Pak Army continues rescue operation in Sujawal

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Army is continuously busy in Rescue and Relief operations at Daso Mohar, Goth Faqeer and Sujawal.

According to a press release of Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan (ISPR), the Army Engineers have repaired Munarki Bund and efforts are in hand to protect National Highway at Thatta-Karachi.

Numbers of flood affected people have been rescued to safer places through Helicopters and boats in last 24 hours in Sindh.

Army Engineers in collaboration with civil administration have restored the complete road infrastructure for all types of traffic in Sothern Punjab.

So far 100 tons of rations and relief goods have been dispatched to Quetta by 6 sorties of C-130 from Gujranwala. 50 trucks load of rations have been dispatched to Punjab, KPK and Sindh provinces from Gujranwala.

Mean while, another

Pakistani villagers return to destruction, disease

MUZAFFARGARH: When the waters came, Allah Yar and his family ran for their lives. Now, four weeks later the 67-year-old has come back to his village to see what is left of his house.

All that remains is a hill of bricks, the brushwood once used for the roof tangled up within it. A few scraps of coloured clothes stand out among the rubble.

“I never saw such a flood in my life,” says Allah Yar as he looks at what was once three houses for him, his two brothers and their families in the village of Jalal Wala in southern Punjab.

“We had to rush out and run for our lives. There was no time to collect our things, even our clothes.” Now he hopes to build just a wall and a roof for now so he can bring the rest of his family home.

It is a story repeated across southern Punjab, one of the worst-hit areas in the flooding which swept down from the north-west and

Sanjay Gupta and Abbas Mustan lock horns over remake rights of Spanish film

Sanjay Gupta is assured that there won’t be any roadblocks in the journey that he has taken towards remaking the Spanish film Ladron Que Roba A Ladron. Though Maroos from Shemaroo too have their eyes set on this action thriller which is on the lines of Oceans series and have made their intentions clear about remaking this film with director duo of Abbas-Mustan, Gupta is amused at the very thought of it. Reason being that his company White Feathers has officially procured rights to the film while Shemaroo (apparently) doesn’t have any legal right around remaking the film.

“I guess this is very preposterous on the part of Shemaroo to be making a statement that they will make this film instead of me doing it”, smiles Gupta, “I am not bothered with what they have to say because I have been negotiating with the makers of this Spanish film for over 6-7 months now. In fact we also clinched the deal 2 months back. So where is the question of anyone else thinking about officially remaking the film?”

In fact the story goes that quite a few Bollywood makers were in queue to pick this Spanish thriller which was one of the few major flicks to get a major mainstream release in USA and manage a successful box office run.

Says an industry insider who has been closely following the interest quotient that has been on display for last few months regarding this film, “Here is a film which has been seen and liked by many. In fact it is not just White Feathers and Shemaroo who were hopeful of getting hold of rights to officially remake the film. There were other top Bollywood film makers as well who were trying their luck. In fact some people from the industry who are quite big and reputed also tried to talk out Sanjay into letting go off the right but he had to politely decline because even his hands were tied.”

This happened because Gupta’s work in the past turned the tables in his favour. Makers of Ladron Que Roba A Ladron were holding on to their horses and wanted to be careful about handing over the rights only to the director who could go ahead and do justice to this slick thriller. Once they saw Gupta’s earlier work like Kaante, Musafir and Zinda, they were assured that he was the man for the job. Their only condition was that Sanjay Gupta won’t just produce but also direct the film. This is what got Gupta out of a hibernation period of 5 years (his last full fledged directorial outing was Zinda).

“Well, the very fact that they gave my company the rights to make the film pretty much establishes the trust and confidence they had in us. I was actually busy writing my own script but since they wanted only me to direct, I had to do consent to that. Of course I am sure that I am going to enjoy my comeback in a big way”, says Gupta who has almost finalised the cast of the film and is ready to announce it in quick time.

But Ketan and Raman Maroo seem to be quite sure about Gupta handing over the film to them? What is Gupta’s take on this?

“I don’t think it was arrogant on any part. Perhaps they have been misquoted”, says Gupta in a diplomatic tone, “May be issme bhi unka ek apnapan hai. I guess because I share a good personal equation with Maroos, they feel that woh mujhe manaa lenge and I would hand over the rights to them. As I said, the makers of Ladron Que Roba A Ladron want only me to direct. When I can’t rope in some other director from my company itself to make the film, how is it possible to allow any director from another company to do that?”

