INTERVIEW-Olympics-We learned our lessons, says French bid boss - Board Games

PARIS Oct 5 (Reuters) - France intend to get their strategy
right in Annecy's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics after failing
twice to secure the summer Games, the chief executive of Annecy
2018 Edgar Grospiron told Reuters in an interview.
Paris, the favourites for the 2012 Games, lost out to London
after failing in their bid for the 2008 Olympics which went to
Beijing.
Grospiron, 41, a popular figure in France since winning a
moguls gold medal at the 1992 Albertville Games, said the
lessons of the unsuccessful Paris bid had been taken on board.
London edged the French capital after benefiting from Prime
Minister Tony Blair's behind-the-scenes work and the leadership
of bid head Seb Coe.
The Paris bid was led by mayor Bertrand Delanoe, not a
figure with a reputation in the sports world, and the Annecy
submission will be backed instead by prominent French sports
personalities.
"The lessons from Paris have been learned and our strategy
is different," Grospiron said.
"We need a lot of people supporting us. It means we have to
work closely with Jean-Claude Killy and Guy Drut but also with
all the influential people at the international level."
Killy, a triple alpine ski champion at the 1968 Grenoble
Winter Games, and Drut. the 1976 Montreal Games high hurdles
champion, are both members of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC).
Marie-Jose Perec, who won three Olympic titles including the
200-400 double at the 1996 Atlanta Games, is also supporting the
bid.
Grospiron said Annecy would need the backing of politicians
plus International Rugby Board president Bernard Lapasset and
UEFA president Michel Platini.
Annecy, who were asked by the IOC to change their original
plan to build 10 venues, are in a three-way battle with Munich
and Pyeongchang in the vote on July 6 next year.
"We know that we have not won anything yet but morale is
going up," Grospiron said. "Clearly, we almost caught up and
Annecy's situation is more comfortable than a few months ago."
Perec told Reuters she would play an active role in the bid.
"I could not imagine myself not supporting a French bid,"
she told Reuters. "I will go to the international bodies to show
them that everything has been done in Annecy to host the Games."
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- Longoria to host MTV show, not eyeing music career - Comedy

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria may be hosting next month's Europe Music Awards for MTV, but she has no ambition to pursue a career in pop.
The 35-year-old, best known for her portrayal of Gabrielle Solis in the hit comedy series, will be in Madrid on November 7 to take charge of the annual awards ceremony, one of the music world's biggest nights outside of the United States.
"No, I'll definitely leave the music to the professionals," she said, when asked whether she was considering a career in music.
Longoria has made a spoof rap video for the show, in which she wears a black swimsuit and at one point rhymes "host" with "French toast."
"They handed it (the script) to me the day of the recording," she told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"They said 'Here are you words' and I thought 'Oh my God, this is pretty terrifying."
The actress, married to basketball player Tony Parker, said her love of music, Spanish roots and previous experience at hosting shows meant she was suitably qualified to do the job.
Previous hosts of the MTV Europe Music Awards have included Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Katy Perry and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
"I have some tough competition," Longoria said, adding, "I'm excited about it and I love to be challenged in new ways.
"I love Shakira, Kings of Leon and Katy Perry and Linkin Park - the performers they have lined up are amazing."
Longoria added that part of the appeal was to "expect the unexpected and anything goes and that raises the stakes on the night."
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Actor Josh Gad sells family comedy to CBS - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Back to You" and "Woke Up Dead" actor Josh Gad is near a deal for a comedy project at CBS.
The actor-comedian landed a script deal at the network for "Adopted Family." The premise: When a teenage girl shows up on his doorstep, a man discovers his new wife has a daughter he didn't know existed.
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Fishing, kayaking Sarah Palin debuts TV show trailer - Tv Series

