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Monday, March 11, 2013
Venezuela sets presidential election for April 14
A woman wipes photos of late President Hugo Chavez at a makeshift altar set in his honor at the main square of Sabaneta, western Venezuela on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Chavez, who died of cancer on March 5, 2013 was born in Sabaneta. His former home has been turned into the local headquarters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, PSUV. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A woman wipes photos of late President Hugo Chavez at a makeshift altar set in his honor at the main square of Sabaneta, western Venezuela on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Chavez, who died of cancer on March 5, 2013 was born in Sabaneta. His former home has been turned into the local headquarters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, PSUV. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A Venezuelan army officer salutes a photo of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez at a makeshift memorial outside the Venezuelan Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Chavez died on March 5, 2013 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
People line up to see the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez outside the military academy where he is lying in state in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturdaday, March 9, 2013. Chavez died on March 5, 2013 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. He was 58. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Venezuela's elections council chief, Tibisay Lucena, arrives for a press conference to announce April 14 as the date for the country's presidential election to choose a successor to Hugo Chavez, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, March 9, 2013. The constitution mandated the election be held within 30 days of Chavez's March 5 death, but the date picked falls outside that period. Critics of the socialist government already complained that officials violated the constitution by swearing in Vice President Nicolas Maduro as acting leader Friday night. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A supporter of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez places a message on the wall of the Venezuelan Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Chavez died on March 5, 2013 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuelans will vote April 14 to choose a successor to Hugo Chavez, the elections commission announced Saturday as increasingly strident political rhetoric begins to roil this polarized country.
The constitution mandated the election be held within 30 days of Chavez's March 5 death, but the date picked falls outside that period. Critics of the socialist government already complained that officials violated the constitution by swearing in Vice President Nicolas Maduro as acting leader Friday night.
Some people have speculated Venezuela will not be ready to organize the vote in time, but elections council chief Tibisay Lucena said the country's electronic voting system was fully prepared.
Lucena announced the date on state television, appearing in a small inset as the main picture showed people filing past Chavez's coffin at the military academy in Caracas, where his body has lain in state since Wednesday.
Chavez's boisterous state funeral Friday often felt like a political rally for his anointed successor, Maduro, who eulogized him by pledging eternal loyalty and vowing Chavez's movement will never be defeated. Maduro is expected to run as the candidate of Chavez's socialist party.
Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, coordinator of the opposition coalition, immediately followed the election announcement by offering his bloc's presidential candidacy to Henrique Capriles, the governor of Miranda state who lost to Chavez in October. A Capriles adviser said the governor would announce his decision Sunday.
David Smilde, an analyst with the U.S.-based Washington Office on Latin America, said the opposition needs to run a candidate in the presidential election even though he believes it will almost certainly lose.
Smilde said he wasn't sure Capriles will accept the candidacy.
"If he says he doesn't want to run I could totally understand that," Smilde said. "He is likely going to lose, and if he loses this election, he's probably going to be done."
In that case the opposition would be wise to run someone such as Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledesma or Henry Falcone, governor of Lara state and one of just three opposition governors, he said.
That would give the opposition an opportunity to clearly articulate its platform and vision.
"Really what this campaign would be about is allowing the opposition to put themselves in position for the future, to show that they have some ideas for the country," Smilde said.
In his speech after his swearing-in Friday, Maduro took shots at the United States, the media, international capitalism and domestic opponents he often depicted as treacherous. He claimed the allegiance of Venezuela's army, referring to them as the "armed forces of Chavez," despite the constitution barring the military from taking sides in politics.
The opposition has denounced the transition as an unconstitutional power grab, while the government moves to immortalize Chavez. Since his death, the former paratrooper has been compared to Jesus Christ and early-19th century Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar, and the government announced that his body would be embalmed and put on eternal display.
Edith Palmeira, a 47-year-old Caracas resident at a park Saturday in central Caracas, said she would vote for Maduro, but made clear her allegiance was based purely on her love of Chavez.
