Robocops take over a capital city in Africa – to control traffic

KINSHASHA-

How do you solve the problem of choking road traffic in one of the world’s bustling megacities? You bring in the robot cops.

In Kinshasa, the sprawling capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, two humanoid robots have been installed in high-traffic areas to regulate the flow of vehicles and help drivers and pedestrians traverse the roads safely.

The goal is to ease the traffic woes of commuters and cut the number of road accidents in the center of Kinshasa, a city of some 10 million people.

“It is an innovation about road safety,” tells Vale Manga Wilma, president of the DRC’s National Commission for Road Safety.

“The traffic is a big problem in the rush hours,” he explained. “With the robots’ policemen intelligence, the road safety in Kinshasa becomes very easy.”

Standing eight feet tall, the robot traffic wardens are on duty 24 hours a day, their towering — even scarecrow-like — mass visible from afar. They are powered by solar panels and are equipped with rotating chests and surveillance cameras that record the flow of vehicles.

The humanoids, which are installed on Kinshasa’s busy Triomphal and Lumumba intersections, are built of aluminum and stainless steel to endure the city’s year-round hot climate.

Featuring green and red lights, Kinshasa’s robot cops are designed to merge some of the functions of human officers and traffic lights. The anthropomorphic robots can raise or bend their arms to stop passing vehicles or let others pass, and are also programmed to speak, indicating to pedestrians when they can cross the road

715 new planets discovered by NASA

NASA’s Kepler mission has announced the discovery of 715 new planets. These newly-verified worlds orbit 305 stars, revealing multiple-planet systems much like our own solar system.

Nearly 95 percent of these planets are smaller than Neptune, which is almost four times the size of Earth. This discovery marks a significant increase in the number of known small-sized planets more akin to Earth than previously identified exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system.

“The Kepler team continues to amaze and excite us with their planet hunting results,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “That these new planets and solar systems look somewhat like our own, portends a great future when we have the James Webb Space Telescope in space to characterize the new worlds.”

Since the discovery of the first planets outside our solar system roughly two decades ago, verification has been a laborious planet-by-planet process. Now, scientists have a statistical technique that can be applied to many planets at once when they are found in systems that harbor more than one planet around the same star.

To verify this bounty of planets, a research team co-led by Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., analyzed stars with more than one potential planet, all of which were detected in the first two years of Kepler’s observations — May 2009 to March 2011.

The research team used a technique called verification by multiplicity, which relies in part on the logic of probability. Kepler observes 150,000 stars, and has found a few thousand of those to have planet candidates. If the candidates were randomly distributed among Kepler’s stars, only a handful would have more than one planet candidate. However, Kepler observed hundreds of stars that have multiple planet candidates. Through a careful study of this sample, these 715 new planets were verified.

Origin of lahore.

Origins THE LAHORE ..
The origins of the original Lahore are unspecific. According to carbon dating evidence of archaeological findings in the Lahore Fort, the time period may start as early as 2,000 BCE. Lahore had many names throughout its history. Mohallah Maulian represents one of the two most probable sites of the original Lahore. Sootar Mandi (the yarn market) inside Lohari Gate, had been called Mohallah Chaileywala Hammam located in Machli Hatta Gulzar, just off Chowk Chalka.

As late as 1864, the Lohari Mandi area had been known among the old folk of the Walled City as kacha kot, the mud fort, a name derived from the gradient of the land, the water flow, and the formation of mohallahs, kuchas, and kattrahs. The curve of Koocha Pir Bola merges with Waachowali Bazaar, the Lohari Bazaar merges with Chowk Lohari Mandi, and Chowk Mati merges with Papar Mandi, giving a sense of a mud fort. Along Lohari Bazaar, a short distance from Chowk Chakla, the street opens slightly, revealing a half-buried archway of pucca bricks and mud.

The famous mud fort may have been built by Malik Ayaz, the first Muslim governor of Lahore. Lohari Gate served as the main entrance to Ayaz's mud fort. Chowk Sootar Mandi constituted one important center of Kacha Kot. The lay of the streets also suggest the boundaries. At the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar, the original wall of the Walled City of Lahore stood, on the western side, to the right of Bazaar Hakeeman in Bhati Gate. On the eastern side to the left of Shahalam Gate, curved eastwards and formed a "kidney-shaped" city that depended on the flow of the curving River Ravi. Thus the Lahore of the kacha kot era has continued to expand in three major leaps of expansion, each with an almost 400-year gap. The eras of Raja Jaipal of Akbar and of Maharaja Ranjit Singh mark the high points of that expansion.

