Brazil fashion week kicks off

SAO PAULO: Despite the arrival of some of the biggest names in the fashion and entertainment world, all eyes at the Winter 2011 fashion week that kicks off here are a new runway star: model Lea T.

Representing French brand Givenchy, the Brazilian model has become a rising figure on the global fashion stage thanks to high-profile appearances on the European market in recent months.

Lea T. now returns home to grace the fashion week runway for the first time as a leading figure, promising to be one of the most photographed models at the event in the hands of famed designer Alexandre Herchcovitch.

Latin America”s top fashion event, the 30th, twice annual Sao Paulo Fashion Week promises to showcase 31 home brands, and set the stage for next winter”s collection.

Among the highlights is the runway appearance walk of top model Gisele Bundchen, the Brazilian beauty who has become the world”s top-paid model, who is set to show off the latest creations of the brand Colcci.

Also at the event is US film star Ashton Kutcher, who arrived in the country late Thursday alongwith his actress wife Demi Moore.

“I”m ready for Brazil. Is Brazil is ready for me?” Kutcher wrote on his hugely popular Twitter account ahead of his arrival here.

Billionaire heiress Paris Hilton was also expected to take to the runway to model Brazilian fashion brand Triton, and singer Christina Aguilera was set to attend to promote a new clothing bearing her name.

Sao Paulo, which has held the fashion week since in 1996, has emerged as a key fixture on the fashion calender, showcasing mold-breaking designs from Brazil”s top fashion houses Ellus, Colcci, Maria Bonita, and leading designers such as Herchcovitch, Reinaldo Lourenco and Ronaldo Fraga.

The Brazilian city”s place alongside New York, Paris and Milan as a fashion capital has also demonstrated Brazil”s growing economic power.

Latin America”s biggest economy, ranked 10th in the world, is currently expanding at nine percent on an annual basis — almost as much as the global champion China.

The event meanwhile seeks to also promote Brazil”s lagging textile industry.

The spring 2012 collection will arrive at Sao Paulo”s second fashion week this year held in June, a perennial favorite for showcasing Brazil”s famed bikini beachware.

Medvedev blames security lapse for Moscow blast

MOSCOW: President Dmitry Medvedev placed the blame on Tuesday on a lapse in security for allowing a suspected suicide bomber to kill at least 35 people and wound scores at Russia’s busiest airport.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack at Moscow”s Domodedovo airport, but the action bore hallmarks of militants fighting for state in the North Caucasus region on Russia”s southern frontier.

“It’s obviously a terrorist act that was planned well in advance in order to cause the deaths of as many people as possible,” said President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday.

“What happened shows that there were clear security violations,” he said. The attacker evaded security to carry the explosives into the airport’s arrival hall.

North Caucasus rebels have threatened attacks against cities and economic targets in the run-up to parliamentary elections this year and 2012 presidential polls. The choice of Domodedovo, resulting in the deaths of several foreigners, suggested the attackers sought to raise uncertainty beyond Russia”s borders.

Russia is due to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, on the edge of the Caucasus, which some rebels consider part of the territory they aim to include in separate state.

Medvedev, due to open the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, delayed his departure to the Swiss city of Davos and was due to hold a meeting with his security services on Tuesday. On Monday he vowed to track down and punish those behind the blast.

Dry, cold weather forecasted in country

ISLAMABAD: Cold and dry spell of weather will prevail across the country during the next 24 hours, predicted the Met Office here on Monday.

According to Met Department, the snap cold could lose its intensity in most areas of the country in next some days. Fog was also likely to prevail over plains of Punjab; however, after two days, it will start to wear off.

The night time temperature will rise by 3 to 5 degree centigrade in most areas.

Moreover, light rain at isolated places was expected in coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan on Tuesday. Some areas in Upper Punjab and Kashmir may receive light rains on Wednesday and Thursday.

Met Department also forecasted the first snowfall of this winter in Kashmir and Northern Areas on Thursday and Friday.

