Global News Post: Arts

Are Violent Games Linked to Violent Crimes?

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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By Suzanne Presto<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">As video game images become increasingly
more realistic and graphic, policy makers are debating if there is a link
between the violence depicted in those games and violence in real life.   <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A 20-year-old gunman's shooting spree at a
school in the northeastern <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
  States</st1:place></st1:country-region> this month has reinvigorated
discussions about violence, prompting lawmakers to call for greater examination
of brutality in video games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But evidence does not suggest violence in
games causes violence in life, says Virginia Tech's James Ivory, a professor in
the university's department of communication who researches the effects of
video games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The agreement is pretty well universal
among social scientists that there is not a clearly established link between
actual violent crime and violent media usage," says Ivory.  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He adds that it is possible, though debated,
that exposure to violent video games could make a person think or respond more
aggressively in the short term, or, in Ivory's words, "might even make you
potentially more of a jerk to somebody." 
But, he emphasizes, temporary aggression and violent crime are worlds
apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Graphic games are popular.  Eight of the 20 best-selling video games in
2011 contained intense violence, language or sexual content deemed suitable
only for players 17 and older.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Criminal defense attorney Rene Sandler says
she has represented clients who played violent shooter games, gaining points
with each kill.   <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">    <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Violent video games are an enormous
problem in this country, and violent video games have been at the core of
violent behaviors after watching these video games or cumulatively playing
games," Sandler says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Video games differ from movies or other
media because game players are active participants, not passive viewers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"People have argued that violent video
games should influence you more because you're taking on the role of someone
violent," explains Ivory. 
"Conceptually that all makes sense, but empirically, there's not a
lot of evidence for stronger effects of games than television."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Players don't confuse games with reality, a
high school student and gamer told VOA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"I'm not saying it's right, but it's
just virtual people," he said. 
"It's not real people.  It
doesn't have any intentions of killing anyone in the real world."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle
Association, disagrees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"There exists in this country, sadly, a
callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence
against its own people, through vicious, violent video games," LaPierre
told reporters this month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He named the popular game 'Grand Theft Auto'
as an example.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">One of the creators of 'Grand Theft Auto,'
Navid Khonsari, says he grew up playing video games in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>
and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
where video games were enjoyed by people of all ages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The discerning factor among the countries,
says Khonsari, "is that while video games have been readily available,
what has been limited is the accessibility to weapons."  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The focus on virtual violence might be
limiting substantive discussions about firearm regulations and mental health
treatment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"When we talk about violent video games
and actual violent crime, we're chasing something that hasn't really been
observed and we're not talking about other things that have been
observed," says Ivory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Despite the renewed focus on video game
violence, investigators of the most recent <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> school shooting have not said
whether the young gunman was a player of violent video games.    <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Interest in video games continues to grow
around the globe.  Analysts estimate
people spent about $70 billion worldwide on video games and components in
2012.  North America, Western Europe and
East Asia remain key markets, while gaming is on the rise in <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Brazil</st1:country-region>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">Southeast
 Asia</st1:place>. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Are Violent Games Linked to Violent Crimes?

By Suzanne Presto As video game images become increasingly more realistic and graphic, policy makers are debating if there i...

New Documentary Portrays Islam as Path to Women's Empowerment

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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By Carolyn Weaver</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="429" scrolling="no" src="http://www.voanews.com/flashembed.aspx?t=vid&id=1556198&w=640&h=429&skin=embeded" width="640"></iframe>A growing number of women in Islamic countries have turned in recent years to serious study of their religion: memorizing the Quran, learning to recite it properly, and studying hadith and other aspects of Islam. An American-made documentary, The Light in Her Eyes, shows how this religious movement can also foster greater freedom for women in traditional societies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The focus of the film, Syrian preacher Houda al-Habash, established her summer Quran School for girls in 1982, when she was just 17. Until the spring of 2012, she held classes on the women's side of a Damascus mosque, where girls memorized the Quran, practiced reciting it, and studied other Islamic teachings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">She also supervised religious study classes for girls and women in other parts of the city.

American filmmaker Julia Meltzer, who was teaching journalism at the University of Damascus in 2005, happened to meet al-Habash through a colleague who was studying with her.

"From the moment that I walked into her mosque, I thought, you know, we don't get to see places like this, where girls study Quran with other women who have been trained and studied for a long time," said Meltzer, who made the film with co-director Laura Nix.  
They were struck by how al-Habash merged conservative traditions with progressive ideals for women's greater role in the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">She believes that Islam requires women to wear hijab, and that wives should serve their husbands. Yet she also thinks women should be highly educated, and pursue careers and public lives, if they choose, even if it means staying up late to finish their housework, too.

"You are free in your choices, free in your way of thinking, free in your faith, free in everything," she tells a graduating class at her school.

"Women can be teachers and students, women can rule and arbitrate," she says. "Does religious law allow a woman to be president? Yes! Don't shut off your brain," she urges the girls.

"It's a story about just one mosque," Nix explains. "We don't claim to be telling a story [about] the entire region. But at least for the girls and women in Houda's mosque, it's a place for them to go, in a way that's comfortable for their parents. And they're also driven to learn more about their religion, and Houda offers an environment that's very organized, very warm and inclusive and inviting."

