Mr Barden was 66 when he earned his bronze medallion but he believes he was probably closer to 63.

"I went to the Maroochydore beach every day for a swim and got talking with the lifesavers – fellows named Stuey Friend and Ken Newing – and they said 'why don't you go for your bronze?'," he said.

"I thought to myself I've got nothing to do, I'll give it a go."

A quick trip to the clubhouse and Mr Barden was booked in, with just one question requiring clarification: "I'm not too old, am I?" "You're never too old," was the firm reply.

Six weeks of training and Mr Barden was lined up against contenders less than a third his age. "I beat two 18 year olds in the surf-belt swim," Mr Barden said with pride.

He went on to rescue a 13-year-old girl on his first patrol – a feat he wryly admits he never had to repeat.

As for the business of saving lives, Mr Barden reckons he already had a big head start.

"I had three St John Ambulance first aid certificates and their silver medallion before I even came up here," he said.

"I'm a life member of the (NSW) railways' first aid squad and I could swim and run in those days."

Mr Barden went on to add an advanced resuscitation certificate, first aid certificate, radio operator's certificate, inflatable rescue boat driver's certificate, instructor's certificate and radio instructor's certificate to his portfolio.

"Then two years ago I went and got my senior first aid certificate – just for a bit of fun," he said.

And if that was not already enough, Mr Barden also has been awarded an International Year of the Volunteer certificate, a frontline leadership award and an annual local hero award, all for his services to surf lifesaving.

FOR THE LOVE: Lifesaver Russell Barden, 94, with nippers Matthew Palmer, 10, Dylan Borthwick, 9, Adam Palmer, 8, and Jackson Woollett, 10. Megan Slade.

Despite retiring from patrol duties in the early '80s, no job has been too great or small for Mr Barden. For two years he was radio officer, before putting his hand up for patrol gear steward – a position he still holds.

It was also Mr Barden who recruited a few mates to kick-start the Maroochydore SLSC's first radio crew – to save patrolling lifesavers from running communications between the beach and the radio tower. It is still in operation today.

But Mr Barden admits that it was his constant involvement in training and encouraging nippers that earned him the nickname "the father".

"I used to swim with them around the buoys and taught them first aid," he said.

Mr Barden formed a particularly strong bond with Olympic kayak gold medallist Clint Robinson. "He's our trainer at our club now," he said. "I went to his wedding."

Mr Barden's contributions were again acknowledged when he was made a life member of the Maroochydore SLSC in 2003.

While the nonagenarian admitted he had slowed a little – he now gets up at 5.30am instead of 5am – he said he still visits the club every day.

"I go there to check the gear, and I go for a feed three days a week and to meet up with the blokes," Mr Barden said.

"One of the chaps does all my shopping for me – that's pretty good friendship – and others pop in to see how I'm sparking."

And from time to time Mr Barden still gets trotted out to have an inspirational chat with the youngsters.

So what is it that keeps him coming back for more?

"It's the friendship of all the people and doing voluntary work," he said. "Old people need exercise. You'll die just sitting there watching the box." [rc]

© 2010 Queensland Newspapers.

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KOLKATA, West Bengal / The Times of India / January 17, 2010

By Saugata Roy, Times News Network

Veteran communist and former chief minister Jyoti Basu passed away on Sunday at 11.47 am. CPM state secretary Biman Bose broke the news after all efforts failed to revive the 95-year old leader suffering from multi-organ failure.

In this file photograph taken on July 8, 2009, veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu greets well-wishers on his birthday at his residence in Kolkata. (AFP Photo)

For the last 17 days while he dared the inevitable with his failing organs at a city hospital, India came down to Kolkata praying for Jyoti Basu — a scene Bengal never witnessed after Satyajit Ray. With his passing away on Sunday Bengal lost a voice that Delhi could hardly ignore. ( Watch Video )

All roads led to the Salt Lake hospital as the news spread in the city. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Basu as one of the "great sons of India". Union finance minister P Chidambaram who came to the city on Sunday paid his last tribute calling him a "colossus" in Indian politics. "His death marked the end of an era in Indian politics," said film-maker Mrinal Sen. Basu had donated his body. It will be kept in peace Haven, and the last journey will begin on Tuesday, CPM leaders said.

