Victoria's taxi and Uber drivers are still in the dark about the state's plans to legalise ride sharing services, despite reports detailing specific reforms.

The government will legalise ride-sharing, allow taxi companies to set their own fares and introduce a $1 "fairness fund" across all taxi and ride share services to compensate taxi licence owners, News Corp reports.

However, Transport Minister Jacinta Allan failed to announce or elaborate on any of the government's plans, saying information will come by the end of August.

"We announced some time ago we'd release the details of the framework in August and that's a timeline we intend to meet," she told reporters on Friday in Bendigo.

"I'm not in a position today to be able to comment on various information that's in the media today."

She said the government didn't want to repeat mistakes of other jurisdictions "where changes have been rushed".

Shadow Transport Minister David Hodgett said the government has been blindsided by leaks.

"Clearly this is a leak from cabinet, unplanned from what Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan would have been expecting," Mr Hodgett said on Friday.

Mr Hodgett flagged the $1 "fairness fund" as a concern, worried it will add to the cost of living pressures to passengers.

An Uber spokesman said the company had not be consulted on the detail of the current proposal so far, but trusted it would be and urged for "sensible" reform.

The taxi industry is also unaware of the latest developments.

"We were expecting an announcement in the near future, obviously, but we're not aware of much more than what's in the paper this morning," Victorian Taxi Association chief executive David Samuel told 3AW on Thursday.

Granting taxi companies the right to set their own fares was something the industry had been advocating for some time, he said.

As for compensation to taxi licence owners, Mr Samuel wants the state to cough up $150,000 per plate, which is roughly the current market price.

Alan Fels, the former chairman of consumer watchdog ACCC, chaired an inquiry into the taxi industry shortly before Uber's launch and recommended a "hardship" licence buyback scheme.

He said many taxi licence owners had done "incredibly well" and earned income from the plates for many years.

"What I acknowledge is that recent licence purchasers do suffer hardship as they (could have) paid half a million and now licences are worth $150,000, and falling" he told ABC radio.

Victoria is the fifth state or territory to concede that Uber is here to stay, after NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT moved to regulate ride sharing.

Summary: Victoria will soon legalise ride sharing services such as Uber and change the way taxi companies set fares, it's been reported.


A man remains in hospital with head and facial injuries following a serious assault outside a karaoke bar in Sydney's CBD.

The 23-year-old was knocked to the ground following an argument with a group of men outside the bar on George Street about 3.30am on Friday, police say.

He was reportedly at K Square Karaoke Lounge with a group of four female friends and was waiting outside when he was confronted by another group unknown to him.

The attackers began kicking the 23-year-old after they knocked him down, News Corp reports.

The group fled the scene and was last seen walking north on Sussex Street, police say.

Emergency services treated the man, who suffered head and facial injuries, before he was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to undergo surgery.

Summary: A man has been taken to hospital for treatment of facial injuries after he was assaulted outside a karaoke bar in Sydney.


The war of words sparked by a statewide blackout in South Australia has continued into a second day, with federal Labor labelling the prime minister a fraud on renewable energy.

Malcolm Turnbull is calling for a uniform national renewable energy target, convinced the states are putting energy security at risk through unrealistic and aggressive targets.

Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews accused the prime minister of spinning "ignorant rubbish" about clean energy.

But Mr Turnbull claims the Victorian Labor premier set a political goal of 40 per cent renewables for his state with no road map to reach it.

It's another swipe by the prime minister at state renewable energy goals since a one-in-50-year storm knocked out key electricity infrastructure and triggered a wholesale blackout.

Opposition climate change spokesman Mark Butler said the prime minister's politicisation of the storm exposed him as a fraud on renewable energy.

During this year's election campaign, Mr Turnbull praised South Australia as a "leader in clean energy generation".

Mr Andrews said the prime minister was "peddling ignorant rubbish, lecturing people about things he knows nothing about and conflating an extreme weather event".

"It seems like Tony Abbott is back."

The prime minister had no credibility when he talked about establishing a national renewable energy scheme, he said.

"We are the only jurisdiction in the developed world that had a price on carbon and got rid of it and had a renewable energy target and wound it back."

But Mr Turnbull believes the Victorian premier is using his targets to send a political message.

"We cannot play politics or ideology with energy security," he told reporters in Sydney.

"The time has come, it is a wake-up call for all of the jurisdictions in Australia to settle on a single renewable energy target."

While admitting that the power outage was caused by the storm knocking over important transmission assets, Mr Turnbull continued to link the blackout to renewable energy.

The incident brought to the forefront energy security issues, he insisted

"The reality check that we've had with SA, we've got to make sure you keep the lights on."

Experts say the state's reliance on renewable energy did not cause the blackout which for some lasted into Thursday.

Mr Andrews believes the only way Australia could reach the Commonwealth's renewable energy target of 23.5 per cent by 2020 was through the ambitions of state schemes.

Queensland and South Australia are aiming for 50 per cent and Victoria for 40 per cent, although over longer time frames.

Queensland's acting energy minister Leeanne Enoch said her state was sticking to its target.

"You never know which Malcolm Turnbull you're going to get - are we going to get the renewable champion one day and then we're going to get an almost climate denier the next day?" she said.

Summary: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been accused of knowing nothing about renewable energy after he criticised states for setting unrealistic targets.


Parliament House security is short-staffed on a "frequent basis", a Senate committee has heard.

Department of Parliamentary Services officials say security staff have been "chronically short" since last year, after recruitment was suspended, although numbers were now improving.

"We have since that time struggled to get up to the full complement," department secretary Robert Stefanic told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Monday.

The committee also heard one of the public galleries at Parliament House on occasion had no security guard present during last week's sittings.

However, a senior Senate official noticed the oversight and it was corrected.

Labor senator Penny Wong questioned why millions of dollars were spent setting up a new security point outside the parliament's ministerial entrance, but not enough staff were available to work in such areas.

Summary: A Senate committee has heard concerns about a shortage of security staff at Parliament House.


A 21-year-old man is in hospital after being shot at Nambucca Heads, on the New South Wales North Coast.

Police found the injured man outside a unit block about 12.30am today, with a single gunshot wound to his abdomen.

He was taken to Coffs Harbour Hospital in a stable condition.

Police are looking for two unidentified offenders who reportedly fled the scene in a dark-coloured vehicle.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Summary: Police are hunting two men after a 21-year-old man was shot in the abdomen on NSW's north coast.


People in Adelaide will come face-to-face with the 'ghosts' of Australian soldiers who died fighting in wars across the world.

A group wearing Australian military uniforms from past and current conflicts will parade through the city on Wednesday to encourage reflection ahead of Remembrance Day on Friday.

Each will hold a card with the name and service details of an Australian who died at war.

The soldiers will be portrayed by RSL volunteers and members of Re-enact SA, while the Barossa Light Horse Historical Association will also be promoting the RSL's Poppy Appeal.

"This will truly bring home the sacrifice and the loss suffered through war - and how we must never forget," RSL SA chief executive Julia Langrehr said.

The initiative has been inspired by a similar event in the UK last year, in which people in WWI uniforms stood at train stations and shopping centres to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Summary: People wearing past and present Australian military uniforms will march through Adelaide on Wednesday to remember soldiers lost in conflicts.


The state's new Deputy Premier John Barilaro is being urged to protect regional workers after state-owned electricity distributor Essential Energy was given the green light to slash hundreds of jobs.

Following a key ruling by the Fair Work Commission on Wednesday, the company will now have the power to forcibly cut at least 600 jobs.

The decision also allows for an unlimited number of workers from rural and regional communities to be sacked from July 1, 2018, according to the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).

The ETU said it expects the forced redundancies to start within coming weeks, after its submission that no redundancies occur before the Christmas and New Year period was rejected by the commission.

The ETU and United Services Union, which together represent the majority of Essential Energy workers, have urged the state's new deputy premier to intervene.

"This is our challenge for John Barilaro: show that the National Party has learnt from the Orange by-election, stop towing the Baird government's line, and demand that this publicly-owned company not press ahead with these wholesale job cuts," ETU deputy secretary Dave McKinley said.

"The economic and social impact of such huge job cuts - which will tear hundreds of millions of dollars out of the economies of rural communities - will be untold human suffering in the communities the National Party claims to represent," he said.

Opposition MPs echoed the calls on Thursday, with Opposition leader Luke Foley labelling it Mr Barilaro's "first real test" in the freshly-minted role.

Shooters Fishers and Farmers MLC Robert Borsak and his newly-elected colleague Phil Donato, who won the seat of Orange on a knife-edge this week, meanwhile, urged Mr Barilaro "to stand up against these job cuts from city-centric Liberal party policies".

In its written determination, the Fair Work Commission acknowledged its ruling would have a substantial impact on workers and regional communities.

"Employees located in country towns will find it difficult to obtain alternative work, either of a comparable standard or at all, in their current locations," it said.

"It is likely that many redundant employees will have to relocate themselves and their families in order to obtain alternative employment. This will necessarily have direct personal effects on employees and their family members in having to change their house, community and school."

Comment is being sought from Mr Barilaro, who is travelling to Orange on Thursday.

Mr Barilaro released a statement later on Thursday saying he was concerned about the potential impact on employees across regional NSW.

"I note that no final decision has been made by Essential Energy, however, should the company decide to proceed with changes to its workforce the NSW government will work employees and industry to ensure impacts on the workforce are managed in a sensitive and orderly way," he said in a statement to AAP.

Summary: Deputy Premier John Barilaro is being urged to fight for regional workers following a ruling that allows Essential Energy to cut at least 600 jobs.


Photo: Benefit Show The Ghost Fire / The Shelters

Dec. 8, 8 p.m. to Dec. 9, 1 a.m.

$5 donation; all funds will go to the

for the victims of the Ghost Ship Fire.

Live music by Maga Songbird, Collin Gorman Weiland, Elrond, Denney Joints, Genital Quartz and Asdroid Melt. DJs include Opalescent Toad Jasmine Infiniti Dickwolf

Fri., Dec. 9, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Donations taken at the door

Fifties-Sixties inspired grooves from Shannon and the Clams joined by special guests including HGS, Diesel Dudes and Preening.