"Imitations are never as good as the original," Palmeira said. "But I think he must have grown as a person during so much time at the president's side. He must have learned to be a president."
Elvira Orozco, a 31-year-old business owner, said she planned to sit out the vote to protest Maduro's swearing-in Friday.
"What they want is to say that here there's a democracy, but here they violate the constitution and there's no authority who says anything," Orozco said.
Observers voiced mounting concern about the deep political divide gripping Venezuela, with half of it in a near frenzy of adulation and the other feeling targeted.
"Everything that happened yesterday (with the funeral and Maduro's speech) are outward signs of a fascistic aesthetic, complete with armbands," said Vicente Gonzalez de la Vega, a professor of law at Caracas' Universidad Metropolitana. "It is the cult of the adored leader, an escape from reality. ... They are trying to impose on the rest of the country a new pagan religion."
He said the ruling party was playing with fire with its strong nationalistic rhetoric and the implication that a vote against Maduro was somehow subversive.
Capriles, too, has used emotionally charged language in his public comments. On Friday he denounced Maduro as a shameless liar who had not been elected by the people, and condescendingly referred to him as "boy."
Opposition figures have said they are concerned about the election's fairness, particularly given the public vows of allegiance to Chavez from senior military officials. Capriles lost to Chavez in Oct. 7 elections, but he garnered 45 percent of the vote, which was the most anyone had ever won against the late president.
A boycott of 2005 legislative elections was widely seen as disastrous for the opposition, letting Chavez's supporters win all 167 seats and allowing him to govern unimpeded by any legislative rivals.
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Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Jorge Rueda and Vivian Sequera contributed to this report.
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Paul Haven on Twitter: www.twitter.com/paulhaven
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City Council speaker launches NYC mayoral bid
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 9, 2012 file photo, New York City Council speaker Christine Quinn laughs during a news conference at City Hall in New York. Quinn, a Democrat, announced through her Twitter feed Sunday, March 10, 2013, that she's in the race to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 9, 2012 file photo, New York City Council speaker Christine Quinn laughs during a news conference at City Hall in New York. Quinn, a Democrat, announced through her Twitter feed Sunday, March 10, 2013, that she's in the race to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Long seen as a leading contender, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn formally launched Sunday what she hopes will be a history-making mayoral bid.
A veteran of city politics, Quinn would be a groundbreaking mayor across two personal dimensions: She would be the first female and first openly gay mayor to lead the nation's largest city.
Announcing through her Twitter feed that she's in the race, Quinn said she wanted to give middle- and working-class New Yorkers the same opportunities generations of her family got when they came here.
"I'm running for mayor because I love this city. It's the greatest place in the world," she said in a video linked to her post, before setting out to start what she called a walk-and-talk tour intended to take her to every neighborhood in the city before the Democratic primary in September.
A former tenant organizer and director of a gay and lesbian advocacy group, Quinn, 46, has been on the City Council since 1999 and its leader since 2006. The position has afforded her considerable exposure going into the crowded field of candidates vying to succeed term-limited Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
She's enjoyed a considerable edge over other Democratic contenders in polls. A Quinnipiac University poll late last month gave her 37 percent of the Democratic vote, while her opponents each got less than 15 percent. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 6 to 1 in the city, though that hasn't translated into Democratic success in a mayor's race since 1989.
Quinn has generally been perceived as likely to get the Republican-turned-independent Bloomberg's backing, and with it support from business leaders.
Some of her Democratic opponents have tried to use that against her, suggesting Quinn is too close to a mayor they say has sometimes turned a cold shoulder to the concerns of middle-class and working-class New Yorkers. Opponents have faulted her, for example, for joining Bloomberg in opposing a plan to require businesses with at least five employees to provide paid sick leave. Quinn has said it's a worthy goal, but now is not the economic time to do it.
She also has taken heat for helping Bloomberg get the council to agree to extend term limits so he could run for a third time in 2008, without asking the voters who had approved a two-term limit twice in the 1990s.
