News Bytes

Record donations in the US for flood victims in Asia After the devastating flooding in Asia people in the US have donated more than $337 million (€257.5) so far. Several US charities have called this the greatest donation activity of all times for a catastrophe abroad. The greatest sum was collected by the American Red Cross with almost $150 million. A great number of US celebrities have also made their contributions, among them stars like Sandra Bullock who donated the great sum of $1 million. President George W. Bush donated $10,000 from his private bank account.

Landing in New York denied On January 12, 2005, the US prohibited a British plane from landing in New York, because they believed one of the passengers to be terrorist. The British Airways plane with 239 passengers on board had to turn back three hours into the flight and return to London. According to London's Scotland Yard, the suspect was released after several hours of interrogation without conditions.

Several have had to turn back on their way to the US over the past months because their passengers were black-listed in the US. The best-known case was that of British singer Yusuf Islam, better known as Cat Stevens, who was denied admission last September.

Inauguration of President George W. Bush On January 20, 2005, George W. Bush and Richard Cheney were inaugurated for their second term in office as president and vice-president of the United States. These inauguration ceremonies have been a tradition for more than 200 years, this has been the 55th one. The first ceremony has been in New York in the year of 1789, the inauguration of George Washington. US citizens could participate in the ceremony in front of the Capitol in Washington. Find photos from the inauguration here: www.time.com/time/photoessays/inauguration/index.html

US server hacked Cell phone service provider T-Mobile USA confirmed a report by the security portal Securityfocus, saying that a hacker ha gained access to the company's servers. They denied, however, that their customers privacy had been significantly threatened. According to Securityfocus, however, the hacker had access to the data of 16.3 million US customers. In addition, he is supposed to have seen US Secret Service emails and celebrities' cell phone photos.

The "break-in" had been discovered in 2003 already. The following investigations revealed that the hacker had access to the names and social security numbers of at least 400 customers.

Berlinale shows Marshall Plan films - "Winning the Peace" February 10-20, 2005 - not only the greatest cultural event of the city of Berlin, but also one of the most important events of the international film industry - Berlin's Internationale Filmfestspiele (International film festival), called Berlinale.

In 2004 already the program initiated a film series stretching over a period of 3 years - they are presenting films that were made in times of the Marshall Plan. This series is meant to commemorate the fact that the film festival itself has been established as a result of an initiative by film officer Oscar Martay and the Allied forces.

The background, just briefly - The Marshall Plan, made in the US in June 1947 after the Second World War, brought financial aid, commodities, raw materials and machinery to 16 European countries. More than 200 films were created during that time, documenting the American assistance, encouraged self-help and advertised intercultural communication, democracy and pluralism.

This year, the 55th Berlinale presented some of these films, under the motto "Winning the Peace." Find more information on www.berlinale.de/de/das_festival/sektionen_und_reihen/marshall_plan/Marshall_Plan.html You will find the entire program for the Berlinale on the same website from February 1.

Life is dangerous More and more products are featuring rather weird warning labels. The wackiest ones have actually been awarded prizes in the US in 2004.

The winner was a label on a toilet brush, warning "Do not use for personal hygiene." Second place was awarded to the label on a scooter for children, warning "This product moves when used."

Of course, the purpose of these awards is not to get more and more wacky warning labels, but quite the contrary. With these awards, the initiators wish to prove, in an ironic way, how the fear of being sued and the resulting civil actions lead to warning labels in the US that are completely redundant if you have the least bit of common sense. The organization has not only published the winners on its website, but also the best warning labels of the past seven years. Find more information on http://www.mlaw.org/wwl/wackylabels.html

Star Wars mania The day Star Wars fans have been waiting for will be in May this year - "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" will finally open in theaters in the US.

And just like in the past years, fans will be raiding at the box-offices to be the first in line for a ticket. An especially enthusiastic fan in the US is already waiting in front of a movie theater in Seattle - 22 weeks before the movie opens. The Star Wars fan set up camp there and wants to stay until May.