A tribute to Chelsea Faith, Amanda Allen and Johnny Igaz

All proceeds go to support their families in this trying time.

Dec. 10, 9 p.m., to Dec. 11, 5 a.m.

List of artists range from Prins Thomas to Dorisburg

A tribute to Chelsea Faith, Amanda Allen and Johnny Igaz

All proceeds go to support their families in this trying time.

Dec. 10, 9 p.m., to Dec. 11, 5 a.m.

Sun., Dec. 11, 8 p.m.

Minimum donation of $20; plus raffle and silent auction

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts Oakland Fire Fund. MOBY (DJ set) with Lights Down Low's Richie Panic & DJ CZ MPHD and special guests.

Sun., Dec. 11, 8 p.m.

Minimum donation of $20; plus raffle and silent auction

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts Oakland Fire Fund. MOBY (DJ

Sat., Dec. 17, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Eli's Mile High Club, Oakland

Sliding scale donation starting at $5; all funds will go to the

for the victims of the Ghost Ship Fire.

Wide array of acts include Zack Bateman and The Coal Minds, Blatherskite, Toxic Shock Syndrome and Georgia Sam. Also, vegan Baked goods for sale from Sonni Marina Echeverria-Corzan, Original art from Jessica Sun Lee, and some spinnin' from DJ Just Delicious!

Mon., Dec. 19, 9 p.m.

$10 to $20; fund-raiser for Oakland fire

Confirmed acts include Dimond Saints (pictured), Gladkill and BOGL, and there will be more!

Mon., Dec. 19, 9 p.m.

$10 to $20; fund-raiser for Oakland fire

Confirmed acts include Dimond Saints (pictured), Gladkill and BOGL, and there will be more!

Dec. 20, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Cease & Desist, San Francisco

Admission free; donation encouraged to benefit for families of Ghost Ship victims

Stand Up Comedy Show hosted by Casey Ley & Kaseem Bentley

Dec. 20, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Cease & Desist, San Francisco

Admission free; donation encouraged to benefit for families of Ghost Ship victims

Stand Up Comedy Show hosted by Casey Ley & Kaseem

Fri., Dec. 16, 8 p.m.

Ashkenaz Music & Dance, Berkeley

This collaboration project between the two Oakland based musical groups Sang Matiz and Gamelan X (pictured) melds Brazilian

and a Western brass section to

Sang Matiz has been fusing world and Afro-Brazilian/Peruvian beats with contemporary western styles for seven years.

Ways to see and support Oakland's vibrant artist community

A fire engulfed a Fruitvale District warehouse known as the Ghost Ship in flames last Friday, destroying an artist's colony that served as a refuge from the area's sky-rocketing rents and a performance space for local artists.

The tragedy left 36 dead. "They were students, artists and musicians," SFGATE reported. "One was the teenage son of an Alameda County sheriff's deputy, one a poet, another a teacher."

Relatives, friends, classmates, co-workers and people all over the Bay Area and beyond are devastated and people are looking for ways to help and show support. Above, we highlight a wide array of fund-raisers donating proceeds to fire victims and their families.

We've also included a smattering of upcoming musical and art shows by artists with Oakland ties—as one thing that has come out of all of this is an awareness of how much we all cherish this community of artists and we need to find ways to appreciate and support them. Viewing their work is a great place to start.

Oakland musician Cody Blanchard of Shannon and the Clams makes this point in a heartfelt message on his band's website, calling on the community to embrace the arts.

"These people have a totally vital role in the life of a city and if you don't care for them, your city will dry up and become hollow and become a husk of a real city, and the vacuum left behind in that husk will be filled with soulless condos and chain retail and bars and phony boutiques, and there will be no real culture left at all and you won't realize it until it's too late to change it," Blanchard writes. "Please please please be careful with your people, cities, find a way to support them,"

Editor's note: the donation information provided in this photo gallery was provided by organizers and has not been verified by SFGATE.

Summary: Fund-raisers, musical performances and art shows where you can show your love and support for the Oakland artist community.


When the first iPhone hit the market in 2007, AT&T offered three service plans. One had 450 voice minutes per month, one had 900 minutes and the third and highest price option had 1,350 minutes – equal to 22.5 hours of chatting. All three plans also included 200 text messages. And all three also offered unlimited data usage. Reflecting the simpler Internet of the time, AT&T explained how you might use that unlimited data allowance in a parenthetical note: "email and web."

In the almost 10 years since, wireless plans have evolved and morphed almost beyond recognition. Monthly limits on voice and texting are long gone. Two-year contracts and subsidized phones are almost gone. And AT&T and other carriers phased out unlimited data plans starting about six years ago.

For most of the years since, mobile industry executives have explained that unlimited plans just don't make economic sense for the carriers, especially as simply surfing the Internet has expanded into all manner of apps, realtime driving directions, streaming music and video, and online games. Carriers, as they explain over and over again, own a limited amount of spectrum, or airwave licenses, thus limiting capacity for customer data usage.

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But slowly unlimited plans have been coming back, and this week they nearly took over the entire scene. Both T-Mobile (tmus) and Sprint (s) introduced new, cheaper-than-ever unlimited data plans. T-Mobile's new plan started at $70 for one line and went up to $160 for four lines. A prior unlimited plan ranged from $95 for an individual customer to $280 for four lines. Sprint went even lower, offering its unlimited plan for $60 to $160. Its old unlimited plan started at $75.

And both carriers said they intended to phase out the remainder of their data-limited plans sooner or later (T-Mobile said it would start next month for new customers, while Sprint wasn't as specific).

While AT&T (t) and Verizon (vz) have both recently rejiggered their complex, convoluted line ups of data-limited plans, the two smaller carriers said their market research showed customers growing increasingly weary–and angry–about having to predict exactly which plan would meet their needs. That's consistent with a 2014 study that estimated U.S. smartphone users were overpaying by $45 billion annually, largely because of the difficulty of picking the correct monthly plan in advance.

As T-Mobile chief operating officer Mike Seivert said on Thursday, it's almost impossible to even predict how much data will be consumed by downloading a standard definition versus a high definition movie. "How absurd is it that in 2016 almost everybody on the mobile Internet is limited, and what they're supposed to do is count up megabytes," he said. "Nobody knows how to count megabytes...it's fraught with confusion and complexity."

Still, by phasing out lower cost plans with limited data allowances, the two carriers seem to be favoring data hogs and family plan subscribers over individuals with more limited needs or available cash flow. T-Mobile noted that some users might want to opt for prepaid service under the MetroPCS brand, where plans start as low as $30 a month.

Analysts offered mixed views about whether Sprint and T-Mobile would be able to maintain the quality of their networks if a crush of users switched to unlimited plans. Sprint, which has the fewest customers and the most unused spectrum among the Big 4 carriers, probably has the most headroom. T-Mobile argues that because its network has been expanding rapidly over the past two years, it has more modern equipment that can handle the load.

To learn about AT&T's regulatory snafu with prior unlimited plans, watch:

Of course, Sprint and T-Mobile also took steps to lower the impact on their networks from the new unlimited plans. T-Mobile said customers on the new plan would get only DVD-quality video unless they paid another $25 per month for HD quality video. And tethering, or using a phone to connect another device like a laptop to the Internet, would be at super slow speeds unless a customer paid $15 for 5 GB of additional data.

Sprint allowed customers on its new plans to tether 5 GB of high speed data for free, but limited the quality not only of streaming video but also streaming music and online game playing.

The moves drew protests and whines from some of the digerati in the media and on Twitter. But, as both carriers pointed out, only a tiny minority of customers use tethering, and few could tell the difference between DVD and high-definition video on the small screen of a phone (T-Mobile said more than 99% of its subscribers had stuck with DVD quality video when given a choice under their prior Binge On program).

The ultimate question may be how Verizon and AT&T, which together serve about two-thirds of the U.S. market, will react. In January, AT&T brought back an unlimited plan at $100 a month but only for subscribers to its DirecTV satellite video service. Verizon has made no moves on unlimited.

Customer defections among the carriers have been at record lows so far this year, perhaps feeding a sense of confidence at the larger carriers. But with a new iPhone expected soon, switching is bound to increase. And the allure of the new unlimited plans may make that seasonal rebound even larger than usual.

If the smaller carriers start grabbing a significant share of customers, maybe even mighty Verizon will be forced to embrace the end of the data bucket.

Summary: Even with some compromises, the new plans will be a great fit for many mobile users.


Euthanasia advocate and former medical doctor Philip Nitschke says members of his right-to-die organisation, Exit International, are being targeted by Australian police.

Nitschke said an 83-year-old woman living in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak had been visited twice by police in two weeks. The woman was first visited by by Australian federal police, who seized the imported euthanasia drug Nembutal.

Nembutal is used both in animals and humans as a sedative, anticonvulsant and anaesthetic. But some people seek the powerful barbiturate online and overseas and illegally import it to assist in suicide. Importing barbiturates without permission is a criminal offence.

Last week, the woman was again visited by police, this time by three detectives from Victoria police, Nitschke said.

Nitschke said the detectives said they were unaware of the visit by AFP officers and that they told the woman they were concerned for her wellbeing.

A spokeswoman for the AFP said police had visited a residence in Victoria on 2 November regarding allegations of the attempted importation of a prohibited substance.

But she said the visit was not in response to any membership or support for any organisation.

“The AFP considers this matter finalised,” she said.

Nitschke said the woman had no plans to take her life but did want the ability to do so should her health deteriorate.

“She contacted me saying she’s feeling harassed and I can understand why,” he said.

He warned that seizures of the drug might lead the elderly to resort to other means to take their own lives.

An AFP spokesman said figures for the number of seizures of Nembutal would come from customs and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. But an immigration spokesman said people detected importing barbiturates illegally were referred to the AFP for any further action after the drugs had been seized.

Details on the number of seizures were not provided.

