Showing posts with label begins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label begins. Show all posts
19 September 2011 Last updated at 16:01 GMT Helicopter ferrying workers to a Noble offshore oil and gas rig prepares to take off from Cyprus's Limassol port on 19 September 2011 Exploratory drilling work will take 73 days, Cyprus's energy chief says Cyprus says it has begun exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean Sea - risking escalating tensions with Turkey.

The director of Cyprus's energy service Solon Kassinis told Reuters news agency the work began "late last night".

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan later said Turkey would "very soon" start drilling for gas off the Cyprus coast.

He added the Turkish military would monitor the eastern Mediterranean with aircraft, frigates and torpedo boats.

"We will start this within our exclusive economic zone very soon, possibly this week," Mr Erdogan told reporters.

"This exclusive economic zone is disputed and we have told them that it is not right for them to take such a step in this area," he said.

The Cypriot government is recognised internationally but not by Ankara.

The European Commission has urged both sides to exercise restraint over the issue and seek ways of resolving their long-standing dispute over northern Cyprus.

Ankara argues that until the ongoing talks to reunite the island succeed, no government has the right to negotiate over Cyprus's territorial waters, the BBC's Jonathan Head reports from Istanbul.

But Cyprus is badly in need of income and energy, and the Cypriot government is fully recognised by both the United Nations and the European Union, our correspondent adds.

'Freeze relations'

Cyprus has licensed Texas-based Noble Energy to carry out exploratory drilling for gas off its southern coast.

"It started late last night," Mr Kassinis told Reuters. "It's preparatory work, yes, but the procedure for drilling has started."

He said the process would be completed in 73 days.

Earlier on Monday, Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists in Ankara: "The drilling work which the Greek Cypriots will conduct in the eastern Mediterranean is a provocation. We want the Greek Cypriots to halt immediately the work with Noble."

He warned that if the work went ahead then Turkey would send its own research ships to begin oil and gas exploration next week.

"This work will be carried out together with the [navy] escort," he said. "There will be no turning back on the issue."

If Turkey does carry out its threat, it would certainly be resisted by the Cypriot government and could provoke a military confrontation, our correspondent says.

Last year, the Cypriot government signed an agreement with Israel on the exploitation of resources in the Mediterranean. Turkey rejected that deal, because it does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government.

The Cypriot drilling has begun in the zone known as Block 12 - an area south of the island which the Israeli and Cypriot governments agreed to explore last year.

EU presidency

On Sunday, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay warned of a "real crisis" between the EU and Turkey if the Cypriot government takes over the six-month rotating presidency in July 2012.

"We will at that point freeze our relations with the EU," Mr Atalay told Turkish-Cypriot Bayrak television.

The island has been split since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded the north of Cyprus in response to a Greek-engineered coup. The internationally recognised government in Nicosia in fact only exercises control over the Greek south of Cyprus.

The issue has been a stumbling block to Turkey's bid to join the EU.

Turkey is alone in supporting the Turkish-Cypriot administration in the northern part of Cyprus.

A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said on Monday that there were no plans to change the EU's presidency schedule to prevent Cyprus taking over.

Maja Kocijancic told reporters in Brussels that both Cyprus and Turkey should "make all efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible".


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Shooting underway on new adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, under the direction of Baz Luhrmann.

Principal photography began this week on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ “The Great Gatsby,” the new big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel from the uniquely imaginative mind of writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann. The filmmaker will create his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing the period to life in a way that has never been seen before. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the title role.

“The Great Gatsby” follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

Academy Award® nominee DiCaprio (“Blood Diamond,” “Aviator”) plays Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire starring as Nick Carraway; Joel Edgerton and Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) as Tom and Daisy Buchanan; Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke as Myrtle and George Wilson; and newcomer Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker. Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan will play the role of Meyer Wolfsheim.

Oscar® nominee Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge!”) directs the film in 3D from a screenplay co-written with frequent collaborator Craig Pearce, based on Fitzgerald’s book. Luhrmann produces, along with Catherine Martin, Catherine Knapman, Lucy Fisher and Academy Award® winner Douglas Wick (“Gladiator”). The executive producers are Barrie M. Osborne and Bruce Berman.

Two-time Academy Award®-winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin (“Moulin Rouge!”) also designs with the director. The editors are Jason Ballantine, Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond, and the director of photography is Simon Duggan.

