The Apprentice 5

The Apprentice 5 is the fifth series of The Apprentice, with Donald Trump as the Executive Producer and Host. Applications were available online (as in previous episodes) and filming occurred in the summer or fall of 2005.

The Apprentice 5 will premiere on Monday February 27, 2006 right after the game show Deal or No Deal. NBC, which is facing a ratings slump, has decided to put this season of the show on Monday nights (as opposed to its old Thursday 9pm ET slot). The network hopes to build the show's audience by making this move, as the program has witnessed a fairly substantial erosion in ratings since The Apprentice 1. This is the show's first permanent timeslot move since that edition.

Furthermore, Donald Trump's children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. will be joining him in the boardroom this season when either George or Carolyn is unavailable (a remark by Martha Stewart that Ivanka would be replacing Carolyn was horribly out of context).


One thing that is known about series five is that Jack McConnell, the First Minister of Scotland, makes an appearance in one of the episodes.

General Motors will promote the new 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe on the show; newswires in Youngstown, Ohio, mentioned that eleven Chevrolet National Dealer Council members will judge the marketing of the two teams of the new truck.


Candidates

In this season, candidates are not exclusively American: the cast contains cast members from Russia, the UK, and Canada.

* Allie, 30, Medical Sales Manager, (Columbia, South Carolina)
* Andrea, 31, Sticker Company Owner, (San Diego, California)
* Brent, 30, Attorney, (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
* Bryce, 28, Home Builder, (Kansas City, Missouri)
* Charmaine, 27, Real Estate Consultant, (Nashville, Tennessee)
* Dan, 31, Clothing Company Owner, (Miami, Florida)
* Lee, 22, Business Analyst, (Brooklyn, New York)
* Lenny, 37, Trading Company Owner, (Russia)
* Leslie, 28, Realtor, (Houma, Louisiana)
* Michael, 29, Management Consultant, (New York City, New York)
* Pepi, 25, Attorney, (Miami, Florida)
* Roxanne, 26, Appellate Attorney, (Austin, Texas)
* Sean, 33, Recruitment Consultant, (London, England)
* Stacy, 38, Criminal Defense Attorney, (Long Island, New York)
* Summer, 30, Restaurant Owner, (Huntington Beach, California)
* Tammy, 33, Wealth Manager, (Edison, New Jersey)
* Tarek, 27, Hi-Tech Manager, (New Bedford, Massachusetts)
* Theresa, 36, Psychotherapist, (Barrington, Illinois)

Cat Tales: Separating Fact From Fiction

Despite their popularity, myths about cats persist. Separating fact from fiction provides a greater understanding of how to meet their special needs.

A falling cat always lands on its feet
When a cat falls a short distance, it often twists itself around to right itself and land on its feet. However, falls from heights can cause severe injury or death.

A window without a screen or with an insecurely fastened screen is a life-threatening hazard. Other accidents happen when an air conditioner is removed from the window for cleaning or repair. Balconies are also a danger. A cat may fall from a balcony rail as it chases an insect.

Securely fastened screens and being alert to other high-rise dangers help prevent serious injuries resulting from falls.

Cats have nine lives
This myth probably started as the result of a cat�s flexible skeleton that allows squeezing and twisting to negotiate narrow and awkward places.

The factors that influence a cat�s longevity are proper diet and care, including regular visits to the veterinarian, and the cat�s genetic makeup.

The average life span for a neutered cat who is housed inside is estimated to be from 12 to 14 years. The maximum life span is said to be 35 years. The roaming cat�s life expectancy is usually less than that of a cat housed indoors. This may relate to a more stressful lifestyle as the results of accidents, fighting and exposure to weather extremes.

Cats can see in the dark
Cats cannot see in total darkness, but they can see much better at night with minimum light than humans can. Their vision in dim light is very sensitive.

Protecting a cat�s vision is one of the reasons a cat should never be fed dog food. Unlike dogs, cats cannot manufacture the amino acid taurine. Lack of taurine in the cat�s diet can cause vision problems. Cats require a higher level of protein in their diet than dogs.

All cats like fish
There is no particular food that all cats like. This is why cat foods are available in a variety of flavors and textures. Once you find nutritionally complete and balanced cat food your cat enjoys, stay with it. Frequent diet changes may create a finicky eater and cause digestive upsets. Be certain the package label states that the product has undergone feeding trials in accordance with the Association of American Feed Control officials (AAFCO) protocol.

Neutered cats become fat and lazy
Although neutered cats may become obese, this condition can be prevented. If the cat begins to gain weight, eliminate food from the table and, if necessary, reduce the amount of cat food offered. Cats can be encouraged to exercise through play. If there are questions about a cat�s body condition, a veterinarian should be consulted.

Spaying and neutering have many benefits. Spaying a female cat before her first heat cycle can help prevent mammary tumors and uterine infections.

World’s Fattest Cat

The cat Katy, which lives in the city of Asbest in the Ural region of Russia, weighs 23 kilos. Despite is relatively young age – the cat is only five years old – the pet has lost her interest in everything, save food. Katy is not interested in male cats, because she spends all of her days sleeping - this is her major daily occupation.

The owner of the Siamese cat works on an application for the Guinness Book currently. The thing is about the fact that the fattest cat in the world is considered to be some Australian cat named Himmy. The Australian cat weighs 21 kilos and 300 grams. However, the Russian cat is almost two kilograms heavier. The cat’s owner told reporters that the length of her pet’s body is 69 centimeters, the cat is 69 centimeters around her waist, her whiskers are 15 centimeters long and her appetite is 1.5 sausages a minute.

White Rose

White Rose (German: die Weiße Rose) was a World War II resistance group in Germany that called for nonviolent resistance against the Nazi regime.

The White Rose consisted of five students, all in their early twenties, at Munich University. Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie led the rest of the group, including Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell and Willi Graf. They were joined by a professor, Kurt Huber, who drafted the final two leaflets. All six members of this group were arrested, tried, convicted, and executed by beheading.

The group of Munich students prepared and distributed six leaflets between June 1942 to February 1943. A seventh leaflet was found in possession of the students at the time of their arrest by the Gestapo.

The men of the White Rose were war veterans, who had fought on the French and Russian fronts. They were influenced by the German Youth Movement, of which Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst were members. They had witnessed the German atrocities, both on the battlefield and against the civilian population in the East, and sensed that the reversal of fortune that the Wehrmacht suffered at Stalingrad would eventually lead to Germany's defeat. They rejected the fascism and militarism of Adolf Hitler's Germany and believed in a federated Europe that adhered to Christian principles of tolerance and justice. Quoting extensively from the Bible, Lao Zi, Aristotle and Novalis, as well as Goethe and Schiller, they appealed to what they considered the German intelligentsia, believing that they would be intrinsically opposed to Nazism. At first, the leaflets were sent out in mailings from cities in Bavaria and Austria, since the members believed that southern Germany would be more receptive to their anti-militarist message.

At the end of July 1942, the male students in the group were deployed to the Eastern Front for military service in the between-terms academic break. In late fall the men returned and the White Rose resumed its resistance activities. In January 1943, using a hand-operated duplicating machine, the group is thought to have produced between 6000 and 9000 copies of their fifth leaflet, "Appeal to all Germans!", which was distributed via courier runs to many cities (where they were mailed). Copies appeared in Stuttgart, Cologne, Vienna, Freiburg, Chemnitz, Hamburg and Berlin. Composed by Hans Scholl with improvements by Huber, the leaflet warned that Hitler was leading Germany into the abyss; with the gathering might of the Allies, defeat was now certain. The reader was urged to "Support the resistance movement!" in the struggle for "Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, protection of the individual citizen from the arbitrary action of criminal dictator-states". These were the principles that would form "the foundations of the new Europe."