Last year Nitschke burned his medical registration and ended his career as a doctor so that he would be able to continue running euthanasia workshops, after the Medical Board of Australia determined he could not promote euthanasia while also working as a medical doctor and ordered that doing so would lead to him being deregistered.

Summary: Nitschke says 83-year-old woman ‘feeling harassed’ after being visited twice by police in two weeks


Friday, March 10th 1995, 3:62AM

BY DOUBLING the frequency of "Extras" columns, in which I reprint the best TV "in-jokes" sighted by sharp-eyed Daily News readers, I expected to get caught up on the stacks of incoming mail. Instead, your sightings are coming in twice as quickly, and the best "Extras" seem, somehow, to be twice as clever.

Lots of readers (too many to credit individually, but don't take it personally) pinpointed two recent Extras, both alluding to popular movies from the '70s.

Harold Gould, guest-starring as the Prankster's father on "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," used the same painter disguise, and virtually the same lines, as he had when pulling a similar con as an assistant in the 1973 movie "The Sting." And Michael Richards as Cosmo, in a recent episode of "Seinfeld," got accosted on a New York sidewalk just as Laurence Olivier, as an aging fugitive Nazi, had in the 1976 movie "Marathon Man."

But other Extra Detectives found, in their favorite shows, even more obscure TV references to movies.

Ellen E. Mason of Forest Hills demonstrated a flair, as well as an appetite, for detective work, by catching an allusion in TV's top-rated mystery series. "My favorite Extra of late," she writes, "was a Cairo-set episode of 'Murder She Wrote," in which Finn Carter guest starred as 'Sally Otterburn.' Surely this was a tip of the hat to Angela Lansbury and the character she played in 'Death on the Nile': Salome Otterbourne."

Lori Harrington of Astoria, too, is a "Murder She Wrote" viewer, and she wrote to describe an old but unforgettable Extra she recalled in an episode from years ago. "Angela Lansbury played a dual role: Jessica Fletcher, and her cousin Emma McGill, a vaudeville-type cabaret singer . . .

"Emma sings a song that is a terrific Extra for Angela Lansbury fans: 'Bird in a Gilded Cage' [the actual title is 'The Little Yellow Bird'], as she sang . . . in her film debut in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray.' "

"I caught a great science-fiction Extra on a recent episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,' " writes James Scharnott of Staten Island and he's right.

"The character of Dr. Bashir, DS9's chief medical officer, was in line for a prestigious medical award. He represented the Federation, while other nominees represented their own planets.

"One nominee represented the planet of 'Altair IV,' which any science-fiction movie buff will recognize as the setting . . . of most of the action in the 1956 classic 'Forbidden Planet.' "

"On the March 3, 1995 telecast of 'Picket Fences,' " writes Paul B. Ott of Flushing, "Ray Walston as Judge Henry Bone tells Marlee Matlin (in her role as the dancing bandit) that he has just bought her soul.

"This has to be a reference to Walston's role of Mr. Applegate in the Broadway show and [1958] movie of 'Damn Yankees.' As Mr. Applegate (the Devil), he buys the soul of Joe Hardy."

If the Devil makes you do your own Extras, send them to: Extras, David Bianculli, New York Daily News, 220 E. 42d St., New York, NY 10017.

And even if yours isn't printed, thanks for writing. These are as much fun to read as they must have been to find.

Summary: BY DOUBLING the frequency of "Extras"columns, in which I reprint the best TV "in-jokes"sighted by sharp-eyed Daily News readers, I expected to get caught up on the stacks of incoming mail. Instead, your sightings are coming in twice as quickly, and the best "Extras"seem, somehow, to be twice as clever. Lots of readers (too many to credit individually, but don't take it personally) pinpointed two recent Extras, both alluding to popular


Aug 12th 2011, 17:17 by P.G. | CARACAS

IN VENEZUELA’S acutely polarised atmosphere, name-calling between political rivals is the norm. But no one dishes it out quite like Mario Silva (pictured at left), the presenter of “La Hojilla” (“The Razorblade”)—a nightly talk programme whose mix of far-left rhetoric, obscene innuendo and defamatory accusations has made it President Hugo Chávez’s favourite show of those aired on VTV state television. No blow is too low for Mr Silva when it comes to opponents of the president. In 2007 Norkys Batista, an actress and model, recorded a video clip supporting RCTV, a television station that Mr Chávez was about to shut down. “Remember, Mr President, I also came from below,” she said to the camera, referring to her working-class background. Mr Silva played the clip on La Hojilla and twisted the phrase to imply that Ms Batista’s success was due to sexual favours.

Thanks to Mr Chávez’s backing, Mr Silva has long been perceived as politically untouchable. He belongs to the leadership of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and has close links with the intelligence services, as shown by his frequent use of wiretapped conversations on La Hojilla. The August 4th programme featured an excerpt from a private phone call made by Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, a former state governor who is seeking the opposition candidacy in next year’s presidential election. (After hearing the recording, which could only be procured legally with a court order, Mr Chávez praised Mr Silva’s “creativity”.)

The presenter has also been accused of deflecting criticism with brute force. On July 4th Lorent Saleh, a civil-rights activist whom Mr Silva had nicknamed “Sophia Lorent” and accused on the air of eating while on hunger strike, visited VTV’s offices to demand a right of reply. Mr Saleh says that Mr Silva’s bodyguards beat him and his companions. Mr Silva says the charge is “ridiculous”, but Mr Saleh was photographed with bruises.

On July 14th, however, one of Mr Silva’s favourite targets at last decided to fight back. In July El Nacional, a daily newspaper in Caracas that Mr Silva calls “El Nazional”, published a story saying that when one of the presenter’s armed police bodyguards was murdered, he was accompanying a cook who worked for Mr Silva. Mr Silva said that the cook did not work directly for him but rather for a charitable organisation he sponsors—and that because of this seemingly trivial mistake, Miguel Henrique Otero, the paper’s editor and publisher, was an hijo de la grandísima puta (“son of a whore”). Mr Otero’s 101-year-old mother, María Teresa Castillo, happens to be a widely revered campaigner for democracy, journalist and cultural icon in Venezuela. Mr Otero promptly sued Mr Silva for aggravated libel, which is punishable by up to four years in jail. (Mr Silva’s defence is that in current usage, hijo de puta is a generic putdown that has lost its literal meaning). Mr Otero has also asked Conatel, the broadcasting regulator, to order La Hojilla cleaned up or closed down.

Mr Otero will have no shortage of supporters for his case. Last year VTV’s own workers, whom the ostensibly labour-friendly Mr Silva had accused of corruption after they demanded collective bargaining rights, asked state prosecutors to stop the presenter from defaming them. Both of the show’s other original hosts resigned in disgust at Mr Silva’s behaviour in 2007. One of them, Néstor Francia, accused Mr Silva of running a “para-police” organisation and spying on his colleagues.

Yet taking on a figure so closely tied to the president will not be easy. In March Mr Chávez put Conatel under direct control of the vice-president in order to facilitate “the construction of socialism”. And although a judge has accepted the libel case, it will be delayed for a mandatory period of negotiation between the two sides’ lawyers before it goes to trial. In the meantime, Mr Otero has guaranteed his role as Mr Silva’s on-air punching bag for months to come: in addition to an hijo de puta, he is now a vagabundo (bum) and golpista (coup-plotter).

Since Mr Chávez took office in 1999, it has mainly been his opponents who have waved the banner of freedom of speech. On his watch television and radio stations have been shuttered, journalists imprisoned and free-press activists beaten. Every country struggles to find the proper balance between the media’s right to free expression and its subjects’ right not to be slandered publicly, and few free-speech advocates would support Mr Otero’s demand that Mr Silva be jailed for his comments—a request that is particularly unsettling coming from another journalist. But the contrast between Mr Silva’s unbridled freedom to insult whomever he pleases and the repercussions suffered by Mr Chávez’s legitimate critics in the press suggests that whatever standard for libel Venezuela seeks to establish is not being applied equally across the political spectrum.


You know that correlation frequently made between wisdom and age? And you know how generations of people tend to keep to themselves? If you’re 20-something, you’ll probably spend many of your days with 20-somethings. The same with the 30-, 40-, and 50-something folks. This seems to be the thinking behind the debut of Boomerater, an advice forum for people born during the “Boomer” years, roughly between 1946 and 1964.

The website is fairly plain on its face. Nothing quite jumps out at the user. But no matter. It is the user base and content that will naturally determine the value of the service, and in that sense, it seems a solid start. (With a strong emphasis on start. This here is a fresh launch, and given the target demographic, it’s likely to grow steadily rather than exceedingly quickly.)

Moving past the factor of form, things having to do with function are perhaps best summed up as easy. If you pay Boomerater a visit today, you’ll likely learn the full extent of its technical parameters in no time at all. Really, it is very WYSIWYG, to use the term loosely. Navigate to a section, and you’re shown a list of questions with links to “Ask a … question” entry forms. The only accessories to be seen are lists of products as recommended by Boomerater members and the near-customary roll of Google ads.

Will these few elements be enough to attract a large number of users to the forum? I wouldn’t say it’s set up to hit the big time, but neither can it be passed off as a boorish destination. To be perfectly frank, it’s all about what you make of it. If you use it simply to consume information, rather than make requests or offer guidance to others, the quality of your experience may vary. But if you do take a proactive role, it may well be worth a bookmark and a regular visit. You can call it a bareboned play on LinkedIn Answers, if you’d like, albeit one with a range of topics that have little to do with business (the exceptions being its ‘Career’ and ‘Financial’ discussion pages.)

Summary: Boomerater is an advice forum for people born during the “Boomer” years, roughly between 1946 and 1964, and it looks like a solid start.


If you're a "Mythbusters" fan, you're going to like the new series "Unchained Reactions."

The reality competition show is hosted and judged by the "Mythbusters" guys, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.

In each episode, two teams of people from diverse backgrounds (we're talking artists, rocket scientists, animatronic specialists, engineers and regular old average Joes and Janes) compete to build elaborate chain reaction contraptions.

Savage told Fox411.com that putting together a competition show wasn't something he was initially enthusiastic about.

