Shakespeare play in Turkish in London

Turkish actors perform Shakespeare’s ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ three times over the course of the weekend. AA photo

The actors of Oyun Atölyesi have taken the stage at the World Shakespeare Festival in London performing “Anthony and Cleopatra” in Turkish. Stage and screen veteran Haluk Bilginer’s theater group performed its “Antony and Cleopatra” in Turkish over the weekend at London’s Globe Theater.

Zerrin Tekindor played the character of Cleopatra, while Haluk Bilginer played Anthony. Emre Karayel played Pompeius and Mert Fırat played Ceasar.

The actors performed the play three times over the course of the weekend. The first play took place on May 26, while the other were performed on May 27.

The 1,500 people capacity Globe Theater stage was witnessing a Turkish language play for the very first time.

Speaking to journalists during the press conference, Haluk Bilginer said: “It is very exciting to play on this stage. We are taking a role in a play of the most important playwright on the most important theater stage.”

Noting that the aura and the atmosphere of the Globe was unique, Bilginer said: “This is a different feeling. It does not feel like anywhere else.”

The director of the play, Kemal Aydoğan, said: “it is very exciting to have this play here on this stage.” Noting that she had visited London as a tourist before, Tekindor said: “This time I am here to stage a play.”

Speaking after the actors, the festival’s manager, Tom Bird, said this was a unique performance. The reason that the festival staged three plays in Turkish was that there are lots of Turkish people living
in Britain.

Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with leading UK and international arts organizations, this festival is the biggest celebration of Shakespeare ever staged.

Almost 60 partners gathered to bring the festival alive. Thousands of artists from around the world are taking part in almost 70 productions, as well as supporting events and exhibitions, right across the UK, including London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Newcastle/Gateshead, Birmingham, Wales and Scotland and online.

The festival will run until November. (ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News)

Iran leader Ahmadinejad wants to attend Olympics

Iranian President Ahmadinejad claims ‘enemies do not want Iranian athletes to win medals’ in the London Olympics. AP photo

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday he hopes to attend this summer’s Olympic Games in London but that the British authorities were reluctant to allow him, state media reported.

“I would like to be beside the Iranian athletes at the Olympic Games in London to support them, but (the British) have issues with my presence,” Ahmadinejad said, without offering further explanation.

“The enemies do not want our athletes to win medals, but our young people shall be present at the Olympic Games and, like Arash, give new reasons to take pride in Islamic Iran,” he said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

Arash is a mythical hero of ancient Persia. According to legend, he was instructed to shoot an arrow that would determine the country’s border. He exerted all his strength to shoot the arrow a great distance, but was destroyed in the process.

Relations between Tehran and London are at an all-time low.

London closed its embassy in Tehran after a rampage of the building by Islamist students in November 2011. Britain was one of the first European countries to adopt sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank to put pressure on the Islamic republic for its disputed nuclear programme.

And in February 2011, Iran protested to the International Olympic Committee against the official logo of the 2012 Olympics, claiming it was “racist”, an accusation the London Organising Committee described as “surprising”.

According to Tehran, one could read the word “Zion” in the logo. The organizers defended the logo. (TEHRAN - Agence France-Presse)

Manchester City win English Premier League title

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini watches play during their English Premier League soccer match against Queens Park Rangers at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, northern England, May 13, 2012. REUTERS photo

Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions on Sunday after an incredible fightback which saw them score twice in injury time to beat QPR 3-2 and seal the title on goal difference.

City's dreams of a first title in 44 years appeared to be in tatters as 10-man Rangers led 2-1 after 90 minutes courtesy of goals from Djibril Cisse and Jamie Mackie following Pablo Zabaleta's opener.

But as Manchester United prepared to celebrate snatching a 20th league title following their 1-0 win at Sunderland, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero struck twice in two minutes to seal the most enthralling title duel in years.

"The last few minutes were incrdible. This is for our supporters, they deserve this," City manager Roberto Mancini said.

