POWRÓT

that the Somalis dubbed her Arabic for princess. Soon the Virginia socialite was embroiled in hostage negotiations with Somali pirates who had seized a ship carrying clandestine cargo of Russian tanks worth many millions. And Ballarin was put on the Pentagon payroll to provide intelligence about Somalia many armed groups, although it is unclear from Mazzetti account whether she discovered anything very useful. Duane Clarridge, a CIA legend who had played a starring role during the Irancontra scandal, also seized an opportunity in the new world of governmentsponsored private intelligence collection. In 2009, the 77yearold Clarridge, long retired and dismissive of the CIA as riskaverse, was running his own private spying operation along the AfghanPakistani border. He hatched a plan to dig up evidence that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was a heroin addict, a rumor that was floating around Kabul. Under the scheme, Clarridge would insert an agent into Karzai palace to collect his beard trimmings and then would run drug tests on them.

The payout by insurers is a fraction of the total economic loss Japan has suffered, and will suffer, because not everything is insured. Generally speaking, the payments by insurers will be spread out across many companies in the industry. The modeling firm Eqecat estimated between $12 billion and $25 billion in losses. AIR Worldwide estimated between $15 billion and $35 billion. Eqecat also estimated that total economic losses will be more than $100 billion. Ongoing damage from explosions and leaking radiation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant are covered by a reinsurance risk pool that is capped at $365 million and spread among many companies, according to financial analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It's too early to say how much each insurer will likely pay in damaged property, liability and other expenses that the companies cover. With the total losses so high, it's reinsurers who will pay the most. Reinsurers underwrite insurance companies providing insurance to insurers. "As experienced with other recent earthquakes.

It used to be that designers showed clothes at Fashion Week to court the influential few, mainly the buyers and fashion editors who determined what styles would be hot in retail stores a season away. But now they are starting to sidestep the middleman. Web technology, and a desire to entice luxury shoppers who are suddenly spending again, are spurring designers to fling open the tent flaps to their runway shows and appeal directly to shoppers. In this fall's women's runway shows, which started Thursday with New York Fashion Week and continue throughout the next month in London, Paris and Milan, shoppers at their keyboards will have a frontrow seat. Gucci will allow anyone to sign up to watch its show online, and will let viewers share live Webcam videos as though they were playing with YouTube. Alexander Wang is projecting video of its show on a "moving billboard" in Manhattan, and Betsey Johnson is showing live Web versions of the show and the backstage frenzy before it. And in the most aggressive outreach, Burberry, the British design house, will not only stream its women's runway show live from London.

it will take significant time for companies to estimate potential losses from the Japanese earthquake, and we expect that exposure will vary widely among reinsurers," financial analysts for Keefe, Bruyette Woods Inc. said in a note Wednesday. Larry Greenberg, an analyst with Langen McAlenney in Hartford, said his firm is inclined to believe that ultimate insured losses will be at the high end of AIR's estimates. "We believe that similar to postKatrina, the rating agencies could have a major impact on the marketplace as they reevaluate capital requirements," Greenberg said in his analyst's note Tuesday. MetLife Inc. bought American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) last year from American International Group Inc. The foreign lifeinsurance company relies on customers in Japan for a large part of its revenue, though it's not clear to what degree the disasters will disrupt that business or for how long. The Hartford Financial Services Group doesn't expect to incur claims from the earthquake and tsunami because the company doesn't cover property and casualty in Japan.

Just last week, Saks Inc. announced plans to become the first foreign luxury department store in China, featuring prestige products like those in Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the United States. fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, whose first China store opened here in 2002, now has 40 stores in 23 Chinese cities and plans more. Immediately after launching this year's spring line in New York, Hilfiger flew to Shanghai to showcase the new fashions. "Just in the past couple of years, during the fashion season, you see more shows than in New York!" says Tito Tan, who used to run an eventmanagement company in Shanghai. "But it's not just product launches; it's relaunches, or to let people know a store is open, or because a CEO is in town. Here, if Armani does a fashion show, Gucci has to do one. They'll spend $1 million and invite 1,000 people." Five years ago, buyers from mainland China represented just 1 percent of world sales of luxury handbags and other accessories. Now, the Chinese are the thirdlargest consumers of luxury goods, accounting for more than 12 percent of global sales, according to a study by Goldman Sachs.

