Oprah Winfrey launches OWN TV network

 

Oprah Winfrey has built up a huge following in 25 years as a talk-show host

US talk-show host Oprah Winfrey has launched her own TV network, which will offer round-the-clock lifestyle programmes.

The channel is called OWN, or the Oprah Winfrey Network. It is a joint venture with the Discovery channels.
OWN's start date has been delayed twice and its cost has reportedly swollen to $189m (£121m).
Among the programmes scheduled is a reality show starring the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.
Winfrey has built up a huge fan base during 25 years as the host of the syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show.
The programmes on the new station have a focus on empowerment, improvement, positivity aimed mainly at women, who are Ms Winfrey's core audience.

"I wanted to build a network which empowers you, the viewer, to turn your dreams into reality," Ms Winfrey said on a preview programme that launched the network on Saturday.
One of the programmes offered will be a reality show in which 10 finalists from thousands of applicants will compete for the chance to host their own TV show.
There will also be a programme called Why Not?, hosted by Canadian country singer Shania Twain.

Thousands gather in Edinburgh for new year Hogmanay

 

An estimated 80,000 people attended the party in Princes Street 

Tens of thousands of people gathered to see in the new year at Hogmanay celebrations across Scotland.

In Edinburgh an estimated 80,000 attended the annual party on Princes Street.
Glasgow hosted a ceilidh in George Square, open only to ticket holders, followed by a fireworks display.
Inverness had a huge free party at the Northern Meeting Park Arena, with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Peatbog Fairies and Blazin Fiddles.
Edinburgh's Concert in the Gardens, featuring Biffy Clyro, The Charlatans and Billy Bragg, was sold out.

Christina Vargas donned some 2011 glasses for Edinburgh's Hogmanay event

Biffy Clyro guitarist James Johnston said: "It's a massive honour. We have never been through to Edinburgh for the Hogmanay celebrations and we have never done a gig on Hogmanay at all, so this is definitely a good place to start.
"It's the biggest party our country has all year."

People travelled to the Hogmanay event from all around the world.
Irina Rusina, originally from Siberia but who now lives in Germany with her English boyfriend, said: "It is my first time in Scotland and I love it. I'm completely enjoying myself.
"It is a lot warmer, but much more crowded than it is in Siberia," she said.

Fireworks lit up the sky above Edinburgh

Student Pancho Welshy, from Paris, said he and his friends were travelling the globe to experience the best new year party.
He said: "This is much better than Paris. The atmosphere is great - really exciting. What can I say about Edinburgh? C'est magnifique!"
A candlelit concert took place at St Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile and the evening culminated with a fireworks display from Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill.
Police said one person had been arrested at the event for a "minor disorder".
About 330 police officers patrolled Princes Street and the surrounding area.
Assistant Chief Constable Mike McCormick, of Lothian and Borders police, said: "Once again the revellers in Edinburgh impressed us with their behaviour and attitude.
"Only one arrest was made by our officers at the event, and we would like to thank everyone there for helping create a fun, safe atmosphere to welcome in 2011."
About 5,000 people packed into Glasgow's George Square to see in the new year.

A group of Chinese tourists were among thousands joining the celebrations in Edinburgh

They were entertained by Scottish traditional rockers Skerryvore and Celtic music legends Capercaillie.
Aberdeen City Council organised a free fireworks display from the roof of His Majesty's Theatre at midnight.
Hundreds of people also gathered at Stonehaven's annual fireballs ceremony.
Stirling Castle's event, which featured singers including Wagner Carrilho from the X Factor, ended with the city's "biggest ever" Hogmanay fireworks display at midnight.
A piper played at the Midsteeple in Dumfries from 2345 to 0015 GMT and revellers gathered for the bells at midnight.
The events are a draw to tourists from around the world and a boost to the Scottish economy.
According to the Scottish government, Edinburgh's Hogmanay alone generated an estimated £29m in 2009.

People travelled from around the world to be at the Edinburgh celebrations

More than 25,000 people took part in a torchlight procession in Edinburgh on Thursday evening to kick off the city's new year festival in the capital.
The event, which started at Parliament Square, marked the beginning of a four-day celebration.
Organisers said the numbers of people attending Thursday night's event had been "record-breaking".
Edinburgh's emergency services and the city council have issued a number of guidelines warning revellers to stay safe, be sensible and keep warm and dry during the celebrations.