The leaflets caused a sensation, and the Gestapo initiated an intensive search for the publishers.

On the nights of the 3rd, 8th and 15th of February 1943, the slogans "Freedom" and "Down with Hitler" appeared on the walls of the University and other buildings in Munich. Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl and Willi Graf had painted them with tar (similar graffiti that appeared in the surrounding area at this time may have been painted by emboldened imitators).

The shattering German defeat at Stalingrad at the beginning of February provided the occasion for the group's sixth leaflet, written by Huber. Addressed to "Fellow students!," it announced that the "day of reckoning" had come for "the most contemptible tyrant our people has ever endured". As the German people had looked to university students to help break Napoleon in 1813, it now looked to them to break the National Socialist terror. "The dead of Stalingrad adjure us!"

On February 18, 1943, coincidentally the same day that Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels called on the German people embrace total war in his Sportpalast speech, the Scholls brought a suitcase full of leaflets to the university. They hurriedly dropped stacks of copies in the empty corridors for students to find when they flooded out of lecture rooms. Leaving before the class break, the Scholls noticed that some copies remained in the suitcase and decided it would be a pity not to distribute them. They returned to the atrium, climbed the staircase to the top floor, and Sophie flung the last remaining leaflets into the air. This spontaneous action was observed by the custodian Jakob Schmied. The police were called and Hans and Sophie were taken into Gestapo custody. The other active members were soon arrested, and the group and everyone associated with them were brought in for interrogation.

The Scholls and Probst were the first to stand trial before the Volksgerichtshof — the so-called People's Court that tried political offenses against the Nazi German state — on February 22, 1943. They were found guilty of treason and Roland Freisler, head judge of the court, sentenced them to death. The three were executed by guillotine the same day. The other key members of the group were also beheaded later that summer. Friends and colleagues of the White Rose, who helped in the preparation and distribution of leaflets and in collecting money for the widow and young children of Probst, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to ten years.

With the fall of Nazi Germany, the White Rose came to represent opposition to tyranny in the German psyche, seen to have been without interest in personal power or self-aggrandizement. Their story became so well-known that the composer Carl Orff claimed (by some accounts falsely) to his Allied interrogators that he was a founding member of the White Rose and was released. While he was personally acquainted with Huber, there is a lack of other evidence (other than Orff's word) that Orff was involved in the movement, and he may well have made his claim to escape imprisonment.

The square where the central hall of Munich University is located has been named "Geschwister-Scholl-Platz" after Hans and Sophie Scholl, the square next to it "Professor-Huber-Platz." Many schools, streets and places all over Germany were named in memory of the members of the White Rose.

The group's activities were the subject of two German films: Die weiße Rose from 1982, directed by Michael Verhoeven and released in the United States (subtitled) as "The White Rose"; and Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage from 2005, directed by Marc Rothemund.


Quotes

* Last words of Sophie Scholl: "...your heads will fall as well."

* Alles wirklich Wertvolle kommt nicht aus dem Ehrgeiz, und dem Pflichtgefühl, sondern aus der Liebe und Devotion gegenüber Menschen oder objektiven Dingen. (Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty, it stems rather from love and devotion toward men and toward objective things.)

Albert Einstein, 1947

Dolly the sheep

Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003), a ewe, was the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell. She was cloned at the Roslin Institute in Scotland and lived there until her death when she was 6. Her birth was announced on 22 February 1997.

The sheep was originally code-named "6LL3". The name "Dolly" came from a suggestion by the stockmen who helped with her birth, in honour of Dolly Parton, because it was a mammary cell that was cloned. The technique that was made famous by her birth is somatic cell nuclear transfer, in which a cell is placed in a de-nucleated ovum, the two cells fuse and then develop into an embryo. When Dolly was cloned in 1996 from a cell taken from a six-year-old ewe, she became the centre of much controversy that still exists today.

On 9 April 2003 her stuffed remains were placed at Edinburgh's Royal Museum, part of the National Museums of Scotland.


Creating Dolly

Dolly was created by a research team lead by Ian Wilmut at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The goal of the research was the reliable reproduction of animals genetically modified to produce therapeutic proteins in their milk. Wilmut's team had already created two sheep clones from embryonic cells grown in culture called Megan and Morag, the work was published in Nature in 1996. Dolly was a Finn Dorset lamb, created from fully differentiated adult mammary cells using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, her creation was described in a Nature publication in 1997. Dolly was the first mammalian clone produced from an adult cell. She was produced by the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer.


Controversy

In 1999 research was published in the journal Nature suggesting that Dolly may have been susceptible to premature aging, due to shortened telomeres in her cells. It was speculated that these were passed on from her parent, who was six years old when the genetic material was taken from her, so that Dolly may have been genetically six years old at birth. This is because telomere length is reduced after each cell division, which requires DNA replication before mitosis occurs. The polymerase, part of the replication machinery, cannot reach the end of the chromosome being replicated and clips a little of the telomere at the end off every time replication occurs. However, Dr. John Thomas indicated that most cloned animals actually have telomeres of normal length and in serial clones the telomeres are actually getting longer in each successive generation. This is because the enzyme telomerase is active in those clones, which keeps the telomeres from shortening. However, telomerase, which is present in many bacteria, can be responsible for causing mutation through its enzymatic activity, which leads to cancer. In fact, many human cancer cells produce telomerase in the course of carcinogenesis, which is not normally present in most adult human cells.

Possible signs of this were reported in January 2002, when Dolly was five years old. She had developed a potentially debilitating form of arthritis at an unusually early age. This supported the theory of premature senescence, although Dr. Dai Grove-White of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Liverpool University was reported as saying, "Conceivably arthritis could be due to the cloning but equally it could not be. For all we know, she may have damaged her leg jumping over a gate and developed arthritis."

The arthritis further fueled worry among some that this form of cloning may not be appropriate for mammals, and there is now a consensus both within and outside the scientific community that at this point the risk of unforeseen effects of cloning on the clone makes experiments in human reproductive cloning premature and unethical.

Supporters of this method of cloning counter that the technique used to clone Dolly simply needs to be refined. However, others contend that with very limited understanding of the nascent field of applied genetics, scientists cannot, and should not, attempt to control the action of so many genes at once. Many outside the scientific community have stated that this is vindication for their initial assertions that any form of cloning is ethically wrong and should be banned.


Death

On February 14, 2003 it was announced that Dolly had a progressive lung disease. A necropsy confirmed she had sheep pulmonary adenomatosis, a fairly common disease of sheep. Roslin scientists stated that they did not think there was a connection with Dolly being a clone, and that other sheep on the farm had similar ailments. Such lung diseases are especially a danger for sheep kept indoors, as Dolly had to be for security reasons.


