the paris art scene spotlights giants lucian freud claude monet and even yves
saint laurent in but chill air of death and destruction peppers many of
this year shows
opening crammed winter season in the french capital is high profile two part
show by christian boltanski french artist of obsessed with death who this
week unveils large dark work at the prestigious grand palais before opening
separate but equally eery show in the paris suburbs
his sculpture titled personnes people features giant crane the finger
of god picking through mounds of old clothes to the noisy sound of
heartbeats in metaphor on destiny and death
it will be very cold hope asked them to turn the heating off he told
afp the body must feel lost it part of the work
his show at the mac val arthouse titled apres after is more joyous he
said taking place as it does in the afterlife where ghostlike creatures ask
the visitor how did you die or did you suffer
much awaited also by critics and art buffs is another edgy show labelled in
dostoevsky style crime and punishment which opens in march at the th
century orsay art museum to explore the esthetics of violence
co curated by robert badinter the french politician who as justice minister
abolished the guillotine the exhibition will feature works from the heady post
revolutionary days of through to when france banned capital
punishment
the inspiration behind some works by sigmund freud british bred grandson
now including both his emblematic and unsettling portraits and nudes as
well as lesser known naturescapes and drawings go on view in march at the
pompidou art centre the first major lucian freud show in paris in more than
two decades
other contemporary figures spotlighted this year include us street and graffiti
art icon jean michel basquiat and french fashion king yves saint laurent
some works by basquiat the new york artist and friend of andy warhol who
died aged only in will be on show from october at the paris modern art
museum in the first major retrospective of his work in the french capital
ysl who died in too gets his first ever retrospective from march at the
petit palais featuring models drawings documents and films at show
curated by two of the country top fashion historians
and hungarian photographer andre kertesz who died in is offered his first
retrospective in europe at the jeu de paume museum in october
with france and russia celebrating year of friendship in the louvre
museum dons wintry shapka hat with march to may exhibit titled sainte
russie gathering more than works most on loan to recount russia
christian history from the th to the th century
flying in from london for those who missed it there is an exhibition which sets
paintings by th century artist jmw turner alongside older master works by the
likes of canaletto and rembrandt which partly inspired them
turner and the masters also featuring works by watteau titian poussin and
rubens opens in february at the grand palais before going to the museo del
prado in madrid from june
the grand palais later in the year stages the first big show in years
dedicated to impressionist master claude monet bringing together more than
oils by the grand french th century painter known for his water lilies and
home at giverny outside paris
but the bad boy factor on the arts scene may be left to leading japanese
artist takashi murakami who is being offered two month retrospective at the
versailles palace from september
it will be his first major retrospective in france but comes after
controversial shows at the palace by american jeff koons in and frenchman
xavier veilhan last year
murakami born in tokyo in has global cult following but his brash and
colourful style not to mention sometimes gleefully obscene subject matter
may raise the hackles of more traditionalist french gallery visitors
the equivalent exhibition by pop artist koons faced legal challenge from
french aristocrat and heir of the palace original resident louis xiv
for extra details see afp monthly european arts calendar entertainment
agenda europe
tourists wrestle with rights issues in myanmar
bagan myanmar jan afp
soaring high in hot air balloon over bagan in central myanmar at sunrise
foreign tourists gasp in awe at vast plain dotted with around centuries
old temples
despite sights like these myanmar remains one of the least visited nations in
asia as many operators and holidaymakers take their money elsewhere so that it
doesn end up lining the pockets of the country military rulers
but others argue that it is possible to explore the country with clear
conscience in spite of concerns over the junta rights abuses imprisonment of
dissidents and use of forced labour
if nobody came here there would be more poverty than there is now guess so
don actually have problem coming here it doesn mean that support the
system said dirk belgian tourist in bagan
yasmin german visitor said she wanted to build up my own idea of the
situation here
came on the premise that as far as possible wouldn stay anywhere state
owned but would try to stick to private businesses to stay in privately run
guesthouses and to have contact with local people as long as that didn put
them at risk she said
last year just foreigners arrived at yangon airport more than half of
them tourists according to an official estimate the figure was up from the
who arrived in the previous year but around the same as
the biggest groups of tourists come from thailand china and japan drawn by
wonders such as yangon gold covered gilded shwe dagon pagoda and stunning inle
lake with its mountains and stilt villages
by comparison neighbouring thailand drew an estimated million tourists in
calls by rights groups and some western governments for visitor boycott grew
louder after the regime launched bloody crackdown on huge pro democracy