Meanwhile, how is he looking at addressing the issue around Abbas Mustan going ahead with the Shemaroo version of the film.

“Well, having known Abbas Mustan for so many years and belonging to the filmmaker fraternity, I am sure that they would be the last people on the face of this planet to indulge in hanky-panky like this”, says Gupta in an assured tone, “They have been in the business for long enough not to involve themselves into something like this. I have the highest regards for them and their reputation is unblemished. They are as white as the clothes they wear.”

stanley cup

The Stanley Cup Playoffs: wonderfully unpredictable

National Hockey League

What did we learn from the seven series-opening games that commenced the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs? In truth, nothing new.What did we learn from the seven series-opening games that commenced the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs? In truth, nothing new.

Rather, we were reminded again and again of one thing that is an article of faith among hockey fans and can’t be pounded enough into the heads of the ice ignorami: that the NHL’s playoffs are the best in professional sports. And of a related truism that even those of us who live and die with the sport — and make our livings from it — misremember every early April only to be reminded as soon as the first playoffs puck is dropped: in the short term (on any given night and in any particular series) nothing about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is predictable.

(For those of you in San Jose shaking your heads in disgust while muttering, “the Sharks floundering come playoff time is completely predictable,” let us refer you to the New York Islanders of 1976 through 1979 or the Detroit Red Wings of 1993 through 1996. Sometimes, you do have to lose in excruciating fashion in order to learn how to win.)

Alex Ovechkin scores 50 goals for fourth time in five years and leads the League in shots on goal for the fifth time in his five NHL seasons? Of course, he doesn’t hit the net — or goaltender Jaroslav Halak — once in the Caps’ Game 1 OT loss to Montreal.

The Penguins, coming off two straight trips to the Final, draw an Ottawa team that went 18-21-2 on the road and required a mid-season, on-ice dodge ball game on a rink in Manhattan’s Central Park to find itself? Naturally, the Sens win in overtime in a whited-out Mellon Arena.

Brian Boucher hasn’t won a playoff game — and has appeared in only four — since the Clinton administration? Of course, he outplays the winningest goaltender of all-time, Martin Brodeur, in Philly’s Game 1 snatching at New Jersey.

Phoenix, undoubtedly just happy to be here after six years of wandering through the desert playoffs-less, draws the closest thing the NHL has had to a dynasty over the last decade? What else but a poised and relentless Coyotes performance that grabs their Game 1 against Detroit at a jacked-up Jobing.com Arena?

And the Avalanche, icing a team full of youngsters who might still be eligible to play in the Colorado state high school tournament and a goalie who seems to be wearing down, go into the surly Shark Tank to face the battle-hardened and Cup-or-bust likes of Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Boyle, Blake, et al? Naturally, the Avs pull one out on a last-minute goal with goaltender Craig Anderson performing superbly.

Seven series openers. Seven one-goal games — including two that go into overtime. Seventh and eighth seeds unbeaten — which of you scoring at home know it means that the first and second seeds are winless. Utter mayhem.

nick clegg

When you meet someone for the first time or walk into a house you are thinking of buying or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions,” said Malcolm Gladwell of the reasons behind his bestselling Blink . It is a truism that would-be heads of government, in a society schooled in today’s quick-fire soundbites and Twitterese, would be well advised to bear in mind, especially if, like Britain’s political party leaders, they were considering participating for the first time in a televised debates. In this general election appearance will be scrutinised as never before.

Starting this week, and for the next two weekends, we will examine the sartorial style of the leaders of Britain’s three main political parties: how their clothes reflect their politics; what unspoken strategic purpose this style might serve; and its effectiveness as a means of communication.
First up is the Liberal Democrats’ Nick Clegg, who has prompted a number of faintly sartorial metaphors from political commentators. “How would he dress his political party in an age of political cross-dressing?” mused a writer on The Observer. The Sunday Times deemed him “probably funky enough to use male grooming products”, describing the 43-year-old as both “baby-faced” and having “the face of a choirboy”.