The expanding of the mud fort had its origins in three factors:

the way the Ravi has flown and how and when it has been changing its course,
the existence of the Lahore Fort and how power has flowed from the rulers, and
the manner the population and economy of the old original Walled City has changed over time, grown, or even shrunk, depending of invasions, droughts and famines in the countryside.

The story of kacha kot has been determined by those factors. The oldest buildings in the entire Walled City exist in this area, among them the old exquisite mosque known even now as Masjid Kohana Hammam Chaileywala. A huge hammam may have stood during the kacha kot period. The tomb of Pir Bola (Gali) still exists. Little remains of the original mud fort.

Rain-soaked Hollywood primed for Oscars drama

HOLLYWOOD-

Hollywood’s finest finally hit the red carpet Sunday for the most fiercely contested Oscars show in decades — after organizers scrambled to make sure the weather doesn’t rain on the glamorous parade.

After months of drought, a huge storm has hit just in time for the Academy Awards, drenching the famous red carpet where A-listers will strut their stuff as Tinseltown’s annual awards season comes to a climax.

Three movies — harrowing historical drama “12 Years a Slave,” 3D space thriller “Gravity” and 1970s crime caper “American Hustle” — are leading a packed field for the top prizes.

On the acting front, Cate Blanchett is the hot favorite for her turn in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” while Matthew McConaughey is widely tipped to strike Oscars gold for his portrayal of homophobic HIV-positive AIDS activist Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club.”

Jared Leto’s role as Woodroof’s unlikely transgender business partner has put him ahead of the field for best supporting actor, and Lupita Nyong’o could take home a statuette for her big-screen debut in “12 Years a Slave.”

- ‘ Very suspenseful’ -

On the eve of Hollywood’s biggest night, “12 Years a Slave” scored a last-minute boost by winning best feature and best director for Briton Steve McQueen Saturday at the Independent Spirit Awards.

McConaughey, Leto, Blanchett and Nyong’o took home the acting awards, further cementing their status as the ones to beat for the prized Oscar statuettes.

But experts agree that, while some categories may be seemingly settled, all bets are off for the big prize of the night, the best picture Oscar, which will be handed out at the end of the 86th Academy Awards ceremony hosted by US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

“It’s been a very intense season because there’s been so many good films,” industry journal Variety’s awards editor Tim Gray told a foreign news agency in the run-up to the Oscars.

“The very last envelope that’s opened is going to be very suspenseful.”

The 6,000 or so voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cast their ballots over 12 days starting on Valentine’s Day and ending on Tuesday.

But the best picture race is so close that the winner could come down to only a few votes, under the Academy’s preferential voting system. Under the rules, voters rank all nine nominated films.

They are: “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Gravity,” “Her,” “Nebraska,” “Philomena,” “12 Years A Slave” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Those with the least first-place votes are dropped, and their votes given to the next highest-ranked nominees. This continues until one movie has 50 percent plus one vote.

It has been a long awards season — extended by the Sochi Winter Olympics, which bumped the Oscars from February into March.

And it has also been among the most grueling, partly due to the bumper crop of films vying for glory.

Topping nominations are “American Hustle” and Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity,” with 10 nods apiece, followed by
“12 Years a Slave,” a true story of a free black man sold into slavery, with nine.

Cuaron is the frontrunner for the best director prize, and his star Sandra Bullock earned high praise for her work in the spectacular space drama, prompting some to suggest she could cause an upset in the best actress race.

But Australia’s Blanchett remains the firm favorite in that category, despite a strong field also containing Meryl Streep (“August: Osage County”), Judi Dench (“Philomena”) and Amy Adams (“American Hustle”).

- Starry, starry night

The star-studded Oscars broadcast will feature performances by Irish rockers U2, playing their nominated song from “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom,” and a first Oscars turn by veteran Bette Midler.

Sunday night’s show will be preceded by the usual fashion extravaganza on the red carpet, as Tinseltown’s finest parade along Hollywood Boulevard and into the Dolby Theatre.

Organizers hope rain doesn’t affect the parade — they were still scrambling Saturday to get everything in place amid a steady downpour, 24 hours before the curtain goes up.

A see-through tent covers the whole runway, and the carpet itself had a layer of plastic on it, but there was little disguising that rain had got through, with workers constantly mopping up.

12 Years a Slave’ wins big at pre-Oscar Spirit Awards

SANTA MONICA-

“12 Years a Slave” won big at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday, taking home five trophies including best feature and building up momentum on the eve of the Oscars.