In a political career spanning seven decades, Jyoti Basu never stepped out of the party line. Except once. Even his unflappable poise cracked in the face of his party’s obstinate resolve not to join the non-BJP, non-Congress National Front government at the Centre after the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. He could have gone where no communist had ever gone in India. The Prime Minister's chair was his for the taking. But the party would have none of it. Basu called the decision a "historic blunder."

But, Basu was not the one to split hairs over what could have been, He never contested the Lok Sabha polls, but continued to influence national politics till the very end.

Born into privilege (his father was a US-trained doctor) and educated in elite institutions ( Loreto, St Xavier’s School and Presidency College), few would have expected Jyoti Basu to grow into one of the most important communist leaders of his time.

Even in his last days, confined to a bed, Jyoti Basu had the power to influence national politics. The charismatic leader was confined to his home for the last two years due to his age and failing health. But that only made Indira Bhavan a must visit for politicians — from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to CPM general secretary Prakash Karat — ensuring Bengal’s visibility in the national scene.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who seldom talks to anyone in the CPM, has been to Indira Bhavan on quite a few occasion. With Basu’s passing, the West Bengal CPM stands dwarfed, losing the mettle it had inherited since the days of the undivided CPI.

In his long political career starting with being elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1946, he was one of the driving forces behind the transformation of Indian communists from the days of ‘yeh azadi jhootha hai’ (this is fake Independence) to playing an integral role in the parliamentary system.

Basu influenced this course in his own way, aiming at a blend between communist principles of democratic centralism with the ideals of bourgeois democracy. It was this effort that gave the minority within his party a voice that no Stalin or Deng did offer.

What is the magic behind this state-level politician’s drawing attention at the national level? It was perhaps because Basu had been the kingmaker on several occasions though he stopped short of being king. Basu and former CPM general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet threw up various political formations building bridges with new forces. Beginning his career as a trade unionist, Basu emerged as Leader of the Opposition. His meteoric rise did not escape the notice of chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy.

Basu was not an orator like Somnath Lahiri or a party ideologue like Bhabani Sen, EMS Namboodiripad or BT Randive, but he was the one who could connect with the masses with his usual incomplete sentences. What’s more, he had the rare quality to strike the golden mean between diverse opinions without affecting the individual views.

There were occasions when Basu was a minority in the party. In fact, Basu and former CPM general secretary EMS Namdooripad were opposed to the split in Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1964. At a time when his comrades, such as Promode Dasgupta were pushing for the split, Basu sided with the ‘centrists’, floating a thesis to stop the divide. He joined CPM, a little later, as a politburo member.

But that is not the only occasion. Basu fell out with his colleagues in the CPM politburo when the party pulled the plugs on the Morarji Desai government in July 1979 on grounds that the government was taking anti-working class positions and was also silent over person’s holding dual membership of the Janata Party and the RSS. CPM stalwarts Harkishen Singh Surjeet and BT Randive had advocated the pull out while Basu held that the move would ensure the return of Indira Gandhi. The Surjeet-Randive line prevailed over the Bengal line leading to the formation of the Charan Singh government.

Basu never tried to marginalise his detractors inside the party, as is often seen in communist parties. As a result many who opposed him on one issue stood solidly by him on another. CPM hardliner BT Randive had come down to Kolkata in 1985 to give the necessary ideological support to Basu’s joint sector industry model with multinationals. The proposal had triggered a fierce debate within the Bengal CPM.

Again Basu was a minority in the CPM politburo and the central committee when the party decided against joining the United Front government at the Centre in 1996 — the historic blunder phase. The party central committee took a decision by a show of hands. Prakash Karat led the brigade and host of comrades from Bengal namely Biman Bose, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Anil Biswas endorsed the party stand. Basu did not give up though. He bore with the party and helped in initiating intra-party discussions that finally led to the change in the CPM party programme over participation in the central government.

Even during the debate over the Indo-US nuclear deal, Basu was not keen on pulling the plugs on the Congress-led UPA government. He wanted the Left to oppose the deal and wait for the right opportunity to link issues such as price rise before the final pull out. But it did not happen. The ailing nonagenarian was quite upset with the development. He talked about it in close circles when the Left Front leaders called on him.