Legacy

After the cloning was successfully demonstrated by Dolly's creators, many other large mammals have been cloned, including horses and bulls. Cloning is sometimes considered a promising tool for preserving endangered species, usually by those who do not work in species conservation. Most animal conservation professionals point out that cloning does not alleviate the problems of loss of genetic diversity (see inbreeding) and habitat, must be considered an experimental technology for the time being, and all in all would only rarely be worth the cost, which on a per-individual basis far exceeds conventional techniques such as captive breeding or embryo transfer. The 2000-2001 attempt to clone a gaur failed, with the animal, "Noah", dying 2 days after birth, and the attempt to clone argali sheep did not produce viable embryos. The attempt to clone a banteng bull was more successful, as were the attempts to clone mouflon, both resulting in viable offspring. The banteng example is a case illustrating the circumstances under which the uncertainties of cloning attempts are outweighed by the benefits: the cell donator was an adult of a rare genotype combination which had been killed in a fight; the single surviving cloned individual now is integrated into the herd at San Diego Zoo and healthy (it had to undergo orchiopexy, but this was probably due to an inbreeding and not a cloning problem).

There have been some attempts and many suggestions to clone extinct animals, but those that have seen any research (thylacine, huia, Pyrenean Ibex and mammut) have so far resulted in failures. Altogether, the only real benefit of cloning for animal conservation exists in some cases of large mammals where embryo transfer techniques are already established and the issue at hand is preservation of a rare genetic lineage, as in the case of the San Diego banteng.

Pregnancy Symptoms

Pregnancy symptoms differ from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy; however, one of the most significant pregnancy symptoms is a delayed or missed menstrual cycle. Understanding pregnancy symptoms is important because each symptom may be related to something other than pregnancy. Some women experience pregnancy symptoms within a week of conception. For other women, symptoms may develop over a few weeks or may not be present at all. Below is a listing of some of the most common pregnancy symptoms.

Implantation Bleeding:

Implantation bleeding can be one of the earliest pregnancy symptoms. About 6-12 days after conception, the embryo implants itself into the uterine wall. Some women will experience spotting as well as some cramping.

Other Explanations: Actual menstruation, altered menstruation, changes in birth control pill, infection, or abrasion from intercourse.

Delay/Difference in Menstruation:

A delayed or missed menstruation is the most common pregnancy symptom leading a woman to test for pregnancy. When you become pregnant, your next period should be missed. Many women can bleed while they are pregnant, but typically the bleeding will be shorter or lighter than a normal period. This symptom is commonly explained by other reasons. If you have been sexually active and have missed a period, it is recommended that you take a test.

Other Explanations: Excessive weight gain/loss, fatigue, hormonal problems, tension, stress, ceasing to take the birth control pill, or breast-feeding.

Swollen/Tender Breasts:

Swollen or tender breasts is a pregnancy symptom which may begin as early as 1-2 weeks after conception. Women may notice changes in their breasts; they may be tender to the touch, sore, or swollen.

Other Explanations: Hormonal imbalance, birth control pills, impending menstruation (PMS) can also cause your breasts to be swollen or tender.

Fatigue/Tiredness:

Feeling fatigued or more tired is a pregnancy symptom which can also start as early as the first week after conception.

Other Explanations: Stress, exhaustion, depression, common cold or flu, or other illnesses can also leave you feeling tired or fatigued.

Nausea/Morning Sickness:

This well-known pregnancy symptom will often show up between 2-8 weeks after conception. Some women are fortunate to not deal with morning sickness at all, while others will feel nauseous throughout most of their pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Food poisoning, stress, or other stomach disorders can also cause you to feel queasy.

Backaches:

Lower backaches may be a symptom that occurs early in pregnancy; however, it is common to experience a dull backache throughout an entire pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Impending menstruation, stress, other back problems, and physical or mental strains.

Headaches:

The sudden rise of hormones in your body can cause you to have headaches early in pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Dehydration, caffeine withdrawal, impending menstruation, eye strain, or other ailments can be the source of frequent or chronic headaches.

Frequent Urination:

Around 6-8 weeks after conception, you may find yourself making a few extra trips to the bathroom.

Other Explanations: Urinary tract infection, diabetes, increasing liquid intake, or taking excessive diuretics.

Darkening of Areolas:

If you are pregnant, the skin around your nipples may get darker.

Other Explanations: Hormonal imbalance unrelated to pregnancy or may be a leftover effect from a previous pregnancy.

Food Cravings:

While you may not have a strong desire to eat pickles and ice cream, many women will feel cravings for certain foods when they are pregnant. This can last throughout your entire pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Poor diet, lack of a certain nutrient, stress, depression, or impending menstruation.

Stone explains 11 September movie

Director Oliver Stone has described making a movie about the 11 September attacks as "a very humbling experience".

But the Oscar-winning filmmaker denied the drama - to be entitled World Trade Center - would have a political agenda.

Speaking at the Bangkok International Film Festival, Stone called the feature a "24-hour document" in the lives of two New York Port Authority officers who became trapped under the rubble of the Twin Towers.

"They were trapped at the heart of the destruction, near an elevator shaft," he said. "They survived 24 hours under extraordinary circumstances.

"It's an investigation into how they survived - how they mentally made it under those terrible conditions."

The officers, Sergeant John McLoughlin and his younger colleague Will Jimeno, are played by Nicolas Cage and Crash star Michael Pena respectively.

They were part of a group of five officers who entered the South Tower shortly before it collapsed. The other three were killed.

Filming took place in New York and New Jersey, though the Ground Zero site itself was recreated in Los Angeles.

"We didn't want to offend people in Lower Manhattan," said the 59-year-old director.

Despite this, Stone says the shoot replicated the men's ordeal as closely as possible.

'Austere' movie

"I've had a cough in my chest for six weeks now, because the last four weeks has all been smoke," he explained.

"It was all dark holes, smoke and destruction, with only millimetres to work in. It was awful."

The film, he added, was "a very austere, technical attempt to be realistic about what happened - to show it as it really was".

Released in the UK on 29 September, World Trade Center also looks at the officers' wives - played by Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal - as they anxiously await news of their husbands.

"It was wonderful to go back to working-class people - cops, firemen and their families - and see what their lives were like."

However, when asked whether the world in general and America in particular was ready for a drama about the 9/11 attacks, the director was dismissive.

"I would hate that to be the main question about the movie, though I sense that is what's going to happen," he told the BBC News website.

"I'm not in the business of knowing whether America is ready. You just hope it will be."

As the director of JFK, Nixon and Born on the Fourth of July, Stone has been feted and castigated in equal measure.

Platoon, based on his experiences as a young soldier in Vietnam, won four Oscars in 1987, while JFK won two more five years later.

However, his 1994 film Natural Born Killers - a satire about two itinerant serial killers based on a script by Quentin Tarantino - was widely criticised for its violence.

And his last movie Alexander, an epic study of the ancient Macedonian leader starring Colin Farrell, received some stinging reviews and flopped at the US box office.

Despite such career setbacks, the former New York University Film School graduate has pledged to carry on regardless.

"I'm not the only director who has had to deal with rejection, failure and defeat," he said.

"But either you get a gun, load it and shoot yourself in the head, or you carry on doing what you love."

Indeed, the three-time Academy Award recipient only admits to one regret after more than three decades in the industry.

"My biggest mistake was not to direct Evita," he said. "I had two windows of opportunities to make it, first with Meryl Streep and then with Michelle Pfeiffer.

"We came so close to making it, so it was a real heartbreaker for me."

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was eventually filmed in 1996 by British director Alan Parker, with Madonna in the title role. Stone, though, believes the singer was not quite up to the part.

"The thing with Eva Peron was she was both a hooker and a saint," he explained.