Mark Weber brings a breadth of brand development and operational skills that will be invaluable to DKI as it focuses on growing its sales and profitability." Donna Karan, DKI's Founder and Chief Creative Director, said, "We have built the Donna Karan International brand, designed by a woman who understands women and her families' needs, from day to night, inspired by the city and its energy, through fashion that embraces function and fantasy. With the support of LVMH and the benefit of Mark Weber's experience, I believe we can take DKI to the next level of growth and success as a fashion leader around the world." Mr. Weber said, "The Donna Karan brand is a leader in American fashion, and the opportunity to put my experience to use at DKI is enormously exciting. I look forward to working with Donna, an icon of the American fashion industry, and the whole DKI team. market." At DKI, Mr. Weber succeeds Jeffry Aronsson, who has been President CEO since November 2003. Antonio Belloni, LVMH Group Managing Director, said, "We thank Jeffry for his dedication and contributions to the Donna Karan brand and wish him success in his future endeavors."

Technology is the enabler, said Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer at Burberry. "This gives them an opportunity to feel that energy and feel the attitude of what you're working on. I find it incredibly liberating." In the last few years, fashion has gradually opened itself up to ordinary shoppers. Bloggers have sidled into shows alongside fashion editors, the TV show "Project Runway" has made design seem doable, and Fashion's Night Out has brought designers into stores to meet shoppers. But never before have Fashion Week designers so aggressively appealed directly to consumers with their shows, in large part because technology makes it so easy but also because economic conditions make this round of runway shows so important. The luxury shoppers that Fashion Week designers go after all but disappeared during the recession, not only because rich consumers' investments plummeted but also because it was unseemly to buy expensive items in a sober time. Now, though, they appear to be buying again. Herms International said last month that its profit rose 55.2 percent in the first half compared with a year earlier.

I was aghast at it, these were strong words of criticism from Raymond Zhou, a known film critic. Though Raymond reviews movies for China Daily, an important English newspaper for the CPC, he reviewed TinyTimes for Beijing News as he thought his criticism could be viewed as anticapitalist drivel. believe [Guo] is a superman who can decipher many types of delight and sorrow, he wrote on Weibo, China Twitterlike microblog service. But for many, it was just a movie. Not a very good one, maybe; but maybe a source of temporary distraction.and the nightmare played out on Tuesday night Give the NCAA credit for trying to spice up its dreaded playin game, which had been painfully insignificant since its inception in 2001. But what we found out last night is that answer to making the playin game relevant isn more of them. If you UAB, which lost to Clemson, 7052, in last night inaugural Four, do you really feel like you played in the NCAA tournament? More likely, when the Blazers watch the beginning of the real tournament Thursday, it will seem like an entirely different event.

who was born in a log cabin or was raised in one usually ended up winning the electoral race. Examples of United States Presidents who were born in log cabins are Andrew Johnson, James Polk, James Buchanan, and James Garfield. And perhaps the most famous of them all is Abraham Lincoln who was born in a cabin in rural Kentucky and raised in a similar type of home in Illinois. Much celebrated is his victory that he has toys named after him, the Lincoln logs, made up of various sized notched rods which could be fitted together and assembled to form miniature structures.and Rare Whiskeytown The irrepressible Jenny Lewis sparkles again on Rilo Kiley's latest offering, Under The Blacklight. I enjoyed her previous collaboration Ben Gibbard on the Postal Service recording and her excellent solo album with the Watson Twins. But this is my first Rilo Kiley album and it has been getting a lot of play. It is defiantly on of my top 5 albums of the year. I don't think there's a weak song on the album, but my favorite tracks are "15," "Silver Lining," "Under The Blacklight," and "Give A Little Love."

and Marketing Duties at Two Centers INDIANAPOLIS, June 24 /PRNewswireFirstCall/ Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG), the country's largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, announced today that it will assume leasing, management, and marketing duties of two highquality shopping centers, Galleria Dallas and Novi Town Center in Novi, Michigan. Simon will commence these roles at the two properties on August 1. "We are pleased to take on the property management functions of these highquality assets at the request of the institutional owner," said Rick Sokolov, Simon's President and Chief Operating Officer. Galleria Dallas has been a Metroplex landmark since its debut in 1982. Two hundred stores and over 1,300,000 square feet of total gross leasable area entice residents and visitors alike. Galleria Dallas is anc

Nestl's star brand risks facing the same dilemma as a pharmaceutical group's blockbuster drug. The Swiss company will lose the patent on its precious Nespresso coffee capsules in 2012. By then, it hopes to have developed such a cult for its coffee and boutiques that the patent expiry will make little difference to its continued success as a luxury brand. "What else?" as Mr Clooney would say.and a Merc would be nice too Neither of us are rich or poor, just a hardworking couple that shares a mutual goal in life. It's an exciting time for both of us because we're embarking on a new stage in our life. We're making a commitment to be together till death do us part. And we plan to share that life doing the things that make both of us happy. So it disturbs me that there are people who don't put themselves out there for love, but money. Even sadder is that they pretend to be someone that they are not to achieve it. How long can you live a lie? How long can you be a slave to money? Will it soothe your soul when you are on your death bed? Or will you die wishing you had chased true love.

