Anne Hathaway to play Catwoman in new Batman movie

2011-01-20 02:12:43 GMT2011-01-20 10:12:43(Beijing Time) SINA.com

Actress Anne Hathaway poses at the world premiere of her and co-star Jake Gyllenhaal's film 'Love & Other Drugs' at the opening night gala at AFI Fest 2010 in Hollywood , California November 4, 2010. (REUTERS/Fred Prouser)

Anne Hathaway has clawed her way into the latest Batman movie, nabbing the role of Selina Kyle and her alter ego, Catwoman.

Warner Bros. announced the casting Wednesday for Christopher Nolan's latest film in the superhero saga, "The Dark Knight Rises." Hathaway will appear opposite Christian Bale, who's returning as Bruce Wayne and Batman.

The studio also announced that Tom Hardy, whom Nolan directed in last year's "Inception," will play one of Batman's enemies, Bane. "The Dark Knight Rises" is slated for release on July 20, 2012.

Hathaway, an Oscar nominee for 2008's "Rachel Getting Married," will co-host the Academy Awards with James Franco on Feb. 27.

(Agencies)

All Beijing farmers to become shareholders of collectively-owned firms in 3 years

2011-01-20 04:00:21 GMT2011-01-20 12:00:21(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

All of the 2.73 million rural residents in Beijing will become shareholders of the city's rural collective farming enterprises such as chicken farms and orchards, an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs said Wednesday. (SINA file photo)

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will complete a reform on property rights of rural collective economies in three years, making all farmers shareholders of the city's collectively-owned farming enterprises, rural affairs officials said Wednesday.

All of the 2.73 million rural residents in Beijing will become shareholders of the city's rural collective farming enterprises such as chicken farms and orchards, said Chen Tao, spokesman with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs, at a press conference Wednesday during the metropolis's parliamentary session.

Those companies are collectively owned by rural residents who, however, have not received dividends since the 1950s when they invested capital and means of production, such as farm tools and livestock, according to Chen.

A lack of distribution systems had largely affected farmers' desires to raise crops as well as their incomes, he said.

Meanwhile, confusion about property rights and a lack of supervision also led to the abuse of power and corruption among village chiefs.

"In the past, we did not have to ask anyone when taking money from collective enterprises, but now we have to follow the rules and report to villagers once a year," said a village cadre who refused to give his name.

To solve the problem, many local Chinese governments, including Beijing, started the property rights reform in the mid 1990s.

So far, about 1.81 million rural residents in Beijing have received shares of about 62 percent of the city's rural collective economy that are worth 300-billion-yuan (about 45.5 million U.S. dollars), according to Chen.

The share will grow to 90 percent by the end of this year and the rest will be completed by 2013, he said.

Every rural resident will receive shares, though the amount varies according to the length of their working years, said Chen.

During the past 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010), when the reform was being widely adopted in Beijing, the average annual income of Beijing rural residents grew to 13,000 yuan in 2009 from the 7,860 yuan in 2004.

Chen said that Beijing also planned to increase farmers' average incomes by another 8 percent in five years.

The reform will further promote China's urbanization pace as, according to Chen, farmers who have shares can still receive dividends if they leave their rural land to live in cities.

Chen also mentioned that Beijing still needed to improve management of those enterprises. It will also build a talent system to absorb more college graduates and professionals to operate those firms.

Modest US gains against Taliban

Many Afghans believe that the US will head for an exit, just as the former Soviet army did.
Last Modified: 20 Jan 2011 07:14 GMT

