Suriya's Raktha Charitra creates record

Suriya's Raktha Charitra, being simultaneously made in three languages: Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, has already created record even before its release. The overseas rights of the Tamil version Raktha Charitra, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, has been sold for a record Rs 4.5 crore (over US $1 million)! With this, Suriya has joined the elite 'Million dollar club of Tamil superstars' which includes Rajinikanth ($2.5 million), Kamal Haasan ($1.5 million) and Vijay ($ 1 million). It is the highest-ever overseas price paid for a Suriya film. Raktha Charitra narrates the story of the life of Paritala Ravi, prime suspect in many murders. The movie stars Vivek Oberoi, but the sweet news for South Indians is that Suriya has been cast in a pivotal role! Raktha Charitra will have actor Vivek Oberoi as rebel-turned politician Paritala Ravi, one of the most feared individuals in the blood-ridden faction politics of South India. Suriya will play the role of Maddalcheruvu Suri, Paritala Ravi's opponent.

A man's 45 year search for love of his life

A Canadian man is desperately trying to track down a woman he fell madly in love with at a coffee shop here in Australia over four decades back.


Bob Hagelund had struck up a conversation with Joyce Hook in Melbourne. The Canadian, who is now 70, is attempting to locate the woman he says was the love of his life.

They had met in 1965 at a small cafe where Joyce was the cashier. Hagelund, who had just arrived in Melbourne on board a Norwegian ship, had dropped in for drink.

'I've never been so absolutely smitten by another person in my life,' said Hagelund.

They had felt an instant connection and talked for three hours that night over coffee.

'You (Joyce) told me of your wish to attend university in England, and I told you of my dreams and aspirations,' The Age quoted Hagelund as saying.

'I fell in love with you that day Joyce, and for 45 years my feelings for you have endured. I still remember like it was yesterday.

'We promised to write and keep in touch and I vowed to return. By the time our ship reached New York, my anticipation of a letter from you almost consumed me.'

But there was no letter for him on his arrival.

Hagelund felt dejected and attempted to move on with his life.

It later turned out that Joyce had indeed written to him but her letter was lost in the mail, arriving three-and-a-half years after their initial rendezvous.

Hagelund said those few hours together in Melbourne had consumed him all his life.

He realises Joyce may be married and even may not be alive. But he says he has to try to get in touch with her.

'Perhaps we can recount stories of what roads life has taken (us) down over the past 45 years and whether any of our hopes and dreams were realized. I would very much like that Joyce... I am still desperately seeking you, and perhaps it will always be so.'

Heartbreak of Stephen Gately's hubby

Sensational statement made by Boyzone star's grieving partner 

HAPPY: Stephen and Andrew

STEPHEN Gately's grief-stricken partner Andy Cowles has spoken movingly of the heartbreak moment he found his lover's body and realised he had lost the Boyzone star for ever.