Although warm, al-Habash also is a demanding teacher, who urges her students to read more, and study harder in their other classes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Islam regards all learning as a form of worship, she says, adding,"Whenever a human being reads, he benefits and his mind grows."

The Light in Her Eyes includes TV clips of ultraconservative male clerics protesting against women's participation in public life. al-Habash responds in the film by saying that her study of Islam has taught her that they are mistaken.

"Muslims themselves have deprived women of everything, even the right to learn, teach and to enter the mosque," she says firmly. "This is ignorance, which has nothing to do with religion."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b> The Light in Her Eyes Trailer</b></span></div>
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"I started memorizing Quran when I was three years old," al-Khaldi tells the filmmakers. "And I finished memorizing Quran when I was 10. For girls, it is very important to learn what is in Quran, because if you don't really know what is the [truth], you are going to be misled."

Meltzer and co-director Laura Nix finished filming in November 2010, soon before the uprising began. They didn't have government permission to film, so they had to shoot discreetly, especially in the street.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"We never felt like we were in danger, but we recognized that at any point, we could be asked to stop shooting," Meltzer said. "The big challenge was for Houda to let us into her life and to let us into the mosque, because the risk was much, much greater for her. If she had been stopped or found out or questioned by the secret police, it could have been very dangerous for her and her family. Or they just might have shut her school down."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why did al-Habash agree to take that risk?  "Houda's interested in having there be a different vision of Islam in the West," Meltzer says. "And she could tell we wanted to be able to give a different story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Occasionally when we were shooting something, she'd say, 'Oh no, you're not allowed to use that.' But when we included that in the final film, she didn't say anything. At the Dubai premiere, she came with her entire family, and she said she's really proud of the film, and feels it tells a truthful story about her."

The film had its U.S. broadcast premiere on the public television series POV.---VOA News
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New Documentary Portrays Islam as Path to Women's Empowerment

By Carolyn Weaver A growing number of women in Islamic countries have turned in recent years to serious study of their religion: mem...

Indian Artist Attempts to Enter Guinness Record with Handwritten Quran

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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Babuji Kattungal, who made his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the smallest model of 'The Last Supper of Jesus Christ', has embarked on a quest to make the biggest handwritten copy of the Holy Quran. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The artist who hails from Kottayam district in south Indian Kerala state has copied the scriptures onto a book measuring 85 cm by 65 cm which he says is "the biggest handwritten copy of the Quran ever attempted." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"The book weighs 50 kg and has 603 pages with 14 lines in each page. The size of each letter is one inch," Babuji told Press Trust of India. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"I used permanent ink for writing and it took me three years to copy the verses into the book. I had to spend around Rs 30,000 for the work so far," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The artist said his life in the Gulf had helped him learn Arabic to enable him to copy the Quran. -- NNN-BERNAMA <o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Indian Artist Attempts to Enter Guinness Record with Handwritten Quran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Babuji Kattungal, who made his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the smal...

Indian-American Spells to Win

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Pia Salmre<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Snigdha Nandipati celebrates her spelling bee victory<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">with her grandparents, Mallikarjunarao and<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rajeswari Chalavadi Photo © VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps 14-year-old Snigdha Nandipati, a second generation American, was destined to win this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">  </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After all, she explains, her name in Sanskrit means smooth like the honey produced by bees.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The eighth-grade student from San Diego, California also carries a lucky charm with a bee on it. ” I keep it in my pocket for all the spelling bees I’ve gone to and it has worked very well,” she explains.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But winning the highly competitive spelling contest against more than 250 of the best spellers in the world took more than luck.  It took a lot of hard work and preparation to win the contest in late May.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Snigdha’s father and spelling coach, Krishnarao Nandipati, played big role in his daughter’s success.  For him, it began with what he described as a strong belief in helping his children reach their dreams.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You find what the kids are interested in and not what you are interested in,” said the senior Nandipati, a computer programmer.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He found two ways to help his daughter study. The first one utilized 30,000 flashcards and 6 to 10 hours of practice every day.  The second involved enrolling her in a series of spelling contests run by the North South Foundation, an organization devoted to helping Indian-American youth prepare for college.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’ve been interested in spelling bees since fourth grade and I won my first one in fifth grade,” said Snigdha.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The experience Snigdha gained in the foundation’s  nationally-run contests cannot be over-estimated.  All five of the most recent winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee were of Indian heritage and participated in the North South Foundation’s regional and national contests. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The tournaments act as a training ground.  Parents start their kids as young as 6 years old in workshops and online coaching to help their children excel.  Contests form the basis for measuring achievement in more than 80 regional centers across the United States.  And competitions are held not only in spelling, but in math, geography, science, vocabulary, writing and public speaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Krishnarao Nandipati said he believed that the contests create not only good spelling habits, but research skills that will serve his daughter well in high school and college.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Snigdha says she spends a lot time reading, which she credits with helping her spelling skills.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“When I read books I list the words that sound interesting and I look them up later,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “When I came across really weird words, those that didn’t follow any particular rules,  I would research them on Wikipedia, learn about their background so that I would remember the word.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May, Snigdha had to defeat contestants from all 50 U.S. states, as well as youngsters from as far away as China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For her victory, Snigdha won the $30,000 grand prize, two educational scholarships and a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. All are heady prizes for a 14-year-old. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But what impressed her even more was receiving the final print edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.  Mortally wounded by the Internet and Wikipedia, the 244-year-old reference work is going out of print in favor of a digital version. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“For a long time I have been relying on Wikipedia and now I get to read an actual hard copy of something,” Snigdha said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But other than Snigdha, how many teenagers would even care? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Her maturity and drive certainly separate her from her peers, but picking her out of a group of students is tough. She giggles a lot, wears braces, gives a lot of yes and no answers, and carries a lucky charm.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In many ways, Snigdha is still an awkward kid.  But don’t underestimate her.  She can spell words you don’t even know exist. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Indian-American Spells to Win