In office, Quinn leads 50 other council members and largely controls what proposals come to a vote. Under her leadership, the council has taken on matters including requiring electronics manufacturers to collect their products for recycling, making it tougher for immigration officials to deport people being released from city jails or police custody and barring employers from discriminating against unemployed job applicants ? the last of which Bloomberg vetoed. Quinn has vowed the council will override his veto.
Quinn and her longtime partner, products liability lawyer Kim Catullo, married last year after more than a decade together. Their wedding guest list was a who's-who of New York politics, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Bloomberg and many other officeholders in attendance.
The year before, Quinn had invoked her personal story in lobbying state lawmakers to legalize gay marriage, a cause Cuomo championed. She called it "one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life" when the measure passed in June 2011.
Her announced and likely Democratic opponents include former City Councilman Sal Albanese; Public Advocate Bill de Blasio; Comptroller John Liu; and former Comptroller Bill Thompson.
Republican contenders include former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joseph Lhota; Tom Allon, a publisher; billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis; and George McDonald, the head of a nonprofit that helps the homeless.
Former Bronx borough president and federal housing official Adolfo Carrion, a former Democrat who is now unaffiliated, is running on the Independence Party line and seeking Republican backing.
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Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz
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Monday, March 4, 2013
In Manila, Catholics pray for smooth succession
Filipino Benita Canlas prays outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipino Benita Canlas prays outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipino Catholics pray during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Filipino Catholic altar boy stands beside an empty priest' chair during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipino Catholic Priest Victorino Cueto, center, sprinkles holy water on devotees during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday Mar. 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Filipino devotee prays at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday March 3, 2013. Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years because of Benedict XVI's resignation. They prayed for the smooth rise of a successor who can lead the church. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation attended Mass on Sunday with their church awkwardly having no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI to lead an embattled institution.
Benedict stunned the world when he announced Feb. 11 that he would resign, citing his age and frail health. His resignation, which took effect Thursday, ushered in a period known as "sede vacante" or "vacant see" ? the transition period between papacies when a few Vatican officials take charge of running the church.
All cardinals worldwide have been summoned to the Vatican for a conclave to elect Benedict's successor, who inherits a church facing a tide of secularism in Europe, as well as clergy sex abuse and corruption scandals that have underscored the need to pick a formidable successor to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Churchgoers and the clergy in the Philippines said they were not worried by the temporary absence of a pope, but nevertheless felt the vacuum.
"There is something missing more or less in spirit," said the Rev. Joel Sulse, who celebrated Mass at the Santuario de San Antonio parish in an upscale residential enclave in Manila's Makati business district. "It's also a challenge. It's like when there is no leader, you really have to stand for your convictions."
Sulse's parish and other Catholic churches across the Southeast Asian nation offered prayers for a hassle-free Vatican conclave of cardinals to elect a new pope.
Although Sulse said a new pontiff from the developing world may have a better grasp of problems such as poverty afflicting Catholics, he said Filipinos should pray for any pope who "can be strong yet loving."
Churchgoer Miguel Ma. Guerrero said the next pontiff should be a dynamic leader who can lead the church in a modern era beset by long-pestering problems such as poverty.
In another Manila church in the working-class district of Baclaran, Catholics said they yearned for a pope who would be able to lead the younger generation onto the right path. One churchgoer said she wanted somebody like the late Pope John Paul II, who was welcomed by millions when he visited the Philippines in 1995.
"I have been praying for a new pope to be just like Pope John Paul II, who was close to the people and was very humble," said Charlene Bautista, an insurance broker.
For the first time, a Filipino cardinal, Antonio Luis Tagle, has been regarded as among the group of cardinals who have a chance of succeeding Benedict. Although considered a long shot, Tagle's inclusion among the so-called papabile, or papal candidates, has electrified many in the country, where past pontiffs were welcomed by millions like rock stars.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Adobe brings updated Photoshop to phones
Mobile photographers will be happy to learn that Adobe has released a new and improved version of Photoshop to iOS and Android phones ? one that shares many features with the well-received tablet app.