Official legal documents obtained by the News of the World reveal how internet tycoon Cowles told the Majorca judge investigating Stephen's death: "I saw that he was cold and his lips were blue.
"I shouted at him, 'Darling, wake up!' but he was already dead."
Cowles' official statement also proves that boy band legend Stephen DID take drugs and WAS "very drunk" in the hours before his tragic death.
Today we publish the FULL details of the 33-year-old singer's final night - details that will shock both his family and fans.
Evidence from Stephen's civil partner Cowles reveals he, Stephen and Bulgarian waiter Georgi Dochev were heavily intoxicated when they arrived back at their holiday home in the early hours of October 10.
The testimony sensationally confirms Stephen had drunk at least TWO BOTTLES of wine then "smoked a marijuana joint".
But discrepancies between Cowles' statement and that of Dochev - who the couple met as they toured several gay clubs in the island capital - will heap pressure on the Spanish authorities to reopen their investigation into Stephen's death.
The most glaring difference is the absence in Cowles' statement of any mention of sexual activity at the couple's apartment in Port Andratx. But in Dochev's evidence he said they "were intimate", implying sex involving at least two of the men.
Cowles, 32, also stated that Dochev ASKED to stay at the £1 million flat. But Dochev says he was INVITED back.
In addition, Dochev's statement reportedly stated that it was only Stephen who smoked marijuana. Cowles says both Stephen and Dochev took the drug. Timing is also disputed. Cowles said they returned to the flat at 5.30am, Dochev said they were back well before then and he went to sleep at 5.30am.
Cowles gave his statement to judge Maria del Carmen Abrines Marti behind closed doors at Palma's Court of Instruction No 10 on the Tuesday, just 72 hours after Stephen's death. Speaking through an interpreter, the judge asked a series of questions, the answers forming Cowles' statement.
A source at the court told us: "It's clear from Cowles' evidence he and Stephen started the night sober but drank a lot in the nightclub and by the time they returned to the flat were very drunk.
"He has also confirmed what urine tests revealed - Stephen smoked cannabis that night."
Although Cowles revealed Stephen had already consumed one bottle of wine at dinner before arriving at the Aries nightclub in Palma's gay district at 11.57pm on October 9, he showed no visible sign of being drunk on CCTV footage revealed by the News of the World last Sunday.
The couple left the club after just 36 minutes at 12.33am - again with Stephen appearing sober - and walked 50 yards to the Euphoria nightspot.
After meeting Dochev the trio moved on to the Black Cat club where they drank three bottles of champagne, were given a bag of marijuana and stayed until around 4am before returning to the apartment.
Dochev said in his statement there was then more drinking, sex took place, and at 5.30am he went to a bedroom to sleep leaving Stephen and Cowles on a sofa.
He said he was woken by a doorbell at 10.30am but went back to sleep, waking again half an hour later and spotting Stephen and Cowles still asleep on the settee.
Dochev said he got up for a cigarette thinking that Stephen was still sleeping.
He then heard Cowles go into the other bedroom, so went in and joined him, and did not emerge again until 1pm.
After showering and dressing he sat beside Stephen on the sofa and recognised that something wasn't right.
After alerting Cowles they tried to get Stephen up and wake him, without success.
When they realised he was dead they called the emergency services.
A report filed by two Civil Guard officers reveals they were alerted at 2pm and found Stephen, wearing only a black T-shirt and underwear, with his knees on the ground and sat on his legs slightly inclined towards the left, his head face down on a cushion.
Stephen was officially pronounced dead by Dr Fernando Grau Ferrer at 2.25pm.

 

Oprah Winfrey top of Forbes celebrity power lis

Winfrey knocked film star Angelina Jolie off the top spot of Forbes's annual Celebrity 100 list, which is based on earnings and media exposure.
Singer Beyonce came second, while film director James Cameron re-entered the chart at number three following his success with Avatar.
Lady Gaga was the highest new entry on the list at number four.
Like Beyonce, her earnings and profile have been boosted in the past 12 months by a global tour and endorsement deals.
Jolie, meanwhile, slipped from the top spot to a lowly 18th place.
Beleaguered golf star Tiger Woods was the only sports star to make the top 10.
Britney Spears was at six, followed by U2 in seventh place, making a return to the top 100.
Sandra Bullock, who won an Oscar this year for best actress, leapt up the chart from 92 to eight.
Johnny Depp also made a chart comeback in ninth position.
The top 10 was rounded out by Madonna, who slipped from three to 10.
Music mogul Simon Cowell led the British charge, climbing 14 places to number 11.
But Coldplay dropped 20 places to 35 in a year which saw the band take a rest from touring and head back to the studio.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was at 82.
The popularity of the Twilight series was reflected by the presence of actress Kirsten Stewart at 66 and actor Robert Pattinson at 50, both on the list for the first time.
This year, Forbes added a social media ranking that reflected each celebrity's presence on Facebook and Twitter, which was taken into account along with media exposure and earnings.

PM and goal-line technology firms dispute Fifa claims

The prime minister has backed calls for video and goal-line technology (GLT) to be used in football matches.

