U.K.,,the nation's pubs,..[ 857 ]

How pub quizzes are all the rage

Pux quizzes: everyone wins when know-alls take on know-nothings for fun.

By Adrian Tierney-Jones
Published: 6:55AM BST 09 Apr 2010

There is a beer to suit every taste Photo: CHRISTOPHER JONES

Beer may be the main attraction in the nation's pubs, but pub quizzes are proving an increasing lure – flying in the face of those doom-mongers who warn of communities fragmenting as solitary internet surfers stay at home to work their mouse instead of their memory.

Quiz nights come second only to darts as the most popular activity in British pubs. The Daily Telegraph has played its part with the launch of the Weekend Pub Quiz. This has been a phenomenal success with landlords taking up the challenges set by question master (and ex-Mastermind champion) Gavin Fuller.

Most pub-goers like the idea of a brain-teaser and a pint, even if many of us struggle to answer the question, "What is added to beer to make the cocktail Dog's Nose?" That these events generally raise money for local charities helps the beer slip down more easily.

Greg Mulholland, MP and Chair of the Save The Pub Group at the House of Commons Sports and Social Bar, is keen to press the point. "It is also a good way to raise the profile of the pub. Millions of pounds are raised by pubs for charity: I think that is sometimes forgotten."

Landlady Rachel McDonald at the Bridge Inn, Dulverton, couldn't agree more. "We hold a quiz night every fortnight and it's a great way to raise money for local community projects, while giving people a really enjoyable evening."

Last week, the self-styled World's Biggest Pub Quiz took the concept to a whole new level when hundreds of pubs around the country invited regulars to pick up their pencils in support of the Family Holiday Association, a charity that helps seriously disadvantaged families take a much-needed break. The event raised thousands, revealed that it's gin that is added to beer to make a Dog's Nose and once again underlined the fact that pubs are more than drinking establishments – they are the oil in the social machine that for hundreds of years has been at the heart of British life.

Israel pulls out of US nuclear summit ..[ 865 ]

Israeli PM Netanyahu pulls out of US nuclear summit

Israel has never confirmed or denied that it possesses atomic weapons BBC,., Friday, 9 April 2010 09:03 UK Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a visit to the US where he was to attend a summit on nuclear security, Israeli officials say. Mr Netanyahu made the decision after learning that Egypt and Turkey intended to raise the issue of Israel's presumed nuclear arsenal, the officials said. Mr Obama is due to host dozens of world leaders at the two-day conference, which begins in Washington on Monday. Israel has never confirmed or denied that it possesses atomic weapons. Israel's Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor will take Netanyahu's place in the nuclear summit, Israeli radio said. More than 40 countries are expected at the meeting, which will focus on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to militant groups. Iran's issue According to Israeli officials, Turkey and Egypt are planning to call on Israel to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). "These states intend to exploit the occasion in order to slam Israel," said a senior Israeli source. ANALYSIS Paul Wood BBC News, Jerusalem Mr Netanyahu's decision is on the face of it quite odd. After all, he must have expected some focus on Israel's own nuclear programme at this conference. Indeed, he acknowledged this possibility two days ago when he announced he would attend. He said that since Israel was not a terrorist or a rogue state, he had nothing to fear. Certainly Israel is worried about pressure to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT. That is something which will increasingly become an issue since the Israelis have also announced their intention to build a civilian nuclear power station to deal with a severe electricity shortage. But what about Israel's nuclear weapons? The former US President, Jimmy Carter, who is certainly in a position to know, has said the Israelis have at least 150 warheads. Mr Netanyahu has said his main priority in office is dealing with Iran's supposed intentions to develop both warheads and long range missiles capable of hitting Israel. In these circumstances, Mr Netayayahu thinks it more vital than ever to protect his own weapons programme. "The prime minister expressed his displeasure over these intentions, and he will therefore not be travelling to the summit." Mr Netanyahu has said his main priority is dealing with Iran's supposed intention to develop both warheads and long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel. Along with India, Pakistan and North Korea, Israel is one of just four states that have not signed up to the NPT, which has 189 signatories. Earlier this week, President Obama unveiled the new Nuclear Posture Review - which narrows the circumstances in which the US would use nuclear weapons - outlining his country's long-term strategy of nuclear disarmament. On Thursday, the US president and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a landmark nuclear arms treaty in the Czech capital, Prague. That treaty commits the former Cold War enemies to reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 each - 30% lower than the previous ceiling. The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says the cancellation of Mr Netanyahu's Washington visit comes at a time of frosty relations between the two states. The Israeli premier failed to see eye-to-eye with Mr Obama during his most recent US visit last month on the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, our correspondent adds. Washington criticised the building of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, which prompted the Palestinians to pull out of US-brokered indirect peace talks. There were also reports that one of Mr Netanyahu's confidants called Mr Obama a "disaster" for Israel.