Bed-ridden in his last days, Basu slowly withdrew himself from the daily party affairs but could sense the downward slide. Basu’s passing away will hardly affect the day-to-day functioning of the CPM. It would rather have an impact on the generation that grew with Basu’s typical address at the Brigade Parade Grounds: bandhugan, mayera, bhayera, bonera... [rc]

Copyright © 2010 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

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BANGKOK, Thailand / The Nation / National News / January 14, 2010

Thailand's Office of the National Culture Commission is planning to publish a book detailing the achievements of Krisda Arunvongse, a celebrated architect who succumbed to a coronary artery aneurysm on Tuesday.

He was 78 and had been receiving treatment at Siriraj Hospital since November 29.

"We have allocated Bt120,000 for the book," the office's secretary general Somchai Sianglai said yesterday.

To the general public Krisda is best remembered for his role as former Bangkok governor, though local architects remember him as the man who modernised Thai structural design.

Born on January 9, 1932, he did a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, and later won a scholarship to study architecture at the Ecole des BeauxArts in France.

Upon returning to Thailand, he spent three decades as a lecturer for the Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Architecture. Many of his designs have won awards, and include new structures inside the Amporn Gardens, the River House Condominium and River City Shopping Complex. He was also named an outstanding architect during the 60th anniversary of the Association of Siamese Architects.

Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch described Krisda as a great artist.

"We will educate young children about his work," he said.

Krisda's funeral rites will start today at Wat Benchamabophit or the Marble Buddha Temple. [rc]

© 2006 Nation Multimedia Group

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BERLIN, Germany / Germany.info / Deutsche Presse Agentur / January 8, 2010

A member of the German resistance whose husband was executed by the Nazis in 1945 has died at age 98 in her home in the US state of Vermont.

Freya von Moltke, widow of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, died Friday of a viral infection, her son, Helmuth Caspar von Moltke told the German Press Agency dpa.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and Freya von Moltke, the widow of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, met in Berlin on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Graf von Moltke in 2007.
© picture-alliance/dpa

She was born in 1911 to a prominent banking family and met her future husband when she was 18. They married in 1931 and together founded the Kreisauer Circle, which became a center of resistance against Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.

Helmuth von Moltke was executed for treason in January 1945.

Freya von Moltke went on to publicize and write about the work of the resistance during World War II.

In 1989 she received a literary prize from German booksellers that is named for renowned resistance figures Hans and Sophie Scholl. The family's former estate has been turned into a centre for German and Polish youth.

She is to be buried Friday in Vermont, where she has lived since 1960. A memorial service is also being planned for Berlin in March.

Her son said she died peacefully surrounded by her family after being able to celebrate Christmas with them. [rc]

© dpa - Report

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SYDNEY, NSW, Australia / The Sydney Morning Herald / World / January 5, 2010

Wearing leopard skins and carrying a Zulu shield in a traditional ceremony in his remote hometown, South Africa's polygamous President Jacob Zuma has married for the fifth time.

The 67-year-old and his new bride, Thobeka Madiba, 30 years his junior, danced in an open field at his homestead in Nkandla, a village deep in the countryside of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Married again ... South African President Jacob Zuma sings and dances with his new wife Thobeka Madiba. Photo: AFP

The two formally wed when a tribal elder asked Madiba if she accepted to join the Zuma family. When she agreed, he pronounced her Zuma's third current wife.

His first wife, Sizakele Khumalo, whom he married in 1973, attended the ceremony. His second wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma, was at the homestead preparing for the reception in a massive tent, where guests will celebrate through the night.

One of Zuma's earlier wives committed suicide in 2000, while in 1998 he divorced Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who remains in his inner circle and is the home affairs minister.

The guests included the political and business elite, including Mandla Mandela, a grandson of the nation's first black president, Nelson Mandela.

Local celebrities and music stars such as Yvonne Chaka Chaka also attended the ceremony under overcast skies, with a gentle drizzle seen as a sign of blessing in African culture.

After initially declaring the ceremony would be private, it was opened to the public under heavy police presence. Local villagers, many dressed in animal skins and African cloth, trekked through muddy trails to attend.

Madiba, who reportedly has three children with Zuma, attended the president's inauguration in May, where she was treated as one of three first ladies.