The Lib Dem leader, a friend of Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes and the writers Louis and Marcel Theroux, acted in plays at university, and clearly has access to experts in the field of personal brand creation and management – and how to spin the same. In response, for example, to charges that he was “conspicuously smooth”, Mr Clegg told The Economist, “I am 43, roughly 6ft, and I cannot help that” – which did not exactly answer the question, but deftly turned it to imply that age and stature are impossible to change, while also emphasising his height and new-generation credentials.

Wardrobe is a different matter. Here, an interesting evolution has taken place. Since becoming leader of the Lib Dems in 2007, Mr Clegg has fallen somewhere between the suit-and-tie-as-armour that is the favoured uniform of Gordon Brown, and the Savile Row/roll-up-the-sleeves and put on some work boots style of David Cameron. Indeed, Mr Clegg’s dress, which tends to be traditional, unremarkable and off-the peg (white or blue shirts; dark suits, no pinstripes, from classic, middle-of-the-road British brand Jaeger, or classic-with-twist British brand Paul Smith), reflects quite closely his central, pivotal position. This is also implied by the party’s slogan, which bridges Labour’s “A future fair for all” and the Tories’ “The year of change” to produce “Change that works for you. Building a fairer Britain.”

Like many men, Clegg also relies on his tie for supportive nuance. Thus, while he declared that it was time to break up the “red and blue teams that have run the country for 65 years”, a large number of the ties he wears are, in fact, red and blue. So there’s some shared territory, anyway. Or there was until recently, when Clegg bought a bunch of gold ties – from, according to his press office, the impeccably high-street source of Marks and Spencer – perhaps to go with his gold tour bus, perhaps to demonstrate his third-party independence and certainly to provide more colourful photo ops on the road.

While lilac and other purple shades have become popular with tie-buying politicos attempting to establish their likeability, gold is a rare sight in the electoral arena, and should make Clegg stand out – crucial when two-thirds of voters say they don’t know who you are – as well as suggesting, subliminally, a sunny outlook in otherwise gloomy times.

It could also backfire. His opponents could have a field day with the idea of the Lib Dems promoting themselves as the gold standard at this particular point in economic time, especially since, like his rivals, Clegg keeps pointing out his familiarity with the humbler, household budget issues occupying the general electorate (on the other hand, the fact that he shops at M&S might help to deflect such charges).

Notably, however, Clegg has not yet created a marketable image of himself looking determinedly “off-duty” – he hasn’t been shot on his bicycle in polo shirt, like David Cameron; or on vacation in chinos like Brown – rather, his dress-down mode tends to reflect a casual Fridays approach (button-down shirt, no tie) that acts as a sartorial outreach to City types.

It’s also intelligent, as his rather youthful appearance might make him appear too callow. And it is relatively media-savvy, as attempts to “act” like a sort of person you are not, whether weekend sportsman or a pub-crawler, tend to fall flat when the person concerned is a ladder-ascending politician.

Or perhaps he has just learned from experience. In April last year someone took a picture of Clegg in a dark suit with a lei around his neck and a bindi on his forehead at a temple in north London. It’s up on his official Facebook page, but, as proof of an ability to understand a multicultural Britain, it is not entirely convincing.

allergy symptoms

TAMPA, FL — The 2010 Florida allergy season is turning out to be one of the worst in years. Experts believe that this year is especially bad in the Southeast, owing to an uncharacteristically cold winter.

Oak trees are often the culprit in Florida. The trees produce 3,000 to 6,000 pollen particles per cubic meter; it only takes 10 particles to trigger an allergic reaction.

Tips to treat allergy symptoms

1. Make sure to check your local weather forecast. Go to sites such as pollen.com to see how bad it will be in your area on a given day.

2. Try to plan any outdoor activities around days when pollen counts are low, and try to avoid going out on days when it is extremely high.

3. Make sure to change your A/C filter regularly. Pollen can accumulate quickly on these filters and it is important to keep the air in your home clean.

4. Bathe and brush your pets regularly. Pets will retain pollen particles in their fur and can track it around your home.

5. Over the counter saline solutions can help you rinse out your sinuses. Antihistamines are also available. Make sure to talk to your pharmacist.

