Factbox: Japan's 2022 World Cup bid - Sci Fi

(Reuters) - Facts and figures relating to Japan's bid to stage the 2022 World Cup finals:
Bid motto: 208 Smiles! Inspired by the fact that FIFA has 208 member countries.
Why are they bidding?
Co-hosting the 2002 World Cup with South Korea was viewed as a compromise solution by both countries, who have made no secret of their wish to go it alone next time and Japan's stadiums and infrastructure are second to none.
Best soccer moment: Qualifying for their first World Cup finals in 1998.
Best-known footballers: Scudetto-winning Hidetoshi Nakata was Japan's most recognizable footballer until his shock retirement after the 2006 World Cup. Former Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and Moscow-based Keisuke Honda have since filled that role.
Previous World Cup performances: Co-hosts in 2002 and have appeared in the last four tournaments. Reached the last 16 in 2002 and this year.
Main stadium for 2022: Plans are underway for a new 80,000-seater main stadium on the outskirts of Japan's second city Osaka.
Best points: Most of the stadiums are already in place and still in mint condition from the 2002 tournament. Japan is widely seen as having the world's best rail and road networks, and is a world leader in technology.
Possible drawbacks: Having successfully staged the World Cup finals as recently as 2002, Japan may be overlooked if FIFA opts against triggering friction with Asian rivals and 2002 co-hosts South Korea by diplomatically overlooking both.
Legacy point: Japan will have to build only one stadium and plans to beam matches on to giant, 3-D, hologram-style screens as one of many sci-fi projects during the tournament.
What they say: Junji Ogura, president of the Japan Football Association (JFA): "It's very difficult to predict who will win the vote. It will be a real scramble."
Bookies' odds: 33-1.
Population: 127 million
Number of clubs: The JFA has 28,818 clubs registered at all levels, 37 of which are professional teams in the J-League first and second divisions.
FIFA World Ranking (November 2010): 30th
Trivia fact: JFA president Junji Ogura said a World Cup bid would be unlikely if Tokyo failed to land the 2016 Olympics. The city lost out to Rio de Janeiro but made a bid for the World Cup anyway. The country will also host the 2019 rugby World Cup.
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The Curling Network? Don't count on it - Game Shows

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a stretch that has seen the creation of TV networks dedicated to the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL, it is easy to wonder what's next.
A gymnastics channel? A cycling channel? How about a TV network devoted to curling, the sport of brooms and rocks most often seen during the Winter Olympics?
"It's hard to see that there's room for too many more (sports) networks," said Philippe Dauman, chief executive of Viacom Inc. "Pretty much everything that's out there today is covered."
Indeed, Dauman and other top executives speaking this week at the Reuters Global Media Summit warned that after a period of huge expansion the field of sports TV channels is in serious danger of becoming overcrowded.
The explosive growth in dedicated sports networks, as well as the ubiquity of sports on Walt Disney's ESPN and regional channels owned by News Corp's Fox and others, could extend to the U.S. Olympic Committee and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Both are eyeing creating their own networks down the road -- and for good reason. Leagues and sports properties see the potential that comes with strengthening a rabid fan base across the country while raking in the advertising dollars.
However, with rising sports programing costs sparking a chorus of complaints, count News Corp Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey among those skeptical that more sports networks can be sustained.
"People are carrying that a dimension too far," he said at the Reuters summit. "Everybody falls in love with it.
"You've had decades where it's been a quantity game and everybody's adding," he added. "You're actually now heading to a quality game and as you have more choice you really want to figure out how do you have quality channels as opposed to a strewn level of niche channels."
Viacom's Dauman said his MTV and Spike networks will schedule more sports-related shows, but launching a dedicated network is not in the cards.
"When people complain about the increase in programing costs, we have to recognize that a very large part of that is related to sports," Dauman added.
Disney's TV chief, Anne Sweeney, would prefer the leagues and teams ask themselves whether they can do a better job building their brands than her company's ESPN sports network.
"A key consideration is can I do for my fans what ESPN has traditionally done for their fans," she said.
Even Tony Petitti, chief of MLB Network, which had the most successful launch in cable TV history last year at 50 million U.S. homes, thinks any sport should first work to ensure broad distribution.
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Line dancing: good for that achy breaky heart - Music