"Madonna could do the hooker, but she couldn't do the saint."

Guantanamo actors held at airport

The actors who star in movie The Road to Guantanamo were questioned by police at Luton airport under anti-terrorism legislation, it has emerged.

The men, who play British inmates at the detention camp, were returning from the Berlin Film Festival where the movie won a Silver Bear award.

One of the actors, Rizwan Ahmed, said a police officer asked him if he intended to make any more "political" films.

The men were released quickly and not arrested, said Bedfordshire police.

Inquiry

"Six people were stopped under the Terrorism Act. This is something that happens all the time and obviously at airports and train stations," said a spokeswoman.

"There is a heightened state of security since the London bombings. Public safety is paramount."

Actor Farhad Harun was also questioned, along with Shafiq Rusul and Rhuhel Ahmed, the men whose detention in Guantanamo is chronicled in the film.

Mr Ahmed also alleges that he was verbally abused by a police officer and had his mobile phone taken from him for a short period.

The actor also claims that he was told by police that he could be held for up to 48 hours without access to a lawyer.

He says he was initially questioned at the airport's baggage pick-up area and taken to a separate room when he demanded to know why.

Human rights organisation Reprieve, who Mr Ahmed has asked to speak on his behalf, called Thursday's incident an "ugly farce".

Suspects

They have called for an urgent inquiry into what happened while one of the film's producers, Melissa Parmenter, said the detention was outrageous.

Bedfordshire police have said they will issue another statement specifically concerning the allegations made by Mr Ahmed and Reprieve.

The Road to Guantanamo, directed by British film-maker Michael Winterbottom, tells the story of the Tipton Three.

The men from the West Midlands went to Pakistan to arrange a wedding and eventually found themselves at the US camp.

They were picked up in Afghanistan and believed to be terrorist suspects and were eventually released from Guantanamo Bay in 2004 without charge.

The film, shot in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, was made at a cost of £1.5m.

Profits surge for Dell Computer

Profits at the world's biggest computer maker, Dell, surged more than 50% in the fourth quarter thanks to stronger-than-expected sales growth.

Dell said it earned $1.01bn (£580m) in the quarter, up 52% from the $667m posted in the previous year.

Profits growth was fuelled by strong sales to business and international customers, where sales increased by 21%, Dell said.

The upturn follows two disappointing quarters of slowing sales growth.

Price cutting and restructuring charges also dogged the company in its second and third quarter.

For the year ending 3 February, Dell earned $3.57bn, up from $3.04bn.

Analysts believe Dell still faces several challenges, however, including the ongoing decline in PC prices.

Shares in Dell Computer were trading 19 cents higher, or 0.6%, at $32.41 on Thursday.

Google defends China search site

Google has denied accusations that its new Chinese-language search engine is operating without a licence.

It follows a report in the Beijing News that Google did not have the correct paperwork for its China site.

The web giant has rejected the allegation, saying it was operating under the licence of its business partner, Ganji.com.

Google's China service blocks politically sensitive material to comply with Chinese censorship rules.

Local partner

The Chinese government enforces strict laws on internet use, blocking content it considers a threat, including references to the Tiananmen Square massacre and notable dissidents.

Google.cn, launched last month, complies with these guidelines.

But Chinese newspapers have accused Google of not having the Internet Content Provider (ICP) licence needed to operate in China.

The Beijing News said that the situation had "attracted the attention" of Chinese regulators.

A Google spokeswoman denied the reports, saying it was operating under the licence of its local partner.

"Google has a partnership with Ganji.com through which Google has the required licence to operate Google.cn," said Google spokeswoman Debbie Frost.

Other foreign technology companies such as eBay and Yahoo also operate in China using the licences of their local partners.

'Uninvited guest'

Google's policy of telling users which pages are censored has also drawn the wrath of some newspapers.

"Does a business operating in China need to constantly tell customers that it's abiding by the laws of the land?" asked the China Business Times, comparing Google to an uninvited guest.

Google, together with other major technology firms, has also come under fire in the US for helping China censor the internet.

Earlier this month, members of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus said four US firms were putting profits before American principles of free speech.

Technology companies have defended their actions in China, saying they have to comply with local laws.

The firms are keen to gain a foothold in China's fast-growing internet industry, with more than 100 million people online.

2006 full of broadband promise

In the Chinese calendar the symbol changes every year. 2006 will be the year of the dog but in the world of technology, broadband has remained top dog for the last five years.

The trajectory for broadband has been on a sharp upward curve during that time.

Next year looks like continuing this trend, with more people turning to broadband, even more increases to the speeds available to people and a wider variety of broadband-enabled services.

Speed alone will not be enough and the key things will be to develop the services that broadband allows, say analysts.

Jupiter analyst Ian Fogg predicted it will be a year of conflict in the two key areas of broadband development - TV and telephony.

"They will be the battlegrounds for 2006 as tensions rise between what internet service providers and third party organisations will offer," he said.



Technology on tap

There has been concern about a second wave of the digital divide, with those in remoter areas stuck with slower speeds, and this is one issue that will be need to be closely watched as speed springs up in more urban areas.

The limitations of super-fast broadband were highlighted in a report in November by analyst firm Point Topic which cast doubt on how much the technology could offer.

Even for those living in areas enabled by the technology, the performance of ADSL2+ is related to how far people live from their local telephone exchange and what quality their telephone line is.

Point Topic calculated that as few as 5% of the UK population would actually get speeds above 18Mbps.

The lesson for consumers in 2006 appears to be not to believe all the hype that is bound to surround so-called superfast services.

Lines should be tested before they buy into any new service to check what speed they can support.

Despite this, 2006 should prove yet another definitive year for broadband.

Consumer's appetite for the technology shows no signs of abating. According to research firm Datamonitor, demand for high-speed services will not slow down until the following year, by which time around 60% of households will have the technology on tap.

Victim families 'need more help'

Families of murder and manslaughter victims need more sensitive treatment by police, courts and support groups, a survey suggests.

Victim Support questioned 41 of the 1,000 bereaved relatives it had helped over the last year.

Some felt they were being offered the wrong kind of help by groups like Victim Support itself.

The study suggested many victims show signs of post-traumatic stress, and need help with basic day-to-day tasks.

Domestic matters like paying household bills and feeding pets can easily be overlooked during the chaos and grieving that follows a bereavement, the charity said.

The study found that relatives had often had to cope with turmoil when a killing had occurred in the family home and it had been sealed off as a crime scene.

Many would have appreciated somebody who would take charge of the clearing up when they returned, as well as screening telephone calls, the survey suggested.

Traumatic identification

The survey also found that victims whose cases became part of the criminal justice system found difficulty in coping, because following through the process could slow down reactions to the tragedy, and intensify feelings of powerlessness and anger.

One mother said she wanted ongoing contact with the police.

She told support workers: "Even if they have nothing to tell me, I have questions."

Another wanted more help around the time of identifying the body.

She told researchers: "You know how you see on TV what happens when someone identifies a body? It was nothing like that.

"They took me into a little room and he was there, in front of me, but I wasn't allowed to touch him."

Victim Support says it will use the results of the study to change how its volunteers are trained to improve family liaison services.

Court system

Rose Dixon, from the charity Support After Murder and Manslaughter, said that the police were more aware of the needs of victims.

"This is the sort of thing we have been saying for quite some time, but we haven't had the research to back us up," she said.