Since then, she has attended official functions and is referred to in the media as Thobeka Madiba-Zuma.

Even while preparations for this wedding were under way, Zuma is reportedly preparing for his sixth marriage.

Earlier this week, a gift-giving ceremony was held signalling he had paid the traditional dowry, or ilobolo, for his latest fiancee, Bongi Ngema.

Zuma has also been linked to a Swazi princess.

Polygamy is legal in South Africa, but mostly practised in rural areas.

The practice came under the spotlight before the 2009 presidential elections, when Zuma's lifestyle became a topic of discussion, especially among women's rights activists.

Media and political analysts also debated the issue, but their attention focused mainly on logistical matters such as security arrangements and medical costs.

Usually Zuma brings only one wife to state functions or on overseas trips.

His first wife, Khumalo, was given the place of honour at his inauguration in May, given higher prestige than Madiba or his other wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma, whom he married in 2008 in a lavish ceremony.

Zuma and Khumalo have no children together and she still lives in Nkandla, generally preferring to avoid the spotlight. He has reportedly fathered at least 18 children.[rc]

AFP

Copyright © 2010. Fairfax Digital

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TULSA, Oklahoma / Tulsa World / January 2, 2010

By Kim Archer, World Staff Writer

Who was Vivian Hotuiz?

She died quietly in September at University Village in Tulsa at the age of 94. Then, like a miracle Christmas gift, it was discovered as the holiday approached that the retired nurse had left $1.8 million to her alma mater, Marquette University's College of Nursing.

"It was a surprise," said Vanessa Neal, vice president at University Village's retirement home, 8555 S. Lewis Ave.

Sherri Brown, a social worker at the retirement facility, said: "It was like, 'Oh, my gosh!' You would never have known."

Amazingly, it was the largest donation in the Milwaukee college's history.

Vivian Hotuiz, who died in Tulsa in September at the age of 94, is seen in two pictures, one when she was a Navy nurse. When she died, she left $1.8 million to Marquette University's College of Nursing. Daryl Wilson /Tulsa World

The money was directed to be used for scholarship aid.

Hotuiz was a 1953 graduate of the program.

But nobody knew who she was.

"She was proud of being a nurse," Brown said. "That was definitely her calling."

The elderly woman gave no indication that she had money or had come from money.

Neal said Hotuiz "wore the same clothes all the time and had an old car. She couldn't drive, but she wanted that car."

Hotuiz moved to University Village in 2001. Little is known of her life before that year.

"By the time she came to live with us, she was already in dementia," Neal said. "She really kept to herself and didn't talk much. She wasn't very outgoing, but she was a sweet lady."

According to her obituary, Hotuiz was born in Edwardsville, Ill., and was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers and
a sister.

She was a nurse at the Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wis., before being appointed assistant chief of the Muskogee VA hospital's nursing service in 1969, according to a newspaper article.

Hotuiz was a Navy nurse during World War II, and at some point, she listed her religious affiliation as Methodist.

She never married and had no children.

Because she was the last surviving member of her family, a J.P. Morgan trust officer was entrusted to carry out her wishes.

Because of a confidentiality agreement, the officer politely declined to answer any questions about Hotuiz.

A second cousin, Ann Sido Bove, who lives in St. Charles, Mo., doesn't know much about Hotuiz. She knows that Hotuiz was her father's cousin, and she remembers seeing her frequently as a child and at family reunions.

When asked whether Hotuiz came from money, Bove laughed.

"Oh, no. Not at all," she said. "She just lived very carefully, evidently. If you've never married or had children, you can accumulate."

Judy Quirk of Belleville, Ill., knew Hotuiz some 20 years ago when her late brother was married to Hotuiz's sister, Genie.

"She was a very in-charge lady," she said. "She was not particularly warm, not a very affectionate person."

Yet Hotuiz was definitely a caregiver, Quirk said.

"She liked to drive everywhere. She was very independent," she said. "She was probably very thrifty. I know that."

Jessica Nithianandan, activities director at University Village, found some of Hotuiz's life story in a white paper shopping bag filled with pictures, diplomas, certificates and postcards, all gathered from the woman's apartment after her death.