Minimum temperature today in Skardu was recorded at -10 degree

Winter solstice and lunar eclipse over Europe, US, Africa

Europian Countries News: The start of winter is also coming with this year’s only total lunar eclipse, which will be visible across all of North America, Greenland, and parts of Europe.

It will be the first total lunar eclipse in three years.This year, the moon should have a orangish-red color to it, because it is coincides with the winter solstice.

The Moon is normally illuminated by the Sun. During a total lunar eclipse, the full Moon passes through the shadow created by the Earth blocking the Sun’s light. Some indirect sunlight will still manage to pierce through and give the Moon a ghostly colour.The west coast of America witnessed the eclipse on Monday night; observers in North and Central America will be able to view the whole event.
Western Europe will only see the start of the spectacle while western Asia will catch the tail end.The totality phase – when the moon is entirely inside Earth’s shadow – will last a little over an hour.

US seeking to expand raids into Pakistan: NYT

United State News: Top US military commanders in Afghanistan are seeking to expand ground raids by Special Operations Forces across the border in Pakistans tribal areas, The New York Times reported Monday.

Amid growing US frustration with Pakistans lackluster efforts at removing militants from strongholds there, the officials are proposing to escalate military activities in the nuclear-armed nation, the Times said in its online edition.US forces have been largely restricted to limited covert operations and unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan due to fears of retaliation from a population that often holds strong anti-American sentiment in a country rife with militants.Even these limited operations have provoked angry reactions from Pakistani officials. The drones are believed to be largely operated by the CIA.Amid a looming July deadline for American troops to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, military and political leaders pointed to a renewed sense of urgency.Military commanders told the newspaper that the Special Operations plan which has not yet been approved could help them secure much-needed intelligence if militants were captured, brought back across the border into Afghanistan and interrogated.US officials said they were particularly keen to capture rather than kill militant leaders from the Taliban or the Haqqani network in order to obtain intelligence about future operations.Weve never been as close as we are now to getting the go-ahead to go across, a senior US officer said.But a senior official from President Barack Obamas administration said he did not favor cross-border operations, saying they have been mostly counterproductive unless they targeted top al Qaeda leaders.The official also worried that political fallout in Pakistan over the operations could counter any tactical gains.CIA-backed Afghan militias, previously believed to only carry out intelligence-gathering operations, have also crossed the border into Pakistans tribal belt during secret missions, including one in which a militia destroyed a militant weapons cache, officials told the Times.An Afghan political leader said one of the raids by the Paktika Defense Force one of six CIA-trained Afghan militias was initiated to capture a Taliban commander in Pakistan. The mission was ultimately unsuccessful but Pakistani militants opened fire on the Afghans.Another CIA-backed force near the eastern Afghan province of Khost was recently deployed in the mountains along the Pakistan border, where it is due to try to intercept Taliban fighters during the winter, an American military officer told the Times, saying the militia has so far proven effective.

School Closings Michigan By Monday

School Closings Michigan. Worse weather conditions are threatening the opening of schools on Monday in the Michigan area. Temperatures are expected to drop by Sunday evening when wind speeds pick up. Later Sunday, bitter cold winds will howl into Michigan and change the weather into early next week.

By Monday, December 13, high temps will be stuck in the teens and wind chill factors will plunge to sub-zero readings. Winds will gust to near 35 mph late Sunday into Monday.

A list of school closings in Michigan can be obtained at the ABC News 12 website. Follow on Twitter, for continued updates on the winter storm and school closings in Michigan.

Winter dresses – Trend Pk VIDEO

Bushra Butt from Peshawar reports on the winter dresses. (November 25, 2010)

Winter dresses – Trend Pk VIDEO

Bushra Butt from Peshawar reports on the winter dresses. (November 25, 2010)

Winter dresses – Trend Pk VIDEO

Bushra Butt from Peshawar reports on the winter dresses. (November 25, 2010)

Winter dresses – Trend Pk VIDEO

Bushra Butt from Peshawar reports on the winter dresses. (November 25, 2010)

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