By Pia Salmre Snigdha Nandipati celebrates her spelling bee victory with her grandparents, Mallikarjunarao and Rajeswari Chalavadi Photo ...

Ancient Mayan Artwork, Calculations Discovered

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">By Rosanne Skirble</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Provide new insights into how Mayan astronomers charted the cosmos<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The painted figure of a man — possibly a scribe who once lived in the house built by the ancient Maya — is illuminated through a doorway to the dwelling, in northeastern Guatemala.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Archeologists working among the ruins of a 9th century Mayan town in Guatemala have discovered a room filled with extraordinarily well-preserved artwork. The colorful wall paintings provide new insights into how Mayan astronomers charted the cosmos.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Xultun was the largest city in the ancient Mayan empire in Central America, where, at its height, an estimated 90,000 people lived and worked among pyramids, inscribed monuments, water reservoirs and sport fields. But by the 14th century, the Mayan civilization had collapsed and this great city fell with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1920, Xultun was rediscovered, overgrown with vegetation. Work to map the 31 square-kilometer site and decode the myriad inscriptions on its monuments continues to this day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Conservator Angelyn Bass cleans and stabilizes the surface of a wall of a Maya house that dates to the 9th century A.D. The figure of a man who may have been the town scribe appears on the wall to her left.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In 2008, Boston University archeologist William Saturno was exploring tunnels in the Xultun ruins that had been opened by looters in the 1970s.  One day his student assistant, Max Chamberlain, discovered the entranceway - close to the surface but hidden by vegetation - to a room-like structure.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Max thought he saw the remnants of paint on the walls of this fairly small Maya structure,” Saturno says.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once inside the room - part of a larger residential complex at the Xultun site - Saturno knew he was in a special place. On the opposite wall, he came face-to-face with the painting of a Mayan king, its regal colors remarkably preserved.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“[He’s wearing] this gorgeous sort of blue-green head dress, he’s holding this white scepter in his hand," Saturno says. "He’s sitting on top of this throne. He is just incredible to look at."   <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another figure painted in brilliant orange wears a white medallion and holds a small stylus in his hand - possibly the artist scribe who lived in the house, Saturno speculates.  On the other walls are more male figures in black with white loin cloths and identical head dresses with a single red feather.  And running all around, between and sometimes on top of these figures is tiny Mayan hieroglyphic script.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There are these large numerical arrays, just columns of numbers of one after another, after another," Saturno says. "This seems to be a place where Maya scribes are at work.  They are painting and repainting texts on the walls. They are in different hands and different scales and different sizes in order to have the calculations present.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Four long numbers on the north wall of the ruined house relate to the Maya calendar and computations about the moon, sun and possibly Venus and Mars; the dates stretch some 7,000 years into the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to Saturno, the painted numbers are a version of the Mayan calendar system, one that he notes predates the Mayan astronomical tables written on bark paper books in the 14th century. The parallels were obvious once he began to do the math. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Maya had a 260-day ceremonial calendar and a 365 solar calendar," Saturno says. "The Maya combined those two calendars to make a longer cycle of time that repeated every 52 years. But they also kept track of the motions of Venus and the motions of Mars and perhaps the motions of Mercury. And the numbers that are recorded on this wall are multiples of all of those cycles combined.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The painted room also pays tribute to the way the Maya used those calendars to synchronize human activities with the larger cycles of the moon and planets they routinely observed in the heavens. Saturno says while modern humans keep looking for endings, the Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“This is the type of calculation and dissemination of knowledge that we don’t get to look at for a people for whom this type of knowledge was central to their existence.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saturno is making images of the Xultun paintings that students and scholars can access using desk-top scanners and other tools. When that work is done, Saturno plans to rebury the site, leaving it to rest where the ancient Mayan people created it.  His study of the Xultun site is featured in the journal Science and in the June issue of the National Geographic magazine.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> ---VOA News</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Ancient Mayan Artwork, Calculations Discovered

By Rosanne Skirble Provide new insights into how Mayan astronomers charted the cosmos The painted figure of a man — possibly a scribe w...