David Cameron's call echoes that made by makers of ball-tracking systems, along with a number of managers.
"I'm a keen follower of cricket and tennis and I think the third umpire has been a great thing... that's something football could now have a look at," said Mr Cameron.
Fifa has consistently refused to entertain the idea of using GLT.
Manufacturers of ball-tracking systems say England's disallowed World Cup goal just emphasised an ongoing problem with the sport.
Hawk-Eye and Cairos, which make rival GLT systems, say Fifa needs to rethink its current position.
"We are using technology that is 100% accurate and adds fairness to the game," Christian Holzer of Cairos told BBC News.
GLT can use cameras or magnetic fields to detect the ball. "Technology should not enter into the game. It was a clear statement made by the majority of the IFAB (International Football Association Board)," said Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke in March.
But not everyone agrees. There have been calls from players, managers and coaches for a number of years, prompted by a series of controversial refereeing decisions.
British based Hawk-Eye, which uses a camera detection system, and German firm Cairos, which utilises chip technology inside the ball, both say that new technology would assist referees and make their job easier.
"The decision was unfair to the English team. Had it gone 2-2 at half-time, it would have been a very different match," said Mr Holzer.
The issue of GLT has dogged Fifa for more than a decade.
The rules of football are determined by IFAB, which consists of eight voting members. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have one vote, with "the rest of the world" (ie the Fifa executive) holding the remaining four.

HAWKEYE SYSTEM - HOW IT COULD WORK
Six cameras positioned on the bylines, above and just in front of each goal. Cameras operate at a rate of 500 frames per second to capture very fast moving balls Images are processed by computers in real time. If ball is judged to have crossed the line, a signal is transmitted to the referee via a watch or earpiece within 0.5 seconds

The Football Association of Wales and the Irish Football Association - in addition to the Fifa executive - have been opposed to GLT.
'Long-term issue' David Davies, a former executive director of the Football Association, told BBC News that the English FA had been pressing Fifa for GLT for years.
"The reality is that English football has been in favour of GLT for over a decade, but found itself a lonely voice in the football world.
TV replays and press cameras clearly show the ball had crossed the line. "Whether that situation will change as a result of events remains to be seen."
The two main rival systems have been used by other sports for some time.
Hawk-Eye - which uses a number of different cameras to track the ball - is now part of the adjudication process in both cricket and tennis.
First used during England and Pakistan's Test series in 2001, the technology is now an accepted part of the game to determine leg before wicket (LBW) calls.
Its use in tennis was prompted by controversy. Serena Williams was knocked out of the US Open in 2004. TV replays showed that some of the umpire calls were wrong and although the decisions were not reversed, the Hawk-Eye system was installed for use in 2006.
'Too expensive' The team behind Hawk-Eye envisages six cameras installed round the goal for use in football. The cameras are programmed to recognise the ball as the "object of interest" as opposed to the goalkeeper or other players.
The cameras can then accurately detect if the ball passes across the line, sending a "beep" into the referee's radio should it be deemed to be a goal.
Fifa has raised a number of issues about GLT, saying the system is not accurate enough, is too expensive and would affect the "universality of the game", in that World Cup matches would not have the same rules as a Sunday League game in Bradford.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa, should be "embarrassed".
"In the modern world we've got technology - let's use it," he said.
Sponsorship Paul Hawkins, who developed the Hawk-Eye system, told BBC News: "There is no question that it works and the game will be better for it.
"In terms of cost, just look at tennis. They have firms - such as Rolex - sponsoring their system. I have no doubt football teams will be able to do the same."
The other GLT system - the Cairos Chip-Ball - uses a different method. Instead of camera technology, the ball itself is fitted with a chip.