"The hardest challenge for us was the fact that in general, we don't like competition shows," he said. "We wanted to craft a show that we would be excited about being contestants on."

On the March 18 premiere, a team of Hollywood set carpenters called the Blecha Brothers are pitted against Team Crash Space, electronics experts comprised of hackers, programmers, builders, makers and artists. Savage said another part of the challenge for him as a judge is just plain butting out.

"Everyone on the teams busted ass and worked so hard to make their devices work. Sometimes just looking at the amount of labor involved made me tired," he said. "It was also hard because I'd see inefficient or wonky ways of doing things and I'd want to fix them."

And while pyrotechnics, massive machines, and all manner of flying objects are employed in the teams/ contrpatinos, Savage says not to worry, no engineers or artists were harmed in the making of his show.

"We have available shop supers that make sure nobody goes beyond the bounds," he said. "There's fire, but we have a licensed pyrotechnician who supervises the explosive parts of the show."

"Unchained Reactions" premieres Sunday on Discovery at 10 PM EST.

Summary: Elaborate contraptions and 'Mythbusters' guys star on new competition series


Lindsay Lohan My Brakes Failed!!!

is now telling friends the brakes on her rented Porsche DIDN'T WORK and that's why she slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler ... TMZ has learned.

As TMZ first reported, in the moments following the accident, Lindsay claimed the semi-truck

... and that is what caused the accident. The driver of the truck told TMZ that

and has witnesses to back up his tale.

According to our sources, Lindsay is sticking with the "truck cut me off!!!" story, but with a twist ... she claims she slammed on the brakes ... but nothing. And get this ... somehow Lindsay says she was told the brakes on the rental were replaced two days before the crash.

Lindsay is telling people she feels lucky to be alive, having only suffered cuts and bruises ... no serious injuries.

Considering her driving history, one of these days ... well, let's just say she needs a driver.

Summary: Lindsay Lohan is now telling friends the brakes on her rented Porsche DIDN'T WORK and that's why she slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler ... TMZ…


Minnie Driver visits a T-shirt factory in Bangkok, Thailand

updated 07/24/2014 at 05:00 PM EDT

has had a long-standing dedication to giving back, something that she hopes to pass on to her

"The notions of service and kindness are really, really big in our house," the actress, 44, tells PEOPLE. "They're things that we should all have, whether rich, poor, famous, or not famous. They're qualities that we should all be fostering in ourselves and in our kids."

Driver has been involved with

, which works to find global solutions to poverty, since she was in elementary school, and she recently took a life-changing trip with the organization to Southeast Asia.

"I've been particularly interested in the labor rights of women in developing countries, like Cambodia and Thailand," Driver says. "I worked there and

. I visited factories. I can't tell you about the living conditions of these young women."

star is thankful that she can use her celebrity status to shine a light on such an important cause.

"I'm happy to use whatever attention I can bring to a subject that I now know a lot about and feel really confident supporting," she says. "Your only job, when you recognize that you have a lot, is to teach people that haven't been so lucky how they can make their lives better for themselves. Your job is to, where you can, help."

Summary: "Your job is to, where you can, help," the actress says


Carl Icahn has increased his stake in WebMD (Nasdaq: WBMD) from 9.99% to 11.64%, according to an SEC filing. WebMD recently said that it was no longer for sale, after having reportedly received takeover interest from such firms as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Providence Equity Partners.www.webmd.com Courtagen Life Sciences Inc., a Woburn, Mass.–based provider of proteomic and genomic products to the life sciences market, has acquired Medicinal Genomics Corp., a genomics company with offices in Amsterdam and Massachusetts. No financial terms were disclosed. www.Courtagen.com

Veolia Environnement (Paris: VIE) has hired Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan to manage the sale of its UK-based water business, according to Reuters. The deal could be worth around $1.5 billion, with private equity infrastructure funds expected to be interested.

Evenflo Co., a Miamisburg, Ohio-based maker of juvenile products, has agreed to sell its worldwide feeding business – excluding its Ameda breast pump unit – to Kimberly-Clark de México. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close later this month. Evenflo is a portfolio company of Weston Presidio. www.evenflo.com

Qatar Telecom is looking to purchase a 19% stake in Iraqi telecom operator Asiacell from private equity firm MerchantBridge, according to Reuters. Qatar Telecom already holds a 30% stake in Asiacell, and is being advised by Morgan Stanley.

Summary: Carl Icahn has increased his stake in WebMD (Nasdaq: WBMD) from 9.99% to 11.64%, according to an SEC filing. WebMD recently said that it was no longer for sale, after having reportedly received takeover interest from such firms as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Providence Equity Partners.www.webmd.com Courtagen Life Sciences Inc., a Woburn, Mass.–based provider of proteomic…


Good evening. Bizarre med mysteries that stumped the experts at first. We start with the new tape from the restaurant. Our cameras to catch a screaming fit. A young girl who won't stop eating. Doctors...

Good evening. Bizarre med mysteries that stumped the experts at first. We start with the new tape from the restaurant. Our cameras to catch a screaming fit. A young girl who won't stop eating. Doctors say her mind tells her one thing. She thinks she's starving but she weigh 350 pounds. Why can't she stop eating? Reporter: Tonya Wilkinson, a single mom, is very concerned about her daughter's weight. Let me have this. No it's not going to fill me up if you take a piece away! I'm not letting you touch my food! Reporter: But for 14-year-old Hannah from Phoenix Arizona, this isn't your typical weight problem. She suffers from a mysterious condition. I am hungry. You're hungry? When we get back I can fix lunch for you. No, I want it now. Reporter: Every waking minute of her day is filled with intense hunger. She is starving 24/7. Reporter: Even if she's just eaten. We can have dinner, finish -- I can take her plate away and she'll look at me and say, "Mom, I'm hungry." Reporter: Hannah was born with a rare genetic disorder called prader-willi syndrome, which causes her insatiable appetite and dramatically slows her metabolism. Hannah is gaining weight on only 900 calories a day, less than half of what an average 14 year old needs. She now weighs 350 pounds. The hypothalamus, the part of our brain that controls our hunger, is pretty much shut off. So, they don't know that they're not hungry. Reporter: Do you ever feel full? No. Reporter: Never. No. Reporter: Are you hungry right now? Yes. Reporter: The Wilkinson's lives are ruled by Hannah's hunger. Tonya keeps the kitchen on full lockdown, literally. A padlock on the refrigerator. No food in the cabinets. The pantry door always locked. I was cleaning the kitchen after dinner. We had just had a pot roast. She grabbed a huge piece of that pot roast and shoved it in her mouth. And I turned around and she was choking. I have caught her with the dog food, eating dog food. Reporter: If she were left unrestricted in a room with food -- Uh-huh. Reporter: -- Would she literally eat until she could not eat any more? She would eat herself to death. Reporter: That kind of extreme behavior is not uncommon with those suffering from prader-willi syndrome. Like mirabel Rivera, featured in this documentary. Locked behind this fence for her protection, mirabel throws herself into a frenzy when she can't get to an ice cream truck. Mommy, mommy. Reporter: In a public park she wanders off to a hot dog stand and when she thinks no one is looking starts begging from strangers. Can you buy me a hot dog, please? One. Will you buy me one hot dog, please? Will you buy me one hot dog, please? I am so hungry. Reporter: We saw the same desperation as we watched Hannah's mom try to limit her portion at a nearby restaurant. Hannah, it's a lot honey. No! Mommy didn't realize how big they were. No, this is all I get for the night, and I don't have anything else on this plate. Reporter: If you think you have to be born with the intense desire to eat like Hannah, think again. 12-year-old Alexis Shapiro of cibolo, Texas also suffers from an insatiable appetite. But her affliction is something entirely different. Something she developed when she was nine. Look at the striking difference only a few years earlier. She was only, you know, 52 pounds at nine-years-old. She loved to dance around the living room, put on little shows, make her sister and brother dance with her. I miss you. I love you. Reporter: But in 2011 Alexis was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Soon after surgery her parents noticed an immediate change in their daughter's behavior. She immediately started asking for food. Reporter: Even before she was released from the hospital, Alexis packed on eight pounds. And once they got home, things onlyot worse. When it came to food at the house, it was all that mattered to her. Reporter: That joyful little girl who once danced around their living room was now transforming before their eyes, both physically and emotionally. It turns out Alexis' surgery had altered that part of her brain which regulates appetite. The result? Hypothalamic obesity, giving her strikingly similar symptoms to Hannah. She was 52 pounds at surgery, and then it went up to 75, and 100. She'd wear something twice and then it -- she would outgrow it. Reporter: And though Alexis was eating normal-sized portions, she grew to 203 pounds. There's been a long mourning process, because we lost the old child that we had. Reporter: But could these two girls unlock the secrets of obesity for the rest of us? Dr. Robert Lustig thinks it can. In the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that, when damaged, releases insulin causing an insatiable appetite. Controlling that insulin, not calories, might be solution to fighting obesity. The same thing occurs with garden variety obesity. When we get the insulin down they feel better. They lose weight, and their lives turn around. Reporter: But that's all still in the experimental phase. The shapiros were desperate to stop Alexis' weight gain right away. Once again they turned to surgery, this time to reduce her stomach size. After doing lots and lots of research, I found that some patients have had success with gastric bypass surgery. And I felt like I had hope. Reporter: Since the surgery, Alexis' insatiable appetite has returned to Normal, she is more active and has lost 50 pounds. She could not get down from there a month ago by herself. It's the first time I've never helped her. It's just amazing. The medication, we've been on it for two months, and it seems to be working. Reporter: For Hannah and others born with abnormal chromosomes causing prader-willi, these kinds of surgeries are not an option because they do little to suppress appetite. Heart enlargement, we have high blood pressure. Reporter: Tonya says her only hope now is to get Hannah to a specialized facility in Pittsburgh that offers round the clock monitoring and meal planning. She's been fighting with her insurance company for almost a year for them to cover it, but so far they've refused. The problem still to this day is that people consider obesity to be a behavior. They consider it to be your own fault. They consider it to be a matter of gluttony and sloth. Nothing could be further from the truth. And prader-willi patients are the proof that that is not true. So because insurers still view obesity as a behavior, prader-willis sometimes get swept under the rug. I think the thing that affects me the most is just knowing I -- there is someplace I can get her help, and I can't get her there. And if I don't get help, I will lose her. Reporter: For now, they fight on. Hannah has a competitive spirit. Proudly showing medals she won for swimming at the special olympics, saying she wants to lose enough weight to compete again. A determined team vowing to beat this disease. She's just very, very loving. She's very happy. For her to have this syndrome and for it to be such a hard syndrome to deal with, and to live with, she's a really, really amazing kid. Next, from getting selfie

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Summary: Hannah Wilkinson and Alexis Shapiro suffer from Prader-Willi syndrome, which can cause an insatiable appetite.