Luhrmann said, “Fitzgerald loved the movies and was a passionate believer in the power of cinema. “The Great Gatsby” has been adapted for the screen no less than four times. Fitzgerald’s story defies time and geography. The vision and the goal of our remarkable cast and creatives is to do justice to the deftness of Fitzgerald’s telling, and illuminate its big ideas and humanity. This is our challenge and our adventure.”

“The Great Gatsby” is being shot in Luhrmann’s native Australia. The filmmaker stated, “The opportunity to make the film in Australia with the Bazmark creative team is very important to us; the assistance from Screen Australia and the NSW Government has made that possible.”

The film will be distributed in 3D and 2D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.



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The $99 tablet has arrived. Hewlett-Packard TouchPads are being liquidated--at least at some Canadian retailers, in the wake of HP's announcement yesterday that it is shuttering the WebOS device business.

Prices have dropped off a cliff to $99.99 for the 16GB model and $149.99 for the 32GB version, according to a post at PreCentral.net.

HP TouchPad fire sale at Best Buy in Canada. HP TouchPad fire sale at Best Buy in Canada.

(Credit: Best Buy Canada)

A quick check at Best Buy in Canada shows TouchPads at these prices.

The same can't be said for stateside Best Buy, however. As of today, Best Buy in the U.S. was showing standard pricing. And anecdotal reports in the U.S. seem to bear this out.

Of course, consumers may pause even at these prices: You're buying into a defunct HP hardware platform. That said, there was a very limited production run of the TouchPad and it may have value as a novelty item, right next to an IBM PCjr.

If you have a question or comment for Brooke Crothers, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.

Brooke Crothers has been an editor at large at CNET News, an analyst at IDC Japan, and an editor at The Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.

Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.


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OSLO, Norway — As the first names of victims of Norway's mass killings were released, one stood out for many Norwegians: Monica Bosei, 45, who had worked for so long at the island camp where most of the deaths occurred that Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said, "For a lot of us, she was Utoya."

With the nation still reeling from grief and shock, the attorney to the confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik said Tuesday that his client appeared to be insane, believing his attack would launch a necessary revolution. Breivik said Monday that he was part of a campaign to "save" Europe from Muslims, but so far there has been no confirmation of collaborators.

Just four of the rampage victims' identities were confirmed by the National Police Directorate, according to regional reports.

They included Gunnar Linak, 23, who was at the Utoya island at a Labor Party summer camp where most of the victims were shot to death.

Linak was talking to his father by phone when the massacre started, according to a report in the Toronto Star, and told him: "Dad, dad there is a shooting, I have to go."

Also confirmed dead were Tove Ashill Knutsen, 56, Hanna M. Orvik, 61, and Kai Hauge, 32.

Norwegian publications, that were pulling together victims lists through contacts with friends and family, offered a more complete picture, though as yet not official.

The Norwegian newspaper VG reported that Bosei had been killed, though her husband and two daughters, who were also present on the island, had survived.

Bosei, also known as "Mother Utoya," was a professional accountant, and had recently been named head of the Norway Maritime Museum. She apparently became suspicious when she was chatting with Breivik, who was dressed in a policeman's uniform, on the ferry out to the island. A witness on the ferry said she was shot when she ran off to alert an off-duty policeman who was working as a guard, according to the London Evening Standard.

The guard, Trond Berntsen, turned out to be the 51-year-old stepbrother of Norway's Princess Mette-Marit. He too was reported dead, according to multiple press reports, though not on the official government list. Berntsen reportedly saved his 10-year-old son by shoving him out of the way just before he challenged the gunman.

Many of the victims reported in the press were in their teens and 20s, including Tore Eikeland, an aspiring politician who was chairman of a regional youth party, and Ismail Haji Ahmed, 19 an ebullient dancer who appeared on "Norway's Got Talent with the stage name of Isma Brown.

Iraq-born Jamil Rafal Yasin, whose family sought refuge in Norway when she was a child, was missing and feared dead, according to The Telegraph.

The youngest victim in the massacre is believed to be appears to be 14-year-old Johannes Buo, who has not been seen since the shooting.

Story: Norway attacks focus attention on US right-wing extremists Girl’s clean water wish takes off after her death Races' wealth gap has become a chasm Debt talk damage has already been done Risky pelvic mesh highlights worries about FDA Alaska's Inside Passage iPhony: Inside China’s counterfeit Apple store Rolling restaurants: Some cities floor it, others brake

Breivik reportedly told his lawyer that he was surprised and satisfied by the number of people he had killed in his attacks.