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Prefer your fitness with a dose of country?
If you're hankering to move with cowboy attitude, experts say line dancing could be the ideal workout. Even if you've never moseyed into a country bar or felt particularly at home on the range.
"Line dancing is exercise for people who like country music," said fitness instructor Amy Blackburn, "people who might not join a gym because traditional exercise, like treadmills and weight lifting, is either intimidating, or it bores them to death."
Blackburn, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee, said line dancing is the thing to do on a Saturday night. Her DVD, "Country Line Dance Party," is an aerobics workout carved from its signature shuffles, kicks and stomps.
"The music's upbeat. The workout burns calories and strengthens the core, legs, and hamstrings," she said. "And you can take it down a level to keep it low impact."
Though deeply rooted in Irish and German folk traditions, line dancing was off most urban grids until 1992 when Billy Ray Cyrus, father of teen idol Miley, stomped upon the stage with his megahit "Achy Breaky Heart."
Today line dancing is a worldwide phenomenon. Devotees have formed organizations as far away as Singapore and Australia.
Adam Herbel, a.k.a. the Dancing Cowboy, teaches country line dancing at The Rodeo Club in San Jose, California. He said some come for the exercise, some for the music and atmosphere.
REDNECK AEROBICS
"We have a funny thing called redneck aerobics," said Herbel, described as a series of five or six upbeat line dances strung in a row.
"When the DJ calls out 'its redneck aerobics,' everybody knows what's coming," he said. "Sometimes the fitness gals will do pretty advanced line dancing."
Herbel said the dances change from area to area so one song may have 50 different dances to it. Nevertheless, it's not hard to learn, the music is cheerful and the folks are friendly.
"You can master single line dance in a one hour class," he said. "It appeals to ladies because you don't have to have a partner to do it. So I tell the guys, if you want to have a chance at least get out and try."
Known around the San Francisco Bay area of California as the Queen of Line Dancing, Doris Volz has been dancing since 1992 and teaching seniors since 2003.
Watch Music Online

Sina launches developer fund for China's Twitter - Celebrities

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Sina Corp, China's largest Internet portal website, launched on Tuesday a two billion yuan ($301 million) fund for developers to create applications for its highly popular Twitter-like microblog, Weibo.
Weibo, which was launched about a year ago and has around 50 million users including celebrities and politicians, is growing at a rapid clip in China, the world's biggest Internet market by users.
Sina shares spiked this quarter on hopes that the firm will be able to monetize the service, which some analysts have described as a game changer for the firm.
The developers will use an open platform interface to create applications for the microblog, the firm said in a statement.
"An open platform has also been an important way for them to monetize," said Wallace Cheung an analyst with Credit Suisse.
"They are trying to get a pool of developers so it takes some time to accumulate (that)," Cheung said.
The fund is also supported by venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital and will encourage the development of applications for finance, entertainment and games.
China banned Twitter and Facebook last year after unrest in its politically sensitive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
Weibo, on the other hand, is carefully monitored and serves as the alternative to Twitter in the country.
($1=6.637 Yuan)
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Prada 9-mth net profit trebles as IPO plan looms - Fashion

* Net profit 156 mln euros
* Revenue 1.38 bln euros, up 31 pct yr-on-yr
* CEO says confident on "oncoming" development
By Antonella Ciancio
MILAN, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Italian fashion house Prada, which
may list on the stock market next year, said on Wednesday it was
confident about its immediate future after booming Asia sales
helped nine-month net profit treble.
The family run company, whose trend-setter designer Miuccia
Prada is known for her minimalist style, said net profit trebled
to 156 million euros ($209 million) in the nine months to
end-October.
"These data confirm that the retail network expansion is a
winning strategy; these excellent results let us confidently
look at the oncoming group's development," Chief Executive
Patrizio Bertelli said in a statement.
Prada, which has to float several times in the past decade,
has said it is considering a listing in 2011, with Hong Kong
among the market options.
The move would help free Prada from the burden of a debt
estimated at around 1 billion euros, partly a result of an
acquisition spree in the 1990s.
Sales rose 31 percent to 1.38 billion euros in the
nine-month period, with Europe and the United States
contributing to the growth.
Sales in Asia, including recovering Japan, grew 51 percent,
or 22 percent on a like-for-like basis, confirming the region's
pivotal role in Prada's growth over the last quarters.
Watch Fashion Online