Ex-spy Anna Chapman gets lion cub on Russian TV

 

A wish come true - Anna Chapman is presented with a lion cub

Former Russian spy Anna Chapman has been presented with a lion cub on Russian state-run TV.

Ms Chapman, who was deported from the US earlier this year, was the main guest of the "Let Them Talk" show.
The 28-year-old would not be drawn on her intelligence career but she said her favourite Bond was Sean Connery.
She also said her dream was to have a lion cub for a while, before it became dangerous, at which point one was brought into the studio.
It is not known if Ms Chapman took the cub home that evening or where the former spy would keep the animal, but she said she would call him Nano.

The Channel One show resembles the American and British TV programmes "This Is Your Life", and it featured Ms Chapman's relatives, childhood friends and teachers sharing their memories of the redhead.
One of her school friends recalled how she once vowed to marry a British man and move to the United Kingdom - a wish that came true when she married Briton Alex Chapman in 2002.
Public curiosity Ms Chapman, born Anna Kushchenko, is the best-known of the 10 Russian agents who were swapped in July for four US citizens who had been imprisoned in Russia.
This was the first chance curious Russians have had to hear her story since her return, although she has made a few public appearances and done a racy magazine photo-shoot.
"I would never acknowledge that I was an intelligence agent," she told the programme, but she did say she considered the failure of her mission a chance for new opportunities.

 

Ms Chapman said she would call the cub Nano

Ms Chapman has been given a top role in a youth organisation from Russia's governing party and has become the new celebrity face of a Moscow bank that works with aerospace industries.
She told viewers she starts every day with some exercise and loves shooting.
"I'm a very good shot," she said. "I have a passion for it, and I love going to shooting ranges."
The redhead also said she admired Angelina Jolie, who played a suspected Russian sleeper agent in the movie Salt, and that she hopes to have her own TV show next year.
The show ended with the audience singing a patriotic song from a Soviet-era spy movie, which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is reported to have sung when he met the 10 agents after their deportation.

Discovery cancels Michael Jackson autopsy TV show

 

Michael Jackson died in June 2009 aged 50

The Discovery Channel television network has said it will not air a re-enactment of Michael Jackson's autopsy, amid concerns the programme was distasteful.

Executors for the late star's estate had requested the programme - entitled Michael Jackson's Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson - be cancelled.
John Branca and John McClain had said the show was "in shockingly bad taste".
Discovery said an forthcoming court hearing was also a factor.

"Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson's estate, the scheduled broadcast of the medical documentary related to Michael Jackson's official autopsy has been postponed indefinitely," Discovery Networks International said in a statement.
Mr Branca and Mr McClain said they were pleased with the network's decision.
In a letter previously sent to Discovery, the pair had accused the company of being motivated by "blind desire" to exploit the singer's death.
"Your decision to even schedule this programme is in shockingly bad taste and insensitive to Michael's family," the co-executors wrote.
Sequined glove The programme was scheduled to be aired in Europe on 13 January.
An advertisement used to promote the show reportedly depicted a body covered by a sheet with one hand wearing the singer's trademark sequined glove visible.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin on 4 January where it will be decided if there is sufficient evidence to try Jackson's physician, Dr Conrad Murray, on involuntary manslaughter charges.
Dr Murray has repeatedly denied causing Jackson's death.
The singer died suddenly in June of 2009 from a prescription drug overdose at age 50, weeks before beginning a set of concerts.

Iran's president to sell old car for charity

 

The sale comes at a time when Mr Ahmadinejad's government has cut energy and food subsidies 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to sell his 33-year-old car to raise money for a charity that funds housing projects for young people.

Mr Ahmadinejad was often seen in the white Peugeot 504 when he served as Tehran's mayor, but has rarely used it since becoming president in 2005.
It will be auctioned in February in the south-western city of Abadan.
Officials hope it will fetch more than the $2,000 (1,500 euros; £1,300) such cars sell for in Iran.

The head of Abadan's free trade zone, Asghar Parhizkar, told the Irna news agency the auction would take place during a classic car exhibition there.
The money raised would be allocated to the Mehr Housing Fund, he said.
The sale comes at a time when Mr Ahmadinejad's government has cut food and energy subsidies, raising the cost of living substantially.
It had been paying about $100bn in subsidies annually, but Iran's oil-dependent economy has been hit by four rounds of UN sanctions relating to the country's controversial nuclear programme.