CAIROS CHIP BALL SYSTEM - HOW IT COULD WORK

Thin cables installed below turf in penalty area and behind goal line generate a weak magnetic field Sensor inside the ball measures the magnetic field as it comes closer to goal. A transmitter in the ball sends encrypted data to receiver antennas Receivers behind the goal detect when the ball has crossed the line and transmit data to a central computer Central computer transmits alert to the referee as an encrypted radio signal in a split second

A number of thin cables are installed under the turf of the penalty area and behind the goal line, each of which generates a small magnetic field.
A chip inside the ball detects this magnetic field and sends this data (giving its position) to a pair of receiver antennas.
Should the ball cross the goal line, the transmitters send a signal to the referee, informing him that - according to the Cairos system - the ball has crossed the line.
Mr Holzer told BBC News that this "chip in a ball" had no impact on the handling characteristics of play.
"The chip is right in the centre, in a very robust mounting.
"We've played hundreds of matches to see if it had any effect - including blind tests - and there was none," he said.
Cairos says that the total weight of the device is 15g. The Jabulani match ball used in this year's World Cup weighs between 420-445g.
"Fifa used our technology during the Fifa Club World Cup in 2007," said Mr Holzer
"We think that using this technology adds fairness to the game."
It is unlikely any change to the rules will be made before IFAB next convenes in spring 2011.

Goce satellite views Earth's gravity in high definition

It is one of the most exquisite views we have ever had of the Earth.
This colourful new map traces the subtle but all pervasive influence the pull of gravity has across the globe.
Known as a geoid, it essentially defines where the level surface is on our planet; it tells us which way is "up" and which way is "down".
It is drawn from delicate measurements made by Europe's Goce satellite, which flies so low it comes perilously close to falling out of the sky.
Scientists say the data gathered by the spacecraft will have numerous applications.
One key beneficiary will be climate studies because the geoid can help researchers understand better how the great mass of ocean water is moving heat around the world.
The new map was presented here in Norway's second city at a special Earth observation (EO) symposium dedicated to the data being acquired by Goce and other European Space Agency (Esa) missions.
Europe is currently in the midst of a huge programme of EO development which will see it launch some 20 missions worth nearly eight billion euros before the decade's end.
The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (Goce) is at the front of this armada of scientific and environmental monitoring spacecraft.
Imaginary ball
Launched in 2009, the sleek satellite flies pole to pole at an altitude of just 254.9km - the lowest orbit of any research satellite in operation today.
The spacecraft carries three pairs of precision-built platinum blocks inside its gradiometer instrument that sense accelerations which are as small as 1 part in 10,000,000,000,000 of the gravity experienced on Earth.
This has allowed it to map the almost imperceptible differences in the pull exerted by the mass of the planet from one place to the next - from the great mountain ranges to the deepest ocean trenches.
Two months of observations have now been fashioned into what scientists call the geoid.
"I think everyone knows what a level is in relation to construction work, and a geoid is nothing but a level that extends over the entire Earth," explained Professor Reiner Rummel, the chairman of the Goce scientific consortium.
"So with the geoid, I can take two arbitrary points on the globe and decide which one is 'up' and which one is 'down'," the Technische Universitaet Muenchen researcher told BBC News.
In other words, the map on this page defines the horizontal - a surface on which, at any point, the pull of gravity is perpendicular to it.
Put a ball on this hypothetical surface and it will not roll - even though it appears to have "slopes". These slopes can be seen in the colours which mark how the global level diverges from the generalised (an ellipsoid) shape of the Earth.
In the North Atlantic, around Iceland, the level sits about 80m above the surface of the ellipsoid; in the Indian Ocean it sits about 100m below.

MAPPING THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF GRAVITY 1. Earth is a slightly flattened sphere - it is ellipsoidal in shape 2. Goce senses tiny variations in the pull of gravity over Earth 3. The data is used to construct an idealised surface, or geoid 4. It traces gravity of equal 'potential'; balls won't roll on its 'slopes' 5. It is the shape the oceans would take without winds and currents 6. So, comparing sea level and geoid data reveals ocean behaviour 7. Gravity changes can betray magma movements under volcanoes 8. A precise geoid underpins a universal height system for the world 9. Gravity data can also reveal how much mass is lost by ice sheets