It has been two years since Barack Obama took over the US presidency and during his term so far, the war in Afghanistan has stayed at the top of his foreign policy agenda. But many have questioned whether his strategy of transferring power to Afghan policy and the army is working in the face of only modest US gains against the Taliban. Al Jazeera's Sue Turton went out on patrol with one local commander who says that he is gaining ground against the Taliban. But our correspondent reported that the people in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, did not seem to think that it would be good for the Taliban to be beaten, and they talk about the Taliban as "the boys from their land". "They talked very widely about how they liked the security that the Taliban had brought. As at the moment, when the Taliban are not around, the thieves are running riot," Turton said. "They didn't feel that the current administration had a strong rule of law." However at a national level, the feeling is that "the US president shot himself in the foot when he put the date of withdrawal at 2014". "Now they have reined back on that date since then, saying that the transition to Afghan security will not actually happen unless conditions were good." Meanwhile, many in Afghanistan believe US troops are going to head for an exit in the same way the former Soviet army did, she said. "They (Obama and Afghan president Hamid Karzai) certainly put on a united front when they are in public together but behind the scenes [Al Jazeera has] been told that their relationship is actually very fractured."

Source: Al Jazeera

Tunisia frees prisoners, unity govt row rumbles

2011-01-20 03:03:57 GMT2011-01-20 11:03:57(Beijing Time) SINA.com

Tunisia's Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi walks before a news conference at his office in Tunis January 17, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

A protester chants slogans as she holds a sign during a demonstration in downtown Tunis January 18, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

A Tunisian woman poses with a soldier in front of a tank while a friend takes her picture with a mobile phone in downtown Tunis, January 19, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Riot police watch as a crowd gathers during a demonstration in downtown Tunis, January 19, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

A protester shows an empty bullet casing after riot police broke up a demonstration in downtown Tunis January 18, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

A woman applauds during a demonstration in downtown Tunis, January 19, 2011. Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the Tunisian capital on Wednesday to demand the dismissal from the new coalition government of ministers associated with ousted president Ben Ali. [Photo/Agencies]

TUNIS - Tunisia said it freed the last political prisoners of its fallen strongman on Wednesday as the new caretaker leadership faced more calls for a fuller purge of the old guard from the fledgling national unity coalition.

Najib Chebbi, whose move this week from marginalised opposition leader to a ministerial appointment in the new cabinet is emblematic of the new Tunisia, told Reuters: "All the political prisioners have been released today."

They included members of the banned Islamist movement Ennahda. But figures were not available of how many people had been released.

Secrecy under veteran former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia, meant that the number of those detained for political reasons was never made public.

While authoritarian Arab rulers have long cited the threat of radical Islam to justify repressive rule to their Western allies, Tunisia's Islamist opposition has been less visible than those in poorer and less secular states of the region.

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the Tunisian capital on Wednesday to demand the dismissal of former Ben Ali loyalists from the new government headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who was himself premier under the old leadership.

He is due to hold a first cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Four opposition figures quit the government within a day of being appointed, saying protesters were disappointed at how many old faces were kept on. They feared, they said, that the people were being denied the fruits of their "Jasmine Revolution".

Protest

The weeks of protests over poverty and unemployment, which cost about 100 lives, prompted speculation across the Arab world that other repressive governments might also face unrest.

About 500 people protested in Bourguiba Avenue in the centre of Tunis on Wednesday, fewer than in recent days.

"This will continue every day until we get rid of the ruling party," said Faydi Borni, a teacher.

"We got rid of the dictator but not the dictatorship. We want rid of this government that shut us up for 30 years."

Not all Tunisians back the protests: "We've been living so long under pressure but maybe we should give the government a chance," said one woman bystander, who did not want to give her name. "People will have a chance to vote."

Around the protest, life continued as normal. Trams were passing through the demonstration. Protesters clapped a woman tram driver who smiled at them as she edged into the crowd.

The streets of Tunis were quiet overnight, with no shooting or looting. In a sign security was improving, state television said that the nightly curfew was shortened by three hours.

Opposition

Moncef Marzouki, the leader of a small opposition party who returned to Tunisia from exile in France this week, visited the grave of Mohamed Bouazizi, who set fire to himself in an act of protest and started the wave of unrest which toppled Ben Ali.

Marzouki, who plans to run for president, also went to where Bouazizi set himself on fire in the town of Sidi Bouzid. About 300 people greeted him and some lifted him onto their shoulders.

