Thursday February 4, 2010

There are five articles below. Please read and post a responsible journalistic headline. Due at the end of class; the official ones will be posted tomorrow.

1. HONG KONG - A feng shui adviser who had an affair with Asia's richest businesswoman before she died lost his bid for her multibillion-dollar estate Tuesday when a Hong Kong court deemed his will a forgery.

The legal battle over the late Nina Wang's fortune has fascinated Hong Kong with its often-bizarre stories of Chinese feng shui rituals and illicit love affairs, offering a rare glimpse into the private quarters of the ultra-rich in this money-obsessed city. Feng shui is the Chinese practice of arranging objects or choosing dates to improve one's fortunes.

Wang died of cancer in April 2007 at age 69. The lawsuit centered on two competing wills — the 2006 will held by feng shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen and 2002 will that left Wang's fortune to Chinachem Charitable Foundation Ltd., a charity set up by the late businesswoman and her husband.

2. Tiger Woods’ troubles had nothing to do with the toppling of his carefully crafted good-guy image — at least, that’s what musician-turned-pop-culture-pundit John Mayer believes.
According to Mayer, it’s all about the obvious. Woods’ sex scandal only became a scandal because he was a married man.

“Tiger Woods' problems come from him being married. The end,” the singer-songwriter explained in an interview with The Independent. “It has nothing to do with control. If Tiger Woods was a single guy, what sort of angle would there be to a text message? If Tiger Woods was single, and he texted a girl and said 'I wanna wear your a-- like a hat', why would that ever hit the news?”

Mayer believes his own single status protects him from legions of tabloid-talking women and similar sex scandals no matter how many naughty texts he sends.

“I can text whatever I want to anybody in the world; I'm not married,” Mayor told the paper. “I write a lot of dirty text messages to girls, and you've never seen any of them. Why? Because if a girl brought a dirty text message from me to the newspapers, they'd say 'I don't have an angle here. Someone wants to wear your a-- like a hat? Big deal. He's 32 years old. He's a single guy. If John Mayer has a wife and sends dirty texts, then we got a story.' ”


3. BEIJING - China has launched a 10-day emergency crackdown on tainted milk products after several were found creeping back onto the market despite a massive scandal that sickened hundreds of thousands of children in 2008.

No one knows how many tainted milk products are still on the market, a member of the country's food safety committee, Chen Junshi, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper Tuesday.

The sweep that started Monday comes after milk products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine were pulled from shelves in Shanghai and the provinces of Shaanxi, Shandong, Liaoning and Hebei, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said. Some had been recalled in the previous scandal and repackaged.



At least six children died and more than 300,000 fell sick in the 2008 scandal, where melamine, normally used in making plastics and fertilizer, was added to watered-down milk to fool inspectors testing for protein and increase profits.

At the time, China promised sweeping changes for the country's food safety.

Thorough crackdown promised
But health concerns peaked again early this year after authorities in Shanghai said they secretly investigated a dairy for nearly a year before announcing it had been producing tainted milk products.

The case was especially troubling because Shanghai Panda Dairy Co. was one of the 22 dairies named by China's product safety authority in the 2008 scandal, with its products having among the highest levels of melamine.

This time, China is again promising a thorough crackdown. "All melamine-tainted milk products will be found and destroyed," Xinhua quoted Health Minister Chen Zhu as saying over the weekend.

Chinese authorities won't be able to get every tainted packet, but it's still a good move, said Victoria Sekitoleko, representative for the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization in Beijing.

"For now, it's best to go in right away and get it off the shelves," she said. "These traders are not about to give up, so officials will have to be vigilant all the time."

In other recent cases, officials in late January said tainted dairy products from three companies were pulled from more than a dozen convenience stores around the southern province of Guizhou. Officials said products recalled during the previous scandal somehow made it back to the market.

Again, one of the companies, Laoting Kaida Refrigeration, was among companies named in the original 2008 scandal.

In December, the general manager of a dairy in northern Shaanxi province and two employees were accused of producing and selling more than 5 tons of tainted milk powder. The deputy head of the regional public security department told Xinhua that none of the powder reached the market.

4. MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Kobe Bryant got the Los Angeles Lakers’ franchise scoring record, but the Memphis Grizzlies spoiled the celebration.