The geoid is of paramount interest to oceanographers because it is the shape the world's seas would adopt if there were no tides, no winds and no currents.
If researchers then subtract the geoid from the actual observed behaviour of the oceans, the scale of these other influences becomes apparent.
This is information critical to climate modellers who try to represent the way the oceans manage the transfer of energy around the planet.
But a geoid has many other uses, too. Having a global level underpins a universal system to compare heights anywhere on Earth.
In construction, for example, it tells engineers which way a fluid would naturally want to flow through a pipeline.
Geophysicists will also want to use the Goce data to try to probe what's happening deep within the Earth, especially in those places that are prone to quakes and volcanic eruptions.
"The Goce data is showing up new information in the Himalayas, central Africa, and the Andes, and in Antarctica," explained Dr Rune Floberghagen, Esa's Goce mission manager.
"This is, in one sense, not so surprising. These are places that are fairly inaccessible. It is not easy to measure high frequency variations in the gravity field in Antarctica with an aeroplane because there are so few airfields from which to operate."
Goce's extremely low operating altitude was expected to limit its mission to a couple of years at most. But Esa now thinks it may be able to continue flying the satellite until perhaps 2014.
Unusually quiet solar activity has produced very calm atmospheric conditions, meaning Goce has used far less xenon "fuel" in its ion engine to maintain its orbit.
Ultimately, though, that fuel will run out and the residual air molecules at 255km will slow the satellite, forcing it from the sky.

GRAVITY FIELD AND STEADY-STATE OCEAN CIRCULATION EXPLORER

The 1,100kg Goce is built from rigid materials and carries fixed solar wings. The gravity data must be clear of spacecraft 'noise'

The 5m-by-1m frame incorporates fins to stabilise the spacecraft as it flies through the residual air in the thermosphere

Goce's accelerometers measure accelerations that are as small as 1 part in 10,000,000,000,000 of the gravity experienced on Earth

The UK-built engine ejects xenon ions at velocities exceeding 40,000m/s; the engine throttles up and down to keep Goce at a steady altitude

For a decade, these 'Russian spies' lived and worked in US

  They had lived for more than a decade in American cities and suburbs from Seattle to New York, where they seemed to be ordinary couples working ordinary jobs, chatting to the neighbors about schools and apologising for noisy teenagers. Two suspects, Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills, were arrested at the high-rise complex where they lived. But on Monday, federal prosecutors accused 11 people of being part of a Russian espionage ring, living under false names and deep cover in a patient scheme to penetrate what one coded message called American "policy making circles."

An FBI investigation that began at least seven years ago culminated with the arrest on Sunday of 10 people in Yonkers, Boston and northern Virginia. The documents detailed what the authorities called the "Illegals Program," an ambitious, long-term effort by the S.V.R., the successor to the Soviet K.G.B., to plant Russian spies in the United States to gather information and recruit more agents.

The alleged agents were directed to gather information on nuclear weapons, American policy toward Iran, CIA leadership, Congressional politics and many other topics, prosecutors say. The Russian spies made contact with a former high-ranking American national security official and a nuclear weapons researcher, among others. But the charges did not include espionage, and it was unclear what secrets the suspected spy ring, which included five couples, actually managed to collect.

After years of F.B.I. surveillance, investigators decided to make the arrests last weekend, just after an upbeat visit to President Obama by the Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said one administration official. Mr. Obama was not happy about the timing, but investigators feared some of their targets might flee, the official said.

Criminal complaints filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Monday read like an old-fashioned cold war thriller: Spies swapping identical orange bags as they brushed past one another in a train station stairway. An identity borrowed from a dead Canadian, forged passports, messages sent by shortwave burst transmission or in invisible ink. A money cache buried for years in a field in upstate New York.

But the network of so-called illegals -- spies operating under false names outside of diplomatic cover -- also used cyber-age technology, according to the charges. They embedded coded texts in ordinary-looking images posted on the Internet, and they communicated by having two agents with laptops containing special software pass casually as messages flashed between them.

Neighbours in Montclair, NJ, of the couple who called themselves Richard and Cynthia Murphy were flabbergasted when a team of FBI agents turned up Sunday night and led the couple away in handcuffs. One person who lives nearby called them "suburbia personified," saying that they had asked people for advice about the local schools. Others worried about the Murphys' elementary-age daughters.

Jessie Gugig, 15, said she could not believe the charges, especially against Mrs. Murphy. "They couldn't have been spies," she said jokingly. "Look what she did with the hydrangeas."