Inside were her sister's military records; her brother's funeral book and flower cards; numerous pictures of her siblings and their parents; her Navy nurse dog tags; a 30-year service certificate awarded to her by the Veterans Administration in 1968; and a photo of her riding a camel in Egypt in 1977.

"She was always looking out for other people," Brown said. "It was never about her."

Nithianandan added, "Her nursing always came out."

Despite her dementia, Hotuiz was "a very wise person. She was very sharp," Brown said. "The sad thing is you learn more about a person sometimes after they die."

One thing everyone agreed on is that Hotuiz was a caretaker and a giver.

And it seems she left her most surprising gift for last.

"That was our sweet Vivian," Nithianandan said. [rc]

Kim Archer
E-Mail: kim.archer@tulsaworld.com

Copyright © 2010, World Publishing Co.

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NEW YORK, NY / CBS News / December 22, 2009

By Pete Combs, CBS News Reporter

Ann Nixon Cooper, the 107-year-old Atlanta woman whose name President Obama invoked when he gave his historic election speech last year, died Monday afternoon around 3:30 p.m.

Then President-elect Obama called Cooper an example of "the heartbreak and the hope," noting that she'd lived long enough to remember when African-Americans weren't able to vote and to finally be able to vote for and elect the country's first black president.

AP Photo/John Bazemore

Atlanta City Councilman Ivory Young, whose district includes Cooper's Hunter Hills home, said that he met her when running for office in 2001 and he found her stories about Atlanta history mesmerizing.

"I knocked on her door, and she answered the door and invited me in and I was at her house the entire afternoon," Young said. "Her words if you spent any time with her could have a profound impact on you. She had you glued. She could really bring a story to life."

Young said that Cooper invited him when he was campaigning during this last election, too. He said from the first time he met her, she made clear what she expected from her elected representatives and what she expected city hall to do for Atlanta. "I really feel like I lost a friend," he said.

Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young recounted Cooper's legendary vibrancy, noting that she had taught senior citizens aerobics until she was 100. He told how he danced with her at her 104th birthday party, chuckling at the memory of how she outperformed him. "When I was tired, she stayed out on the floor and did the electric slide," the former ambassador to the United Nations said. "I never saw her angry with anybody, and she lived a loving life."

Cooper had not been up to par since she fell and broke her hip about a year ago, Andrew Young said. He had hoped that she would make her 108th birthday on Jan. 9, but he thought that Cooper was content to pass on.

"We won't miss her because we'll never forget her," he said. [rc]

Copyright ©2009 CBS Interactive Inc.

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NEW YORK, NY / New York Daily News / Entertainment / Television / December 14, 2009

By Olivia Smith, Daily News Staff Writer

You might think a man who swings a woman 40 years his senior around by a hand and a foot, her body sawing through the air, deserves to be arrested for elder abuse.

That is unless she's 75-year-old salsa dancer and reality show contestant Sarah "Paddy" Jones, whose acrobatic maneuvers earned expressions of bug-eyed awe from a panel of judges on the Spanish equivalent of America's Got Talent.

Sarah 'Paddy' Clarke, a British grandmother of seven, is hoisted far above the head of her salsa partner Nicko. They won a Spanish television talent competition.

The British grandmother of seven, who is being compared to Susan Boyle, went on to win Spanish show Tu Si Que Vales, which translates to You Are Worth It. The reality competition is based on Britain's Got Talent, which also spawned the American version.

She earned 10,000 euros (around $15,000) for her victory, and cited her win as an impressive reminder that age is just a number.

"I'm living proof age is no barrier. When the music plays I just want to move," she said after her victory, as quoted by British paper the Telegraph.

And move she does. A grainy YouTube clip of her performing on the show displays her straddling her partner's shoulders, facing behind him, before arching back and doing the equivalent of a back walkover as he holds her waist. Moments later, she easily slides between his legs and pops right back up, and throughout the routine she swivels her hips and executes her quick footwork like a pro a third of her age.

Jones was in fact a professional dancer in her youth after training in ballet and tap from the age of 2 and a half. She took up salsa just five years ago, after having retired to Spain with her husband, who passed away after their move. Instead of returning to her native England (she's originally from Stourbridge, in the West Midlands), she remained in her adopted home of Gandia, near Valencia, where she met dancer partner Nicko, a local salsa instructor.