Protests, fraud charges roil Haiti elections - Radio Stations

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti's elections ended in confusion on Sunday as 12 of the 18 presidential candidates denounced "massive fraud" and demanded the polls be annulled and street protests erupted over voting delays and problems.
The repudiation of the elections by so many of the presidential candidates dealt a blow to the credibility of the U.N.-supported poll. The international community was hoping the vote could produce a stable, legitimate government in the poor earthquake-ravaged Caribbean country.
Voters' frustration at not being able to cast their ballots due to organizational problems at many polling stations in the capital Port-au-Prince boiled over into street protests. At least one polling station was trashed by one angry group.
"We denounce a massive fraud that is occurring across the country. ... We demand the cancellation pure and simple of these skewed elections," the 12 presidential candidates said in a statement read to reporters at a Port-au-Prince hotel.
Still, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) said the elections went "well" at most of the more than 11,000 polling stations across the nation. "The CEP is comfortable with the vote," council president Gaillot Dorsainvil said.
Counting began after polls closed at 4 p.m. (2100 GMT).
After a day of confusion at many polling centers in the capital, some Haitians expressed anger at what they viewed as a wasteful, flawed exercise.
"Look what our government spends its money on," said Abellar Sony, brandishing a fistful of unused ballot papers at a polling station near the Cite Soleil slum. Children played with unmarked ballot papers, scattering them in the air.
The CEP acknowledged "some problems" and said it was trying to resolve them after the turbulent presidential and legislative elections went ahead amid a raging cholera epidemic and political tensions.
The 12 candidates denouncing the poll included all main opposition candidates. They accused outgoing President Rene Preval's Inite (Unity) coalition and its candidate, Jules Celestin, of trying to steal the elections.
Among them were prominent front-runners like former First Lady Mirlande Manigat, popular musician and entertainer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, and lawyer Jean-Henry Ceant.
The U.N. mission in Haiti and the Organization of American States/Caribbean Community elections observer mission said they were still gathering information on how the vote went.
Demonstrations flared in several parts of the sprawling capital, which still bears the scars of Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. Local radio also reported protests against the electoral process in Gonaives and Les Cayes.
A protest of several thousand people in the capital's Petionville district was led by Martelly, joined by Haitian-American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean, who was barred from standing as a candidate by electoral officials in August.
Watch Radio Stations Online

The Curling Network? Don't count on it - Game Shows

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a stretch that has seen the creation of TV networks dedicated to the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL, it is easy to wonder what's next.
A gymnastics channel? A cycling channel? How about a TV network devoted to curling, the sport of brooms and rocks most often seen during the Winter Olympics?
"It's hard to see that there's room for too many more (sports) networks," said Philippe Dauman, chief executive of Viacom Inc. "Pretty much everything that's out there today is covered."
Indeed, Dauman and other top executives speaking this week at the Reuters Global Media Summit warned that after a period of huge expansion the field of sports TV channels is in serious danger of becoming overcrowded.
The explosive growth in dedicated sports networks, as well as the ubiquity of sports on Walt Disney's ESPN and regional channels owned by News Corp's Fox and others, could extend to the U.S. Olympic Committee and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Both are eyeing creating their own networks down the road -- and for good reason. Leagues and sports properties see the potential that comes with strengthening a rabid fan base across the country while raking in the advertising dollars.
However, with rising sports programing costs sparking a chorus of complaints, count News Corp Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey among those skeptical that more sports networks can be sustained.
"People are carrying that a dimension too far," he said at the Reuters summit. "Everybody falls in love with it.
"You've had decades where it's been a quantity game and everybody's adding," he added. "You're actually now heading to a quality game and as you have more choice you really want to figure out how do you have quality channels as opposed to a strewn level of niche channels."
Viacom's Dauman said his MTV and Spike networks will schedule more sports-related shows, but launching a dedicated network is not in the cards.
"When people complain about the increase in programing costs, we have to recognize that a very large part of that is related to sports," Dauman added.
Disney's TV chief, Anne Sweeney, would prefer the leagues and teams ask themselves whether they can do a better job building their brands than her company's ESPN sports network.
"A key consideration is can I do for my fans what ESPN has traditionally done for their fans," she said.
Even Tony Petitti, chief of MLB Network, which had the most successful launch in cable TV history last year at 50 million U.S. homes, thinks any sport should first work to ensure broad distribution.
Watch Game Shows Online

UPDATE 1-Wal-Mart, Casino advance in Matahari unit sale-sources - Casino

* Carlyle fails to reach next round of bidding - sources
* Second-round bids due in December
(Adds details, background)
By Denny Thomas and Janeman Latul
HONG KONG/JAKARTA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc
(WMT.N), Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA (CASP.PA) and South Korea's
Lotte Shopping Co Ltd (023530.KS) have advanced to the next round
of bidding for Indonesian retailer Matahari Putra Prima PT's
(MPPA.JK) $1 billion sale of its hypermarket business, sources
with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The auction comes on the heels of Carrefour SA's (CARR.PA)
sale of its outlets in Thailand, which brought the French
retailer a higher-than-expected $1.2 billion including debt.