"To win like this is incredible. I have never seen a finish like this, "We had a lot of chances, we deserve to win this championship. It's fantastic. After 44 years I dedicate this to all our supporters. It's a crazy season, crazy last minutes." After a nervy start, City took the lead five minutes from half-time through Zabaleta, the Argentinian fullback darting onto a deft through ball from Yaya Toure to shoot high into the net past Rangers keeper Paddy Kenny.

The goal sent relief coursing around Eastlands as City prepared for their championship party.
But Eastlands was stunned into silence shortly after half-time when a blunder by Joleon Lescott let in Cisse who raced clear and thundered an equaliser past Joe Hart.

Even then, the force still seemed to be with City, as QPR captain Joey Barton was sent off in an incident that defied belief.

The fiery midfielder was given his marching orders by referee Mike Dean for a retaliatory elbow on Carlos Tevez following an off-the-ball clash.

As Barton left the pitch, the midfielder then angrily kneed Aguero in the back of the thigh to leave himself facing a lengthy ban.

Yet incredibly instead of ramming home their advantage, City were left shellshocked as 10-man Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the 66th minute, Mackie heading in at the far post after Armand Traore's swift break from defence.

Amid unbearable tension, City looked set for a traumatic defeat until substitute Dzeko nodded in to equalise in the second of five minutes of injury time. Then, out of nowhere, Aguero skipped clear of the Rangers defence to spark bedlam at Eastlands with the most dramatic winner imaginable.

QPR's defeat was not enough to send the Londoners down into the Championship however as their rivals for the last relegation spot Bolton could only draw 2-2 at Stoke.

In the other issues to be settled on Sunday, Arsenal clinched third place with a 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion while Tottenham sealed fourth place with a 2-0 win over Fulham at White Hart Lane. (LONDON - Agence France-Presse)

1 million Olympic tickets to go on sale Friday

Hürriyet Photo

Olympic organizers are putting nearly 1 million more tickets on offer in the latest round of sales for the London Games.

The organizing committee says the tickets will go on sale online starting at 11 a.m. local time on Friday.

The tickets will be available on first-come, first-served basis to the nearly 1 million people who applied in previous rounds but came up empty handed.

Included are tickets for the opening and closing ceremony and the 100-meter athletics final.

First priority will be given to the 20,000 people who were unsuccessful in the initial ballot and missed out again in a second sale. Those customers will be given 31 hours exclusive access.

After that, the 1 million people who applied in the initial ballot but were unsuccessful will then have an exclusive 5-day sales period. (LONDON - The Associated Press)

'Smart City' electricity project begins in London

REUTERS photo.

A new test platform called "Urban OS" has been developed by Living Plan IT, in order to serve as a connection service for future smart cities in the Greenwich district of London, the BBC has reported.

The operating system will serve as a connection point between water, transport, and energy services, through a partnership between Hitachi, Phillips and Greenwich council.

Thousands of sensors will be placed in new office blocks, allowing smart lightning and heating systems to serve according to internal and external conditions.

The project also plans to develop new technologies such as smart lamp posts and smart vests, including microsensors.

"The development of smart cities in the future is a crucial commercial opportunity for Britain, and London is the right place to be doing it," David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science said.

"We are entering a phase when everything becomes connected, from healthcare to transportation," said Living Plan IT chief executive Steve Lewis. "This is about connecting things that previously were."

The smart city regeneration projects in urban spaces will cost up to £13tn up to 2020, according to Living Plan IT. (hurriyetdailynews)

London mayor bemoans 'terrible' Heathrow delays

REUTERS photo

Mayor Boris Johnson said Monday the passport check queues of up to two hours at London's Heathrow airport were giving a "terrible impression" of Britain as the furore over the situation escalated.

The government was to make an emergency statement in parliament later Monday on the passport control queues at the world's busiest international passenger airport, which will be the main gateway for the 2012 London Olympics.

Delays of up to two hours for passengers from outside Europe were reported last week at Heathrow.