Experts on Russian intelligence expressed astonishment at the scale, longevity and dedication of the program. They noted that Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian prime minister and former president and spy chief, had worked to restore the prestige and funding of Russian espionage after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dark image of the KGB

"The magnitude, and the fact that so many illegals were involved, was a shock to me," said Oleg D. Kalugin, a former KGB general who was a Soviet spy in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s under "legal" cover as a diplomat and Radio Moscow correspondent. "It's a return to the old days, but even in the worst years of the cold war, I think there were no more than 10 illegals in the U.S., probably fewer."

Mr. Kalugin, now an American citizen living outside Washington, said he was impressed with the FBI's penetration of the spy ring. The criminal complaints are packed with vivid details gathered in years of covert surveillance -- including monitoring phones and e-mail, placing secret microphones in the alleged Russian agents' homes, and numerous surreptitious searches.

The authorities also tracked one set of agents based in Yonkers on trips to an unidentified South American country, where they were videotaped receiving bags of cash and passing messages written in invisible ink to Russian handlers in a public park, according to the charges.

Prosecutors said the "illegals Programme" extended to other countries around the world. Using fraudulent documents, the charges said, the spies would "assume identities as citizens or legal residents of the countries to which they are deployed, including the United States.
Illegals will sometimes pursue degrees at target-country universities, obtain employment, and join relevant professional associations" to deepen false identities.

One message from bosses in Moscow, in awkward English, gave the most revealing account of the agents' assignment. "You were sent to USA for long-term service trip," it said. "Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc. -- all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, which means, to search and develop ties in policymaking circles and send intels [intelligence reports] to center."

It was not clear what the intelligence reports were about, though one agent was described as meeting an American government employee working in a nuclear programme. The defendants were charged with conspiracy, not to commit espionage, but to fail to register as agents of a foreign government, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison; 9 were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years. They are not accused of obtaining classified materials.

There were also hints that Russian spy bosses feared their agents, ordered to go native in prosperous America, might be losing track of their official purpose. Agents in Boston submitted an expense report with such vague items as "trip to meeting" for $1,125 and "education," $3,600.

In Montclair, when the Murphys wanted to buy a house under their names, "Moscow Center," or "C," the SVR headquarters, objected.

"We are under an impression that C views our ownership of the house as a deviation from the original purpose of our mission here," the New Jersey couple wrote in a coded message. "From our perspective purchase of the house was solely a natural progression of our prolonged stay here. It was a convenient way to solving the housing issue, plus 'to do as the Romans do' in a society that values home ownership."

Much of the ring's activity -- and the FBI investigators' surveillance -- took place in and around New York. The alleged agents were spotted in a bookstore in Lower Manhattan, a bench near the entrance to Central Park and a restaurant in Sunnyside, Queens.
Secret exchanges were made at busy locations like the Long Island Rail Road's station in Forest Hills, where FBI watchers in 2004 spotted one defendant who is not in custody, Christopher R. Metsos, the charging papers say.

The arrests made a splash in neighbourhoods around the country, as FBI teams spent all Sunday night hunting through houses and cars, shining flashlights and carting away evidence.
In Cambridge, Mass, the couple known as Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley, who appeared to be in their 40s and had two teenage sons, lived in an apartment building on a residential street where some Harvard professors and students live.

"She was very courteous; she was very nice," Montse Monne-Corbero, who lives next door, said of Ms. Foley. The sons shoveled snow for her in the winter, Ms. Monne-Corbero said, but they also had "very loud" parties.

Lila Hexner, who lives in the building next door, said Ms. Foley told her she was in the real estate business. "She said they were from Canada," Ms. Hexner said.
Another of those charged, Mikhail Semenko, was a stylish man in his late 20s who drove a Mercedes S-500, said Tatyana Day, who lives across the street from him in Arlington, Va. He had a brunette girlfriend and the young couple spoke to one another in Russian and "kept to themselves," Ms. Day said.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/for-a-decade-these-russian-spies-lived-and-worked-in-us-34495?cp