"On the whole the police are actually doing a lot of training for their police family liaison officers.

"But it's the general court system where I think that families feel they're unsupported."

The Home Office says that relatives who are unhappy with the way they are treated will soon be able to complain directly to a Victims Commissioner, who will be appointed in the next few months.

Iran-Russian nuclear talks close

Iranian and Russian officials have ended two days of talks on a Russian plan to enrich uranium on its territory for use in Iran's reactors.

It is not clear what the talks may have achieved as the Iranian delegation prepared to leave Moscow on Tuesday.

A senior Iranian official described the talks as "positive and constructive" and said they would continue.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it was too early to declare the talks a failure.

Russian atomic agency head Sergei Kiriyenko is expected to visit Iran on Thursday for further discussions.



Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran would no longer hold nuclear talks with the EU-3 of Britain, France and Germany.

He said Iran attached greater weight to negotiations with Moscow on a Russian compromise plan.

"Our contacts with the European Union will no longer be held with the EU-3, but with the different countries of the European Union," Mr Mottaki said a day after talks with EU officials in Brussels.

'Last chance'

The Russian proposal was being seen by many as a last chance for Iran to compromise with the UN nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On 6 March the agency is due to issue a report that might move the whole issue to the UN Security Council.

Iran has previously insisted that it will not give up the right to enrich uranium on its own territory.

The agency reported Iran to the security council in January over a lack of co-operation and transparency in its nuclear activities.

Western powers are concerned Iran aims to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its programme is not military.

Iran resumed small-scale uranium enrichment earlier this month.

Enrichment can produce fuel for either civilian nuclear reactors or nuclear bombs.

The nuclear crisis has intensified since Iran resumed nuclear activity last summer after a two-and-a-half year freeze.

Wachowski brothers

Laurence "Larry" Wachowski (born June 21, 1965) and Andrew "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967) are Polish American film directors most famous for the Matrix series.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, the Wachowskis jokingly claim to have begun their collaboration as toddlers. They at a time went to Kellogg Elementary School, in Chicago's Beverly Area. Both dropped out of college to pursue show business and both overcame some major hurdles on their way to success. Before entering show business, they ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books in their free time.

Since their hit with The Matrix, studios are clamoring for whatever else they have ever worked on. Trimark has bought an unproduced script they wrote years ago, Carnivore, a creepy tale about a boarding house whose residents keep disappearing. The brothers will executive-produce it, while horror veteran George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead) will likely direct.

The brothers admit to a love for telling multi-part stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the Tolkien trilogy, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Larry explains. "If you could have a film where you don't get to the hour-and-a-half mark and know, 'Okay, here it comes, the big wrap-up,' but instead you have no idea how the movie's going to end, I think that would be very exciting." Andy puts his desire to shake up viewers a bit more bluntly. "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audience's expectations."

Their mother was a nurse and their father a businessman. Both brothers graduated from Whitney Young High, a public high school known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983 and '85. They weren't seen as stand outs at Whitney Young - students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program, but they were always behind the scenes. Afterwards, Andy went to Emerson College in Boston. He was a top student in his introductory film class but dropped out because of failing a test says former professor, Claire Andrade-Watkins. Larry went to Bard in upstate New York. After dropping out of college, both entered the carpentry business, and began to unleash their ideas for the Matrix Trilogy.


Personal lives

In 2003, Larry's wife of nine years, Thea Bloom, divorced him on the grounds that she felt there had been dishonesty in their personal and financial lives, and sought financial remedy. It has been speculated that this "personal dishonesty" is related to the long-standing rumor about Larry being transgendered. Following his separation from Thea Bloom, he has been romantically linked to the famous ex-professional dominatrix, Ilsa Strix.


Comic books

Prior to working in the film industry, the Wachowski brothers wrote comic books for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, namely Ectokid (created by horror novelist Clive Barker) in 1993.

In 2004, they created Burlyman Entertainment and have released comic books based on The Matrix as well two original bi-monthly series:

* Shaolin Cowboy - created, written, and art by Geoff Darrow (with the Wachowski Brothers contributing an opening ass-ologue to each issue)
* Doc Frankenstein - created by Geoff Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowski Brothers, and art by Steve Skroce.

During Skroce's run on the Marvel Comics series Gambit, he helped create a pair of bounty hunters, the Mengo Brothers (Stanislaus and Gregori Mengochauschras), as adversaries, who resemble the Wachowskis.


Filmography

* V for Vendetta (2006) (written, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore) – Unreleased, March 17, 2006.
* The Matrix Revolutions (2003) (written & directed)
* The Matrix Reloaded (2003) (written & directed)
* The Matrix (1999) (written & directed)
* Bound (1996) (written & directed)
* Assassins (1995) (story, screenplay credits)
* Carnivore – unreleased
* Plastic Man – unreleased
* Primavista – online

Hugo Weaving

Hugo Wallace Weaving (born April 4, 1960) is an Australian film and stage actor.

Early Life Background

Hugo Weaving was born in Nigeria to parents Wallace and Anne. He spent his childhood in South Africa and then moved to the UK in his teens. Whilst in England he attended the prestigious academically selective boarding school, Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, commonly known as QEH school in Bristol. He arrived in Australia in 1976 and attended Sydney's Knox Grammar School. Weaving then graduated from NIDA in 1981.


Professional Life

Weaving's first major role was in the television series Bodyline in 1984. Weaving starred in the Australian film The Dirtwater Dynasty in 1988 and later starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the 1989 film Bangkok Hilton. In 1991 Weaving received the Australian Film Institute's award for "Best Actor" for his performance in the low-budget Proof. He also appeared as Sir John in the 1993 Yahoo Serious comedy, Reckless Kelly, a lampoon of the famous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. However, Weaving first received attention overseas with the international hit Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994. In 1998, Weaving received the award for "Best Actor" from the Montreal Film Festival for his performance in The Interview.

It was his role as the enigmatic Agent Smith in the 1999 blockbuster The Matrix which made Weaving a globally recognized face. Weaving reprised the role of Agent Smith in the 2003 sequels to The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Weaving has continued his success in the role of the elf-lord Elrond in the three-film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings released between 2001 and 2003.

Weaving was the main actor in Andrew Kotatko's Everything Goes (2004) and plays one of the leading roles in the 2006 film V for Vendetta.

As of October 2005 he is currently in Bali filming The Bali Project which is a movie about the 2002 Bali Bombing.

Weaving is also providing the main voice over talent for The Lord of the Rings PC game, The Battle for Middle-Earth II.


Personal Life

Weaving lives in Sydney with his wife Katrina Greenwood and his two children Holly and Harry. Despite his career in film, Weaving has continued working as a stage actor, regularly appearing in productions by the Sydney Theatre Company.

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book limited series or maxiseries, later collected as a graphic novel, written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future Britain where a mysterious anarchist works to destroy the fascist government and profoundly affects the people he encounters. He simply goes by 'V'; no one is quite sure of his identity, as his mask is never removed.



Themes of the Book

The series is set in a future Britain where, in the chaos following a limited nuclear war that left the country mostly physically intact, a fascist single-party state has arisen. It resembles the Nazi regime—including government-controlled media, secret police, a planned economy and concentration camps for racial and sexual minorities—but with a British cultural flavour, and a greater reliance on technology, especially closed-circuit television monitoring in the mode of George Orwell's 1984. (Closed-circuit television had not yet become common in the UK at the time Moore wrote the series. Today, London has the world's highest concentration of CCTV.) When the series begins, political conflict has ended, the death camps have finished their work and been closed, and the public is largely complacent, until "V"—a terrorist and self-proclaimed anarchist, who wears a Guy Fawkes mask and has an improbable array of abilities and resources—begins an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government.