protests led by buddhist monks in september
thousands of people were arrested after the demonstrations and many received
long jail sentences
one of them was comedian par par lay
he got out after month after his third time behind bars and while his troupe
of performers the moustache brothers is banned from performing in public it
keeps its nightly shows going for tourists
tourists come you know what is happening here said lu maw another member
of the troupe before show in mandalay the country second biggest city
group of mainly western tourists watches the mix of crude slapstick and
bizarre puppetry the performers swathed in gaudy costumes and daubed with
makeup
tourist camera tourist eye tourist ear that what we need says lu
maw
however with elections promised by the regime later this year the situation is
showing signs of gradual change
detained opposition leader aung san suu kyi last year wrote to reclusive junta
leader than shwe offering suggestions on getting western sanctions lifted after
years of advocating punitive measures against the generals
in august she reportedly eased her earlier objections to tourism on the grounds
that increased contact with foreigners would help ease the regime grip over
the impoverished nation
myanmar the regime doesn want to have contact with westerners by
boycotting the country in fact we only reinforce the opinion in myanmar that
myanmar must be kept separate from the rest of the world said jacques ivanoff
of the research institute on contemporary southeast asia in bangkok
painting seller in bagan living in one roomed hut near the temple ruins said
boost in tourism would help the economy
we need tourists here the government gets only dollars for the entrance
fee but we get money from tourists in hotels restaurants and by selling
things said the man speaking on condition of anonymity
but the junta remains wary of opening up the country to the eyes of tourists
much of myanmar remains off limits particularly its sensitive border areas
largely inhabited by minority ethnic groups
visitors therefore tend to see the same handful of sites leaving most of
myanmar people untouched by tourism
here we don benefit because tourists don come here they go straight past
our village it just the government who benefits said fisherman in
village near yangon
must you go antonia fraser remembers harold pinter
mexico city jan afp
on the first evening the acclaimed british playwright harold pinter met his
future wife lady antonia fraser he asked her must you go
fraser glamorous historical biographer said she replied no it not
absolutely essential
just over year after pinter death fraser is publishing book on the
years during which the famous british literary couple lived together titled
must you go my life with harold pinter
pinter one of the most influential british playwrights of modern times was
awarded the nobel prize for literature in
fraser presented the memoir of her very happy years with pinter for the first
time in mexico city where one of her sons lives ahead of its british release
on monday
fraser said she based the memoir in part on her diaries which she has kept
diligently since
it not book ever ever expected to write fraser said explaining how
shortly after pinter death on christmas eve she suddenly made the
decision to write the book
every now and then do think what on earth have done said fraser who
has maintained her privacy about the relationship until now
the book includes anecdotes on meetings with other literary celebrities fraser
said detailing her encounter with latin american writer mario vargas llosa in
which he praised the play who afraid of virginia woolf mistakenly
believing it to be by pinter instead of edward albee
fraser said she was impressed by the very handsome peruvian and declined to
correct his mistake
she also told of how salman rushdie first wife clarissa luard told her how
she asked her famous novelist husband to read to her to send her to sleep
in country obsessed with class relationships fraser said she and pinter
along with other writers and intellectuals had belonged to bohemian class
lot was made about me being catholic aristocrat and harold being working
class east end boy and this was tabloid talk because we were both in our early
forties we were both writers so you couldn say was upper class and he was
working class that ridiculous fraser said
the last part of the book touches on pinter seven year battle with cancer
during which he continued to work and act on stage and screen
it wasn until came to write this book that saw how extraordinarily brave
he was fraser said before declining to read one of pinter poems aloud for
fear of crying
fraser who was awarded top british honor cbe in has written many
historical works including book on marie antoinette which was made into
film directed by sofia coppola
before marrying pinter fraser was married to conservative mp hugh fraser with
whom she had six children
afp features
paris jan afp
we will shortly move the following stories
highlights
lady antonia fraser memoir on life with pinter
in tough times french take english immersion classes at home
tourists wrestle with rights issues in myanmar
entertainment book people mexico pinter fraser feature
mexico city
on the first evening the acclaimed british playwright harold pinter met his
future wife lady antonia fraser he asked her must you go
words by sophie nicholson picture
lifestyle language france britain feature
taule france
rural french village might not be the first place student would think of
visiting to improve their english language skills but year old mathilde
berthelot is doing just that
words by simon coss picture video
entertainment art travel france
paris
the paris art scene spotlights giants lucian freud claude monet and even yves