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hiking in the Alaskan snow, bear-watching, fishing, kayaking and family -- that apparently is what Sarah Palin loves best, according to a trailer for her new TV reality show released on Friday.
Better known for rallying conservatives and Tea Party followers at political meetings, the former U.S. vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor is the subject of an eight-part TV series making its debut on November 14.
"I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy, old political office. I'd rather be out here being free," Palin says in the trailer for "Sarah Palin's Alaska."
The brief clip shows Palin having fun in Alaska countryside with her husband Todd and five children, kayaking down rivers, watching wild bears playing, and trekking across snow-filled hills.
The TV show on channel TLC is the latest media venture for Palin, the polarizing Republican who is widely thought to be weighing a run for U.S. president in 2012. Her second book "America by Heart" is expected to be published in late November after her 2009 best-seller "Going Rogue".
Palin's eldest daughter Bristol, 19, a single mother and a paid speaker on the topic of abstinence before marriage, is currently a contestant on popular TV show "Dancing with the Stars."
Bristol Palin's former boyfriend Levi Johnston is also working on his own upcoming TV show which chronicles his bid to be elected mayor of Wasilla, Alaska -- a post once held by Sarah Palin.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney)
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Reality series Wipeout getting winter run - Tv Series

LOS Angeles (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC is moving its summer reality staple "Wipeout" to the big leagues, giving the obstacle-course competition series its first run during the regular TV season.
Beginning in January, "Wipeout" will return with a "winter wonderland"-themed course, complete with slippery ice and such new stunts as the Spanker Sleds, the Wipeout Ski Lift and the Polar Bear Run.
The network has ordered eight episodes, which will be considered part of the show's recent fourth season.
"Wipeout," produced by Endemol USA, averaged 9.2 million viewers and a 3.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic during its Tuesday run in the summer.
The move gives ABC additional hole-plugging ammo during midseason.
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Jason Alexander brings screwball comedy to Song - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "They're Playing Our Song" centers on a frank, sexy and neurotic relationship, circa late '80s, that is patterned loosely on its young creators Marvin Hamlisch (a.k.a. Vernon Gersch) and Carole Bayer Sager (a.k.a. Sonia Walsk).
We're talking a little bit spunky, a little bit brassy, a lot of poetry and oceans of heart. Oh, and music played by a backstage band that would have had boomers dancing in the aisles if Westwood's Freud Playhouse had any.
Stephanie J. Block captures Sonia's newly liberated woman unleashed at full force, dressed in a dazzling succession of Kate Bergh's posthippie fantasies. Block sings, dances and engages in sex with equal good nature and aplomb. Jason Alexander's power lies in his work as a consummate screwball comedy man; it even turns out he can dance and sing.
Although writer Neil Simon's obsession with Block's former lover Leon gets tired fast, nothing stops the madly careening love affair between Vernon and Sonia, despite the fact that they are as mismatched in physique and style as they are in neurotic dynamics and tone, leading to a nonstop barrage of good-natured humor that the audience responds to with split-second, laugh-track-quality precision.
Both stars are willing to share the play, to feed the straight lines as well as deliver the punches. They also ignite sexually in quiet, intimate ways that everyone will recognize.
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Homer Simpson is Catholic, Vatican paper declares - Entertainment News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Simpsons" just got a blessing from the Vatican.
The official Vatican newspaper has declared that beer-swilling, doughnut-loving Homer Simpson and son Bart are Catholics -- and what's more, it says that parents should not be afraid to let their children watch "the adventures of the little guys in yellow."
"Few people know it, and he does everything to hide it. But it's true: Homer J. Simpson is Catholic", the Osservatore Romano newspaper said in an article on Sunday headlined "Homer and Bart are Catholics."
The newspaper cited a study by a Jesuit priest of a 2005 episode of the show called "The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star". That study concludes that "The Simpsons" is "among the few TV programs for kids in which Christian faith, religion and questions about God are recurrent themes."
The Simpsons pray before meals, and "in its own way, believes in the beyond," the newspaper quoted the Jesuit study as saying.
It's the second time the animated U.S. TV series, which is broadcast in 90 countries, has been praised by the Vatican.
But executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly on Monday he was in "shock and awe" at the latest assertion, adding that the Simpsons attend the "Presbylutheran" First Church of Springfield.
"We've pretty clearly shown that Homer is not Catholic," Jean said. "I really don't think he could go without eating meat on Fridays -- for even an hour."
In December 2009, the Osservatore Romano described the show as "tender and irreverent, scandalous and ironic, boisterous and profound, philosophical and sometimes even theological, nutty synthesis of pop culture and of the lukewarm and nihilistic American middle class."
"The Simpsons", which introduced the catch-phrase "D'oh", is the longest-running prime-time TV series in the United States and is now in its 22nd season.
Watch Entertainment News Online