"This whole case has indicated he's insane," Geir Lippestat told a room full of journalists.

He also said his client was surprised he wasn't stopped earlier in the shooting on Utoya island or killed on the way to court on Monday.

"He is sorry he had to do this but it was necessary to start a start revolution in [the] Western world," Lippestat said, adding that he shows hate to anyone who's not an extremist.

The lawyer said it was too early to say if Breivik would plead insanity at his trial, expected to be a year away. Lippestat said he would quit if Breivik did not agree to psychological tests.

"He hates all the Western ideas and the values of democracy ... he expects that this is the start of a war that will last 60 years.

"He looks upon himself as a warrior. He starts this war and takes some kind of pride in that," said Lippestat, a member of the Labor party whose youth wing had been the target of Friday's shooting rampage.

Lippestad said Breivik had used "some kind of drugs" before the crime to keep strong and awake, and was surprised he had not been killed during the attacks or en route to Monday's court hearing.

'Several cells abroad'
Lippestat also said that Breivik said he is part of an anti-Islam network that has two groups in Norway and several more abroad, although he refuses to give police any information about them. Breivik is cooperating with police in other ways, he said. Police declined to say where Breivik is currently being held.

"He talks about two cells in Norway, but several cells abroad,'' said Lippestat, adding that Breivik has had no contact with his family.

Norwegian police and researchers have cast doubt on such claims. Police have checked many other buildings in Oslo and have not found any other explosives.

Story: Unsettling wariness in Norway, where cops are rarely armed

The Aftenposten daily said Breivik's interrogation was moving slowly, with the confessed killer silent on his claims about sleeper cells or other potential collaborators.

Researchers doubt Breivik's claim that he is part of a wider far-right network of anti-Islam "crusaders," seeing them as empty bragging by a psychopathic fantasist who has written that exaggeration is a way to sow confusion among investigators.

Magnus Ranstorp, Research Director at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College said that as far as he knows, nobody had evidence of the existence of the Knights Templar organization.

"There's no one who seems to know if the group exists or if it's something he made up," he told Reuters. "They (mass killers) are usually alone. He's extremely narcissistic and he goes on about himself and his role in history."

Story: European police probe Norway attacker's links to right-wing groups

Even the final entry in Breivik's own 1,500 page manifesto says on July 22: "The old saying: 'if you want something done, then do it yourself' is as relevant now as it was then."

Police face criticism
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Knut Storberget met with police chiefs who are facing criticism for taking more than an hour on Friday to stop a shooting spree in which 68 people, mostly teenagers, were shot after a bomb in Oslo killed eight.

"It is very important that we have an open and critical approach...but there is a time for everything," Storberget said after talks with Oslo's police chief, referring to questions about the police response time.

PhotoBlog: Norway mourns after shooting spree, bombing

More than 100,000 Norwegians rallied in Oslo on Monday night, many carrying white and red roses, to mourn the dead and to show unity after July 22. Tens of thousands of others rallied in other cities from Tromsoe to Bergen.

Norwegians have felt a widening sense of relief that 32-year-old Breivik seems to have been alone in his drive to protect Europe from "cultural Marxism" and a "Muslim invasion" by striking at Norway's ruling Labor Party.

In signs that police are toning down fears that Breivik was part of a wider network, border controls imposed on July 22 were lifted late on Monday.

Story: German tourist rescued teens during Norwegian island massacre

Police defended themselves from suggestions that some alarm bells should have rung about Breivik. The head of the PST security police even said he would have slipped through the net in former East Germany with its feared Stasi police.

PST says Breivik's name appeared only once, on a list of 50-60 Norwegians sent by Interpol after he paid 120 crowns ($22.16) to a Polish company that sold chemicals and was on a watch list. They found no reason to react.

"I don't think even Stasi Germany could have uncovered this person," PST chief Janne Kristiansen told the VG newspaper's online edition, adding he was "the incarnation of evil."

Even father horrified
Breivik is likely to face a lifetime in jail if convicted of the crimes, which included shooting dead terrified teenagers on Utoya island at a Labor Party summer camp.

He admits the attacks, but denies criminal responsibility. Even his father is horrified.

Slideshow: Norway mourns after massacre (on this page)

"In my darkest moments, I think that rather than killing all those people, he should have taken his own life," Breivik's father told Norwegian independent TV2 in France.

He said his son, with whom he has had no contact since he was a teenager, must be mentally ill. "There is no other way to explain it."

Reuters contributed to this report.


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