Now they are traveling the world, participating in salsa competitions, including one in Los Angeles in May.

"It's crazy — life has just turned upside down," she told the Times online of becoming an unlikely star later in life. "We're over the moon, I never really expected it.

"Nicko said as long as I can keep doing it, we'll still do it. I do thank my lucky stars. If I wasn't doing this my life would be very different but now there really isn't a dull moment." [rc]

© Copyright 2009 NYDailyNews.com

WEIFANG, Shandong, Eastern China: The Qiao sisters
featured in this November 29 photograph are the world's
oldest twins, the New York-based Global Action on Aging
Newsletter reported on December 11, 2009. [rc]

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GUNTUR, Andhra Pradesh / The Hindu /

It is the good health of Kotamma, which has made this possible at an advanced age, says doctor

By Special Correspondent

At an age when women play with their grandchildren, S. Kotamma (56), hailing from Damerlapadu in Guntur district, has become a mother for the first time and her joy knows no bounds today.

Happy moment: Kotamma, with her baby boy, Doctor S.Umashankar. Photo: T.Vijaya Kumar

Hailing from an agrarian family, Ms Kotamma could not conceive due to infertility problem and reached menopause. However, she did not give up and approached Dr. Senakkayala Umashankar, son of former Health Minister S. Aruna, and on November 29 delivered a healthy male child through Caesarean procedure at Kothapeta in Guntur.

The doctor said that they had been treating her for the past one and a half years and this was possible through IVF embryo transfer method after nine months and 10 days’ gestation. Weighing 2.2 k.g. the baby is healthy and it was the good health of Kotamma, which made this possible even at this age, he said.

Kotamma’s only worry during her gestation period was the ill-health of her 80-year-old mother, but the old woman was fortunate to see her grandson and a dream come true, though delayed. It was picture perfect scene when the women from three generations posed for photographs for mediapersons on Tuesday. [rc]

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu.

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ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands / NRC Handelsblad International / December 7, 2009

Dutchman Yvo de Boer has headed the UN's climate bureau since 2006, and the Copenhagen conference is the culmination of his efforts.

Insiders say De Boer feels passionately about the issues, but getting a climate change agreement is an intellectual challenge first and foremost.

Yvo de Boer. Photo Reuters



By Paul Luttikhuis

When Yvo de Boer applied for the job of executive secretary of the UN's climate bureau, there was little chance he would get the job. His predecessor, Joke Waller-Hunter, who had unexpectedly died, was from the Netherlands too. It is very unusual for the UN to give a top job to the same country twice in a row, and anyway, it was a developing country's turn. But de Boer was simply the best candidate, even after an extra selection round was held.

The climate bureau was created to support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the official name for the treaty that came out of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It in charge of collecting data on greenhouse gas emissions from all the countries that are party to the treaty. It is also in charge of organising climate conferences, such as the one that started in Copenhagen on Monday. For that reason De Boer has been known to refer to himself as a "butler".

Loftier purpose

It is false modesty. Already during his job interview, De Boer told then UN secretary-general Kofi Anan he wasn't interested in the usual job description, which he summed up as "keep your mouth shut and make things work". If that's the job, I'm not your man, he told Annan. The climate bureau had to serve a loftier purpose, De Boer said, and as far as he's concerned there can be no mistake about the purpose: to stop global warming.

....De Boer is no 'feelgood ambassador' for climate change. He tells how it is. "Persevering, focused and concentrated," in the words of Henriëtte Bersee, who worked with De Boer during COP10 in Buenos Aires in 2004. "He is sharp and he will get what he wants this way or another," says Bert Metz. Countries that have been admonished by De Boer know what he is talking about. [rc]

Read the complete report by clicking here

Source: NRC International

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HARRISON, Arkansas / Harrison Daily Times / November 26, 2009

By Jeff Dezort, Newton County Times

COMPTON - Leo and his wife, Etta (Petree) Borland of Compton grew up in the area and raised their family here. Their children are the fifth generation of the family tree rooted in these hills. They have been productive citizens and sparkplugs in their community.

Mr. Borland said he has always been and will always will be a farmer. It may be for this dedication that representatives of the county’s numerous farm service agencies named him Newton County’s Senior Farmer of the Year.