Ed Asner returning to primetime TV in CMT sitcom - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Can Ed Asner do for CMT what Betty White did for TV Land?
A seven-time Emmy winner, Asner is returning to primetime television in CMT's first scripted sitcom, "Working Class."
The "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant" star is joining previously announced lead Melissa Peterman in the series about a blue-collar single mom who moves her family to a well-to-do suburb. Asner plays her misanthropic neighbor. The show will premiere in January.
The move marks the 80-year-old actor's first regular series commitment since NBC's short-lived "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in 2006. He also was recently cast as Warren Buffett in HBO's TV movie "Too Big to Fail."
Watch Comedy Online

Young voters pose skeptical questions to Obama - Magic

* Obama on end of skeptical questions
* Hopes for greater cooperation with Republicans
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama
faced some skeptical questions from young people and defended
his policies, from job creation to immigration, on Thursday in
an effort to rev up Democratic voter enthusiasm for the Nov. 2
midterm elections.
Obama appeared at a live television event in his latest
attempt to reach young people and recapture some of the magic
from his 2008 presidential victory as polls show the Democrats
trailing in the congressional vote.
One man peppered Obama with questions about his economic
policies and asked whether he would deserve re-election in
2012. "Why should we still support you going forward with your
monetary economic policies, and if the economy doesn't improve
over the next two years why should we put you back in?" he
asked.
Obama said he took office when the country was in the
throes of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression
and the $814 billion economic stimulus he pushed through
Congress "no doubt" saved or created 3 million jobs.
"While the economy was contracting when I came into office,
it's now growing," he said. "With respect to the private
sector, we've seen job growth nine consecutive months."

� Continued...
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Film simulates Afghan capture of Prince Harry - Documentary

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A documentary film to be aired on British television this month will examine what might happen if Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, were kidnapped while on military duty in Afghanistan.
"The Taking of Prince Harry," on public broadcaster Channel 4 on October 21, recreates a helicopter crash in the south of Afghanistan and the subsequent capture of the royal, who is third in line to the throne.
Harry served with British forces in Afghanistan in 2008, becoming the first member of the royal family to see action since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982.
Harry, 26, has spoken of his desire to return to Afghanistan, which he was forced to leave prematurely after news of his presence there was leaked.
"The Taking of Prince Harry raises questions about the far-reaching ramifications for Britain should Prince Harry be granted his wish to return to Afghanistan and be captured -- and asks if Britain is prepared for this potential ransom note," Channel 4 said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the broadcaster added that Channel 4 had contacted the royal family about the film, but had received no response.
The concept of the feature-length documentary has already come in for criticism.
"What these people forget is there is still a war going on," said tabloid newspaper The Sun's in-house security expert Andy McNab. "This comes at a bad time and is in bad taste.
"It's highly likely Harry will be going back to Afghanistan now they have spent so much money on his Apache (helicopter) training. But it's not just insensitive to Harry, it's insensitive to all the troops and the mums, dads, wives and kids with lads out there."
Watch Documentary Online

TV script puts gender spin on Three's Company - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox has picked up a script for a comedy series whose rather provocative name won't last beyond the development phase.
Now dubbed the untitled Liz Meriwether project, or "Chicks and Dicks," the script is described as a "reverse 'Three's Company,'"
The show is an ensemble comedy centering on an optimistic Midwestern woman who moves into a New York apartment with three juvenile guys.
Watch Comedy Online