Matahari's sale had drawn interest from private equity group
Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], but sources said the buyout group did not
make it to the second round. South Korea's Shinsegae Co Ltd
(004170.KS) had also expressed interest, but it was not clear
whether it was still in the running.
International retailers are jockeying for position in
emerging markets as they look for sources of growth outside
maturing U.S. and western European markets, although the cost of
competing is often too much to justify widespread expansion.
Matahari is selling Hypermart, Indonesia's second-biggest
hypermarket chain after PT Carrefour Indonesia, to focus on its
core healthcare and property assets.
Shortlisted parties had been asked to submit next-round bids
next month, a source said.
All companies mentioned in this report declined to comment.
Sources were not authorised to speak to media about the
auction as the sale process is confidential.
The sale is a seen as good opportunity to raise exposure in
Indonesia's retail sector, as a healthy economy, forecast to grow
6.0-6.2 percent this year, and a booming stock market lift
consumption in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
It also comes just a few months after Matahari agreed to sell
a 90.76 percent stake in retail unit Matahari Department Store to
a joint venture with private equity group CVC Partners [CVC.UL]
for $770 million.
Watch Casino Online

Actor Johannes Heesters quits smoking - at age 106 - Entertainment News

BERLIN (Reuters) - Actor and singer Johannes Heesters has given up smoking for love -- at age 106.
"I did it for love, for my wonderful wife," Heesters, who is better known as "Jopie" in Germany where he has spent most of his 90-year career, told the German entertainment magazine Bunte. "She should have me as long as possible."
Dutch-born Heesters, who will turn 107 on Sunday, has been married to German actress Simone Rethel, 61, since 1992. Heesters said he quit smoking three weeks ago.
Heesters, who in 2008 apologized for his cooperation with the Nazi regime, is known for his roles in the film "Die Fledermaus" (1946) and the German film "The Moon Is Blue" (1953).
Watch Entertainment News Online

EA to winnow game slate again - Arts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O) expects to cut its slate of video game titles by as much as 40 percent next year as the company continues to invest heavily in its small but fast-growing digital and online businesses.
EA is making a big bet on mobile and Internet-based games, as sales of traditional packaged titles -- which generate about 75 percent of EA's revenue -- continue to slump across the industry.
But EA Chief Executive John Riccitiello told the Reuters Global Media Summit on Monday that investors have still failed to grasp the vast potential of digital gaming.
"I think we're at the classic hump where we've told people where we're going. There's evidence we're going to get there, but Vegas isn't putting money on it because we're only in the fourth inning," Riccitiello said.
Shares of EA and other video game publishers have struggled over the past year, amid investor pessimism about the direction of the industry.
EA expects to publish roughly 35 traditional packaged games this fiscal year, down sharply from more than 50 last year, and Riccitiello expects that number to fall next year as well.
"I don't think it goes to 10 or 15 or even less than 20, but there's some number probably between the low 20s and the high 20s that's right," he said.
Analysts say EA's prolonged turnaround effort is starting to bear fruit. The company has slashed costs and headcount, and has begun issuing more cautious forecasts.
Investors are eagerly anticipating next year's launch of "Star Wars: The Old Republic," a multiplayer online game that EA hopes will rival Activision Blizzard Inc's (ATVI.O) "World of Warcraft," which has 12 million subscribers.
EA has kept details about "Star Wars" close to the vest, although analysts say the company is spending in excess of $100 million to develop it.
Riccitiello declined to provide any forecasts for "Star Wars" but said the feedback so far has been "astonishingly positive."
"Why couldn't we get 3, 4, 5 million (subscribers)?" Riccitiello said.
DIGITAL GROWTH
The vast majority of EA's revenue still comes from traditional packaged games, but sales of digital, downloadable and mobile content rose 30 percent last year to $570 million, or about 15 percent of total sales. The company expects to see another 30 percent gain this year, which ends in March 2011.
Watch Arts Online