Mr. Borland was born at Hilltop on Nov. 11, 1931. His parents were Robert and Neva Borland and he was the second of five sons.

Their’s were a farm family. They raised cattle, harvested hay and grew tomatoes that were sold to a local canning factory. They marketed their cream and eggs in Harrison.

Leo Borland enjoys painting. He and wife Etta especially like the landscape of Steel Creek on Buffalo National River. Times photo/Jeff Dezort

He attended the Hilltop School in his primary years and then attended Harrison High School. But he said most of his practical education was gained while working at a Kansas wheat farm for four summers. He and friend and neighbor Arlis Conner worked on that farm and lived with its owner Jim Buresh who passed away last winter. “We worked hard, but learned good values,” Mr. Borland said.

Instead of finishing high school, Mr. Borland said he enlisted with the U.S. Navy. He served four years, 1950-1954. He was first deployed to the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands where the U.S. conducted nuclear weapons tests.

On April 23, 1952, while home on leave, he married Etta. They had grown up together.

She joined her husband in Tacoma, Wash., where Mr. Borland was stationed the last two years of his tour of duty. Then they returned home.

They already had part of their farm when they were married and they obtained the rest of the 120 acres in 1955.

Mr. Borland went to barbers school on the GI Bill and in 1957 began cutting hair in Harrison, an occupation he continues part-time at his shop on West Rush Avenue.

The Borlands first milked cows, but switched over to beef cattle which are not as time-demanding. It allowed them both to work off the farm.

Mrs. Borland has worked 41 years for the Harness Shoe Corporation in Harrison and continues to work at Harness Boots and Shoes on North Willow Street, just around the corner from her husband’s barber shop.

They have three children. The oldest is Anita Jackson who works for Community First Bank’s branch office in Branson, Mo. Dr. Annette Holeyfield is a department head at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. Their son, Dale, is retired from the Arkansas Highway Police and now works as fleet manager for J.B. Hunt the trucking firm at Lowell.

The Borlands also have two grandsons, three granddaughters and two great-grandsons.

Mr. Borland said he always had a passion for farming. He said he likes to be outdoors with his cattle and running farm machinery.

Mrs. Borland said that her husband’s most favorite form of entertainment is sitting on an overturned feed bucket and watching his cows eat.

Mr. Borland said he keeps up with the latest farm technology. He noted that he was one of the first farmers in the area to obtain a pesticide application permit from the state Plant Board. “And I was one of the first farmers audited, too,” he laughed. “I used to talk to former Boone County Agent Bobby Malone whenever he sat in my barber’s chair. I also keep Jack Boles (Newton County agent) busy.”

When the kids were growing up they were involved in 4-H and showed horses, Mrs. Borland said. “They kept us pretty busy,” Mr. Borland added, noting there wasn’t time for vacations.

Mr. Borland said he “fooled” with horses all his life, but today he keeps about 20 head of Limousin and Limousin cross cattle which he rotationally grazes. He annually cuts about 200 round bales of Bermuda hay off of 25 acres.

“I never saw an August as wet as this year’s,” he commented. Many farmers weren’t able to take advantage of multiple cuttings because it was too wet to get into their fields.

There is also the ongoing task of cleaning up after last January’s ice storm. Broken tree limbs continue to fall and repeatedly have to be moved off of fences.

Mr. Borland has a woodworking shop and he enjoys painting pictures. The Borland’s livingroom and dining room are galleries with his works on the walls. Most of the pictures are of local historic landmark buildings, barns and homes including one of the cabin Mrs. Borland was raised in. “Most of the pictures have a story behind them,” Mrs. Borland said. She said she likes to sew and read.

Compton is a rural community and Mr. Borland worked to get telephone service extended to the area. Tri County Telephone connected the area to Harrison. In 1979, Mr. Borland was a member of the original Compton Water Assoc-iation Board. The system initially served 140 customers. Today it has 375.

The system is aging and older water lines are going to have to be replaced. The current board is relying on original maps and project drawings.

Most of those first board members are gone, now. Luckily, Mr. Borland kept copies of several of those early documents.

“He never throws anything away,” Mrs. Borland frowned.

That remark only made her husband smile. [rc]

Copyright © 2009 Harrison Daily Times.