Angelina Jolie Makes Directorial Debut with 'In the Land of Blood and Honey'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 8pt;">By </span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 8pt;">Alex Villarreal </span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 8pt;">from</span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-size: 8pt;"> <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state></span></b></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">American movie star Angelina Jolie is making her directorial debut with a film set during <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bosnia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s civil war in the 1990s. In an exclusive interview with VOA's Bosnian service, Jolie says the message of the film, titled In the Land of Blood and Honey, is one of tolerance and understanding. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Angelina Jolie is used to being in front of the camera. But for her latest project, the Academy Award-winning actress stepped behind it... and into the brutality of wartime <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bosnia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">"The more I learned about it and the more I read about it, the more angry I got about the lack of intervention," Jolie says,  "the more emotional I was about the violence against women. And I wanted to do a film that would help to look into the relationships between not just a couple, but also sisters, and fathers and sons, and mothers and children."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Jolie wrote as well as directed In the Land of Blood and Honey. It is a love story between a Muslim woman and a Serb man during Bosnia-Herzogovina's bloody, three-year ethnic conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Jolie says she hopes the film sparks discussion about the war and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bosnia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s continued struggle since the 1995 peace agreement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">"I want people to remember <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bosnia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and I want them to remember what happened, and I want them to pay respect to all of the people who survived, and today, to remember that this country still has so much healing to do,” she explains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">As a United Nations goodwill ambassador, the mother of six and partner to Brad Pitt often brings her influence as an actress to global issues. But this time is different. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">"This film is the first time that these worlds have collided for me," Jolie says, "so this film means more to me than any film I’ve ever made."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">A film festival in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo honored Jolie earlier this year, despite initial criticism from Bosnian sexual violence victims and a lawsuit alleging she stole plot pieces from a book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">She credits her Bosnian cast and war victims, organizations and officials she consulted with the result.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">"It’s not an American film made about <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bosnia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It’s a film made with one American and many Bosnians and many people from the area, and we made it together," she says.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">In the <st1:placetype w:st="on">Land</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Blood</st1:placename> and Honey opens in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> theaters on December 23. It has two versions: one in English, the other in the Bosnian language.</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> ---VOA News</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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Angelina Jolie Makes Directorial Debut with 'In the Land of Blood and Honey'

By Alex Villarreal from Washington American movie star Angelina Jolie is making her directorial debut with a film set during Bosnia ...

An Artist’s Quest: K.K. Hebbar- A Retrospective

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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Retrospective Exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New   Delhi</st1:city></st1:place> November 22 to October 22, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New   Delhi</st1:city></st1:place>, Ministry of Culture, Government of India is organising the retrospective exhibition of one of our seminal modern artists K.K Hebbar that coincides with his birth centenary. The exhibition titled ‘An Artist’s Quest: K.K. Hebbar- A Retrospective’ will be inaugurated on 22nd November, 2011 at 6:30 pm by Shri Jawhar Sircar, Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Shri Krishen Khanna, eminent artist will be the Guest of Honour. This is the eighth retrospective organized by the National Gallery of Modern Art as part of the endeavour to showcase the lifetime achievements of the artists who have contributed their life in the field of art. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Curated by Ms. Rekha Rao, well known artist and Ms. Rajani Prasanna, art historian and also the daughters of Shri K.K Hebbar,the exhibition brings a large body of Hebbar’s drawings and paintings from every period of his life and traces the development of his thoughts and art through the years. The exhibition is extensive and includes important works from different stages of his artistic development – from the early realistic and representational period to the great abstract paintings of the later stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">K.K Hebbar (1911-1996) was born in Karnataka. He received his diploma in painting from the Sir J.J School of Art in 1938 and he taught art at the school for a short period between 1940-1945. He later went to Europe and studied art at the Academy Julian in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city>. During his stay in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> he was exposed to some of the best works of western art. It is on his return from <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> that Hebbar’s body of works began to take a definitive shape. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Hebbar was prolific in his output and won many awards including the National Award by Lalit Kala Akademi in 1956, the Padma Shri Award in 1961 and Padma Bhushan in 1989. He served as the Chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi (1980-84) and was the President of the Bombay Art Society in 1990. He died in 1996 at the age of 85. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Hebbar’s repertoire includes depictions of landscapes and metaphysical spaces; however, majority of his work pertains to human beings- their interactions and conflicts, their suffering and resilience. He was particularly drawn to the unprivileged and simple rhythms of rural life. Dance and music provided him with boundless inspiration, reflected in graceful sketches and paintings that picturised the abstract core of the subject. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The exhibition also underscores the integral link between music and art. Both forms of creative expression search for an innate rhythm that defines the essence of the expression. In Hebbar’s art the search for that quintessential rhythm sublimates the image from mere representation to a metaphysical experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">During the exhibition there will also be screenings of documentary films titled ‘A Tryst with K.K Hebbar, Artist and Innovator’ and ‘K.K Hebbar- Palette to the Human Heat’ at the NGMA auditorium daily at 11.00 am and 3.00 pm. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The exhibition was first inaugurated at the NGMA, Bengaluru, Karnataka, Hebbar’s home state and in continuation of paying homage to this great artist this retrospective exhibition is being showcased here at NGMA, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city> and will thereafter be exhibited at NGMA, Mumbai during the month of January, 2012. ---PIB<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

An Artist’s Quest: K.K. Hebbar- A Retrospective

Retrospective Exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi November 22 to October 22, 2011 The National Gallery of Mode...