The Nuclear Arsenals[ 864 ]

US and Russian nuclear arsenals

BBCThursday, 8 April 2010 19:11 UK US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a landmark nuclear arms treaty in the Czech capital, Prague on Thursday. The treaty commits the former Cold War enemies to each reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 - 30% lower than the previous ceiling. Here is a breakdown of their respective arsenals. USA RUSSIA Intercontinental ballistic missile Name No. Warheads Name No. Warheads Minuteman* 450 550 SS-18 (Satan) 50 500 SS-19 (Stiletto) 60 360 SS-25 (Sickle) 150 150 SS-27 (Topol)* 71 80 SUBTOTAL 450 550 331 1,990 Submarine-launched ballistic missiles Name No. Warheads Name No. Warheads Trident 288 1,152 SS-N-18 M1 (Stingray) 64 192 SS-N-23* (Skiff & Sineva) 96 384 SUBTOTAL 288 1,152 144 576 Bombers Name No. Warheads Name No. Warheads B52 Stratofortress 44 350 Tu-95 (Bear) 62 682 B-2A Spirit* 16 150 Tu-160 (Blackjack)* 13 156 SUBTOTAL 60 500 75 838 Nonstrategic (short-range) forces Name No. Warheads Name No. Warheads Tomahawk* cruise missile 325 100 53T6 (Gazelle) 68 68 B61 bombs 400 SA-10 (Grumble)* 1,900 630 Bombers/fighters 524 650 Subs/Ships/Air 700 SUBTOTAL 325 500 1,492 2,000 TOTAL 1,123 2,702 2,042 4,600 Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Note: Names in brackets are those used by Nato. Those names with an "*" next to them are pictured. Photo Credits: Getty, AFP, Airteamimages.com , GlobalSecurity.Org

Exchange Rates...[ 863 ]

US Dollar to Euro Currency Exchange Rate

Past Trend Present Value & Future Projection

Current ECxchange Rates
April 08, 2010 (Close of Day)
Yen (per USD)	93.38
Euro (USD per)	1.335
U.K. Pound (USD per)	1.527
Swiss Franc (per USD)	1.073
Canada Dollar (per USD)	1.003
Mexico Peso (per USD)	12.22

Athenian’ fashion,,autumn/winter 2010...[ 862 ]

Runways to renown

ATHENS NEWS 05/04/2010,,Cordelia Madden Kanellopoulou

Dimitris Dassios

Makis Tselios

Corina Vladescu

Aslanis

Aslanis

THE CASUAL observer could be forgiven for comparing Athens’ fashion scene to the proverbial bus: you wait six months - and then six events come along at once.

Between March 19 and March 28, Athenian fashion followers were treated to an unprecedented array of catwalk displays, clothing bazaars, fashion presentations and even the opening of a costume exhibition in the capital.

Fashion fever set in with a temperature-raising cut-price sale of designer clothing from such deities as Marc Jacobs, Phillip Lim and Diane von Furstenberg, from import group Rakas.

It then moved seamlessly into the Athens Xclusive Designers Week, with four evenings of catwalk presentations by international and Greek designers. The next day, March 24, saw Ozon magazine’s 4FashionShake screening, as well as the relaunch of Bettina, a landmark fashion boutique in Kolonaki.

Then, on March 25-28, autumn/winter 2010 wardrobe proposals were paraded on the catwalk during Fashion Week Athens at Technopolis. Meanwhile, the Benaki Museum’s Pireos Street annexe opened its “To Dress” exhibition of clothing from the 18th to 21st centuries, including pieces by Mariano Fortuny, Christian Dior and Jean Desses, as well as works by 32 contemporary Greek designers.

This spring marked five years of Athens’ fashion week (formerly known as Athens Collections and now as Fashion Week Athens), and three years since the first Athens Xclusive Designers Week (AXDW).