Police say no specific attack threat in Germany - Radio Stations

BERLIN (Reuters) - Police on Saturday said there were no signs of an imminent attack by militants in Germany, after a news magazine reported that a plot existed to attack the Reichstag parliament building.
The comments played down the report by weekly Der Spiegel, which said Germany's decision to step up security measures this week had been prompted by the discovery of militant plans to break into the Reichstag parliament building and shoot hostages.
"We have concrete details of suspects, but no concrete details that an attack will be carried out at a specific time and place," the head of Germany's BKA Federal Crime Office, Joerg Ziercke, told Reuters.
Der Spiegel, citing security officials, said a jihadist living abroad had informed them in recent telephone calls of a plan for armed militants to enter the 19th century building in central Berlin and open fire. It said police considered the information credible.
The information, the magazine said, had prompted officials to announce on Wednesday they were raising security, especially at public places including airports and train stations.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Thursday authorities were on guard against threats of an armed attack of the kind that killed 166 in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.
The Reichstag building has strong symbolic importance in Germany. An arson attack there in 1933 highlighted Nazi moves to assume complete control over Germany. The image of a Soviet soldier planting the red flag atop its ruin in 1945 marked the end of World War Two for many.
It was formally restored as the country's legislature soon after the 1990 reunification of Germany and is visited daily by hundreds who walk around its glass dome looking down on debates.
Late on Saturday more than 100 tourists were lined up outside the building and no police were in sight.
The jihadist, Der Spiegel reported, said the group of attackers was to be made up of six people. Two had already arrived in Berlin and another four, including a German, a Turk and a North African, were under way.
Germany has troops in Afghanistan and has been the target of threats on Jihadist websites.
The timing of the reported parliament plot, for February or March, differed however from de Maiziere's warnings that attacks were planned sometime before the end of November.
FALSE ALARMS
At a news conference on Wednesday, de Maiziere said intelligence services had received concrete indications attacks were planned in the next two weeks.
Watch Radio Stations Online

Factbox: Japan's 2022 World Cup bid - Sci Fi

(Reuters) - Facts and figures relating to Japan's bid to stage the 2022 World Cup finals:
Bid motto: 208 Smiles! Inspired by the fact that FIFA has 208 member countries.
Why are they bidding?
Co-hosting the 2002 World Cup with South Korea was viewed as a compromise solution by both countries, who have made no secret of their wish to go it alone next time and Japan's stadiums and infrastructure are second to none.
Best soccer moment: Qualifying for their first World Cup finals in 1998.
Best-known footballers: Scudetto-winning Hidetoshi Nakata was Japan's most recognizable footballer until his shock retirement after the 2006 World Cup. Former Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and Moscow-based Keisuke Honda have since filled that role.
Previous World Cup performances: Co-hosts in 2002 and have appeared in the last four tournaments. Reached the last 16 in 2002 and this year.
Main stadium for 2022: Plans are underway for a new 80,000-seater main stadium on the outskirts of Japan's second city Osaka.
Best points: Most of the stadiums are already in place and still in mint condition from the 2002 tournament. Japan is widely seen as having the world's best rail and road networks, and is a world leader in technology.
Possible drawbacks: Having successfully staged the World Cup finals as recently as 2002, Japan may be overlooked if FIFA opts against triggering friction with Asian rivals and 2002 co-hosts South Korea by diplomatically overlooking both.
Legacy point: Japan will have to build only one stadium and plans to beam matches on to giant, 3-D, hologram-style screens as one of many sci-fi projects during the tournament.
What they say: Junji Ogura, president of the Japan Football Association (JFA): "It's very difficult to predict who will win the vote. It will be a real scramble."
Bookies' odds: 33-1.
Population: 127 million
Number of clubs: The JFA has 28,818 clubs registered at all levels, 37 of which are professional teams in the J-League first and second divisions.
FIFA World Ranking (November 2010): 30th
Trivia fact: JFA president Junji Ogura said a World Cup bid would be unlikely if Tokyo failed to land the 2016 Olympics. The city lost out to Rio de Janeiro but made a bid for the World Cup anyway. The country will also host the 2019 rugby World Cup.
Watch Sci Fi Online