People in the crowd carried banners saying: "Ghannouchi must go!" and "The people demand that Ben Ali's people leave!"

Marzouki called for an independent figure to be appointed in place of the present prime minister to form a government.

Mandisa loses 40kg, plans to release 3rd album

2011-01-20 02:21:58 GMT2011-01-20 10:21:58(Beijing Time) SINA.com

Contestant Mandisa Hundley Performs on "American Idol"

In this undated publicity photo provided by Sparrow Records/EMI CMG, Mandisa Hundley is shown. Mandisa, a two-time Grammy nominee and former 'American Idol' finalist, plans to release her third gospel album April 5, called 'What If We Were Real.' (AP Photo/Sparrow Records/EMI CMG, Kristin Barlowe)

The 10th season of "American Idol" kicks off Wednesday night, and some people's lives will be changed forever.

Former "Idol" finalist Mandisa (man-DEE'-sah) Hundley knows the feeling. The two-time Grammy nominee finished in the top 10 the year Taylor Hicks won and is now planning to release her third gospel album April 5, called "What If We Were Real."

But as it turns out, her biggest life change came after the show. She embarked on an emotional weight loss journey two years ago and has since lost 90 pounds(about 40kg).

Mandisa's struggles fueled her new music.

"Where I was at the beginning of this album and where I ended up are two very different places," she told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "It's been a process. I will always struggle with my weight. It's the thorn in my flesh."

Standing on a scale one morning and seeing a disappointing number prompted Mandisa to finally get real with herself and her fans.

"I had gained weight and was so frustrated at that moment that I said so on Twitter."

She tweeted: "I'm fed-up and over it."

"I was feeling embarrassed and ashamed. I realized that I had only talked about how great things were. I never let people in when they were not. It was then that I decided I'd talk about the bad things too," she said.

The result is what Mandisa calls her most honest record to date.

She began recording "in a very dark place." The title track and the song "Just Cry" came out of those early sessions. However, by the end of the process, she said she was back to a place of peace and joy, with the song "Lifeline," about unwavering trust in God, the last track she recorded.

Mandisa is on her way to losing 100 pounds but said she doesn't have a goal weight.

"My only goal is to be healthy physically, spiritually, and emotionally. That is a lifelong journey," she said.

(Agencies)

China to invest 2 trillion yuan in water projects in next 5 years

2011-01-20 12:43:09 GMT2011-01-20 20:43:09(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China will invest 2 trillion yuan (303 billion U.S. dollars) into water projects during the next five years, said an official with the Ministry of Water Resources on Thursday.

Half of the investment will come from central government coffers, said Zhou Xuewen, who is in charge of project planning with the ministry.

In the year 2011 alone, the central government will invest more than 20 billion yuan to push forward construction of key projects. The investment will also go into projects to provide 60 million more people with access to safe drinking water in rural areas, Zhou said.

By the end of 2011, 77 percent of rural people will have access to safe drinking water, he said.8 Meanwhile, the ministry will continue to fix old reservoirs and embankments with safety problems as fixing and building water infrastructure is the ministry's strategic focus this year, he added.

China's investment in water projects during the past five years surpassed 700 billion yuan, higher than any previous five-year periods, said Chen Lei, minister of water resources

World Cup oracle Paul honored with permanent memorial in Oberhausen

2011-01-20 12:48:08 GMT2011-01-20 20:48:08(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

A monument of the octopus Paul is presented at the Sea Life aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen, January 20, 2011. World Cup oracle Octopus Paul died in October 2010. Paul, the German octopus famous for correctly predicting each of Germany's 2010 World Cup matches, received his own permanent memorial three months after his death. Paul died aged 2-1/2 in October. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)A monument of the octopus Paul is presented at the Sea Life aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen, January 20, 2011. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)A monument of the octopus Paul is presented at the Sea Life aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen, January 20, 2011. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)