'Terrorists in Love' Examines Islamic Radicals

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Book explores why some young men turn to terrorism</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">By Faiza Elmasry from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Washington</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">D.C.</st1:state></st1:place></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFgBHiS7KqjVye3XgLnEj21JgydRV9z4-yL8i2hkWI53ffEyWvph898rD_wuroRuFZUNKg849YnQvJ2dKRYT_sLD6iF2lLsWZXVXVYgjPV7Zrp12oMIrAyyMEWxNQ8Ce6f_1hNo3agKm8/s1600/book%252Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFgBHiS7KqjVye3XgLnEj21JgydRV9z4-yL8i2hkWI53ffEyWvph898rD_wuroRuFZUNKg849YnQvJ2dKRYT_sLD6iF2lLsWZXVXVYgjPV7Zrp12oMIrAyyMEWxNQ8Ce6f_1hNo3agKm8/s1600/book%252Bcover.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 16px;">How does a young man transform from a law-abiding middle-class citizen into a terrorist? Ken Ballen, a former federal prosecutor, spent five years trying to find answers to that question.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Terrorists in Love" examines why young people got involved in radicalism and then - for many of them - how they left.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The result is a book called, "Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It started as a research project, says Ballen, founder and president of Terror-Free Tomorrow. When his group conducted public opinion polls across the Muslim world, Ballen traveled extensively and had a chance to meet young radicals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“What was remarkable was how many people did open up to me," Ballen says. "They really shared their lives with me, how they got involved in radicalism and then - for many of them - how they left, which I think is almost as important as how they got first involved.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Out of 100 or so radicals he interviewed, Ballen focused on six in his book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“You can’t pick six people and say that they represent all the motives of all radicals everywhere," he says. "They do not. But I think they were fairly representative of the different ways that people got involved in this movement.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What ties the stories together, Ballen says, is reflected in the book’s title, "Terrorists in Love."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“It tells a story of people who can’t find love, largely, and this feeling of frustration, not being able to connect with another human being on earth - they can only find love with God - propels a lot of them into radicalism.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Author Ken Ballen traveled extensively, meeting with young radicals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One of them is Abdullah Al Gilani. His story is subtitled 'Jihadi Romeo and Juliet.' The young Saudi fell in love with a woman named Mariam, but couldn’t marry her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Her father wanted to marry her off for a handsome dowry or bride price, and he thought he could get $30,000,"<span>  </span>Ballen says. "This young man didn’t have that kind of money. The most he had was $8,000. So the father married her against her will to a man three times her age. She was humiliated and, indeed, raped by this man because she had never consented to the marriage. He was very distraught after this. He thought, ‘Well, if I go on holy war and I die, and I’m fighting for God, I can go to heaven and in heaven, I can marry my sweetheart, Mariam.’ So he went off to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ahmad Alshayea is another Saudi Jihadist who went to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The young man’s troubled relationship with his father contributed to his decision to leave his family and country, according to Ballen, who interviewed Ahmed in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Saudi Arabia</st1:place></st1:country-region> at a facility where former jihadists are rehabilitated.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ahmad Alshayea says being nursed back to health by a female US Army medic after surviving a suicide attack changed his radical views.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“This young man had never met a woman outside of his family until he went to Abu Ghreib, of all places, and was nursed back to health by an American army medic, the first woman he had ever met," Ballen says. "It opened him up in a way to Americans, to women, that he had never experienced before. It humanized him.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ahmad was captured and brought to Abu Ghreib after surviving a suicide attack. He was never told he was going on a suicide mission. He and two other jihadists were to drop off a booby-trapped tanker truck. But his companions jumped out of the vehicle just before it reached a concrete roadblock and exploded, killing eight people and severely injuring Ahmed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the book, Ballen describes Ahmed’s inner thoughts after he's taken to Abu Ghreib. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“The Holy Quran told Ahmad that a martyred fighter in the way of Jihad, he would be eternally nourished in <st1:place w:st="on">Paradise</st1:place> by ‘date palms.’ Yet, instead of the sweetest 'Sukkary' ((a type of date palm)) that Grandfather said would be the food of heaven, his veins were hooked to salty water. Instead of wearing ‘robes of silk’ and reclining on ‘jeweled couches,’ as the Holy Book pledged, Ahmad lay on a stiff white bed. Missing, too, were ‘the dark-eyed, full-breasted virgins, chaste as pearls’ offered by Allah the Most High to any martyr. He hadn’t reunited with his family as promised either - his younger brother, cheriched grandfather, beloved mother. He was alone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That experience, Ballen says, gave Ahmad a new mission and he now warns people his age against following the path he chose. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Other young people profiled in Ballen’s book include Malik, a spiritual adviser of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and Zeddy, the professional Pakistani warrior who discovered that a religious Jihadi group could be just as corrupt as any other organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The author says to fight terrorism; we have to understand who these people are and how they think. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“I think the change has to come from within," Ballen says. "It has to come from people who are willing to interpret their faith - whether it is Islam, Christianity or Judaism or Hinduism - in an inclusive, tolerant manner, and not as an exclusivist - kind of 'we’re right and everybody else is wrong.' A lot of people can change and a lot of people can change through dialogue. And we should expose any radical movement for what it really is, because there is a tremendous amount of corruption in it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That, Ballen says, is why he wrote "Terrorists in Love," to share with his readers the stories they seldom hear about terrorism and those who carry it out. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

'Terrorists in Love' Examines Islamic Radicals

Book explores why some young men turn to terrorism By Faiza Elmasry from Washington , D.C. How does a young man transform from a law-abidi...