The searing historical drama also earned prizes for British director Steve McQueen, supporting actress Lupita Nyong’o, best cinematography and best screenplay.

The film, inspired by the true story of Solomon Northup, recounts the harrowing tale of a black violinist from New York state who was kidnapped and sold into slavery before the US Civil War.
McQueen dedicated his trophy to Northup, whom he said “inspired me to look and try to find the truth.”

Brad Pitt — who starred in and co-produced the film — said he had been touched from the outset by the story of a “man trapped in completely inhumane circumstances and trying to maintain his dignity.”

“This is a film I personally love. To be part of that doesn’t come along that often,” Pitt, who braved the rain to attend the laid-back ceremony in Santa Monica with his partner Angelina Jolie, told reporters.

Nyong’o, who turned 31 on Saturday, hailed the importance of independent film, saying it is “where stuff really happens, stuff that matters.”

“12 Years a Slave” was not the only big winner of the night.

The two stars of AIDS drama “Dallas Buyers Club,” Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, took home acting prizes, further cementing their Oscars frontrunner status ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards.

McConaughey won best male lead for his turn as HIV-positive AIDS activist Ron Woodroof and Leto took home the prize for best supporting actor for playing Woodroof’s transgender business partner.

“There is not a safety net and there is freedom coming with that,” McConaughey said of making the low-budget film.

Leto spoke out in support of anti-government protesters in Venezuela, where clashes have so far left 18 people dead.
“I’m sending good thoughts to the people in Venezuela that are fighting for what they believe. Venezuela is in my heart,” he said.

Cate Blanchett took the prize for best female lead for her role as a disgraced socialite in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine.” She too is a favorite to win an Oscar.

The Australian actress thanked the producers and distributors of “Blue Jasmine” for making a film “led by women.”
“And in fact it can also make money!” she said.

“There is not a safety net and there is freedom coming with that,” McConaughey said of making the low-budget film.
Leto spoke out in support of anti-government protesters in Venezuela, where clashes have so far left 18 people dead.

“I’m sending good thoughts to the people in Venezuela that are fighting for what they believe. Venezuela is in my heart,” he said.

Cate Blanchett took the prize for best female lead for her role as a disgraced socialite in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine.” She too is a favorite to win an Oscar.

The Australian actress thanked the producers and distributors of “Blue Jasmine” for making a film “led by women.”
“And in fact it can also make money!” she said.

Signed copies of Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ auctioned for $64,850

Copies of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto “Mein Kampf” signed by the German Nazi leader sold for $64,850 at an auction on Thursday in Los Angeles, auction house Nate D. Sanders said.

The autographed copies of the two-volume work steeped in anti-Semitism are inscribed as Christmas gifts to Josef Bauer, an officer in the German SS during World War Two and a participant in Hitler’s failed Munich coup in 1923.

Eleven people bid during an online auction that ended on Thursday evening for the signed books, which were estimated to sell for between $20,000 and $25,000, the auctioneer said. The winning bid includes a buyer’s premium, also known as commission fees.

The same Bauer books fetched $25,000 in a sale at Bonhams auction house in London in 2012.

In the two-volume “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle), Hitler lays out his vision for a resurgent Germany after World War One along with his racist National Socialist political ideology.

“Mein Kampf,” unlike Nazi insignia and some Nazi films and songs, is not banned in Germany. Its German copyright has been owned by Bavaria since the end of World War Two, and the southern German state has prohibited sales and printing.

Cuba cigar auction rakes in $1.1 million

HAVANA-

Six luxury humidors fetched more than $1.1 million Saturday at the gala closing the 16th annual Cigar Festival in Havana.
The humidors were packed with Montecristo and other prestigious cigars along with a painting by Cuban artist Zaida del Rio.

As in past years, the $1,102,210 in proceeds went to Cuba’s public health services, said Habanos SA, the exclusive distributor of Cuban cigars in 150 countries.

The festival, which featured tours of tobacco plantations and cigar factories, culminated with a gala dinner and auction that began Friday and lasted into the early morning hours Saturday.

British singer Tom Jones performed at the event, held on the PABEXPO fairgrounds on the outskirts of Havana.

Habanos SA is a joint venture between Cuban state company Cubatabaco and the Franco-Spanish Altadis that was bought in 2008 by the British Imperial Tobacco Group.

As the festival opened on Monday, Habanos SA reported that Cuban cigar sales were up eight percent in 2013, reaching $447 million, with strongest market gains in China.

Tobacco is one of Cuba’s top exports, behind nickel and biotech products.