saint laurent in but chill air of death and destruction peppers many of
this year shows
words by claire rosemberg and pascale mollard chenebenoit
myanmar politics tourism sanctions feature
bagan myanmar
soaring high in hot air balloon over bagan in central myanmar at sunrise
foreign tourists gasp in awe at vast plain dotted with around centuries
old temples
words video file picture
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
at least four dead in mexico helicopter crash
mexico city jan afp
at least four people possibly including prominent mexican businessman were
killed sunday when helicopter crashed in the country capital officials
said
we believe that the victims were the pilot and three passengers who were inside
the aircraft macarena quiros spokeswoman for mexico city civil protection
secretariat told afp
she added that it was presumed that one of the passengers was an important
mexican businessman but stopped short of naming the victim
however local radio station format identified the businessman as moises
saba
the year old mogul had interests in various sectors of the mexican economy
including telecommunications according to the report
the new gm is powerhouse with bright future exec
detroit michigan jan afp
the post bankruptcy general motors is powerhouse of an automaker with
bright future and the capacity to achieve rich profits vice chairman bob lutz
said sunday
there were times in the past year or months when it became perilously close
to being over for gm but now as this new decade begins our future ain what
it used to be because it is in fact much much brighter lutz said on the eve
of the detroit auto show
the new gm in my view is powerhouse
general motors emerged from bankruptcy protection last year with radically lower
fixed costs an essentially debt free balance sheet new and more
competitive labor situation an outstanding product portfolio and more focused
after shedding four of its eight brands lutz said
we re finally in position from financial structure where we should be at
anything remotely resembling normal demand we really should be solidly
profitable lutz told the society for automotive analysts annual conference
it is kind of the phoenix rises from the ashes because this is the first time
when we can deploy the full power of gm without the burden of all those horrible
legacy cost and the crushing debt load that all gone now now we re under
new ownership and much much healthier company
gm has depth of engineering experience that will allow it to lead in the
development of alternative technologies such as electric and hydrogen powered
vehicles lutz said
lutz expressed confidence at the upcoming launch of gm plug in electric hybrid
the volt and announced plans to manufacture luxury version the cadillac
converj sometime after
lutz acknowledged that will be challenging year and forecast that us auto
sales will rise moderately to between and million vehicles
that significant improvement over the million vehicles sold in
after auto sales fell percent as result of broad economic downturn but
remains dramatically below the to million vehicles sold in each of the
past years
genuinely optimistic about the future lutz said noting that slew of
economic indicators are showing slow but real economic recovery and that the
united states is adding two million new drivers every year
detroit the american auto industry and the detroit auto show are going to
experience in the next three to five years prestige renaissance
qaeda warns french hostage in mali risks execution site
hong kong jan afp
the north african branch of al qaeda said it will execute french hostage
unless four of its militants are freed from jail in mali in days the us
monitoring group site said on monday
al qaeda in the islamic maghreb aqim claimed last month it was holding
frenchman pierre camatte who was seized in mali in late november as well as
three spaniards kidnapped in neighbouring mauritania four days later
the group gave the french and malian governments period of days to release
four aqim prisoners from mali else camatte will be executed site reported
citing statement it said was issued on jihadist forums on january
million chinese men face lonely future state media
beijing jan afp
more than million chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without
spouses in state media reported monday citing sex specific abortions as
major contributing factor
the study by the government backed chinese academy of social sciences named
the gender imbalance among newborns as the most serious demographic problem for
the country population of billion the global times said
sex specific abortions remained extremely commonplace especially in rural
areas where the cultural preference for boys over girls is strongest the
study said while noting the reasons for the gender imbalance were complex
researcher wang guangzhou said the skewed birth ratio could lead to difficulties
for men with lower incomes in finding spouses as well as widening age gap
between partners
another researcher quoted by the newspaper wang yuesheng said men in poorer
parts of china would be forced to accept marriages late in life or remain single
forever which could cause break in family lines
the chance of getting married will be rare if man is more than years old
in the countryside they will be more dependent on social security as they age
and have fewer household resources to rely on wang said
the paper said abductions and trafficking of women were rampant in areas with
excess numbers of men citing the national population and family planning
commission
illegal marriages and forced prostitution were also problems in those areas it
said
authorities put the normal male female ratio at between males for every