Due Date stays top of box office - Sci Fi

LONDON (Reuters) - Pregnancy-themed road movie "Due Date" held on to top spot at the box office for a second quiet week as cinemas braced for the imminent release of the new Harry Potter blockbuster.
"Due Date" stars Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis added another 1.9 million pounds to the film's take, keeping it ahead of sci-fi newcomer "Skyline" which could only manage 1.2 million pounds, according to Screen International on Tuesday.
The three orphan girls of family movie "Despicable Me" stayed at three, just above "Jackass 3D" which slipped two spots to four.
Horror movie "Saw 3D" was down one at five while Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren as former CIA agents on the run in "RED" stayed at six.
Facebook biopic "The Social Network" was unchanged at seven while "Paranormal Activity 2" slipped three places to eight.
The two wolves of "Alpha and Omega" were back up four places in ninth and director Mike Leigh's study of a middle class suburban couple "Another Year" slipped one spot to 10th.
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Tudors, Elvis Costello, triumph at Canada TV awards - Comedy

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - British actors and shows were the big winners at the Geminis, Canada's TV awards, on Saturday night.
Scotsman Robert Carlyle was named the best actor for his star turn in Syfy's "Stargate Universe".
"I feel like a stranger in the ranks here tonight. But thank you so much, I really value this dearly," said Carlyle, who plays Dr. Nicholas Rush in the sci-fi drama shot in Vancouver.
Musician Elvis Costello, took home the Gemini for best Canadian talk series for "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With..."
And the night of British triumphs also saw Showtime's "The Tudors", a Canadian-Irish TV co-production about English monarch Henry VIII, named best Canadian drama.
The HBO Canada comedy "Less Than Kind", a more recognizably Canadian series about a dysfunctional family in Winnipeg, won for best comedy, best series writing and best comedy acting for Benjamin Arthur.
In other acting categories, Caroline Cave won for her performance in the home-grown drama "Crash and Burn", Cle Bennett won for best supporting actor in "The Line", and Catherine Disher took home best supporting actress honors for her star-turn in the action drama "The Border".
The ceremony was hosted by "Glee" star Cory Monteith, who was born in Calgary and who plays football player and choir member Finn in the popular American TV musical comedy.
(Editing by Jill Serjeant)
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Japan goes sci-fi in bid to snare World Cup - Sci Fi

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is banking on sci-fi technology and the country's 'wow factor' to win the race to host the 2022 World Cup.
After all, only in Japan can you hire a cat for an hour and stroke it while you have a coffee -- or better still, while a robot boils your noodles for you.
Japan, successful co-hosts of the 2002 World Cup with Asian neighbors South Korea, is an outside bet to win the vote on December 2 when FIFA's executive committee meets in Zurich.
South Korea are also bidding again, along with the United States, Qatar and Australia.
Japan's credentials are second to none, with all but the main stadiums already in place and still in pristine condition, while the country's infrastructure ranks among the world's best.
Since the Japanese government unveiled the Bullet Train to mark the country's emergence as an economic power before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Japan has been at the forefront of technology.
The world's third largest economy, Japan still retains a great deal of its traditional charm, with shrines and quaint old shops tucked beside gleaming, new skyscrapers.
Modern Japan, with its crackling neon lights and crowded trains and shops, has turned convenience into an art with its automated wizardry.
Vending machines dispense everything from umbrellas to underwear. Japan boasts the highest number of machines per capita in the world and even has them at the top of Mount Fuji.
World Cup bidders plan to beam matches on to giant 3-D hologram-style screens in one of many hi-tech projects designed to amaze fans around the world during the 2022 tournament.
Translation earpieces will allow fans from different countries to interact, aided by devices to allow viewers to gather information by pointing to players on the pitch.
CAUTIOUS NOTE
"Japan has always been at the center of technological excellence," said bid director Yuichiro Nakajima. "Can we do it? Yes we can!"
Bold, presidential-style statements of intent come with the territory of bidding for major sporting events, but Japanese bid leaders have also struck a note of caution.
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Bruce Lee biopic tracks action hero's early life - Arts