Lebanese fashion designers reign supreme despite crisis - Fashion

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The top Western fashion designers suffered massively when purses around the globe snapped resoundingly shut during the financial crisis.
But Lebanese designers, who hail from a land where Fashion TV is the channel of choice at the swankiest bars, say they have managed to escape the brunt of the crisis because of two things -- affordable haute couture and rich Arab clients.
It's fair to say that Lebanon just doesn't do casual. High heels, form-fitting dresses and salon-styled hair are part of many Lebanese women's daily routine.
Renting a designer dress to wear at a wedding is far more acceptable, than, horror of horrors, opting to purchase a generic high-street gown.
So it's no surprise that the country's top designers became more famous for their elaborate, long, sequined and chiffoned collections than classical ready-to-wear lines. And their clientele keep coming back for more.
In fact Elie Saab, whose slinky, decidedly feminine dresses are a red-carpet favorite for many Hollywood A-listers, said his pret-a-porter lines suffered for a few months in the United States due to the crisis, and not his haute-couture lines.
"Lebanese designers have always been distinctive with their haute-couture, not pret-a-porter. What they present to the world is distinctive," Saab told Reuters.
Saab was speaking just before his first fashion show in Beirut in 18 years, where he showed his Autumn-Winter 2010/2011 ready-to-wear collection to mark the official opening of the opulent Beirut Souks shopping district in the city center.
But even that collection, already shown in Paris, was full of evening dresses frilled with lace, tulle and sequins in deep colours that he said were reminiscent of being in a "night-time forest."
Scarlett Johansson, Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt have already been spotted wearing some of the collection's designs on the red carpet.
"If you go to a French fashion house, (for haute couture), the price is unnatural, it's as if they're saying 'we don't want to sell'. That's why haute couture is successful in Lebanon."
"It's the beauty of the piece ... and the prices are appropriate for women of the world," Saab said.
HAUTE COUTURE LUXE
Abed Mahfouz, whose dresses have been worn by Beyonce and Victoria Beckham, agrees.
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Avatar special edition set for November release - Sci Fi

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Avatar" fans will get new glimpses of Pandora next month, when special-edition discs of the sci-fi film hit store shelves.
The home-video sets arrive November 16 domestically and November 15 abroad, Fox Home Entertainment said Tuesday.
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the James Cameron film will include 45 minutes of footage that wasn't in the original theatrical version and 36 minutes more than included in an August re-release of the winter blockbuster. The special-edition discs also are the first to include bonus special features on the film.
But the movie is presented in 2D on the discs. "Avatar" won't be released in 3D Blu-ray until 2011.
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UPDATE 2-MGM Resorts, Tracinda sell shares, price falls - Casino

