By John Helmer in Moscow
Oleg Deripaska is under unexpected personal pressure, at home and abroad, just when his plan to take control of one of the largest bauxite and aluminium producers in the world is close to final government approval. And that is exactly why the trouble for Deripaska is growing now.
Russian government authorization this month of the creation of a monopoly aluminium concern, integrating domestic and foreign bauxite, alumina, and aluminium production assets, has followed a no-objection ruling from the European Commission (EC) in Brussels. The unconditional ruling was issued by the EC on February 1.

By John Helmer in Moscow
Did Nicolas Sarkozy, the small rightwing candidate for President of France, benefit from the brief imprisonment in Lyon of one Russian billionaire, and from the award of a medal, days later in Paris, to another Russian billionaire, who happened to be the business partner of the first?
And was Sarkozy helped by Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, ministre blanchisseur, official custodian of French culture, receiver of kickbacks, and arranger of unorthodox donations to presidential campaign chests?
In short, on January 30, when Donnedieu de Vabres awarded the medal of Officer of the Legion of Arts and Letters to Vladimir Potanin, was this the end to an ingenious quartet of hostage-taking and ransom on the French side, procuring and precious metals on the Russian?

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On THIS IS AMERICA: We ask some people what they will be doing to celebrate the New Year.

On DEVELOPMENT REPORT: The combination of two drugs will be used first in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new treatmen

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Eight prisoners faced trial. The government tried to prove that the assassination of President Abraham Linco

”My first resolution that I would recommend people make is to spend a certain amount of time listening to English … whatever suits a

For two nights in San Francisco this past month, patrons at two fundraising events were given the opportunity to reminisce or learn about the “Swinging Chinatown Days: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs,” the title of an exhibit currently being shown at The Old Mint located at 88 Fifth Street in San Francisco.
To start down memory lane, Cynthia Yee and her Grant Avenue Follies ladies presented their night of nostalgia at the Four Seas Restaurant in the middle of Chinatown before a sell out dinner crowd of over 200. Old timers who had been patrons of the old nightclubs – such as Andy Wong’s Sky Room, Kubla Kahn, Forbidden City, the Shangri-La and others – and younger patrons who had heard of these infamous clubs, were taken back to the 1940s-1960s when the clubs were flourishing. When they first entered the packed dining room being, they were serenaded by Rosemary Wong singing old favorites accompanied by George Chan. Soon after they saw performances by the ladies of the Grant Avenue Follies, three of whom were a part of the original Chinatown night club scene themselves: Pat Chin, Ivy Tam and Cynthia Yee. Other dancers included Avis See-Tho, Alice Chan, Marlene Luke, Betty Louie, Gloria Gee, Lani Owyoung and Emily Chin.
Always entertaining as MC was Chuck Gee, a former costume designer. Gee introduced Hank Quock who performed his he-she act, Cynthia Yee did a magic act and longtime retired Chinatown nightclub vocalists Jimmy Borges and Eleanor Young sang. Shanghai Pearl was flown in from Seattle to entertain a la Gypsy Rose Lee strip style which raised the blood pressures of the males in the audience.

A couple of nights later, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society and The Chinese Historical Society of America had an opening night gala to introduce the new exhibit with MC Ben Fong-Torres who belted out a very nice singing number himself.
Trina Robbins, who just authored a book on Chinatown Nightclubs signed books, while Doris Grover performed her ribbon dance, Jimmy “Jay” Borges and Richard Kishimoto did some vocals of old favorites while Ivy Tam did a solo dance with feathered fans. In the audience swaying to the old favorites were KRON movie critic Jan Wahl, Scoma Restaurateur Cheryl Scoma, Judge Harry Harry Low, Coby Yee, first Miss Chinatown Penny Wong, and one time Hollywood and Broadway dance star Dorothy Toy Fong. Photographs of the old nightclubs with their signature beautiful showgirls were interspersed in rooms for the exhibit.

From the late 1930s to the early 1960s, Chinese nightclubs flourished in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Chinatown nightclubs were the only venue for talented Asian performers at that era, so tourists and celebrities coming through were entertained by the Chinese Frank Sinatra, Larry Ching, the Chinese Sally Rand – Noel Toy Young, and the Chinese Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - Paul Wing and Dorothy Toy. The exhibition features over 120 vintage photographs, costumes, dancing shoes and momentos from several famous San Francisco nightclubs.
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>> APALC President & Executive Director Receives 2010 Civic Medal of Honor Award
>> Asian films bag major honors at the Berlin Film Festival
>> Investigators link Attacks on Google to Asian Group
>> Asian TV Millionaire set to Join BNP
>> Myanmar moves to Privatize Key Enterprises

Bay/Cal

APALC President & Executive Director Receives 2010 Civic Medal of Honor Award

Los Angeles- Los Angeles County’s Largest and Most Influential Business Association honored Stewart Kwoh. The Civic Medal of Honor was awarded to Kwoh earlier this month at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce presented 121st Inaugural Dinner, held at the Beverly Hilton.