Exhibition ‘Stefan Norblin (1892-1952): A Master of many Arts’ begins in New Delhi

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjIh09P3mdsGY80GtNbzJzQ5cPOmAR2Vs7yZAr95aKGMe83vMVoiEm9_3G-jTEnXEQLqbwXIGqxXfA86OBctg6tnIU0Ktl9NCnMqvB8uc0a7ft38WXTtLP9Elp5oZAypfgNjvBe2q4Ek/s1600/artexhibition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjIh09P3mdsGY80GtNbzJzQ5cPOmAR2Vs7yZAr95aKGMe83vMVoiEm9_3G-jTEnXEQLqbwXIGqxXfA86OBctg6tnIU0Ktl9NCnMqvB8uc0a7ft38WXTtLP9Elp5oZAypfgNjvBe2q4Ek/s640/artexhibition.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="color: black;">The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture, Kum. Selja and the Minister for Culture & National Heritage of Republic of Poland, Mr. Bogdan Zdrojewski going round the exhibition “Stefan Norblin (1892-1952): A Master of Many Arts”, in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city> on November 02, 2011. The Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Shri Jawhar Sircar is also seen.</span> PIB Photo</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Kumari Selja, Minister for Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Mr. Bogdan Zdrojewski, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Republic of Poland today jointly inaugurated the exhibition “Stefan Norblin (1892-1952): A Master of Many Arts” at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). Shri Jawhar Sircar, Secretary Culture, was the Guest of Honour on the occasion.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Dedicated to the famous Polish artist of the 20th century, Stefan Norblin; the exhibition lays special emphasis on his life and work in India (1941-46) while also bringing together his works from Poland and USA. These include portraits of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Poland</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s pre-war elite, art déco posters, book covers, illustrations and designs for theatrical costumes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The 60 curated works demonstrate the versatility of Norblin and his diverse output. The artist whose fascinating life took him to three continents, in a sense became a global and universal artist at a time when the boundaries of the world were changing. Presented in three distinct parts are a broad range of styles, subject matter, and techniques that weaves the artist’s biography and his activities. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">During his stay in <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> he received patronage from royalties and was granted large commissions from several of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s Maharajas of the time. It was however in <st1:city w:st="on">Jodhpur</st1:city> where Norblin received his most significant commission in <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, to design the interiors and paint murals for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Umaid</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Bhawan</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Palace</st1:placetype></st1:place>, a massive Art Dèco conceptualization built by Maharaja Umaid Singh. These have been restored and some of them form part of the current exhibition. Norblin in India developed a new style inspired by Hindu mythology and elements previously unknown to him including characteristics from Indian art that permeated his pre existing European Art Dèco sensibilities and infused them to form a unique amalgam. Norblin’s Indian productions are of special significance on a global scale, where Europe meets <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place> on a cultural platform giving testimony to cooperation beyond all barriers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Norblins first and only exhibition in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> was held at the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall, which is now the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai. Hence, it is only fitting that one of the most intriguing artists of the wartime generation be celebrated at the same institution first at New Delhi and later this year at Mumbai. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">This exhibition is a result of the cultural agreements between the two governments of <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Poland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region> have played a pivotal role in the implementation of this exhibition, with immense support from the Embassy of India in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region> and the Embassy of Poland in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The exhibition has been curated by Ms. Anna Szlązak, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region> and the Indian curator of the exhibition has been Mr. Karni Singh Jasol, Director, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Umaid</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Bhawan</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Palace</st1:placetype></st1:place> museum. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The NGMA will be screening for the first time ever the film ‘Chitraanjali: Stefan Norblin in India’ produced jointly by The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in India and the National Audio Video Institute of Poland, directed by Madam Malgorzata Skiba in conjunction with the exhibition.---PIB<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Exhibition ‘Stefan Norblin (1892-1952): A Master of many Arts’ begins in New Delhi

The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture, Kum. Selja and the Minister for Culture & National Heritage ...