Census 2010: Baltimore's fast-growing Spanishtown

 

The Hispanic community in Baltimore is highly varied

First results from the US 2010 census show population growth of 9.7% over the past decade - fuelled partly by a fast-growing Hispanic minority. Further results in 2011 are expected to document the Hispanics' spread into new areas, such as the city of Baltimore.

If New York's Broadway is a place where people go to "make it", then the one in Baltimore's Fells Point area is no different.

Fells Point has been dubbed "the Other Ellis Island" for its role as a port of entry for immigrants to the US - for many years it ranked second only to the island in New York Harbor for the numbers passing through it.

The Germans and Irish who found jobs there in shipbuilding, warehouses and factories were followed by Poles and Italians. African-Americans also congregated in the area.

But today it is a different immigrant community which thrives here.
Upper Fells Point is now known as Baltimore's Spanish Town because of the large numbers of Hispanics who have moved there in recent years.
A short stretch of Broadway hosts Mexican, Peruvian and Guatemalan restaurants, a Salvadorean supermarket, and a hair salon run by immigrants from the Dominican Republic.
In contrast to border states such as Arizona, California and Texas, where most of the Hispanic population has Mexican roots, here the community is very mixed, a majority hailing from Central America.

Mr Portillo's shops offers everything from CDs to spices

Heba Portillo, from El Salvador, was one of the first to arrive. A resident of Baltimore since 1991, he opened Spanishtown's first Latino restaurant and also runs a Spanish supermarket, which offers everything from food and CDs to money-transferring services.
"When I got here the Latino community was very small, there were no Latino restaurants or supermarkets," he explains.
"But then a few years later more people came to the city and opened more things. It has changed a lot commercially. We have seen tremendous growth."
The Hispanic community is still small as a percentage of the city's overall population, but it is increasing fast.
In 2000, the community made up 1.7% of the total, while US Census bureau figures for 2009 put it at 3%.
Over the same period the city's population fell by 2%, and the majority black population slipped from 64% to 63% as a share of the total.
Relative infancy The broad picture of the 2010 census is of a continuing shift of population from the east and mid-west to the south and west, with numbers growing only slowly in many eastern states.

Audre's story

Audre Negreto Banos was born in Mexico but grew up in Kansas and holds dual nationality. After graduation she came to Baltimore because she was offered a good job. She says she feels comfortable in the city because she has a connection with Mexico here. Even the cakes taste just like the ones she eats back in Mexico City.In the state of Maryland, in which Baltimore is situated, population growth has been buoyant by eastern standards - thanks partly to Hispanic immigrants. Reports suggest that Hispanics make up about 7% of the population, but account for about 40% of population growth since 2000.

"People are moving here from all over, not just Latin America but from Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey," Heba tells me. "That means a lot of new infants, a lot of new babies. In 10 years they come, and make a community."
One factor drawing people to Baltimore is the availability of jobs in construction. Fells Point is still an area where day labourers can be seen waiting on the pavement, hoping to catch a day's employment.
Abdel Pietramartel of Casa Maryland, a Hispanic outreach organisation that helps people find jobs, says he has seen a four-fold rise in his organisation's workload over the last decade.
New arrivals from Ecuador, Honduras and El Salvador are choosing the city ahead of places like Washington DC, Virginia and New Jersey, he believes, because the Hispanic community here is in its relative infancy, and the opportunities that brings.
This is also a factor that attracts would-be businessmen. Many Hispanic traders I met say Maryland offers better opportunities and cheaper rent than some of the other states where Latinos have already settled in large numbers.
Figures quoted by the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce suggest that the number of Hispanic businesses has increased to more than 20,000 in the state, a rise of about 10,000 since 1997.
People power Nicolas Ramos, who came here 15 years ago, arrived with nothing. As he shows me around his restaurant Arcos, which is on Broadway, he retells the story of how he built a life from scratch.
"A group of us drove from Mexico to Texas in a van. [After that] we went through the south, and we really fell in love with Baltimore.

Maritza's story

Maritza Orellana came to Baltimore five years ago from El Salvador. She chose the city because her brother already ran a business here. He chose it because, at the time, there weren't many Latino businesses.

"I called my restaurant Arcos, meaning arch, to represent the connection between Baltimore and Mexico," he adds.