V himself is something of a cipher, whose history is only hinted at; it is strongly suggested that he is physically and mentally abnormal. The bulk of the story is told from the viewpoints of other characters: V's admirer and apprentice Evey, a sixteen-year old match factory worker; Eric Finch, a world-weary policeman who is hunting V; and several contenders for power within the fascist party. V's destructive acts are morally ambiguous, and a central theme of the series is the rationalization of atrocities in the name of a higher goal, whether it is stability or freedom. The character is a mixture of an actual advocate of anarchism and the traditional stereotype of the anarchist as a terrorist and advocate of anarchy in the sense of chaos.

There are many references to the letter V and number 5 (which is V in Roman numerals). For example, V is seen reading and quoting from Thomas Pynchon's novel, V. and Beethoven's fifth symphony is featured. (The first four notes can be represented as the letter V in Morse code.) V always introduces himself with a five-syllable phrase: "You can call me V." The phrase, "Remember remember the fifth of November" is also referenced. It is the first line of a nursery rhyme detailing the exploits of Guy Fawkes. The name of every chapter begins with the letter V. Also, "V" could stem from his past as the "Prisoner of Room Five", as later revealed in the series.

The series was Moore's first use of the densely detailed narrative and multiple plot lines that would feature heavily in Watchmen. The backgrounds of panels are often crammed with clues and red herrings; literary allusions and wordplay are prominent in the chapter titles and in V's speech (which always takes the form of iambic pentameter, a poetic meter reliant on five stressed syllables per line).

The structure of the book also bears a resemblence to Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera, with several direct parallels. The Shadow Gallery doubles for the Phantom's Lair, and Evey's abduction and education mirrors that of Christine Daae's.


Plot

Volume 1: Europe After The Reign

Consists of: Chapter One, The Villain; Chapter Two, The Voice; Chapter Three, Victims; Chapter Four, Vaudeville; Chapter Five, Versions; Chapter Six, The Vision; Chapter Seven, Virtue Victorious; Chapter Eight, The Valley; Chapter Nine, Violence; Chapter Ten, Venom; and Chapter Eleven, The Vortex.

November 5, 1997, London. V rescues a young woman, Evey Hammond, from a gang of police agents - known as "Fingermen" - who are about to rape and kill her as punishment for her attempts to solicit them. After blowing up the now-closed Houses of Parliament, V takes Evey to his secret lair, which he calls "the Shadow Gallery." Evey tells V her life story, describing the nuclear war of the late 1980s and the fascist coup in which her father became a political prisoner.

The investigation into the bombing is assigned to Eric Finch, an experienced investigator who serves the government out of a love of order rather than political conviction. Through him we meet other figures in the corrupt Party, including the Leader, Adam James Susan, a recluse who is fixated on the police state's computer system, "Fate."

V next blows up the The Old Bailey, and confronts three Party figures to accuse them of past crimes: Lewis Prothero, the propaganda broadcaster who serves as the "voice of Fate"; Bishop Lilliman, the Party's representative in the clergy, who V kills by forcing him at knifepoint to consume a cyanide-laced communion wafer; and Delia Surridge, a seemingly apolitical doctor who had a personal relationship with Finch. Through torture, and the destruction of his collection of dolls, V drives Prothero insane before killing the others. Finch's research, partly done with Dr. Surridge's diary, reveals that all three victims were officers at the infamous Larkhill Resettlement Camp, and that over the previous several years, every other staff member from the camp has died, apparently killed by V - the vendetta of the title. V is the only survivor of the camp, and no records exist of his real name. All that is known is that he was subjected to medical experiments in the camp, similar to those of Josef Mengele, which apparently caused V's transformation into a brilliant and obsessive avenger.


Volume 2: This Vicious Cabaret

Consists of: Prelude; Chapter 1, The Vanishing; Chapter 2, The Veil; Chapter 3, Video; Chapter 4, A Vocational Viewpoint; Chapter 5, The Vacation; Chapter 6, Variety; Chapter 7, Visitors; Chapter 8, Vengeance; Chapter 9, Vicissitude; Chapter 10, Vermin; Chapter 11, Valerie; Chapter 12, Verdict; Chapter 13, Values; and Chapter 14, Vignettes.

Six months later, V breaks into the broadcast centre for the Party, to broadcast an anarchist speech that calls on the people to take charge of their own lives; he escapes by a cruel and fatal ruse, which leads to Eric Finch being suspended.

Evey has developed a strong attachment to V, but also begun to challenge his morality. After a confrontation in the Shadow Gallery, she finds herself abandoned on a street, unable to find V. She is taken in by Gordon, a petty criminal, and they cross paths unknowingly with Rose Almond, the widow of a policeman killed by V; Rose has been forced to work as a burlesque dancer and has consequently developed a strong hatred for the Party. Creedy, a petty criminal-turned-leader of the secret police, begins organising a private militia, hoping to use V's destabilization of the Party to mount a coup against the Leader. V, maintaining surveillance on all of these various factions, appears to be manipulating them against each other.

When Gordon is murdered by a gangster in Creedy's employ, Evey attempts revenge but is arrested, detained, and tortured. In her cell, Evey finds the memoir of a former inmate, Valerie, an actress who was imprisoned for being a lesbian. Evey's interrogator gives her a choice of collaboration or death; inspired by Valerie's defiance, she refuses to give in, and is told she is free. To her shock, Evey learns that her imprisonment was a hoax constructed by V, to put her through a spiritual ordeal like the one that shaped him. He reveals that Valerie was another Larkhill prisoner, who died in the cell next to his; the memoir that Evey read is exactly the same one that V read. Evey's anger gives way to acceptance of her identity and freedom.


Volume 3: The Land of Do-As-You Please

Consists of: Prologue; Chapter 1, Vox Populi; Chapter 2, Verwirrung; Chapter 3, Various Valentines; Chapter 4, Vestiges; Chapter 5, The Valediction; Chapter 6, Vectors; Chapter 7, Vindication; Chapter 8, Vultures; Chapter 9, The Vigil; Chapter 10, The Volcano; and Chapter 11, Valhalla. The series also includes two interludes, Vertigo and Vincent.

November 1998. V destroys the Party's communication and surveillance centre (housed in Post Office Tower), spurring a wave of wanton violence and hedonism which is violently suppressed by Creedy's street gangs. Meanwhile, V notes that this is not the end result he wants—mere chaos in The Land of Take What You Want—but rather an interim period which he intends to follow up with the establishment of true anarchy, a voluntarily orderly society. Finch's assistant Dominic realises that V has had access to the Fate computer since the very beginning, explaining his seeming foresight; this news accelerates the mental collapse of the Leader.

Finch travels to the abandoned site of Larkhill, on the Wiltshire Downs, where he takes LSD. His hallucinations lead him to an intuitive understanding of V, and returning to London, he discovers that the Shadow Gallery is hidden in Victoria Station, part of the abandoned London Underground. Finch enters the underground and mortally wounds V, who escapes to die in Evey's arms. Evey considers unmasking V, but decides not to learn his identity; instead, she assumes it, donning one of his spare costumes. Meanwhile, Rose Almond's private vendetta has led her to assassinate the Leader. In the ensuing chaos, Creedy's own men kill him, while Finch reports the news that V is dead. When Evey appears to the crowd as V, a general insurrection begins.