They missed Egypt. They missed Libya. national security interests, but balanced against this is the fact that these forces operate behind a screen of secrecy that makes them far less accountable than the conventional military is to Congress and the American public. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned a century ago, is the best disinfectant. Brennan, the new director of the CIA, who oversaw the drone program during his fouryear tenure at the White House as President Obama top counterterrorism adviser, can draw on his many decades of intelligence experience to help reinforce the CIA traditional role of learning the secrets of others. For instance, one question the CIA needs to answer is: What precisely is going on in Syria right now? That the kind of intelligence policymakers need as the Obama administration contemplates how to prepare for the country future without Bashar alAssad.and Anita Jimmy Hoffa could be rowing a gondola there, and a sculpture of his cement shoes could grace the piazza. Maybe a replica of the Rambler and a lifesized statue of "Soapy" Williams, too. Which brings up .

Louis Vuitton handbags Louis Vuitton handbags 6 according to try 6 pertaining to each husband and wife animal print scarf animal print scarves animal sc Animal prints stalk the catwalk at Louis Vuitton "The relation between boredom and camp taste cannot be overestimated," read the notes placed on the seats at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris yesterday. "Camp taste is by its nature possible only in affluent societies, in societies or circles capable of experiencing the psychopathology of affluence." In the end, no intellectual analysis was required. As if the raised black marble catwalk that greeted guests as they filed into the venue wasn't enough to establish that this label's designer, Marc Jacobs, was in mischievous mood, the mirrored backdrop, black and gold beaded curtain and stuffed tigers on pedestals that flanked the models as they came out drove the message home. And the clothes? Audaciously enough, they were just as infused with irony as the set. Tailoring came covered in bouncing gold tassels. Flapper dresses were dripping with buglebeaded fringing that danced in the light when the models walked.

I absolutely love children, almost all of the influences for my own label Hillier come from either children's books, childhood memories of mine or from a playful childlike point of view. 'When I started to think about the design of Pudsey, I wanted to make sure that children would understand it and would be drawn to it.' Erdem added: 'It is a cause I believe in and it was fun to work with Pudsey. He was very pleasant!' Henry Holland agreed saying: 'Pudsey was great to work with and not as much of a diva as I had thought!' WHY DIDN'T THEY design lots of pudseys from recycled/reused materials. Think floral gingham curtains, cath kidstonesque in a nature. Something that was cheerful to look at and pleasing to the eye. Made them and sold them off to joe bloggs. Its terrible someone was paid money to get this idea off the ground. Did anyone think to survey the demographic of people who buy into these designers and luxury brands by comparison to those whom actually donate to charities. And really Henry Holland's offering is just pitiful.

The Hartford did invest in Japanese government bonds, said company spokeswoman Shannon Lapierre. "Given the dynamic situation in Japan, it is too early to quantify the ultimate long term effects of the earthquake and tsunami on the global economy or The Hartford's financial results," Lapierre said.And I'll Scratch Yours Elvis Costello The Roots: Goldfrapp: A bit of concept album from Goldfrapp this time around. A musical shift away from the electropop of the past couple of albumsgorgeous, haunting. Trouble Will Find Me The National: Trouble Will Find Me I like melancholy. He wears custom made flowerpatterned shirts always. This is a book of reminiscences about the fashion industry. "Whose world is more demented? The world of the insane or the world of the insanely fashionable?" If you think you know the answer to that question Doonan might change your mind. Witty, insightful, bitchy and tender. A postsummer 'summerread.' Roland Boer: Lenin, Religion, and Theology (New Approaches to Religion and Power) The latest from Roland Boer exploring the explicit statements made about religion by Lenin, and an exploration of his love of the parables and sayings of Jesus.