* Offering priced at $12.65 per share
* MGM could raise close to $600 million
* Shares down 11.1 percent
(Adds stock downgrade, updates share price)
LOS ANGELES, Oct 13 (Reuters) - MGM Resorts International
(MGM.N) shares fell more than 11 percent on Wednesday as both
the largest casino operator on the Las Vegas Strip and its
biggest shareholder sell stock in the company.
MGM and Tracinda Corp, the investment vehicle of
billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, said late on Tuesday they would
sell up to 47 million and 32 million shares, respectively. The
offer price was set at $12.65 -- 7 percent below Tuesday's
close.
The new shares could raise close to $600 million for MGM --
which is focused on paying down $12.9 billion in debt -- but
will also dilute the holdings of current shareholders by around
10 percent.
The sale will also cut Tracinda's stake to about 30 percent
from the current 37 percent. Kerkorian once owned more than
half of MGM, but the holdings fell after a May 2009 stock
offering.
"This was unexpected, timing is curious, and reason(s)
unclear," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka said in a
research note, referring to the Tracinda sale. "MGM's offering
should bolster liquidity, but we believe some investors would
prefer to see a $1.5 to $2 billion-plus deal that more fully
addresses debt maturities through 2013."
MGM also reported on Wednesday that preliminary
third-quarter results were lackluster, but largely in line with
Wall Street expectations.
Soleil Securities downgraded MGM to "hold" from "buy,"
citing operating results that do not support the notion of an
accelerating recovery on the Las Vegas Strip, where yet another
new resort, the Cosmopolitan, is slated to open in December.
The casino industry has been hit hard by the recession and
global financial crisis, which led to a sharp drop in gambling
revenue and hotel room rates.
Investors in MGM, and other Vegas casino operators
including Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN.O) and Las Vegas Sands Corp
(LVS.N), were buoyed by Nevada's report last week that Strip
casinos won 21 percent more money in August than a year
earlier.
But MGM's write-offs for the quarter -- another $182
million for impairment to the CityCenter, the $8.5 billion
project that opened on the Las Vegas Strip in December, and $46
million for CityCenter condominiums -- were worse than
expected, according to Janet Brashear at Sanford Bernstein.
"Continued write-offs make the financial picture more
uncertain, especially as it relates to CityCenter liability;
however, the pending Borgata sales represents progress in
resolving loose ends," she said in a research note.
MGM said it found a buyer for its 50 percent stake in the
Borgata resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at a price that
would generate around $250 million.
MGM has been looking to sell its stake after New Jersey
regulators questioned the suitability of Pansy Ho, the
company's joint venture partner in China's Macau.
Barclays Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of
Barclays Plc (BARC.L), is the sole underwriter for MGM's stock
offering.
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Analysis: Crackdown on dissent risks stoking Thai crisis - Radio Stations

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Months after the Thai army forced an end to weeks of anti-government protests, the government says widespread restrictions on dissent are still essential for peace. But the risk is that they end up sparking more unrest.
From high-profile arrests to the shutting down and censoring of thousands of websites, the measures used by authorities to keep a lid on simmering tensions are threatening to worsen the conflict, alienate rivals and discredit the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
"Thailand is in uncharted territory and the government's response to dissent could lead to a bolder display of resistance," Jacob Ramsay, senior Southeast Asia analyst at Control Risks, a strategic consulting firm based in Britain.
"Once authorities start to react to that it has no choice but to do so with more force. It's a vicious cycle."
The tough line on dissent is also a public relations gamble for Abhisit, the seemingly progressive Oxford-educated premier who has to call an election by the end of 2011.
While the curbs will please his backers, they make it harder to convince voters he is serious about national reconciliation and close a social and political divide at the heart of five years of mass anti-government protests and civil unrest.
In the latest case, a director of prominent online newspaper Prachatai was arrested in September after arriving on an overseas flight at Bangkok's main airport over a comment posted two years ago deemed a breach of lese majeste and computer crime laws.
Lese majeste, or insults to the monarchy, are punishable by up to 15 years in prison in largely Buddhist Thailand where many regard King Bhumibol Adulyadej as almost divine. Critics say the military-backed government is using the law to silence opponents.
"It isn't clear where the line is. The law does not guarantee freedom of speech or give us protection," Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the director of the Prachatai website, told Reuters after she was released on bail.
Since a spasm of political violence killed 91 people in April and May, Bangkok and six province remain under emergency rule, which bans political gatherings and gives the government power to impose curfews, censor media and detain suspects without charge.
At least 185 protesters remain in detention and thousands of web-pages have been shut since April on top of over 100,000 blocked since 2007. Dozens of community radio stations and a cable television channel run by the "red shirt" movement were forced off air.
'DEMOCRATIC FACADE'
Recent action against dissidents also raised questions over who is calling the shots -- Abhisit, who has voiced concerns about the use of anti-crown law, for political purposes or the army and its establishment allies.
Political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak said the recent arrest "exposes Thailand's solidifying soft civil-military authoritarianism."
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UBS starts U.S. entertainment sector with neutral bias - Entertainment News