The impact the Hispanic community is making here is also evident in other parts of the city, where some schools are starting bilingual teaching.
A few miles away from Spanishtown is Greektown. Greek cafes and bakeries line the streets here, but nestled in among them are now a number of Hispanic restaurants and bars.
Nitsa, who opened the Greektown Music Store 30 years ago, has seen many changes. Back then the store was more than a place to buy Greek music and decorations, it was a meeting place.
"There are many other ethnicities here now, but many of the original Greek shops are still here too," she says.
"The area has changed, but it's changed for the best I would think."
As the Hispanic community continues to grow so too does its influence.
It is not yet big enough to have a political impact in Baltimore, but long-term this may change, just as it has in Florida, Texas and California, where Hispanics have been settling for generations.
As a result of population growth revealed in the 2010 census Texas is to be awarded four new seats in the House of Representatives.
Nationwide, one in four newborns is already Hispanic and by 2050, the Census Bureau expects Hispanics to make up one in three of the US population.
If the community in Baltimore continues to grow at the rate seen over the last decade it will be a factor no politician can ignore.

2011 revellers attend open-air parties around the UK

 

Edinburgh's annual Hogmanay festival got under way on Thursday and lasts four days

Hundreds of thousands of revellers have welcomed in the new year at open-air parties across the UK.

About 80,000 people attended the annual Hogmanay party in Edinburgh, where the crowd erupted in cheers as the clock struck midnight.
An estimated 250,000 people watched the eight-minute firework display at the London Eye, which was set to music for the first time.
Events were held in various other cities, including Glasgow and Cardiff.

Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival lasts four days and got under way on Thursday with a torchlight procession.
The ticket-only main event on New Year's Eve included fireworks, traditional Scottish dancing and an open-air concert starring Biffy Clyro, The Charlatans and Billy Bragg.
Bragg, who stayed on with his family to watch Biffy Clyro and the fireworks after his performance, said Scotland had "kind of invented new year get-togethers", so Edinburgh was where he wanted to be.
Biffy Clyro, whose hit Many of Horrors has become a number one single for X Factor winner Matt Cardle, took to the stage topless and wowed the crowd with a volley of their anthems.
The Scottish rockers' frontman Simon Neil said: "There's no better way to end the year."
'Great night' Irina Rusina, originally from Siberia but now living in Germany, said it was her first time in Scotland and she was loving Edinburgh.

“Start Quote

We've been queuing up here since midday and I think these are the best fireworks I have ever seen”

Erin Wilkins Tourist in London

"I'm completely enjoying myself," she said. "It is a lot warmer but much more crowded than it is in Siberia."

Edinburgh Hogmanay director Peter Irvine said Edinburgh was now "on the map" for new year celebrations.
"This was a truly great night. Nothing went wrong, from the weather to the crowds, who are here from all over the world. They were incredibly good-natured, no aggravation."
Around 330 police officers patrolled Princes Street and the surrounding area, and one person was arrested for a "minor disorder".
About 5,000 people packed into Glasgow's George Square to see in 2011 with one of Scotland's biggest outdoor ceilidhs.
'Best fireworks' Crowds also gathered in central London for the free annual fireworks, which were launched from barges on the Thames and the London Eye.

People had been queuing for hours to ensure a good Thames view

Showers of brightly coloured fireworks shot into the sky to a soundtrack including Queen's We Will Rock You, The Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and Blur's Song 2.
Erin Wilkins, 26, and Emad Tehrani, 30, had travelled from Sydney to see in the new year in London.
Ms Wilkins said: "We've been queuing up here since midday and I think these are the best fireworks I have ever seen."
Some 3,000 police officers were on duty, and the Metropolitan Police have made 77 arrests so far for a range of offences including public order, theft and possession of an offensive weapon.
"There is a huge demand for public transport after midnight," a Met Police spokesman said.
"People may have to wait some time before getting on Tubes or trains. Those who live in London may want to walk a bit further to get to a Tube station; Charing Cross and Waterloo are extremely busy."
Hundreds of people attended the free Calennig celebrations at Cardiff Civic Centre, which featured a live music concert with Dr and The Medics and T.
The event included a fire show and funfair, as well as midnight skating at an open-air ice rink.
Party organisers were no doubt relieved the freezing conditions of the past few weeks were replaced by milder weather, with temperatures of 4-5C in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.
The BBC Weather Centre said it had been a dull and misty end to 2010.
It said a band of rain and hill snow would move south through Scotland overnight, reaching northern England and Northern Ireland by dawn, with colder, clearer conditions, frost and ice following behind in a northerly breeze.
Further south it will be mostly dry and cloudy.