females in the last year for which data was made available there
were boys for every girls the report said
china first implemented its one child population control policy in
researchers said the gender imbalance problem cropped up in the late when
women were first commonly able to find out the sex of their foetuses leading to
an increased number of sex selective abortions
adb promises whistleblower protection in graft crackdown
manila jan afp
the asian development bank adb on monday unveiled new safeguards for
whistleblowers in crackdown on corruption
the manila based adb which offers multi million dollar loans and grants to
developing countries said it would protect the identities of workers and those
outside the organisation worried about reprisals for reporting misconduct
adb does not tolerate corruption in any form by improving the information and
protections available to whistleblowers and others who also provide evidence of
misconduct adb is strengthening its ongoing efforts to combat fraud and
corruption said adb anti corruption chief peter pedersen
individuals who come forward with information will receive protection from any
retaliation due to their decision to report that information the bank added
contractors consultants and project beneficiaries would be covered by the new
policies the adb said
the adb has been stepping up efforts to cut down on misuse of its funds and
resources in it sanctioned firms and individuals for corruption
the institution provided more than billion dollars in loans and grants last
year to asian countries many of which are rife with corruption
survey released last year by political and economic risk consultancy perc
found that many of the developing asian countries scored from to in
scale where zero is the least corrupt and the most
many of the poorest asian countries like cambodia and laos were not even
included in the survey
urgent qaeda warns french hostage in mali risks execution site
hong kong jan afp
the north african branch of al qaeda said it will execute french hostage
unless four of its militants are freed from jail in mali in days the us
monitoring group site said on monday
chinese banks lend bln dlrs in first week of report
beijing jan afp
chinese banks rushed to extend billion yuan billion dollars in loans in
the first week of amid speculation of imminent policy shifts aimed at
curbing inflation state media said monday
the strong burst in credit which was larger than the combined billion
yuan in new loans given out in october and november has set off alarms in
beijing the economic information daily reported
the central bank is expected to possibly implement rise in the reserve
requirement ratio or the amount banks must set aside in reserves soon after
the chinese new year on february to rein in credit it said
that would be the first hike in the deposit reserve ratio for commercial banks
since june such policy would work to fight inflation by requiring banks
to hold on to more of their funds and lend less keeping prices down
china consumer price index key gauge of inflation rose in november after
an almost year long bout of deflation stoking fears that beijing could start
tightening monetary policy in the coming months
the people bank of china on thursday raised the interest rate on its three
month treasury bills for the first time in nearly five months which was taken
as clearly tightening signal the newspaper said
chinese banks tend to lend quickly at the beginning of each year to boost their
balance sheet and then gradually slow down the pace in the following months
the nation new bank loans reached massive trillion yuan in the first
half of including record trillion yuan in march as banks heeded
beijing calls to pump money into the world third largest economy to pull it
out of the worst slump in years
the figure declined significantly to billion yuan in july before
rebounding in august and september amid concerns that much of the money had been
funnelled into stocks and property risking spike in asset prices
december lending data is due to be released in mid january
dowjones newswires contributed to this report
hong kong shares up percent by break
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares were percent higher by the break monday as dealers
welcomed beijing green light to new futures market and short selling
experiment in china
the benchmark hang seng index added points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
dollar dips in asia on weak us jobs report
singapore jan afp
the dollar slipped in asian trade monday after weaker than expected us jobs
report dashed expectations for quick recovery from recession in the world
biggest economy analysts said
data from the us labor department released friday showed loss of jobs
in december dampening hopes for return to positive job growth that could lead
to hike in us interest rates and support the greenback
the labor department report on nonfarm payrolls was far worse than the consensus
expectation for no change in overall employment levels
the dollar stood at yen in early afternoon trade down from yen in
new york trading late friday
the euro also climbed to dollars from and fetched yen from
financial markets in japan were closed monday for public holiday
singapore dbs bank described the us jobs report as disappointing and said it
has the potential to set the tone for the us dollar to give back its gains
it added that difficult us jobs recovery should keep the hawks at bay and
keep the us dollar attractive as funding currency
patrick bennett an analyst with french bank societe generale said the us
report delivered dose of reality to the market
in the outrun the us dollar is softer and risk appetite is back in vogue he
said
although the dollar has in recent months gained on risk aversion in times of