Evey completes V's final terrorist act, the destruction of 10 Downing Street by giving her mentor a "viking funeral" with an explosive-laden Underground carriage containing his body set to detonate at the desired location. She rescues Dominic from the mob and takes him back to the Shadow Gallery, implying that she intends to train him as her successor, having vowed to help the people to create. Having removed the totalitarian old regime, there's no longer a need for destruction. Finch observes the chaos raging in the city before heading to the countryside. All forms of authority in Britain are now gone; its future is left uncertain.


Related works

David J. of the band Bauhaus, who has collaborated with Moore on other projects, recorded a version of V's song "This Vicious Cabaret" and other music inspired by the book, which appeared on an EP titled V for Vendetta. The British band Jocasta used Moore's dialogue in their song "The Land of Do-As-You-Please".

A film adaptation was announced in January 2005, to be directed by James McTeigue (first assistant director on The Matrix films) from a screenplay by the Wachowski brothers. Natalie Portman will star as Evey and Hugo Weaving as V (replacing James Purefoy) alongside Stephen Rea, John Hurt, Sinead Cusack, Tim Pigott-Smith and Stephen Fry. Originally slated for a 4 November 2005 release in the USA, it will now be released on March 17, 2006.

The Swedish production company Stockholms Blodbad staged a live theatrical adaptation of the graphic novel in 2000 under the title Landet där man gör som man vill, which translates as The Land of Do-As-You-Please. This contained pre-recorded video clips of scenes from the graphic novel, such as the bombing of the Houses of Parliament, a scene from the racist sci-fi TV show Storm Saxon, scenes of torture at Larkhill, and Finch's revelation at the camp.

Natalie Portman

Biography

From her first film, Luc Besson's "The Professional" (1994), the slim, dark, olive-skinned and somewhat exotic looking Natalie Portman was tagged with star quality, and as she matured the actress proved her potential both as an Oscar-nominated dramatic actress and as a pop moive icon with her role as the regal Padme Amidala in the "Star Wars" prequels.

She played an orphan apprenticed to a "cleaner" or hit man (Jean Reno) who serves as her mentor, and she as his savior. "The Professional" proved an auspicious debut, winning Portman attention and positive notices, her performance particularly applauded, even by those who found the movie itself shocking. The young actress followed with a turn as Al Pacino's stepdaughter, suffering the rejection of her real father, in Michael Mann's "Heat" (1995). A smaller, less expository role than her previous effort, "Heat" showcased Portman's natural ability, the actress capably evincing her character's desperate dysfunction with very little dialogue or screen time. Next she had a scene-stealing turn as a wise-beyond-her-years young girl who establishes a tender and honest friendship with Timothy Hutton's conflicted pianist in Ted Demme's "Beautiful Girls" (1996). Again Portman received rave reviews which in turn led to increased opportunities. She had two memorable but less pivotal roles that same year, appearing in Woody Allen's odd musical "Everyone Says I Love You" and as the bright and collected daughter of the besieged United States president (Jack Nicholson) in Tim Burton's wacky "Mars Attacks!"

While the type of roles the actress has taken on (generally tough but sensitive old souls) reflected her own grounded maturity, perhaps even more telling are the parts she has declined. At age 14, Portman was approached for the starring role in Adrian Lyne's controversial remake "Lolita", but reluctant to agree to the required nudity and heeding her father's advice to avoid doing things on screen she had not yet experienced in real life, opted to pass on the role. Later she reportedly dropped out of Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperer" (1998), a film in which she was to play a 13-year-old, because she could no longer relate to the young character. Instead she headed to Broadway to star in the revised version of "The Diary of Anne Frank", lending a refreshing humanism to the historical legend, portraying her as a somewhat disagreeable, silly and vain young girl, a much more interesting characterization than her saintly reputation. Portman received positive notices for her Broadway debut, critics noting her grace as well as her unfettered talent and youthful exuberance.

Next up for the actress was the role that would make her an international star, that of Queen Amidala in the much-hyped prequel "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" (1999). Portman joined the legendary saga as this wise and responsible teenaged leader, the future mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. She was also signed to reprise the role in the two subsequent prequels set for release in 2002 ("Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones") and 2005, a weighty decision for any young girl, especially considering Portman's focus on education and her admission that acting may not be where her future lies. Also in 1999, she starred opposite Susan Sarandon in the Wayne Wang adaptation of Mona Simpson's novel "Anywhere But Here", a culture shock tale tracing the ups and downs of a mother and daughter who move from small town Michigan to Beverly Hills, California.

Although the provocative nature of some of her earlier roles (including the questionable relationships her character has with much older men in both "The Professional" and "Beautiful Girls") has caused some to ask what kind of parents this actress has, the reality is that the well-spoken and charming Portman and her family have apparently made every effort to keep her from being exploited on screen and off. "Portman" is a stage name; the real family name has been shielded from the press. Wayne Wang reportedly cut some of her character's more explicitly sexual scenes from the script of "Anywhere But Here" at the request of the family. In an attempt to keep her childhood and education as normal as possible, Portman commuted to her Long Island high school to Broadway while performing in "The Diary of Anne Frank". After filming her newly mature and romantic turn as Amidala--paired opposite future Darth Vader Hayden Christensen in a surprisingly chemistry-impaired match-up—in the second "Star Wars" prequel, she took a lengthy break before returning to screen again in director Anthony Minghella's "Cold Mountain" (2003) in a haunting supporting turn as a young Civil War widow with an infant child encountered by Jude Law who bears her own deep psychological scars from her loss in the conflict.

She delivered her most charming adult performance yet as the open-hearted, free-spirited Sam, the love interest in writer/director/star Zach Braff's winning indie "Garden State" (2004)—indeed, approached as Braff's first choice to play the character, it was Portman's interest in the project that earned it funding. Playing a darker variation on the "Garden State" character, Portman continued her move in more mature roles in Mike Nichols' oft-brutal battle-of-the-sexes "Closer" (2004), playing a stripper who become involved in a messy, flip-flopping quadrangle involving two couples (Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen). In a much-buzzed-about incident, Portman allowed Nichols to film a brief nude scene with her character, but after finding the nudity distracting, Nichols replaced the scene with a more discreetly filmed version at her request. The actress' compelling performance earned her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. Hot off her Golden Globe win, Portman earned a spot at the Academy Awards with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Returning to the familiar galaxy far, far away for "Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith" (2005) Portman provided tragic closure for the prequel trilogy even though she and her character were not particularly well-served by George Lucas' script.