HONG KONG (Hollywood Reporter) - Authenticity is the heart and soul of the new biopic "Bruce Lee, My Brother," the early life story of the man who put Hong Kong action films on the map, its director told The Hollywood Reporter.
As its title declares, the film pieces together the superstar's childhood -- Lee would have turned 70 on Sunday -- and young adulthood from the memories of his four surviving siblings, Phoebe, Agnes, Peter (who died in 2008) and Robert.
"The Lee family supplied us with all the details and the tidbits of their family life," director Raymond Yip said. "So we took great care to be loyal to the truth and avoid anything that felt fake, which made it rather difficult for us in terms of creating the structure of the script. But the Lee family was very pleased with the result, especially with how close it was to what actually happened."
The biopic took years to put on the screen, not least because of the difficult task of finding a young actor to play the role of the iconic megastar. "We've been on the lookout for a possible candidate all over China since 2008, but no one could capture the Hong Kong spirit of the young Bruce Lee," Yip explained.
But when writer-director team of Alex Law and Mabel Cheung, invited the film's producer, Manfred Wong, to a screening of their opus "Echoes of the Rainbow," the search was over. Aarif Rahman, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter who made his acting debut (and stole the show) in "Echoes," was locked in as the young Bruce Lee.
"Including Lee's brother Robert, we were quite amazed by how much Aarif resembles Bruce. No one can say for sure whether an actor really embodies Bruce's spirit except for his family. So it was a go from then on," Yip recalled.
The film began pre-production in March to push for a November 25 release in Hong Kong. The HK$36 million ($4.6 million) project has been snapped up by distributors in over 10 territories.
The Hong Kong-born Rahman, of Malay-Arab-Chinese ancestry, will have to shoulder any potential sequels for the Bruce Lee life story, said Yip.
"We certainly hope to continue telling Bruce Lee's story, but it depends on how this one is received, especially on the public reception of Aarif as Bruce Lee. Lee was a legendary figure. Who plays him in the film is the biggest issue for us as filmmakers. But I have faith in Aarif," Yip said.
Although the biopic tracks the early life of the kungfu master from his birth in San Francisco, old Hong Kong plays a key role. The film shows Lee and his friends as fixtures in the mid-century Hong Kong film industry, allowing the filmmakers to reenact scenes from famous movies of the age.
Watch Arts Online

UPDATE 1-Buyout firms plan bids for Takko - sources - Fashion

* Apax, Bain, EQT, TPG eyeing fashion chain Takko-sources
* Takko owner Advent still considering IPO - source
* Business seen valued at about 1.25 bln eur
(Adds background, adds Bain)
LONDON/FRANKFURT, Nov 17 (Reuters) - At least four private
equity firms were expected to place first round offers this week
for leading German budget fashion retailer Takko, people
familiar with the matter said.
Apax Partners, Bain Capital, EQT and TPG [TPG.UL] are
preparing bids for the business, owned by rival buyout firm
Advent International, two of the people said. An initial public
offering is also under consideration, a third source said.
Bankers said discount retailers were typically valued at 10
times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA), valuing Takko at about 1.25 billion euros
($1.75 billion).
A growing number of price-conscious Germans have been
turning to discount clothing stores, helping to boost sales at
Takko, one of the country's largest and fastest-growing clothing
chains, to 900 million euros in the year to end-April.
An estimated 25 percent of German adults have purchased its
products in the last year, according to Advent's website.
Takko is the latest in a series of European companies owned
by private equity firms that are close to changing hands in a
so-called secondary buyout, or a return to the public market, as
owners look to cash out of their best performing investments.
Advent, which bought the business in 2007 from Permira
[PERM.UL] for 770 million euros, plans to sell or spin off the
business by early next year, a source said in August.

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Documentaries aim to make Oscar history - Documentary