financial market turmoil traders were focusing on the implications of the jobs
report for interest rates with the us federal reserve main rate still near
zero
the unemployment rate held at percent but also reflected large number of
people dropping out of the workforce
us president barack obama said the jobs figures are reminder that the road to
recovery is never straight and that we have to continue to work every single day
to get our economy moving again
alert
qaeda says french hostage will be executed if prisoners in mali not freed site
at least four dead in mexico helicopter crash
mexico city jan afp
at least four people were killed sunday when helicopter crashed in the mexican
capital officials said
one of the victims was believed to be an prominent mexican businessman
tennis hobart international results
hobart australia jan afp
results from the second day of the hobart international women tennis
tournament here monday denotes seed
first round
kirsten flipkens bel bt sophie ferguson aus
carla suarez navarro esp bt yaroslava shvedova kaz
gisela dulko arg bt melinda czink hun
sara errani ita bt melanie oudin usa
kaia kanepi est bt zheng jie chn
tamira paszek aut bt roberta vinci ita
jelena dokic aus bt elena baltacha gbr
urgent at least four dead in mexico helicopter crash
mexico city jan afp
at least four people were killed sunday when helicopter crashed in the mexican
capital officials said
new attack on malaysian church as allah row rages
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian church was attacked on monday church officials said the ninth
targeted by arsonists as dispute over the use of the word allah by non
muslims deepened
the sidang injil borneo church in the central state of negri sembilan is the
latest to be fire bombed or vandalised in spate of violence that began last
friday sending tensions soaring in the muslim majority nation
this morning was alerted by church member who saw the door of the church
had been burnt senior pastor eddy marson yasir told afp
immediately rushed here to check it was very smoky inside the building but
we are lucky that the fire didn spread
deputy state police chief abdul manan mohamad hassan confirmed the attack
we are investigating the incident with the fire department so far we have not
discovered any molotov cocktail in the compound so we are still probing the
cause of the fire he told afp
yasir said the church has some members mostly from the eastern states of
sabah and sarawak on borneo island who conduct their service in the national
language malay
we have been using the word allah during the service as most our church
members speak the malay language he said
the dispute erupted two weeks ago when the high court ruled in favour of the
catholic newspaper the herald which argued for the right to use allah as
translation for god in its malay language section
the government insists the word should be used only by muslims the ruling in
the newspaper favour was suspended last week pending an appeal after the
government argued the decision could cause racial conflict
despite the series of attacks thousands of malaysian christians came out for
weekly services sunday
prime minister najib razak has called for calm and said the government will not
tolerate any threat to racial harmony
the row is among string of religious disputes in recent years that have
strained relations between muslim malays and ethnic chinese and indians who fear
the country is being islamised
about percent of malaysia million people are christians including some
catholics
alert
at least four dead in helicopter crash in mexico official
golf aussie ogilvy holds off sabbatini to defend sbs title
kapalua hawaii jan afp
aussie geoff ogilvy wasted no time booking his return trip to the sbs
championship firing closing round six under to defend his title in the
season opening pga event
the year old from melbourne sizzled on the back nine sunday rolling in
crucial back to back birdies to blunt final day challenge from south african
rory sabbatini
get to come back said ogilvy of the million dollar tournament which
comprises only the winners from last season
we knew what we had to do never been in that situation happy and
excited to get it done needed to make birdies and did
ogilvy finished at under for one stroke victory over sabbatini who
made him work for the win at the kapalua resort in maui
ogilvy had to battle back from two shot deficit with remaining holes to
defend his crown he won the winners only event by six strokes last year
he and australian compatriot stuart appleby are the only golfers to win
consecutive titles since the event switched to kapalua
ogilvy who has posted eight straight rounds in the here is also just the
seventh player in the years to win in consecutive years
he took the lead for good with two putt birdie on no in which he set the
table for the birdie with by hitting five wood to feet from the cup
sabbatini started the final round six shots behind and fired closing under
he rolled in five consecutive birdies on the back nine to seize the lead
the year old from durban had chance to go lower but missed foot birdie
putt on
the situation was you had to keep moving forward to put pressure on him had
my opportunity and unfortunately it didn pan out said sabbatini who got
into the event by winning the byron nelson championship
matt kuchar took third place at under while sean hair and
martin laird tied for fourth at under
third round leader lucas glover stumbled to three over for the highest
score of anyone in the player field
he finished in tie for th
jal to cut jobs under turnaround plan report
tokyo jan afp
troubled japan airlines is expected to cut jobs or about percent of
its group workforce in three years under rehabilitation plan report said