Visiting Flamengo, if you are careful enough, you will be able to find a pearl in every walk, apart from its natural beauties. If you love architecture and art, try to settle in this charming neighborhood on your next trip to Rio. But don't forget to bring your camera along! Original photos of these buildings in Flamengo can be found at Belavistas Rio Carnival Blog. AND ARTFUL DEALS BERNARD ARNAULT b (FORTUNE Magazine) FRIENDS SAY Bernard Arnault is deeply in love with luxury goods. The 39year old French entrepreneur disputes that. ''You fall in love for inexplicable reasons,'' he says. ''This is completely rational. Nothing makes money like deluxe brands.'' Arnault is betting the chateau on that notion. By taking control in 1988 of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, he became the world's preeminent purveyor of luxury goods, including Moet Chandon and Dom Perignon Champagnes, Hennessy cognac, Louis Vuitton luggage, Christian Dior and Givenchy clothes and perfumes, and Christian Lacroix fashions. ''This,'' he says triumphantly, ''is one of the world's most beautiful companies.

Being a die hard dog owner I have always invested my life into my dogs, they are well behaved and obey orders even when they dont want to. These dogs of mine have had personal attention from 8 wks old 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. I dont chain up my dogs and I take them everywhere I possibly can. I demand them to be well behaved and they are. I have never had to hit any of my dogs, but using a leash and tummy rub rewards they became great family members. Sadly, so many get a dog and put it on a chain then forget it. These are not pet owners these are slave owners they are amazed when that dog bites or kills anything within its chain area. When you raise a beast you get a beast. It sadden me to see this cat killed by the pit bull. Now, I am not a cat person because I am allergic, but I have seen cats tromp on some dogs in my day. Of course the cat didnt kill it but it did send it running with its tail between its legs. Now, comes the point of responsible pet ownership. Isnt it a LAW that all cats and dogs must be on a leash in anchorage? So, two wrongs by both owners cost one family to suffer the worst loss in the most horrible way.

I've been seeing spots for the past few days. Ever since I decided to write about them they have appeared before my eyes big black ones on a breezy white chiffon shirt worn by one of our interns; little polka dots embedded in a velvet pencil skirt on a femme fataleish train passenger; jaunty white ones on a red scarf tied around the collar of a dapper old man at the bus stop. Spots, it seems, are integral to all of our wardrobes, always natty but, depending on size and colour, as loud or as discreet as we want them to be. A spot can be fun in a jolly, eccentric way, as Moschino, Paul Smith and Boden have all known for some time. Then there is the bold, cultish, pleasingly poncey spot, the Comme des Garons spot, much loved by graphic designers and architects, the understated status symbol of the thinking fashion follower. (To this day I remain annoyed that I never managed to get hold of one of those 2008 Comme des Garons for H spotted cardigans. To this day.) But this month spots have moved into the world of luxury.

and motivating taglines call the audience to take action. What makes a good tagline or slogan? Good taglines are first and foremost differentiating. In a sea of similar offerings, consumers notice brands that stand out, and creative taglines help brands differentiate from competitors. Apple's brand rejuvenation in 1997 is one example: to counter flagging sales and a tarnished image, it launched a revolutionary advertising campaign. Its new tagline, "Think Different" was a refreshing spin on IBM's "Think." Rather than trying to compete with the reputation for reliability and trustworthiness of its chief competitor, Apple positioned itself as a dynamic brand with inventive alternatives to the status quo. Meters/bonwe, China's leading casual clothesline brand, uses the line "p8," which roughly translates to "Not walking the conventional road." Mercedes Benz uses "Engineered like no other car in the world." Both taglines work wonders for these companies because they suggest a benefit to consumers who buy their products. Successful taglines not only draw attention.

Instead, the NCAA combined those two ideas and came up with the First Four, which includes four atlarge teams playing for No. 11 or 12 seeds and four automatic qualifiers playing for No. 16 seeds. UNCAsheville, which beat ArkansasLittle Rock, 8177, in overtime in the first game Tuesday, moves on to play Pittsburgh. Wednesday night, TexasSan Antonio and Alabama State will face off for the right to play Ohio State. For those teams, getting a win here before becoming No. 1 seed fodder is a nice experience. But the truth is nobody wants to get sent to Dayton even now that the NCAA is trying to make it seem more like the regular tournament. we first heard that we were going to be in the playin game, some of the guys were kind of . . . we were obviously happy to be in the NCAA tournament, said UNC Asheville guard Matt Dickey, whose 3pointer with 10 seconds left sent the game to overtime. I think we wanted to be in the second round. UAB and the loser of USC and Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday, being here is better than the alternative.

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