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In the 82-year history of the Academy Awards, no documentary has been nominated for best picture.
Instead, since 1942, documentary features have been recognized in their own category, separate from the balloons and confetti showered on the best picture contenders. Technically, any doc that completes a one-week qualifying run in a Los Angeles County theater also is eligible to compete for the big prize, but somehow, when it comes to best picture, Oscar voters have consistently tuned documentaries out.
This year, though, several documentaries -- among them "Inside Job," Charles Ferguson's autopsy of the 2008 financial crisis, and "Waiting for Superman," Davis Guggenheim's failing report card on the nation's school system -- are positioning themselves to make a run at the big prize. Their camps are preparing to send out screeners, arguing that their respective films are worthy best picture contenders.
Good luck. Any documentary hoping to score a best picture nom still faces a daunting, uphill battle. Six years ago, Michael Moore decided to challenge the odds. Having already won a feature documentary Oscar for his anti-gun diatribe "Bowling for Columbine," he was riding high on the firestorm surrounding "Fahrenheit 9/11," his blistering attack on George W. Bush's post-9/11 march toward the invasion of Iraq.
The movie had won the Palme d'Or, the top prize at Cannes -- the first documentary to take home that honor in 48 years. It was on its way to grossing $119.2 million domestically, making it the top-grossing documentary of all time.
So Moore decided not to submit in the documentary category -- he was eager to air the film on TV in hope of influencing the 2006 election, and the proposed broadcast ran up against documentary-category rules. But while Moore claimed, "For me, the real Oscar would be Bush's defeat on November 2," he also reminded Academy voters that they still could nominate his movie for best picture.
Moore struck out on both counts: Bush was re-elected, and "Fahrenheit" didn't turn up among that year's best picture nominees.
This year, though, the chances of a documentary breaking through are better -- though still slight. By widening the best picture race to 10 nominees, the Academy opened a door, however narrow. And the genre is ripe for recognition. Documentary filmmakers have been busy, turning out an eclectic array of movies, training their cameras on everything from infants ("Babies") to Facebook friendships ("Catfish"), from showbiz survivors ("Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work") to political scandals ("Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer").
While the studios have retreated into escapism, documentary filmmakers have been tackling hot-button issues that often resonate with the more politically engaged members of the Academy. "Waiting for Superman" and "Inside Job," two of the year's highest-profile titles, have gotten the kind of outsize attention that belies their modest box-office returns ($6 million and $1.6 million, respectively).
Both documentaries, while relying heavily on standard interview techniques, also inject plenty of drama into the mix. And both movies made the shortlist of 15 films being considered for best documentary feature honors. But they could go beyond just that category.
"Superman," backed by one of Participant Media's trademark social-action campaigns, premiered in Washington, where it injected itself directly into a heated debate over the city's sweeping efforts at school reform. It also drew a sharp rebuke from the American Federation of Teachers -- the film treats the teachers union as something of a villain -- whose president, Randi Weingarten complained, "It is insulting and counterproductive to suggest, as the film does, that the deplorable behavior of one or two teachers is representative of all public-school teachers."
Meanwhile, New York Times columnist Frank Rich has championed "Inside Job" -- with its rogues' gallery of reckless financial executives, feckless academic economists and their government enablers -- saying, "It's hard to imagine a movie more serious, and more urgent."
Those type of attacks and endorsements should be enough to attract the attention of Academy voters. And if there's an added reason to invite a documentary into the best picture circle, it's that documentary filmmakers have, on more than one occasion, provided the Oscars with some of their most contentious moments.
When Moore won in 2003, just days after the beginning of the Iraq War, he launched into an attack on the president for starting a "war for fictitious reasons" that met with applause and boos from the Oscar audience.
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Factbox: Main events in creation of Harry Potter phenomenon - Arts

(Reuters) - Following are the events in the Harry Potter saga, leading up to the release of the seventh film - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" which opens in Britain, the United States and much of the world on November 19.
1995 - In Edinburgh, Joanne Rowling completes the manuscript of her first Harry Potter story, called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
1996 - Bloomsbury accepts the manuscript for publication. The Scottish Arts Council gives J.K. Rowling a grant to work on her books.
1997 - "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is published in July and in the United States as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in October 1998.
July 1998 - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is published by Bloomsbury and goes straight into the no.1 slot in BookTrack bestseller list.
October 1998 - Warner Bros. secures film rights to the first two books for a seven-figure sum.
July 1999 - "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is published by Bloomsbury.
July 2000 - "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is published. Some 372,775 hardback copies of the book are sold in British bookshops and Internet sites when it is released on July 8, dwarfing previous records.
November 2001 - The film of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is released in Britain and the United States.
November 2002 - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" film version is released in Britain and U.S. In Britain, the film earned $15.7 million in its first weekend, edging past the original's record by about $300,000.
June 2003 - "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is published in Britain and the United States. The fifth book in the series, sells more than 5 million copies in its first day.
June 2004 - Film of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is released taking $92.7 million in the United States. The three-day haul for the new film surpasses the $90.3 million for "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (as the movie was called in North America) in November 2001, and the $88.4 million launch for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" a year later.
July 2005 - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth volume of the Harry Potter saga, sells more than 8.9 million copies in its first 24 hours in the United States and Britain.
November 2005 - The film of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" opens with new additions to the cast including Ralph Fiennes as the evil Lord Voldemort, who helped give the film a darker tone than its predecessors.
July 2007 - "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth movie in the series has the wizard Harry flummoxed by his mates at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft who doubt his near-death battle with the evil Lord Voldemort.
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- Board Games

Almeria held an emergency board meeting immediately after the match and Lillo was informed he had been fired before he left their Mediterranean Games stadium.
"The reason is purely sporting and comes after the bad results Almeria have suffered in recent weeks that have seen the side slip into the relegation places," said a club statement.
Lillo, 45, was under mounting pressure after a poor start to the campaign and the embarrassing loss to Barca left Almeria 18th in the 20-team standings with nine points from 12 matches.
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