* Also Credited As:
Natalie Hershlag
* Born:
on 06/09/81 in Jerusalem, Israel
* Job Titles:
Actor, Model

Family

* Father: Avner.
* Mother:

Significant Others

* Companion: Lukas Haas. met in 1996 while working on "Everyone Says I Love You"; reportedly dating in 2001

Education

* Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, psychology, 2003

Milestones

* 1988 Moved with family first to Washington, DC, then to Connecticut (date approximate)
* 1991 Was discovered by a modeling scout in a Long Island, New York pizza parlor
* 1993 Stage debut as an understudy in the off-broadway musical "Ruthless;" Britney Spears was also in this play (date approximate)
* 1994 Made impressive film debut in Luc Besson's "The Professional"
* 1995 Played Al Pacino's troubled stepdaughter in "Heat"
* 1996 Co-starred in "Beautiful Girls"; also appeared in Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You" and Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!"
* 1997 Starred as title character on stage in "The Diary of Anne Frank", marking her Broadway debut
* 1999 Played the young Queen in George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace"
* 1999 Starred opposite Susan Sarandon in "Anywhere But Here"
* 2000 Starred as a pregnant 17-year-old who is abandoned by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in "Where the Heart Is"
* 2001 Returned to the stage as co-star of the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Seagull" in Central Park; directed by Mike Nichols (June-July)
* 2002 Reprised role of Queen Amidala in "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones"
* 2003 Starred with Nicole Kidman and Jude law in "Cold Mountain"
* 2004 Cast in Zach Braff's directorial debut "Garden State"
* 2004 Cast opposite Jude Law and Julia Roberts in "Closer" directed by Mike Nichols and based on the play by Patrick Marber; earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress
* 2005 Reprised role of Queen Amidala in "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith"
* Began acting with the Usdan Theatre Arts Camp
* Born in Israel
* Cast as Goya's muse Ines, falsely accused of heresy in Milos Forman's "Goya's Ghosts," which tells the story of the last years of the Spanish Inquisition (lensed 2005)
* Cast as an action hero in "V for Vendetta" (lensed 2005)
* Family settled on New York's Long Island

Keane

Keane is an English band from Battle, East Sussex.

Former Line-up

Tom Chaplin-vocals
Tim Rice-Oxley-bass
Richard Hughes-drums
Dominic Scott-guitar


Present Line-up

Tom Chaplin-vocals
Tim Rice-Oxley-piano
Richard Hughes-drums

History


Early years through 2004

All the members of Keane were at Tonbridge School in Kent. They started out in college in 1997 as a covers band, playing songs by U2, Oasis, and The Beatles but soon wanted to perform their own material, and released two short-run EPs. Simon Williams of Fierce Panda Records was asked by a mutual friend to attend a Keane gig at the Betsey Trotwood in London and was so impressed that he offered to issue the band's next single. After another single on Fierce Panda, they signed to Island and released the single "Somewhere Only We Know", which reached number three in the U.K. in February 2004. Their album Hopes and Fears followed in May. It reached number one and was the second-biggest selling album of the year in the U.K., after the Scissor Sisters, losing the top spot on the final day of the year.


Success

The band won two awards at the 2005 Brit Awards — Best British album for Hopes and Fears and the British breakthrough act award, as voted by listeners of BBC Radio 1. In May 2005, they received the Ivor Novello award as songwriters of the year. "Everybody's Changing" was nominated for the song of the year but the award was given to The Streets "Dry Your Eyes".

The band are currently the patrons of War Child. In September 2005 they contributed a cover of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" to Help: a Day in the Life — an album aiming to repeat the success of 1995's The Help Album by becoming the fastest online album ever produced. Keane also did a cover of the Walker Brothers' "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" for the War Child website.

Keane gained some visibility in the United States in Fall 2005 by opening some shows for U2; onstage they claimed Achtung Baby as one of their biggest influences. A couple of new songs were played as well as their best-known material.

According to the Keane fansite keane.at, they have been working on their second album since April 2005, produced by Andy Green. Recording has been taking place in Rye, East Sussex (where Hopes and Fears was recorded) and, more recently, in New York City. The album is widely expected to be released in May of 2006.

Keane had also been nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Artist category along with Sugarland, John Legend, Ciara, and Fall Out Boy at the 48th Annual Grammy awards in Los Angeles. They lost the award to John Legend.




'Image Consultant' controversy

In 2005, it emerged that the band had employed Moving Brands, a London-based branding company, six months before releasing a single as image consultants. This involved shaping the band to (allegedly) appeal to the right market by creating identities and ideas which Keane were meant to embody. The branding ranged from the band's dress code to a special shade of green which would appear on their record sleeves. The British newspaper The Guardian discussed this in an article in the summer of 2005.

Tim was quoted as saying on their offical forum:

"...We're pretty angry about the article in The Guardian today by Alexis Petridis in which he bizarrely chooses to use Keane as an illustration of how all bands today are manufactured....The suggestion that Moving Brands had anything to do with creating an image or ethos for the band is offensive and ridiculous. The idea that we might have been sat down to conduct mock interviews is bordering on hilarious. Our one tentative brush with someone who brought us free clothes to wear felt so awkward and uncomfortable that we vowed never to do it again. Finally, Alex lake is not an employee of Moving Brands, nor is he any kind of image consultant; he is a trusted friend, sometime roadie and independent photographer who has taken many excellent shots of the band and with us has designed most of our record sleeves...Our image, if we have one, has been shaped only by me, Tom and Richard and the songs we write..."


Discography


Albums

* Hopes and Fears (Island) — released on 10 May 2004 (U.K. charts: #1; U.S. Chart: #45)
* Live recordings 2004 (Island) — released on 3 May 2005; only released in some countries.

[live recordings 2005] Keane Strangers DVD


Singles


Non-album singles

* "Call Me What You Like" (Zoomorphic) — released in February 2000
* "Wolf at the Door" (Zoomorphic) — released in June 2001



Hopes and Fears singles

* "Everybody's Changing" (Fierce Panda) — released on 12 May 2003 (U.K. chart: #122)
* "This is the Last Time" (Fierce Panda) — released on 13 October 2003 (ineligible to chart due to web-link contained on CD, was at #58 in the midweeks, then the Official Charts Company withdrew the single at the end of the week)
* "Somewhere Only We Know" (Island) — released on 16 February 2004 (U.K. chart: #3; U.S. chart: #50)
* "Everybody's Changing" (Island) — released on 3 May 2004 (U.K. chart: #4)
* "Bedshaped" (Island) — released on 16 August 2004 (U.K. chart: #10)
* "This is the Last Time" (Island) — released on 22 November 2004 (U.K. chart: #18)
* "Bend And Break" (Island) — released on 25 July 2005; only released in some countries



DVDs

* "Keane: Strangers" (Island) — a two-disc DVD documentary/video anthology released on 14th November 2005 (UK) & 15th November 2005 (US) in both jewel and digipak versions.



Trivia

* The band take their name from a friend called Cherry Keane who inspired confidence in their musical ability when everyone else thought they should give up.

2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Olympic Winter Games are currently being held in Turin (Torino), Italy. The Games began February 10, 2006 and will last until February 26, 2006. It is the second time that Italy has hosted the Olympic Winter Games, as it hosted the VII Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956, and the third time overall that Italy will have hosted an Olympic Games, as it also hosted the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome in 1960.

The official logo displays the name "Torino", the Italian name of the city called "Turin" in English (and in the local Piedmontese). The Olympic mascots of Torino 2006 are Neve ("snow" in Italian), a female snowball, and Gliz, a male ice cube. The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games is "Passion lives here."

Results

Medals table (Host nation highlighted; sorted in terms of most gold medals.) 2006 Winter Olympics medal count Pos Country Total 1 7 7 4 18 2 7 5 3 15 7 5 3 15 4 7 2 5 14 5 3 6 5 14 6 3 3 1 7 7 3 1 2 6 8 3 0 4 7 9 3 0 0 3 10 2 7 8 17