Bryant scored 44 points, passing Jerry West as the Lakers’ career scorer, but it wasn’t enough as the Grizzlies got 22 points and 17 rebounds from Zach Randolph to defeat the Lakers 95-93 on Monday night.

“It’s a great honor to say the least (because) of the great players that have played here and the tradition we have,” Bryant said of becoming the Lakers’ career leading scorer. “(West) taught me so much when I was 17 years old. He showed me a lot about the game, the jump shot and spin moves and all the others.

5. When people ask me about the scariest situation I've ever been in, I think back to a taxi ride I took to the Moscow airport in the early '90s. A no-neck guy who looked like a classic Russian mafia thug picked me up in a beat-up old car and drove for an hour down puddle-filled alleys and past derelict apartments buildings. All I could think about were those movie scenes where the good guy is taken down to the riverbank to be shot. Instead, the no-neck pulled up to the airport, shook my hand, and said, "Have a good fly."

Many Americans are wired to assume that taxi drivers in other countries are up to no good. And I've always said that if you're going to get ripped off in Europe, it'll probably be by a cabbie. But I've also found that most drivers are honest. Sure, scams happen. But with the right tips and a watchful eye, you'll get where you want to go without being taken for a ride.

Dishonest cabbies often lurk at airports, train stations, and tourist sights ready to take advantage of tired travelers. At Prague's main train station, cabbies at the "official" stand are a gang of no-good thieves who charge arriving tourists five times the regular rate. If you don't want to worry about getting conned the minute you arrive at a new destination, hop on public transportation. At Prague, opt for the Metro instead of a taxi. Recently, I took a speedy train from Rome's airport to the train station downtown and then caught a bus to my hotel. It took me less than an hour to get from the airport to my hotel and cost 27 euros for the train fare and a handy week-long transit pass. A taxi alone would have cost 40 euros.

If you're at a taxi stand or flagging down a cab, get into the car only if it has a prominent taxi-company logo and telephone number. Be aware that if a taxi is called for you (for example, by a hotelier or restaurant), the meter often starts running when the phone call is received. Note that there really are variable rates and extra fees. Trips on nights and weekends generally cost more, and there are often surcharges for luggage and airport trips.

In a cab, insist the cabbie use the meter, agree on a price up front, or know the going rate. If you have Internet access, the Web site www.worldtaximeter.com can provide estimated taxi fares for larger cities. Or you can ask your hotelier when you book your room roughly how much the ride should cost from the airport.
Dominic Bonuccelli
London's black cabs take you through a scenic urban landscape you'd miss if you relied on the underground Tube.

A common trick is for cabbies to select the pricier "night and weekend" rate on their meter — even if it's a weekday. An explanation of the different rates should be posted somewhere in the cab, often in English. If you're confused about the tariff, ask.

If you suspect a ripoff, make it obvious that you're following the route on your map or conspicuously writing down the cabbie's license information. Shame them into being honest. In many Western European cities, such as London, Paris, and Barcelona, meters are tamper-proof, so there's generally nothing to worry about.

For small groups or families, taking taxis can be cheaper and faster than using public transit. A group of three or four people can often travel less expensively by taxi than by buying individual bus tickets. Taxis are especially reasonable in Mediterranean countries and Eastern Europe. You can go anywhere in downtown Lisbon, Prague, or Athens for about $10. It’s A Snap!

To show appreciation for good drivers, include a tip of 5 percent to 10 percent. If they haul your bags and hustle you to the airport to help you catch your flight, you could toss in a little more. But if you feel like you're being driven in circles, skip the tip. If a driver owes you money, watch carefully as cash passes between hands, and count your change. (Cabbies can be expert at dropping a 50-euro note and picking up a 20.) Better yet, pay with small bills.

Despite their hassles, I love taxis. People often ask how I'm able to find the best beer or tastiest tapas in town. Many of my favorite backdoor tips and most interesting conversations have come from chatting up taxi drivers. In London — my favorite taxi town — drivers tend to know every nook and cranny, since they must pass a rigorous test on London geography to earn their license. Sure it may cost a little more than public transportation. But the nuggets, insights, and people make it worth the ride.