The award honors an individual who has demonstrated unrivaled civic leadership and public service over a sustained period of time. The Chamber recognized Stewart Kwoh, President and Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, for his leadership and work over the past 26 years advocating for civil rights.

In addition to being the founder of APALC, Kwoh has been described as one of the nation’s premier advocates for Asian Americans bringing people together from diverse racial backgrounds. He has worked to establish cohesion among ethnic communities, businesses, government and legal service organizations.
Founded in 1888, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has championed the needs of the business community and the citizens it serves for more than a century.

Arts
Asian films bag major honors at the Berlin Film Festival
Berlin, Germany- The Asian film industry reared its head at the 60th Berlin Film Festival, with four films winning Berlinale prizes with movies from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan scoring awards.
Chinese director Wang Quan’an’s festival opener “Apart Together”, a period romance about a fugitive soldier reuniting with his lover after 50 years of separation, took home the Silver Bear for best script.
Japanese actress Shinobu Terajima won a Silver Bear for best actress for her role in Koji Wakamatsu’s “Caterpillar”. The film explores the impressions of war on civilian life in post-WWII Japan, played out in the sadomasochistic relationship between a mutilated war hero and his wife.
Hong Kong’s “Echoes of the Rainbows” directed by Alex Law Kai-yui, won the city’s first-ever Crystal Bear award for best feature film in the Generation category.  Taiwanese auteur Arvin Chen’s “Au Revoir Taipei” a romantic comedy, won the best Asian film award from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema at the festival.
- CNNGo.com

Nation
Investigators link Attacks on Google to Asian Group
Washington DC- Initial investigations by U.S. Intelligence officials towards the cyber attacks on Google and thirty-three other companies have found evidence pointing to an Asian hacking group that is likely Chinese.

The group that many investigators are focusing on uses Chinese computer systems to mount its attacks and has a history of primarily attacking corporations. Investigators have found clues that can trace the intrusions to computers in Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong Province, an institution with ties to the Chinese military.

It is still unclear if the hacking group has any connections to the Chinese government or if it is a patriotic hacking group. The Chinese government has rejected any connection to the attacks.
Still with all these clues, U.S. investigators can’t identify the person behind the attacks without the Chinese government involvement.

“The U.S. would not be able to trace this” back to the source, said O. Sami Saydjari, the founder of the Cyber Defense Agency, a private Web security firm based in Wisconsin. “We cannot trace it beyond borders. We’d need the cooperation of the Chinese.”
- Headline News

Global
Asian TV Millionaire set to Join BNP
Newcastle, England- A Pakistani born millionaire and Asian businessman has applied to join the British National Party today. Mo Chaudry, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, said he wanted to take advantage of the enforced change to the party’s constitution to expose them. BNP members voted to admit black and Asian people earlier this month after the party was threatened with an injunction by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Mr. Chaudry runs a string of businesses and after blasting the party as racist, he vowed “I want to stand up and be counted and expose the BNP for what they are. I want to antagonize them and attend their meetings, find out what makes them tick.”
Making his fortune from water parks, Chaudry has handed out cash to worthy causes in the Asian community.
Referring to his plans as a party member he said, “If they are open to all British people then I want to join. If they let me in I will fight them from the inside and make their life very difficult. The good people that don’t vote need to get off their backside and change things.”
-The Sun
Commerce
Myanmar moves to Privatize Key Enterprises
BANGKOK—A flurry of privatizations of key state enterprises in Myanmar is raising speculation about whether the country’s military regime is planning more market reform or simply trying to cash out before an election expected later this year.
The Myanmar government plans to sell a number of major assets, including a network of state-owned gas stations and ports handling a large percentage of the country’s trade. It also is planning to sell factories, cinemas and warehouses, and may be contemplating a sale of the country’s international airline, among other assets.
The regime rarely speaks to foreign journalists, and attempts to reach the government to confirm details, such as sales prices and buyers have been unsuccessful. However, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Commerce confirmed the core elements of the push.
- Wall Street Journal
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