* Sees cable network assets as organic growth opportunity
* Starts Time Warner, Discovery Comm, Viacom with "buy"
* Starts Scripps Networks, Walt Disney with "neutral"
Sept 21 (Reuters) - UBS began coverage of the U.S.
entertainment sector with a neutral bias and said it considers
cable network assets as one of the few organic growth
opportunities in media.
The brokerage started coverage of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N),
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA.O) and Viacom Inc (VIAb.N)
with "buy" ratings.
"Investment in programming has been a driver of growth in
audience share over the past few years, with cable ad growth
significantly outperforming the TV networks," analyst John
Janedis said in a note to clients.
The analyst, who started Scripps Networks Interactive Inc
(SNI.N) and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) with "neutral" ratings,
said technology is making the film business model more
challenging.
"Properly responding to these changes will be a key factor
in maintaining the health of the business model," Janedis
said.
Last week, Credit Suisse said streaming video offerings
from Netflix (NFLX.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google TV will
catch on with consumers eager to cut the cable cord and
downgraded the U.S. entertainment sector to "underweight."
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne
Pallivathuckal)
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UK Lib Dem leader calls for patience on coalition - Celebrities

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg urged party members on Sunday not to panic about a slide in poll ratings after he led them into Britain's first coalition government since World War Two.
Clegg's Lib Dems have seen their support slump since they became junior partners in a Conservative-led administration following the general election in May.
The government will next month announce spending cuts of up to 25 percent in many departments as it seeks to erase a budget deficit running at 11 percent of national output.
Those measures are likely to prove deeply unpopular and some critics say the fresh-faced Clegg, 43, who is deputy prime minister, risks leading the Lib Dems into oblivion.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint. We are condemned to take as a government some very, very difficult decisions on sorting out the public finances," Clegg told BBC television in an interview at the start of his party's annual conference in Liverpool, northwest England.
"You have to hold your nerve and play it long and see the benefits of what we're doing over a period of time," he added.
No one expects the Liberal Democrats to quit the coalition immediately, but the partnership could be jeopardised if they fail to secure cherished electoral reform in a referendum next year or perform poorly in local elections.

TRIDENT TENSIONS
The left-leaning Lib Dems and the centre-right Conservatives were not regarded as natural partners before the general election in May which ended 13 years of Labour rule.
However, they reached a coalition agreement within five days after the Lib Dems signed up to swift spending cuts because of the financial crisis in the neighbouring euro zone.
Tension remains. The Lib Dems argued for alternatives to a planned multi-billion-pound renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent, and are also uneasy with planned school reforms and the construction of new nuclear power plants.
Clegg said the government had to examine Trident in the same way as it assessed other expensive government schemes.
"The two coalition parties don't see entirely eye-to-eye on this," he said. "I don't think people would understand why we would exempt Trident from the same financial pressures when people are having some of their benefits qualified."
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Delhi Games vie with Mohali cricket test for eyeballs - Board Games

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Marksmen Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang will have to jostle for Wednesday's headlines with cricketer Vangipurappu Laxman despite winning India's first gold medal in the Delhi Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.
While the 10m air rifle pair were shooting down the gold at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting range, Laxman was leading India to a thrilling one-wicket test victory over Australia some 265 kilometers away in Mohali.
In a country where industrial productivity takes a beating every time the cricket team walks out to play, the shooters will have to share the column space with the cricketer from Hyderabad.
The clash between cricket and Commonwealth Games was avoidable but Indian cricket bosses rejected the worried organizers' request to reschedule the two-test series.
Olympic champion Bindra was optimistic that his feat would not go unsung and cricket, for once, would take a back seat.
"The Commonwealth Games will definitely dominate coverage," said the babyfaced shooter. "I would like to live under the illusion that this gold will be on the front pages tomorrow."
He could not have asked for tougher competition in attracting Wednesday's headlines than Laxman's heroics.
The stylish cricketer braved back pain to guide India to a dramatic victory in the test which rival captains Ricky Ponting and Mahendra Singh Dhoni rated as one of the best they have played in.
Cricket chiefs also turned down the cash-strapped organizers' request to stump up $22 million and come on board as a lead partner of the Games.
With disappointing turnouts at the Games venues so far, former test cricket Maninder Singh does not see it as a direct clash between cricket and Commonwealth Games.
"I don't think scheduling of the cricket series actually matters," he told Reuters. "I'm not sure how many people would go to the stadium in the next three-four days when there is no cricket match. Let's be honest, cricket will rule the roost.
"I have been swapping channels all day to catch both the Commonwealth Games and the Mohali test and I know there are many who did the same," said the former left-arm spinner.
"The Mohali test was one of the best I have seen and Laxman? ... What a player!"
The second test starts on October 9 in Bangalore, while the Commonwealth Games close on October 14.
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Modern voting, 19th century campaigns in Venezuela - Radio Stations