If it's digital and it's being transferred illegally across the net, you can bet that Allan Morris will get the blame. He's executive vice-president of Australian software company Sharman Networks, owner of KaZaA - the world's leading file sharing service, and scourge of the record industry.

Both Sharman and KaZaA's users have been getting battered by litigation by the US record industry and now, in return, Sharman is pursuing a counter claim alleging anti-competitive behaviour and unfair business practices.

Against this backdrop you'd imagine that a keynote address to the music industry - at last week's MusicWorks conference in Glasgow - would generate a sour note. But it's not as it seems, according to Morris. They're really all on talking terms.

"We've talked and we continue to talk regularly to the senior executives of the record labels and they've always been very enthusiastic," he insists. "The attorneys and others that drive the litigation are the problem.

"Our counter claim is rather muted and that was deliberately the case. We don't seek a fight but we aren't going to stand by and get beaten-up".

Morris, who runs Sharman's US and European operations, is well aware that KaZaA is being used to illegally distribute copyrighted material. But he claims that Sharman's purchase of KaZaA last year was intended precisely to reverse that trend. "We acquired the application in order to be the most effective distributor of licenced content. What we're offering the record companies is the most powerful way of monetising file sharing."

Morris is referring to Sharman's partnership with Altnet, whose TopSearch technology offers users an alternative to pirated files. Search results in KaZaA prioritise Gold Icon files, which represent high quality files provided by professional content creators such as record companies. Most of these files are digitally rights managed (DRM) and typically offer users a range of choices, from limited free trials to various purchasing options.

Already KaZaA is the number one provider of Microsoft DRM technology, mainly through downloads of computer games and music by emerging artists. What's missing is licensed content from the major record companies.

"It's very interesting to hear all of the emphasis being on the licensed files," says Andrew Yeates, director general of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) - the record industry's trade body in the UK. "But let's be realistic. We all know that these services have far more unlicensed files being transferred than licensed ones at the moment, and that's the issue for us."

Many believe the record industry has only itself to blame for this, having been too slow to come up with a compelling and legal alternative to Napster. With a generation now accustomed to acquiring music for free, the genie may be out of the bottle for good. But Morris is more optimistic.

"The evidence we've seen with independent artists on KaZaA is that when people have the chance to acquire a guaranteed quality, virus protected, endorsed song for a relatively small price, then sufficient people in large numbers will do that."

It's an argument proven by the success of Apple's iTunes Music Store which, unlike KaZaA, has the support of the majors. Despite this, Morris isn't about to ditch KaZaA's peer- to-peer (P2P) technology, which he says is the antithesis of iTunes' centralised, tightly controlled model.

"iTunes is a cool site, but yesterday's technology," says Morris. "P2P networks are much more bandwidth efficient than website delivery and they have a viral quality which fosters the creation of online communities.

Some of these communities have been in the spotlight this week after the Guardian reported on Scotland Yard claims that the scale of P2P traffic in illegal images of children now dwarfs almost any other paedophile network they have encountered.

Morris is surprised by this, pointing to recent contrary evidence from the US Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. They discovered that the availability of illegal pornographic material through websites and chat rooms far exceeds what's available on P2P.

"With responsible P2P operations such as KaZaA, no user is truly anonymous from legitimate law enforcement agencies. So someone has got to be really dumb to distribute paedophile material on KaZaA," claims Morris.

"KaZaA has zero tolerance for child pornography. We readily cooperate with law-enforcement agencies worldwide and are ready to support the British authorities in reducing the problem even further, if they contact us."

"As far as music is concerned, if you look at the way in which it is recommended, people already share files by instant messaging and email, saying 'hey, check this out'. They also use SMS and blogs to spread the word. We're working on how we can offer ways of distribution and promotion that match that. Already KaZaA users can create and share playlists with other users."

With last week's beta release of KaZaA v2.6, Sharman has added features designed to attract users away from illegal downloads. The launch of "KaZaA Kapsules," for instance, enables artists to offer value-added content with music, video, lyrics and promo material wrapped in a single digital package.

But what if, despite these incentives, illegal downloads continue to flourish? Wayne Rosso, chief executive of Madrid-based Optisoft, a competitor to KaZaA, believes the structure of the record industry needs to be turned on its head.

"Record companies need to understand they're not in the business of selling CDs anymore. Their business is the transfer of data between high-speed networks and devices. Ninety nine per cent of downloads from iTunes are still too expensive, particularly when compared with free. We'd like to see the same business model as radio where we'd pay a share of our revenue. But it's up to the rights holders to get their act together. Frankly, that's not our job. We just provide the pipes."

One innovative approach being trialled in the UK at the moment is PlayLouder, the world's first ISP network to licence from music companies the right for its subscribers to operate within a private file sharing network.

Much like a radio station, payments will be paid to MCPS-PRS, the licensing body responsible for collecting royalties on behalf of music publishers and songwriters.

For around £25 per month, the bundled service will comprise broadband internet access and rights to download and stream music owned by supporting labels including Beggars Group, XL Recordings and V2 Music. PlayLouder is hoping some of the majors will be on-board for the launch of the service early next year.

Andy Heath of Beggars Group says: "What we're working on at PlayLouder is the notion of perceptively free at the point of consumption, a bit like radio. Of course, everybody listening to the radio is actually paying for it, but the consumer doesn't feel that they're paying for it."

Morris says it's difficult to predict what form of payments the industry will eventually settle on, but thinks we might end up with a hybrid.

"We'll go through a transition phase, and to get hung up on that phase and the way it works is pointless when we all know we're going to get to the right place in the end. I think we'll look back on this period and say that these discussions were rather quaint."

Summary: As the music industry and the owners of KaZaA square up for a battle over illegal file sharing, Graham Stewart reports on the future of music acquisition.


BayBG has acquired a minority stake in Impacore GmbH, a Munich-based provider of corporate performance ratings. No financial terms were disclosed. www.impacore.com The Blackstone Group is among the bidders for landscaping company Brickman Group Holdings, which is being auctioned off by Leonard Green & Partners for around $1.5 billion, according to Reuters. Others suitors include CVC Capital Partners, KKR and TPG Capital. Barclays and Morgan Stanley are managing the process. www.brickmangroup.com The Blackstone Group has entered the final round of bidding for Ireland’s state gas company, Bord Gáis Eireann, according to the FT.

Clarion Capital Partners has acquired SQAD, a Tarrytown, N.Y.-based provider of media cost forecasting services. No financial terms were disclosed. www.sqad.com

Headland Private Equity has offered to acquire Kreuz Holdings, a listed Singaporean provider of sub-sea services, for approximately $446 million (11.1% premium over average trading price over the past 6 months). www.kreuzsubsea.com

Horizon Communications, an Irvine, Calif.–based provider of telecom infrastructure and contractor services, has secured an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Solis Capital Partners.www.horizon-com.com Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has acquired nearly a 5% stake in semiconductor company Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (Nasdaq: MRVL) and may be considering a leveraged buyout offer, according to Reuters. www.kkr.com

Prospect Brands LLC, a portfolio company of McCarthy Capital, has acquired Duck Head Apparel, a Winder, Ga.-based southern lifestyle apparel brand. No financial terms were disclosed.www.duckhead.com.

Ronnoco Coffee, a St. Louis-based portfolio company of Huron Capital Partners, has acquiredHenderson Coffee Corp., a Muskogee, Okla.-based maker and distributor of coffee and tear products to restaurants, casinos and convenience stores in four states. No financial terms were disclosed.www.ronnoco.com

Sign up for Dan’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

Summary: BayBG has acquired a minority stake in Impacore GmbH, a Munich-based provider of corporate performance ratings. No financial terms were disclosed. www.impacore.com The Blackstone Group is among the bidders for landscaping company Brickman Group Holdings, which is being auctioned off by Leonard Green & Partners for around $1.5 billion, according to Reuters. Others suitors include CVC Capital Partners, KKR and TPG Capital.…


Police in Madrid are searching for about 70 paintings worth an estimated €600,000 (£475,000) after three men walked out of an art gallery with the works as the sun rose last Thursday.

The thieves are thought to have spent two to three hours carrying the paintings out of the Puerta de Alcalá art gallery and propping them against nearby trees before loading them into a van.

The men are believed to have entered by punching a hole in the wall of a neighbouring bar, said Pedro Márquez of the gallery, noting that the bar had been closed for about a year.

“Once the hole was made, one person entered the gallery, disabled the alarm and opened the doors.” From there, he added, “they were able to take out anything they wanted without any problems”.

Márquez said he was working to determine exactly how many paintings were stolen and their exact value. The thieves also made off with a receipt book from the gallery, and he worried they would attempt to pass off sales of the stolen artwork as legitimate.

Further details of the heist came from a security guard who was keeping watch at a nearby construction site.

After spotting the men carrying the paintings on to the street, the security guard stopped them to ask what they were doing. The men said they were from the gallery and were moving the paintings to be displayed somewhere else.

“At this time of night?” the security guard reportedly asked them. The men assured him that an early start was crucial to getting the paintings to their next destination in time.

The theft came as the gallery was preparing to host a solo show by Seville’s Pablo Segarra Chias. Márquez said the stolen works included 13 of Chias’s paintings, as well as work by Eustaquio Segrelles and Juan González Alacreu. “They took all our best work,” said Márquez.