6. If all else fails, see your family practitioner or an allergy specialist. You could need medication or more involved treatments such as allergy shots.

source http://www.abcactionnews.com

america olivo

You’ve seen her as the innocent victim in “Friday the 13th”, the sexy chick with massive firepower in “Bitchslap”, you’ve even seen her naked gracing the cover of Playboy, but there is so much more than meets the eye with America Olivo. This multi-talented Juilliard graduate sat down with us and broke down her thoughts on nudity, being boxed in and the real roles she yearns for
Blazer by Future Heretics, T-Shirt by Black Halo

Photos by Kate sZatmari words by Kate sZatmari

makeup/hair – Mariko Sakata

styling – Mr. Bradshaw

You’ve starred in several horror and thriller movies. What drew you to play these roles?

I think most great careers start in horror but doing these films are the toughest as they’re usually low budget, long hours, contain a lot of blood, stunts, mistakes, and lot of people wearing different hats. If you can make it through these shoots, other set experiences are going to be a breeze. Personally I also love the absurd. Horror, comedy and action movies are so over the top and out of the box, that it makes all the tough work enjoyable. You always become close to your cast and crew when working on horror and thriller films because of the struggles and everyone having to a be a sport to get them done. These movies are never for the money but for the fun of teamwork and the experience in making them.
Denim Jacket, Cropped T-Shirt, Leather Skirt, Necklace by Shonia Unique designs

You’ve also starred in several action movies where you’ve played the sexy vixen role. What drew you to play those characters?

I’m never drawn to sexy vixen roles, they are always offered to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing the tough girl and bringing the strength of a female character to screen, but I get tired of it being demonstrated in a “sexy” way. I don’t even think of myself as very sexy. I’m quite a big goofy dork so it always surprises me that it’s my casting. I would love to show strength without having to show skin. Sometimes I wish to play the girl next door, but it never happens. Everyone has their acting essence, and mine, so far has been sexy, based on the first few roles I landed.
Denim Jacket by Black Halo

After completing “Bitch Slap” you posed for Playboy nude, shot by Terry Richardson. What made you decide to pose?

Do the math: Me, “Bitch Slap”, cover for Playboy plus Terry Richardson equals, too good to pass up. That was a no brainer!
Honestly, as an actor, our body is a costume. It’s tough to be a versatile flexible actor while tugging at your clothes worried about what’s showing (unless the role calls for it, of course). The freedom to have your body truly be a blank canvas nude or dressed in any way the character calls for is so freeing. I have spent many years concerned about my body and it was getting in the way of fully committing to the roles I was playing. This was a great opportunity to give up the body issues once and for all.

Do you find after posing for Playboy more acting doors have opened or have you found yourself boxed in?

Absolutely! Now a lot of topless roles come my way but I turn them all down. After showing my breasts in “Friday the 13th” and my whole body in Playboy, I feel it’s time for something new. I will do nudity if it is an important addition to the character not simply for the sake of a gratuitous sex scene. Disney has also decided to wait on casting me in anything family related due to the shoot which I find to be a double standard. There’s an actor who was naked through a pretty graphic scene in “Borat” who has had nothing but a fantastic jolt in his career since that film. He was on boards on almost every sitcom being produced for major networks for family programming, and yet I had to run up against certain networks claiming “I’m not right for the family audience anymore”. Why is that?

You’re releasing several movies in 2010 playing various different characters? What would be the ultimate character you’d like to explore?

I would love to play any role that Sandy Bullock has done. They’ve been quirky, funny roles that had charm rather than sex appeal. I also like roles that radiate elegance and would love to play Maria Callas in her life story. I am an opera singer as well and I’ve always felt so connected to her and her story. I’ve heard that either Anne Hathaway or Eva Mendes may play the role, so it seems I might have missed the boat on that. I would also love to play Maddy Hayes in a revival of the series “Moonlighting”. There are so many fun characters and roles out there that would be a blast. I am definitely trying to break the sexy vixen mold.

Makeup Tips For Acne

There are many reasons why one can have acne problem, including the cosmetics themselves being the cause. Besides the cosmetic products there are hormones and bacteria and even stress which can express itself as acne on the face. Here are a few tips by which you can cover up your acne problem.

Acne through cosmetics can be caused when an excessive use of the makeup builds up on the face blocking the pores and concentrating the oil at one place. The kind of acne appears across the face giving the skin a rough kind of an appearance. To find out whether actually the acne on your face is the result of the cosmetics or not, you should try to follow these steps.