Film Depicts How Paris Mosque Sheltered Jews During WWII

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">By Lisa Bryant from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span> </span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A newly released film in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place> depicts for the first time how the Paris Mosque saved Jews and Muslim resistance fighters during World War II. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Troves of books, movies and articles have been released over the years in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> describing almost every facet of World War II and the Nazi occupation here. But one historical nugget has been largely overlooked - the role played by Muslims during that dark period of French history. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A new movie aims to right the record. Released two weeks ago in cinemas across the country, "Les Homme Libres" - "Free Men" in English - describes how the former rector of the Paris Mosque, Si Kaddour Ben Gabrit, offered shelter and Muslim identity to Jews and resistance fighters. Just how many Jews is a matter of dispute. Some say very few. What is certain is that gesture saved them from deportation and death. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The current rector of the Paris Mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, is no stranger to this story. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Boubakeur says he has tried for years to focus public attention to Ben Gabrit's acts through public conferences and the media. But he says he has had a hard time digging into the past. Many first-hand witnesses have died. Documents remain buried in government offices. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There have been a handful of accounts of the role played by the <st1:city w:st="on">Paris</st1:city> mosque and Muslims in wartime <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>. But this is the first time it has been depicted in a movie. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Benjamin Stora, a <st1:place w:st="on">North Africa</st1:place> expert who was a consultant for the film, say it is a first in other ways. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Through the movie, French have learned that nearly 100,000 North Africans lived in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the 1930s and '40s," Stora says. "Most were from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Algeria</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Some collaborated with the Nazis, but others joined the French resistance. Many French are only aware of the massive immigration of North African workers here after the war." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Stora says one reason that French know so little about the Muslim community of that era is that many later became resistance fighters during <st1:country-region w:st="on">Algeria</st1:country-region>'s war of liberation from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Their World War II past was buried. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Sephardic, or North African Jews, also lived in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> during Nazi occupation. Like their Muslim counterparts, they spoke Arabic," said Stora. "The two communities shared the same food and love of Andalusian music." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Today, the relationship between French Jews and Muslims has deteriorated - reflecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Paris Mosque rector Boubakeur is among a number of religious leaders trying to improve ties between the two communities. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Boubakeur believes the movie might improve relations between Muslims and Jews here - changing the way each looks at the other. And for French citizens in general, it highlights a time when Muslims here reached out a hand to help those in great danger. ---VOA News</span></span></div></div>

Film Depicts How Paris Mosque Sheltered Jews During WWII

By Lisa Bryant from Paris A newly released film in France depicts for the first time how the Paris Mosque saved Jews and Muslim resis...

Ghazal King Jagjit Singh Passes Away

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Veteran Indian Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh breathed his last on Monday morning at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, where he was admitted on September 23 and undergone an emergency surgery for brain hemorrhage. He was 70.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><i>Condoling the demise of Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh,<span class="apple-converted-space"> the </span>Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mrs.Ambika Soni said “The untimely death of Jagjitji has left a void which will be difficult to fill. As a singer and composer, he understood the tastes of the common people. He amalgamated Ghazals with lyrics and Geet in such a way that he narrowed the gap between the understanding of classical music and modern Ghazal singing. His unique voice was a departure from the prevalent style of ghazal rendition, which instantly became a hit with the masses. All his compositions were lyrical masterpieces and shall remain embedded in our minds foreover. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I pray to God that the members of the bereaved family gather the strength to overcome the crisis”. ---GNP News Desk<o:p></o:p></span></i></div></div>

Ghazal King Jagjit Singh Passes Away

Veteran Indian Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh breathed his last on Monday morning at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, where he was admitted on Sept...

Jackson Estate Reports $310 Million in Earnings; FOX Premieres 'X Factor'