While he had few hopes of recovering the pieces, Márquez said he was planning on posting pictures of the stolen artwork on the gallery’s website to at least prevent its sale on the black market. “This has destroyed us. It’s left us in a really tough situation,” he said. “Forty years of work and they just walked out with it.”

Summary: Theft from Puerta de Alcalá art gallery happened overnight, with perpetrators apparently propping their haul against trees before loading it into a van


Updated JAN 04, 2015 4:53p ET

PHOENIX -- Suns coach Jeff Hornacek warned his team that the 76ers wouldn't forget Phoenix guard Drew Bledsoe's proclamation that his old school, Kentucky, would beat Philadelphia in a playoff series.

It took a halftime reminder, and finally a fourth-quarter spurt, for the Suns to finally put away the NBA's worst team.

Gerald Green and Markieff Morris each scored 21 points and the Suns pulled away for a 112-96 victory Friday night to avoid another bad home loss to a poor Eastern Conference team.

"It just took them a little while," Hornacek said. "They kind of got on themselves at halftime and said, 'OK, let's go.'"

The Suns hit 14 of 32 3-pointers, none bigger than Green's 3 in an 11-2 run to start the fourth as Phoenix snapped a two-game skid.

Tony Wroten scored 28 points for the Sixers, who trailed 80-79 with a minute left in the third quarter. But a poor final period sent them to their 27th loss in 31 games.

"I was very happy with our effort," Sixers coach Brett Brown said.

The Suns completed the season sweep after Bledsoe claimed before the November game that Kentucky would beat the Sixers 4-1 in a playoff series.

Unlike the first game when Bledsoe was knocked on his back by Nerlens Noel 30 seconds in, there were no incidents.

"Every time we play them, probably for the rest of their careers, they're going to be jacked up for that game," Hornacek said.

With the Suns finally in control late, it allowed for an NBA first when Markieff and Marcus Morris played with teammates Goran and Zoran Dragic for the Suns. It was the first time two sets of brothers played for a team at the same time.

Zoran Dragic scored his first NBA points, completing a three-point play off an assist from his brother.

"We had that feeling we had when we played together for the (Slovenian) national team," Goran Dragic said. "It's always nice to have him on the floor and share the jersey."

Outside of Alex Len's career-high six blocks, the Suns played lackluster defense for much of the night to allow the NBA's worst offensive team to stay close.

The Sixers sported their 15th starting lineup combination, with Luc Mbah a Moute back at center after missing two games with a strained left calf and K.J. McDaniels at shooting guard.

It was the second start for the rookie McDaniels, as Brown said he wanted to "try something" after rookie Jakarr Sampson had started the past five games in place of the sick Hollis Thompson.

An energized Mbah a Moute set the tone early with seven points and four rebounds in the first 4 minutes. And the Sixers' easy path to the hoop continued late in the first half when Wroten scored on consecutive drives to help erase a 10-point deficit and put Philadelphia ahead 59-57 at halftime.

The Suns built an 80-68 lead on consecutive alley-oop dunks by Green and Miles Plumlee from feeds by Bledsoe. But the Sixers responded with an 11-0 run.

Two nights after an overtime loss in Oklahoma City, the Suns led by 16 points in the fourth quarter to improve to 8-7 at home and remain eighth in the West.

"We were getting to the basket and we did hit some shots," Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams said. "They made some adjustments in the second half and those adjustments helped them win the game."

76ers: Carter-Williams, who was 3 for 27 from the field in the previous two games, scored 17 points on 8-of-20 shooting. ... Philadelphia's 16 turnovers snapped a streak of 13 games with at least 17. ... The Sixers' 59 first-half points were a season high.

Suns: The Morris twins and Dragic brothers played together for 31 seconds. ... Green has made at least one 3-pointer in 23 straight games.

Sixers director of statistical information Harvey Pollack, the only person who has worked for the NBA since its inception in 1946, was in critical but stable condition after a one-car accident Thursday in Philadelphia. The 92-year-old Pollack suffered numerous injuries and underwent hip surgery Friday.

"I'm surprised he didn't just walk out of the car and brush himself off. He's a stud, an absolute stud," Brown said. "Our thoughts are with him."

Pollack was the scorekeeper for Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.

76ers: Saturday at the Los Angeles Clippers.

Suns: Host Toronto on Sunday.

Summary: Gerald Green and Markieff Morris each scored 21 points, and Phoenix pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia 112-96.


Alexandra Edenborough and Gary Oldman

01/12/2015 AT 02:30 PM EST

and fourth wife Alexandra Edenborough are getting divorced.

The papers were filed by singer-songwriter Edenborough, 36, in Los Angeles on Friday, PEOPLE confirms.

Married on New Year's Eve in 2008, the docs cite "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their split and their date of their separation is listed as "TBD," says Radar.

Furthermore, Edenborough has asked that Oldman pay spousal support and her attorney's fees, and asks that the court not award him spousal support, in turn.

Oldman, 56, married English actress Lesley Manville in 1987, but they split in 1989 not long after the birth of their son, Alfie. He married Uma Thurman in 1990, but they, too, split two years later.

Following a longtime relationship with Italian actress and model Isabella Rossellini which ended in 1997, Oldman married Donya Fiorentino

. The couple had two sons – Gulliver and Charlie – of whom Oldman was later granted sole custody.

Effectively a single father for a few years, Oldman was confident about his fourth marriage as recently as February 2014.

In an interview with the U.K.'s

, Oldman admitted that he was not marriage material in his younger days: "I'm not proud to say that though. But I've had a few goes at it now, so I've probably learned something from the first three," he said. "Practice makes perfect. Isn't that what they say?"

Oldman added: "I'm not proud that this is my fourth marriage. But this is a good one. Hopefully, my last one."

Summary: The papers filed by Alexandra Edenborough cite "irreconcilable differences"


03/11/2015 AT 04:00 PM EDT

In her first interview since the

admits that she wouldn't have made the crack if it were written for her.

In an interview with the

– who said that Zendaya and her dreadlocks look like "she smells like patchouli oil or weed" – should rely on her "great insider gossip" rather than the humor of others.

"I wouldn't have said the joke in the first place. Some dude wrote it for her," said Griffin, 54.

She went on to offer this advice for her

costar: "Don't have anyone write you jokes or even suggest jokes for you on

. You have enough great insider gossip from actually being on the red carpet. That's what fans want to hear the next day. Just talk and be yourself."

Griffin said she couldn't explain why

left the show, though she did say that "sometimes she seemed very upset at the mere seven tapings of

"I can tell you this ... I adore [the Osbourne] family. I've spent the most time with

. She is the real deal. Love her!"

She added, "Kelly came to my house a couple of times when

was in the hospital, and we were consoling each other. I can tell you there was genuine love there. Oh, and of course,

Griffin also offered some fascinating insight into how the E! show is produced. She said she poo-pooed an idea to run a segment called "Whore Score" – and not just because the cutesy rhyme was deemed fun.

"I think we can do better," Griffin said. "Look, God knows my ... how shall I say ... repertoire over all these years on TV and live touring has used some language I wouldn't use today, but people just aren't into that stuff anymore and I get it."

"Name-calling and alliteration with no comedic context is simply the lowest hanging fruit," she said. "If I'm making fun of

, I don't just scream, 'She's fat. G'night everybody.' I do an impression of her hilarious voice, I quote episodes of 'Favorite Things,' I even tell a story of my personal experience about being on her show. I do not say she's a terrible talk show host or actress. I do not say she isn't beautiful. She behaves in a way that my audiences have found amusing for years."

Summary: The newest co-host of Fashion Police has some advice for Giuliana Rancic: "Don't have anyone write your jokes"


04/04/2015 AT 01:25 PM EDT

It's been a rocky few months for

The entertainment anchor endured a devastating

, encountered endless and hurtful

and came under fire for

Now, the beleaguered Rancic is ready for a fresh start, in a new zip code. In August, the E! News host, her

and their 2-year-old son Duke will move full-time from Los Angeles to Chicago.

"Up until now, Duke's been on our schedule," Rancic says. "But he starts school at the end of summer and we want him to have a connection with schoolmates and not be going from city to city."

And a bonus: The Rancics, who have lived part-time in Chicago (Bill's hometown) and commuted back and forth for work and their E! reality show,

, just finished construction on their dream home. "Bill and I both grew up in the suburbs," Rancic says. "We love that sense of community. And I have loved Chicago ever since we started dating nine years ago."

And thankfully for Rancic, her job in front of the camera won't be affected. "I won't be in LA on set as much," she explains. "But there's a lot of work in New York and Chicago too. I don't have to pick one or the other."

Summertime in the city might be the perfect antidote to recent dark times. "I'm really looking forward to the move," says Rancic. "I'm excited!"

Summary: After a turbulent year, the E! News host is laying down roots in the Windy City


Apple CEO Tim Cook most often wears a stainless steel Apple Watch with the white fluoroelastomer band, he told CNBC Friday.

“I love it. I exercise in it and wear it most of the day,” he said as customers flocked around him during a surprise appearance at the Palo Alto, Calif. Apple Store.

Cook added that he has other bands, a fitting addition to the interview given that Apple Store employees have been tasked to sell to match customers’ sartorial preferences. “But I’ve got a couple other bands, too, because I also like to change them out,” he said. “But I’m wearing this one the most, so I’d highly recommend it.”

Cook’s Apple Watch of choice costs $549 to $599, depending on sizing. There’s a less expensive option with an aluminum body for $349-$399. The extra bands, meanwhile, range in price from $49 to $449.

Apple Watch preorders began Friday; the device will start shipping April 24.

For full footage of the interview, click here.

Summary: It's a $549 model with a white band


Radicals are good or bad, depending on what side you are on. My country has a famous radical, a terrorist if you will (ask any American about him, the will call him a "terrorist"). He used the name Pancho Villa. And he fought the fight that is still killing my country right now. Radicals should be proud and true, no matter what anyone in any part of the world may say about them.