The miniaturized Photoshop Touch app offers the usual touch-based tricks, filters, and tools. Like the tablet version, it ends up being a useful app even if it's not nearly at the level of its desktop-based cousin.
You can use layers, select objects with intelligent "scribble" selection, and apply a number of filters and adjustments. But watch those megapixels: Too much image data and you'll only have a couple layers to work with, or you may have a few seconds to wait as the app crunches through the effects.
Perfectionists looking to touch up their photos before sending them off to Instagram or Facebook will enjoy being able to fiddle with curves or add a tasteful lens flare. There are, of course, dozens of other photo-editing apps available, but Photoshop has proven to be a favorite on tablets owing to its robust feature set and compatibility with Adobe's other apps and services.
Unfortunately, upgrading isn't free, even for users with other versions of Photoshop on their phone or tablet. You'll have to pay $4.99, either in the iTunes App Store, Google's Play Store, or Amazon's Appstore for Kindle devices.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/adobe-brings-updated-photoshop-phones-1C8594050
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'Identity Thief' tops box office with $14 million
FILE -This undated publicity file image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, left, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." As of Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, ?Identity Thief?, with a cumulative total of $93.7 million viewers, is the biggest hit so far in 2013. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
FILE -This undated publicity file image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, left, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." As of Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, ?Identity Thief?, with a cumulative total of $93.7 million viewers, is the biggest hit so far in 2013. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A week after losing the box office title to Bruce Willis, Melissa McCarthy took it back again.
McCarthy's road trip comedy "Identity Thief" topped the box office in its third week of release on Oscar weekend with $14 million for Universal. 20th Century Fox's "A Good Day to Die Hard," starring Willis, slid to fifth with $10.1 million.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "Identity Thief," Universal, $14,017,085, 3,222 locations, $4,350 average, $93,619,615, three weeks.
2. "Snitch," Lionsgate, $13,167,607, 2,511 locations, $5,244 average, $13,167,607, one week.
3. "Escape From Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $10,682,037, 3,353 locations, $3,186 average, $34,812,699, two weeks.
4. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $10,454,713, 3,223 locations, $3,244 average, $47,916,356, two weeks.
5. "A Good Day to Die Hard," Fox, $10,165,633, 3,555 locations, $2,860 average, $51,967,897, two weeks.
6. "Dark Skies," Weinstein Co., $8,189,166, 2,313 locations, $3,540 average, $8,189,166, one week.
7. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $5,750,866, 2,012 locations, $2,858 average, $107,176,012, 15 weeks.
8. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $4,825,388, 2,644 locations, $1,825 average, $58,243,441, four weeks.
9. "Beautiful Creatures," Warner Bros., $3,608,333, 2,950 locations, $1,223 average, $16,570,598, two weeks.
10. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $3,357,039, 2,070 locations, $1,622 average, $25,099,555, three weeks.
11. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $2,230,084, 1,197 locations, $1,863 average, $91,539,075, 10 weeks.
12. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,827,165, 802 locations, $2,278 average, $129,653,502, 20 weeks.
13. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $1,684,532, 1,425 locations, $1,182 average, $52,945,086, five weeks.
14. "Life of Pi," Fox, $1,605,366, 572 locations, $2,807 average, $113,525,126, 14 weeks.
15. "Lincoln," Disney, $1,481,081, 875 locations, $1,693 average, $178,603,571, 16 weeks.
16. "Mama," Universal, $1,173,900, 1,163 locations, $1,009 average, $70,230,570, six weeks.
17. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $1,125,886, 356 locations, $3,163 average, $8,844,950, seven weeks.
18. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $971,655, 659 locations, $1,474 average, $158,783,430, nine weeks.
19. "Amour," Sony Pictures Classics, $716,186, 328 locations, $2,183 average, $5,147,242, 10 weeks.
20. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $645,870, 402 locations, $1,607 average, $186,676,411, 17 weeks.
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
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