First of all look at the location, if you have breakouts which appear only at the hairline, then your hair products are the ones causing the menace. If the breakout is around the eye area or near somewhere the cheeks, then know that it is your eye crèmes. If that acne is somewhere over the neck, then for sure your foundation is the culprit.

You should also check the ingredients whether they contain material which can clog the pores. I yes, then throw them away and never use them again. Look for the products which especially mention that there is no pore-clogging material contained in this particular product, then you can easily use it.

But you can always conceal your acne till the time to find out the cause with the help of the makeup done in the right way. First of all avoid keeping your cosmetics in the containers which can not be placed in cooler temperatures. Always wash your hand before you start applying your makeup. And also wash your face before you start to apply makeup on it. Use an acne treatment cleanser to remove oil and dead skin cells. Use the base for your foundation which is oil free and apply it lightly. Make it match your skin tone. And before you go to bed, you must take your makeup out thoroughly.

Rick Owens

Rick Owens, Born and raised in Porterville, California, Owens studied fine arts at Otis/Parsons (now known as Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles for two years before a pattern-making class led him to drop out and work for some local companies that produced sportswear and inexpensive imitations of designer clothing. His own label, begun in 1994  found a following, selling exclusively to Charles Gallay, a pioneering Los Angeles retailer who kept Owens in business for several years. In 2001, he signed with Italian sales agent Eo Bocci Associati for world wide distribution, and his production moved to Italy.

He began to receive attention when an image of Kate Moss shot by Corrianne Day and styled by Panos Yiapanis appeared in Vogue Paris, featuring one of Owens’ fitted distressed leather Jackets. He showed his first runway collection in September 2002 during New York Fashion Week with the support of American Vogue and Anna Wintour, who also featured him and his muse Kembra Pfahler in a spread shot by Annie Leibovitz. The following season Owens launched his menswear collection, showing it alongside his womenswear in his Spring Summer 2003 runway show. After his second runway show in New York Owens made the decision to move the studio from Los Angeles to Paris and show during the Paris collections. He also began his longstanding collaboration with the stylist, Panos Yiapanis, who has been working with Owens on all his catwalk shows to date. He marked the anniversary of his 10th season with a launch of a retrospective book named ‘L’ai – Je Bien Descendue’.

In 2007 he was awarded a Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. In 2002, he won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Perry Ellis Emerging Talent Award. His look has been described as “glamour-meets-grunge”, but Owens himself says “I try to make clothes the way Lou Reed does music, with minimal chord changes, and direct. It is sweet but kind of creepy. It’s about giving everything I make a worn, softened feeling. It’s about an elegance being tinged with a bit of the barbaric, the sloppiness of something dragging and the luxury of not caring. At Revillon, I felt it isn’t about displaying one’s junk, but rather giving the woman a selfish pleasure. It is about using sable as the lining under a very humble jacket, the luxury is all hers.” Courtney Love, Madonna and Helena Bonham Carter are among the celebrities who have been seen wearing his clothes, and Patricia Field used some of his pieces to create a fashion-forward look for Emily Blunt’s character in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. The opening of his first shop in the Palais Royal, in Paris, also debuted his furniture range as well as his various clothing lines from the younger and more affordable Lillies and the denim range named DRKSHDW to the very exclusive Fur collection Palais Royal. His second store in New York’s Tribeca opened in the Summer of 2008 with plans of further expansion.

I Believe in Freedom of Thought: Shah Rukh Khan

MUMBAI: Actor Shah Rukh Khan has spoken out yet against the Shiv Sena. Already facing the heat for speaking up in favour of inclusion of Pakistani players in the IPL, he says he is sad that his statements have been seen as a stand against a group.

Having earlier stood by his statement, the owner of the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders tweeted, “Sad my statements are seen as a stand against a group instead of a stand for myself and my individuality. Differences in ideology should be grounds for debates and discussion. A must for freedom of thought. To see it any other way is so unfortunate.”

He later told a television channel, “Should I retract the fact that I am an Indian? Should I retract what my freedom fighter father taught me? What did I say that was wrong? All I said was that I wanted people to come to my country.”

Admitting that the stakes were very high, with the Sena threatening boycott against his February 12 release My Name Is Khan, he added, “Sorry to business partners as what I have said may affect the film.”

---

I Believe in Freedom of Thought: Shah Rukh Khan was first posted on February 4, 2010 at 10:47 am.

Next Page »