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's voting system is world class, but campaign excesses by President Hugo Chavez, government and opposition officials are reminiscent of elections in the 19th century, a top electoral official said.
Venezuelans choose a new parliament on Sunday after a tight race that will return the opposition to the National Assembly after they boycotted the last elections in 2005, and could even give them a majority of votes, if not seats.
Vicente Diaz, the most critical voice among the leadership of the National Electoral Council, said participation by all political parties showed a growing confidence among politicians and voters in the reliability of the system on election day.
But he said Chavez had repeatedly crossed the line during the campaign by appearing alongside candidates at presidential events and using speeches broadcast on all television and radio stations to attack opponents.
Some Venezuelans fear delays or confusion over tallying the results from Sunday's elections, given a complicated two-sheet ballot paper and the fact that some candidates will be elected directly while others will be chosen by parties.
But most observers say the final results will be reliable.
"We have an electoral system, from the point of view of procedure, technology, guarantees and audits that is worthy of the 21st century, and we have the campaign control of the 19th century," Diaz told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.
"In the 19th century, candidates competed against the state," Diaz said, sitting below a portrait of Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar riding through a stormy night.
During nearly 12 years in office, Chavez has amassed far-reaching powers, and most branches of the state are openly politicized and appear to work in favor of the president.
Diaz said Chavez had also overused a law under which he can force all broadcasters to transmit his speeches, which are often several hours long. He uses the tool, known as a "cadena," extensively during campaigns.
"The cadenas promote government works and impede the opposition from transmitting its message," Diaz said in his office, where two flatscreen TVs showed the main government and main opposition news channels.
Diaz said he had made six requests for investigations into the president's campaign behavior, and that all of them had been rejected by his peers in the council.
NO THREAT OF BOYCOTT
By ignoring the abuses, Diaz said, the council effectively allowed public figures from both ends of the political spectrum to mix campaigning and official events.
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UBS starts U.S. entertainment sector with neutral bias - Entertainment News

* Sees cable network assets as organic growth opportunity
* Starts Time Warner, Discovery Comm, Viacom with "buy"
* Starts Scripps Networks, Walt Disney with "neutral"
Sept 21 (Reuters) - UBS began coverage of the U.S.
entertainment sector with a neutral bias and said it considers
cable network assets as one of the few organic growth
opportunities in media.
The brokerage started coverage of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N),
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA.O) and Viacom Inc (VIAb.N)
with "buy" ratings.
"Investment in programming has been a driver of growth in
audience share over the past few years, with cable ad growth
significantly outperforming the TV networks," analyst John
Janedis said in a note to clients.
The analyst, who started Scripps Networks Interactive Inc
(SNI.N) and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) with "neutral" ratings,
said technology is making the film business model more
challenging.
"Properly responding to these changes will be a key factor
in maintaining the health of the business model," Janedis
said.
Last week, Credit Suisse said streaming video offerings
from Netflix (NFLX.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google TV will
catch on with consumers eager to cut the cable cord and
downgraded the U.S. entertainment sector to "underweight."
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne
Pallivathuckal)
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