Going global

During that period, the capital’s fashion-lovers have enjoyed catwalk displays by world-renowned designers the calibre of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Marithe and Francois Girbaud, and Vivienne Westwood, while Greek designers have been chivvied into an international schedule of promotion and production. As a result, they’ve been encouraged in editing and styling, benefiting from the critique of visiting fashion experts and, in several cases, being picked up by international buyers to embellish the shelves of boutiques from Paris to Tokyo, Milan to New York.

The existence of a fashion week has succeeded in putting Athens on the fashion map, says Andonis Kioukas of Q Productions, which organises Fashion Week Athens.

“Before fashion week, very few designers here - except for Yiorgos Eleftheriades, who has been doing this for the last 18 years - had a presence abroad, and many of them were even unknown here in Greece.”

Not any more.

“There are at least five designers who wouldn’t have existed - or at least not as they are now - were it not for fashion week, and I include myself,” designer Christos Costarellos, former president of the Hellenic Fashion Designers’ Association (HFD), told the Athens News. “Before Athens fashion week’s launch in 2005, I was mainly selling wedding dresses and perhaps two or three pieces from each collection.”

Networking

Through fashion week, though, he’s met influential buyers. “Last year, I was represented in 19 shops globally,” Costarellos said. “This year that number has risen to 25 shops. Now, my clothes hang next to Valentino’s. Despite the crisis, it’s been my most successful season, in terms of sales, so far.”

Under its banner of “Exporting Greek Fashion Globally”, and the support of the tourism ministry, Athens Xclusive Designers Week also strives to establish positive contacts between local designers and international buyers.

“Our aim is the extroversion of Greek fashion - we are interested in Greek designers who already work abroad as well as Greek designers who could do so,” AXDW organiser Tonia Fouseki said. “Each season we are stronger, we have a larger presence of Greek and international buyers.”

AXDW is linked with fashion weeks in other cities such as Moscow, Miami, Monaco and Nicosia, offering Greek designers more opportunities to show their collections abroad, Fouseki added.

Fashion Week Athens had previously focused on French-based business, but this season 33 reporters and buyers from Eastern Europe were invited. The finance ministry, under the auspices of which the event took place, has promised to cover these visitors’ costs.

Approving of the initiative, designer Angelos Bratis pointed out that the current financial climate calls for energy and ideas.

“We have to change and adapt,” Bratis said. “For example, my collections usually feature lots of dresses, but this season I focused on jackets, which are more wearable. The hope is that, despite the difficulties, shops will place orders. We have to work harder to show them something that they cannot resist: to overcome the crisis of desire.”

Split at the seams

The sheer number of events taking place in Athens simultaneously underlined the increasing division of the local fashion scene. Quite apart from the semi-rivalry between Fashion Week Athens and AXDW (they often coincide, and no designer shows at both), the HFD has split off from Fashion Week Athens - an event that was formerly the association members’ showcase for their work, while some designers are even quitting the HFD.

“Greek fashion is being held back by lack of institution, a lack of interest in what’s happening beyond the borders, but most of all egotism among the designers themselves,” said fashion blogger, designer and artist Filep Motwary, who, with his design partner Maria Mastori, took part at both the Ozon event and Fashion Week Athens with a film of their collection called Sarka: 23 July 1677.

“The really interesting fashion scene is underground now,” Motwary said. “It is a scene set by people who are riding their own horses by choice.”

Motwary and Mastori left the HFD in 2009. Motwary said he lost faith in the association because there were “too many voices”. Costarellos, while remaining a member of the HFD, resigned as president earlier this year and did not take part in this season’s Fashion Week Athens.

But other designers are back on schedule. Bratis, who did a party/presentation last season instead of taking part in Fashion Week Athens, is one example. “I felt that there was a gap: my clients wanted to see my clothes being worn, on the catwalk,” he said.

Costarellos hopes that, one day, Fashion Week Athens, Athens Xclusive Designers Week and the association can all be united, along with high-street brands, international designers and the local industry in one dynamic fashion week, pooling sponsorship and state funds.

“It should be easy to combine them, and it would be a much stronger event,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have that philosophy of cooperation.”

Bratis, however, sees it differently.

“To be honest, I like the anarchic situation,” he said. “That’s what Athens is like, each of us protesting about the other. In fact, I’d like to have the fashion shows on the streets or the rooftops - that’s even more Athenian.”