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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Mary
Morningstar from Washington</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Jackson
Estate Earns $310 Million</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Associated Press reports that Michael Jackson’s estate generated $310 million
from the time of his death in June 2009 through December 2010.<span>  </span>Executors plan to distribute an initial $30
million to Jackson’s mother Katherine and his three children, Paris, Prince and
Michael (a.k.a. Blanket).<span>  </span>Some of the
money is also being donated to charities.<span> 
</span>A court hearing to approve the plan is set for September 28.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Fox
Premieres X Factor </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On
September 21, the U.S. version of Britain’s singing competition, “The X
Factor,” will launch on FOX-TV.<span>  </span>The
winner, who will be announced on December 22, receives $5 million and a
recording contract with Syco/Sony Music.<span> 
</span>The show’s four judges are Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger
and Simon Cowell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>SuperHeavy
CD Features Mick Jagger, Joss Stone</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A&M
Records released the self-titled debut album by SuperHeavy on September
20.<span>  </span>The group features Rolling Stones
frontman Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, British soul singer Joss
Stone, Indian artist A.R. Rahman and reggae star Damian Marley.<span>  </span>Jagger describes the multicultural
collaboration as “an unknown genre,” but adds that “it’s accessible and
structured.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Tony
Bennett Drops 'Duets II' CD </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Columbia
Records released Tony Bennett’s 17-track collaborative album, Duets II, on
September 20.<span>  </span>The collection follows his
2006 million-selling, double Grammy-winning “Duets: An American Classic.”<span>  </span>Artists featured on his new album include
Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Michael Buble, Norah Jones and the
late Amy Winehouse, among others.<span>  </span>Amy’s
duet with Bennett on “Body and Soul” is the album’s lead single.<span>  </span>Proceeds from its sales will go to a
foundation Winehouse’s father created in her name.<span>  </span>The foundation offers programs to keep young
people off drugs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>New
NYC Ballet Show Features McCartney Score </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
premiere of the New York City Ballet’s “Ocean’s Kingdom” will take place on
September 22.<span>  </span>Its score was written by
former Beatle Paul McCartney.<span>  </span>This marks
the first time McCartney has written music for dance.<span>  </span>The Ocean’s Kingdom soundtrack, performed by
the London Classical Orchestra, will be released on October 4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
other Paul McCartney news… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
MusiCares Foundation has announced that he will be honored as its 2012
MusiCares Person of the Year.<span>  </span>McCartney
will be recognized for his creative accomplishments and charitable work at
MusiCares’ 22nd annual benefit gala on February 10th, 2012.<span>  </span>McCartney says, “I’ve been given a great gift
- a life making music - and it’s my privilege to try to make the world a better
place by giving back.<span>  </span>For more than 20
years, MusiCares has helped so many music people in times of crisis - whether
with emergency financial assistance or access to addiction recovery resources -
and it is an honor to be recognized as the 2012 MusiCares Person of the
Year.”<span>  </span>And, there’s also good news in
McCartney’s personal life.<span>  </span>He and
fiancée Nancy Shevell will soon be married.<span> 
</span>Although the exact date is unknown, they announced that the ceremony
will be held at the Old Marylebone Town Hall.<span> 
</span>McCartney married his first wife, the late Linda Eastman McCartney, at
the same venue in 1969.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Dean
Martin Re-Release Includes Duet with Scarlett Johansson</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On
September 20, Universal Music released the 2011 edition of the late Dean
Martin’s My Kind of Christmas album.<span>  </span>The
collection features a newly recorded virtual duet of the holiday classic “I’ll
Be Home For Christmas” with actress Scarlett Johansson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>New
Album Releases September 20</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Unbroken”
by Demi Lovato<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Sweeter”
by Gavin DeGraw<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“TM103”
by Young Jeezy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Letters
From the Fire” by Fuel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Night
of Hunters” by Tori Amos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Coast
To Coast” by Cody Simpson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“The
Reckoning” by NeedToBreathe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Mockingbird
Time” by The Jayhawks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“PJ
20” by Pearl Jam<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Musical
Events/Festivals/Benefits:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
inaugural “iHeartRadio Music Festival” will take place September 23 and 24 at
the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.<span> 
</span>Tickets to the two-day event sold out within 10 minutes.<span>  </span>American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest will host the
festival.<span>  </span>Performers include Lady Gaga,
the Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Kenny
Chesney, Carrie Underwood, and many others. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jackson Estate Reports $310 Million in Earnings; FOX Premieres 'X Factor'

By Mary Morningstar from Washington Jackson Estate Earns $310 Million The Associated Press reports that Michael Jackson’s est...

INDIA: UNESCO TO CELEBRATE TAGORE’S 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">  </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gitanjali-Rabindranath-Tagore/dp/1463587295?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Gitanjali" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1463587295&tag=glob036-20" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1463587295" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />NEW DELHI  (NNN-Bernama) -- A documentary film that depicts the life and times of Rabindranath Tagore and recital of poems penned by the Nobel Laureate in Hindi and Bengali by the likes of Aparna Sen, will be held in Unesco headquarters in Paris on Monday at an event to commemorate his 150th birth </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">anniversary. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Remembering Tagore, the cultural programme hosted by India at the Unesco, will also include violin recitation of Tagore’s poems and Bengali rendition by renowned artists from neighbouring Bangladesh. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The programme is a part of the two-day High-Level Sponsoring Committee (HLSC) for the Reconciled Universal for Rabindranath Tagore, Pablo Neruda and Aime Cesaire, reported Press Trust of India (PTI). </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">India and Bangladesh are engaged in joint celebrations to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore and have been organising a host of events across the globe. The Unesco event will be webcast on their official website on Monday. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The event will begin with the screening of the official portrait of one of the celebrated poets of the 21st century directed by Satyajit Ray, an admirer of the man Tagore, his works and vision. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The audience will also be treated to a recitation of Tagore’s poetry by Aparna Sen, followed by Hindi rendition of Tagore’s poems by Kavitha Krishnamurthy. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The programme will feature a violin recital of Tagore’s poems by Dr L Subramaniam, who will perform a Ragam, Tanam and Pallavi in Raga Simhendramadhyamam, which is one of the 72 parent scales in South Indian classical music. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The silver lining comes when the Bengali rendition of Tagore’s poems will be presented by Shama Rehman from Bangladesh. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This year alone, to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Shama has cut five audio albums of Tagore songs on Prem (love), Prokriti (nature), Puja (Devotional), Swadesh (patriotic) and Bichitra (diverse) and to celebrate the 100 years of the publication of Gitanjali, she has cut four audio albums, under Unesco Reconciled Universal Pogramme. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The event will have a performance percussionist by Bickram Ghosh. His programme ia called Tagore Lounge. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tagore Lounge is an unique presentation where Tagore’s mellifluous songs blend with Indian classical ragas and a riveting modern soundscape relying heavily on masterful rhythms created through a blend of traditional acoustic and electronic instruments.--NNN-BERNAMA </span></div></div>

INDIA: UNESCO TO CELEBRATE TAGORE’S 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

NEW DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- A documentary film that depicts the life and times of Rabindranath Tagore and recital of poems penned by th...