I am a practicing Muslim living in America. I am disappointed at the assertion of Abubakr about Jihad. The Messanger of God Almighty did not teach us to attack others. In fact quite the contrary, Jihad means to struggle within. He took the abuse of non-believers for 10 years before he migrated to Madina. He did not pick up arms to fight. The wars were imposed on Him and his people. They never killed innocent civilians why do Muslims have a trouble understanding the word Jihad as it is termed in the history of Holy Quran and Sunna (The way Prophet lived and tought). As far as I know Jihad can not be conducted unless it is authorized by a ruler under the commands of an army and only to defend or protect the oppressed and our faith. No one has so far forced Muslims to change their religion. Why can't we define ourselves with our Islamic practices rather than our anger, frustration and reactionary words. We blame Zionist media for tarnishing our image to the innocent Americans, yet our leadership does not speak responsibly.

I'm Roman Catholic and my version of Christianity had a time when its faithful did terrible things in the name of God. These included torturing and killing people - the Inquisition gained a reputation for doing things like this. I don't believe God actually wanted what happened and that the faithful actually carried out sins in how they practiced their faith. One of the things that happened is that the truth was suppressed. Galileo was a scientist who pointed out that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not the Sun around the Earth. Though his statements managed to spread, the Inquisition for a time imprisoned him because they decided that his ideas went against the right religious understanding. It is quite possible that they would have killed him if he didn't recant his ideas (which where true, as we know today) in front of them. I think that Abu Bashir and people who follow him would probably end up doing terrible things to Muslim versions of Galileo if they had power or control. And in this way I think he would introduce sin through faith.

ABB´s words remind so strongly on what nazi-leaders said, their hatred against all, who did not live like them,look like them, and believe what they did.Not only hatred, but the strong will to extinguish all that are different and by their definition inferior.

The principles which the muslims should follow are told to follow is forgotten. Hatred breeds hatred. Start educating and uniting yourselves .

While it is obvious to any student of world history, modern politics, and world religious diversity that Bashir is sadly misguided and holds onto a simplistic, outdated ideal of governing the human community, what upset me most about this article was the pandering questions posed by Farish Noor. Mr. Noor - if you aspire to be a world citizen, you should be pressing leaders such as Bashir on their ideas. Asking questions like how humans can be expected to live like cows under the militant, repressive, totalitarian regimes he is espousing.

cleric abu bakar bashir is the kind of voice that needs to be heard! i wish that we could him to come to america and speak to these weak minded muslim leaders. muslim leaders here have become so weak that they are telling brothers and sisters to turn in any muslim that they hear talking about jihad or "terrorist acts".

How can a person with views so antiquated become so popular. Bashir is not probably wrong that Muslims need to be strong and show unity, but espousing jihad is like suicide. He is asking us to pick M16s. That is the huge problem, even the weapons for his jihad will have to come from the West. He cites Afghans, who no doubt are a tough people, yet were lavishly funded and armed by US and Saudis, who were actually fighting their own wars against Communism. How are Muslim countries to launch jihad; attack Israel, US and Britain. With Israel they have lost a number of wars, with US and Britain they cannot win and would instead destroy Muslims completely. Democracy in Muslim countries is a immediate need, but of course, it should be implemented by Muslims themselves. Only in a democratic Muslim world can common people progress in science and technology and be able to force their governments to secure the interests of the Muslims. A number of Bakar type people have emerged among the Muslims who take advantage of crimes committed against Muslims to indoctrinate brilliant young people into irrationality, who could instead have become a new generation of enlightened Muslim leaders.

Abu Bakar Bashir has a point, as many Moslems see the way that should be taken to resolve problems in Islamic world. For me, most of the contents of the interview are agreeable, but it's just like presenting conversation between husband and wife to public, which could provoke neighbor(s). It might be hard to understand or to catch what they really meant, especially to those who are not Moslem and living in South-East Asia Region.

All religions preach love, charity to the fellow man, as God commanded, but this lunatic preach bigotry, hate and mass killing.

Abu Bakar Bashir says being radical is not a bad thing. Well, depends what you mean with "radical". Killing dozens of people with bombs like in Bali just because they do have other opinions than you is certainly "a bad thing". Murder has nothing to do with changing things to the better. Abu Bakar Bashir wants to live in a world where everyone carries weapons - I don't. The perfect world for him seems to be Afghanistan under the Taliban - he should have talked to people who were forced to live there. What we need is dialogue between Religions not clerics preaching hate and murder. People like Abu Bakar Bashir are as dangerous as George W Bush.

This is a brilliant article and I totally agree that Muslims will be stronger if they get closer to the real Islam.

"The closest we ever got to an Islamic state was the Taliban government in Afghanistan" - does that mean that even they were not as pure as he wished?

This is a declaration of war. A Muslim crusade with the goal of wiping out all other religions. It is totally unacceptable to any country that has freedom of religion.

If a comparable religious leader in the US, such as Pat Robertson, perhaps, was allowed to speak so freely and at length in the US media, the US enthusiasm for destroying the enemies of Christ would die of embarrassment.

Abu Bakar Bashir states that the poor Afghans defeated the Soviets with the help of God alone. I guess he forgot the help of American Special Forces and American technology. He states that the Muslims would be better off without oil wealth, but does not advocate giving the oil away for free. He states that the Islamic world should shun all Western technology, but calls for Muslims to take up arms, specifically the M-16, an American made weapon.

Dear Dr. Farish Noor,Your interview with Cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is sad to read. At a time when the Islamic world is wrestling with the problem of living in the old or moving forward into the new world, and is thus in much upheaval, voices of reason are needed. Bashir is of the old guard. He is desperately grasping at the old ways and using any means to retain them, such as radical actions and violence. Such voices should be quashed by educated people, like yourself, and Aljazeera. If not, they find their way into the hearts of the common person, and breed hatred. Shame on you for perpetuating this evil. The Islamic world will only know peace when it grasps it from within; killing infidels will do nothing. Until then, you can blame Muslims' problem on whomever you like, but the truth is that we have nobody to blame for our situations than ourselves.Peace be with you,A patient, hopeful world citizen

Things like this only encourage the very crimes many non-Muslims such as myself are attempting to combat: hate attacks against Arabs and Islam in general

I must protest Abu Bakar Bashir referring to the US as God. We are for the most part very nice, pleasant and Godly people but definitely not God. He states that the Afghans defeated the Soviets with the help of God and God only. Since the U.S. financed and furnished arms to the Afghan fighters and we watched them defeat the Soviets on our TV sets, filmed by US camera crews travelling with them.

Did the prophet ever teach forgiveness or respect or just hate for anyone who doesn't think or act like the Cleric? To give the Taliban as a positive example for a way of life is absurd. Did the Cleric forget that it was America that supported the Afghan Muslims against the Soviets? If the Cleric wants to stop using US dollars, then please tell Iran and Hezbollah to stop passing them out in Lebanon. Tell the Palestinian people that the reason why there government can't pay their wages, is because America didn't send the aid that they have been providing for many years. If he wants, I'll ask the USA to stop the $230 million in relief that we are sending to the Lebanese people. I laugh at the very same freedoms that this man is using to brainwash others, is the same ideas he is against. To me the only thing this man teaches is hate and intolerance towards others. We ALL, USA included, need to understand and respect each others way of life. I'm not proud of everything America does, but I am proud of the many good things that America does for the entire world (Muslim's included) every day.

Abu Bakar and his message will bring nothing but death and destruction to Muslims and westerners . He must be jailed to protect the innocent but easily manipulated of all societies...

Summary:
The recent interview published with Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir contained strongly worded opinions and has sparked equally strong comments from Aljazeera readers.

Below is a representative selection of the comments we have received so far. Please continue to send them and


by Aljean Harmetz Hollywood, Aug. 30 - Slithering celluloid serpents seem certain to snake in circuitous circles across the screen of your neighborhood cinema movie theater soon.

There are cycles in horror films and this has been the summer of the wolf. Werewolves bounded and abounded in ''The Howling,'' ''An American Werewolf in London,'' and Larry Cohen's soon to be released ''Full Moon High,'' while real wolves prowled New York in ''Wolfen.''

Snakes, however, were hissing quietly in the corners of a number of movies. In ''Tarzan,'' Bo Derek fought an interminable don't-eat-me struggle with a 17-foot python, while Harrison Ford and Karen Allen shared a pit with 7,000 assorted asps, vipers, cobras, pythons, and boa constrictors in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark.'' And a snake dropped into a bathtub is one of the ugliest moments of the recently opened ''Deadly Blessing.''

By early 1982, the reptiles will have slid into stardom in at least two films. Mr. Cohen - whose 1974 movie about a mutant baby, ''It's Alive,'' grossed $28 million - has written and is currently directing ''Serpent: The Ultimate Thriller.'' The $5 million ''Serpent,'' which stars David Carradine, Michael Moriarty and Candy Clark, has, as its central character, a flying serpent-bird that is the re-embodiment of the ancient Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl, now living in the turret of Manhattan's Chrysler Building, gets righteously angry because it is no longer worshipped and sets out to provide its own human sacrifices.

In Paramount's ''Venom,'' a posh London townhouse is invaded by a black mamba. Supporting the intensely poisonous African tree snake in the $8-million movie are Nicol Williamson, Alan Bates, Sarah Miles and Sterling Hayden. Paramount is trying to decide whether its advertising campaign for ''Venom'' should focus on an enormous mamba or on some murky and undefined menace. ''The bottom line,'' said one Paramount executive, ''is whether snakes hold a fatal fascination for Americans. Are they a turn-on or a turn-off?''

In the case of ''Willard'' in 197l, AIP found that rats were definitely a turn-on. In test advertisements for the movie about a disturbed boy and his 500 rodent friends, no one was intrigued into theaters by a poster of a boy with magical powers. However, an advertisement featuring two furry paws, two sharp incisors, and two burning eyes packed theaters, and the low-budget film grossed nearly $10 million. Paramount intends to preview ''Venom''with two different campaigns in demographically matched theaters in matched cities in order to see how the American public reacts to snakes.

Given Hollywood's penchant for imitation, 1982 may well be the year when moviegoers had better look before they step.

Illustrations: Photo of Bo Derek with python from movie 'Tarzan, the Ape Man'


Lane Kirkland, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., took a big gamble by calling his rank and file to the nation's capital last weekend. But by the time he moved to the podium on the Mall, at least 250,000 had answered the call, and he could speak with the confidence of a winner.

''We are out of step with no one but the cold-hearted, the callous, the avaricious and the indifferent ....,'' he said. ''The winds are changing ... the winter's chill is approaching, and the bloom is fading from false mandates.''

This was the symbolic battleground on which minorities, the poor, draft protesters and other interest groups have repeatedly played out political wars over 20 years. But never before has the popular army been so diverse, so mature and so dominated by middle-class working people.

There were Government clerks and ironworkers, fired air-traffic controllers and schoolteachers. There were also civil rights demonstrators, envi- Out of Liberal Disarray, Economic Anxiety Invites a Coalition ronmentalists, women calling for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. But they were all guests. This was clearly labor's show.

William Bland, a mine worker from Flemington, W. Va., said that cutbacks in the black-lung program had brought him to Washington. A pudgy Connecticut ironworker in a hard hat was more general, shouting: ''What has Reagan done for you?'' Others ridiculed Mrs. Reagan's $5,000 dresses, the President's $1,000 cowboy boots, the $200,000 White House china.

What, aside from an outing, did Solidarity Day accomplish? Probably the most important message lay in the diversity - that so many people of so many backgrounds are upset enough about Mr. Reagan's budgetcutting and his attitude toward labor to travel to Washington to march.

The President may have left town for the weekend, but there's no escaping the fact that many blue-collar people who voted for him are upset - or frightened by economic uncertainty.

This was the first protest of Mr. Reagan's policies to stir wide public interest. In that sense, it presents a special opportunity for Mr. Kirkland. For a quarter century, under his predecessor, George Meany, the labor movement avoided overt political activism. Now, at a time when liberals are still in disarray, still looking for an agenda, labor is showing some muscle.

The new winds to which Mr. Kirkland referred in his Solidarity Day speech remain barely breezes by comparison with the conservative gales blowing across the country. But the coalitions evident on the streets during Solidarity Day may well have put organized labor back in the middle of something.


The 1913 premiere of Stravinsky's ''Rite of Spring'' at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris is firmly enshrined in the mythology of modern music - it was the opening salvo in the 20th century's continuing brushfire war between concertgoers who prefer well-trodden paths and composers who insist on plunging off into the thickets. But a concert that took place at New York's Town Hall on May 15, 1958, presented a more varied and more provocative program for musical revolution than the ''Rite of Spring'' performance, and, according to an observer who was present on both occasions, the 1958 concert caused ''more of a disturbance (in the audience) than anything that happened at the Champs Elysees.''

The 1958 concert was a 25-year retrospective of the music of John Cage, and many of Mr. Cage's most significant contributions to modern music were already in evidence. The development of electronic music for live performance, the mixing of music with theater and other art forms, the courting of the random and the unpredictable, the creation of a species of composition in which the elucidation of a concept or a thought process takes precedence over the actual sounds produced by the performers, the idea that music does not even have to consist of sounds but can be anything that takes place during a fixed duration in time - Mr. Cage had tackled all these practical and conceptual problems by 1958. The fact that so many present-day composers of experimental music are still grappling with them only serves to underscore the astonishing variety of Mr. Cage's pre-1958 compositional output, and its continuing relevance.

In 1959, the record producer and new music enthusiast George Avakian privately issued a recording of Mr. Cage's Town Hall concert as a three-record album in a gray cardboard box, with a booklet of extensive notes and excerpts from Mr. Cage's scores enclosed. The album was never available commercially, but recently the New Music Distribution Service (500 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10012; 925-2121) acquired a number of copies of the album from Mr. Avakian and began distributing them. Because Mr. Cage's music has been recorded and issued in an alarmingly scattershot fashion, ''The 25-Year Restrospective Concert'' is the most complete and useful Cage collection available at present.

Mr. Cage's compositions and pronouncements have aroused so many controversies over the years that the listener approaching this music for the first time may well be surprised by how listenable much of it is. The works about which there is general agreement are the ''Sonatas and Interludes'' for prepared piano, which date from 1946-48 and are considered by some of Mr. Cage's detractors to be practically the only substantial music he has written.

The first 10 of a total of 20 ''Sonatas and Interludes'' were performed at the concert by the pianist for whom they were composed, Maro Ajemian. She has subsequently recorded all 20 for several different companies, and her versions on CRI and Tomato records take advantage of modern advances in recording technology - the 1958 concert was recorded monaurally, since stereo was still in its early, experimental stages. But this listener prefers the 1958 version. Perhaps the music was fresher, and the pianist was able to invest it with a more tangible sense of discovery. It is also possible that the newer versions reproduce the sound of the piano with such fidelity that they make it sound more like a piano and less like what Mr. Cage intended his prepared piano (which had screws, bolts and other objects inserted between many of its strings) to be - ''a percussion ensemble under the control of a single player.''

''Construction in Metal,'' a percussion composition from 1937, toys with a regular pulse and uses an assortment of Western, non-Western, and ''found-object'' instruments to keep its sonorities in a continuing flux. Like much of the recent music of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, it was composed, according to Mr. Cage's notes, ''with the single objective of making the rhythmic structure clear.'' ''The Imaginary Landscape No. 1'' (1939) can be considered the first electronic composition. The ''electronic'' sounds were provided by test recordings of constant frequencies, the kind used by radio stations and in acoustical research. Two performers varied the frequencies by manipulating variable-speed turntables. The music sounds pleasantly quaint now, something like a 1930's movie about space travel. ''Williams Mix,'' an early tape composition from 1952 that used chance techniques to splice together selections from between 500 and 600 sound sources, is more interesting conceptually than as a listening experience.

The ''Concert for Piano and Orchestra'' (1957-58), which takes up the album's sixth side, employed as many unusual sounds and sound effects as Mr. Cage could draw from the instruments of a conventional orchestra. Today, they are familiar sounds, and many of them - the slurs and whinnies from the brass, for example - would have been familiar in 1958 to followers of jazz. But they do not seem to have been very familiar to the audience at Town Hall, and they were combined in a manner that sounded utterly haphazard. Mr. Cage did leave the musicians considerable latitude regarding how to interpret and perform their parts. But it is typical of his approach to music that before he composed this apparently random piece, he put in months of hard work studying the sound-producing capabilities of each instrument in the orchestra with experienced players and incorporating his findings into minutely detailed individual scores. The ''Concert for Piano and Orchestra'' offers a succession of overlapping musical events that the listener mentally recombines into a different totality every time he plays the record. It stands the test of time because, like all the best experimental music, it is the work of a composer who does gallop headlong into the unknown without first making sure he has done his homework.

Illustrations: photo of John Cage


Charles L. Brown, chairman of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, said yesterday that the Bell System would be able to reduce its planned external financing needs by at least $500 million during 1982 because of the weakening economy and the resulting drop in demand for new telecommunications construction.

Speaking to an overflow gathering of the New York Society of Security Analysts, Mr. Brown also announced that for the first time in A.T.& T.'s history, it would turn to the Eurobond market to raise$400 million in seven-year debt securities to meet part of its total capital requirements for the coming year.

In discussing the upcoming divestiture of A.T.& T.'s 22 operating subsidiaries, as a result of the settlement with the Justice Department of its antitrust suit, Mr. Brown reiterated the company's commitment to spinning off the local telephone companies in sound financial condition.

He said A.T.& T. plans to provide funding so that the operating companies ''will be able to avoid new issues of long-term debt between now and their divestiture.'' Moreover, A.T.& T. will assume existing debt obligations of local operating companies, if necessary, to preserve their credit worthiness, he said.

Regarding the reduction in capital spending, Mr. Brown said: ''The softness in the economy to date has caused us to rescale our construction program for 1982. We feel confident that we can do a top quality service job with an $18.3 billion rather than the $18.9 billion construction expenditure estimate that we announced earlier.''

The A.T.& T. chairman emphasized that the capital spending reduction would come from money designated to accommodate growth and customer movement - both of which are expected to be off sharply because of the recession - and would not affect A.T.& T.'s plans for modernization.

Mr. Brown added that unless there was ''an earlier or more robust turnaround in the economy,'' A.T.& T. could pare its capital spending to as low as $18.1 billion, the same level as last year.

The newly announced spending cuts will reduce the Bell System's estimated outside financing needs by at least $500 million after deducting for lost investment tax credits.

As a result, Mr. Brown said, A.T.& T.'s latest estimate of its total external financing requirments for 1982 was now down to between $4 billion and $4.5 billion. Only three weeks ago, Bell officials were predicting outside financing demands for 1982 of between $4.5 billion and $5 billion. In 1981, A.T.& T. raised $6.6 billion in the debt and equity markets.

Mr. Brown said that some $2.5 billion of A.T.& T.'s external financing requirments would be met from continuing sources of equity, such as the company's dividend reinvestment plan and the Bell employee savings plan. In addition, A.T.& T. will be raising $400 million in securities on the Eurobond market.

Virginia A. Dwyer, A.T.& T.'s treasurer, who also attended the analysts' meeting, said in an interview that the Bell System decided to turn to the Eurobond market after witnessing the tremendous interest evinced by European investors in last year's A.T.& T.'s debt and equity offerings.

''We started to work last spring to put ourselves in a position to take advantage of any rate differential that might develop between the two capital markets,'' Miss Dwyer said, referring to Europe and the United States. ''That differential is now advantageous, so we thought it would be an interesting time to do our first Eurobond financing.'' Offering Through A.T.& T. Unit

The Eurobond offering, which will be managed by an international underwriting group led by Credit Suisse First Boston Ltd., will be made through the wholly owned A.T.& T. finance subsidiary American Telephone and Telegraph Overseas Finance N.V.

Analysts said A.T.& T. is expected to bring the offering to market within a week and the annual interest rate coupon should be about 14.25 percent.