Johnson wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May to voice his "serious concern" about the difficulties, which have triggered a clash between Border Force officials and BAA, the air hub's owner and operator.

The mayor, who is standing for re-election on Thursday, said the delays gave "a terrible impression of the UK" and it was unfortunate that Britain's main port of entry was "gaining such a poor reputation".

"It is quite clear that because of problems at the UK border, London and the UK's reputation as a welcoming city in which to do business or travel are at stake." In tough economic times, "it is vital that those coming here to do business find arrival an easy and welcoming process. Anything that interferes with that damages our city," added the mayor.

Passengers waited for up to an hour at the airport on Friday to go through border control, while there were two-hour queues on Thursday for passport holders from outside the 30-country European Economic Area.

There were reports that frustrated passengers resorted to slow hand-clapping and jeering, while one fed-up traveller marched through the gates without showing his passport.

The Daily Telegraph, citing emails seen by the newspaper, said the Border Force urged BAA not to distribute "inflammatory" leaflets at Heathrow.

The leaflets told passengers they deserved better and asked them to direct their complaints to the Home Office, or interior ministry.

The wording apologised for the wait and said the airport was trying to make things "as bearable as possible".

"Both Heathrow Airport and your airline believe you deserve a warmer welcome to the UK, without compromising security," it read.

Marc Owen, the director of UK Border Agency operations at Heathrow, said the leaflet was "not all right with us" and threatened to take it up with the government.

"It is both inflammatory and likely to increase tensions in arrivals halls especially in the current atmosphere," he said in an email to BAA, according to the Telegraph.

"Please refrain from handing out or I will escalate with ministers who are likely to take a very dim view." He also urged BAA to stop people photographing the queues, after footage was broadcast on BBC television.

Meanwhile extra border staff were flown into Heathrow to help keep queues down Monday, a union official told The Times newspaper.

"A number of staff from Manchester turned up for work this morning and were herded onto a plane and flown to Heathrow. They got four hours' work out of them," said Lucy Moreton, deputy general secretary of the Immigration Services Union.

Heathrow is the official host airport for the 2012 Olympics, with around 80 percent of all visitors to the Games expected to pass through its five terminals.

The airport is building a special Games terminal for athletes departing from the Olympics and expects to have its busiest ever day on August 13, the day after the closing ceremony. (LONDON - Agence France-Presse)

‘Abstract Composition’ work fetches $1 million in London

‘Abstract Composition,’ which sold for over $1 million at a Sotheby’s is considered an exceptional and rare work.

Nejad Melih Devrim’s “Abstract Composition” topped Sotheby’s auction on modern and contemporary Turkish art in London on April 26, almost doubling pre-sale estimates by fetching 735,000 pounds ($1.1 million).

“This painting is a testament to Devrim’s mastery in creating brilliant compositions with geometric abstraction,” said Elif Bayoğlu, the deputy director and head of Sotheby’s contemporary Turkish art sale. “The sum achieved by this painting today reflects its superb quality, monumental scale and provenance.”

The sales yielded surprising results as works by contemporary artists like Ramazan Bayrakoğlu, Canan Tolon and Azade Köker fetched higher figures than the estimates, while works by older masters like Mübin Orhon, Fahrelnisa Zeid, Ömer Uluç and Komet remained unsold – as did works by star names such as Haluk Akakçe and Hussein Chalayan.

Although only 40 percent of the lots changed hands, the total sales figures still exceeded expectations at 1,531,175 pounds, setting a new auction record, Bayoğlu said.

Bayrakoğlu’s “Motorcycle,” which was originally estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds, sold for 63,650 pounds. Tolon’s “Glitch 3” started at a price range of 25,000 to 35,000 pounds but ultimately fetched 79,250 pounds. Köker’s “Bathsheba” also exceeded estimates, finding a buyer for 55,250 pounds. Ansen Atilla’s “Guns of War 2,” another highlight of the show, remained unsold, while only two out of four Burhan Doğançay pieces changed hands. Doğançay’s “Composition No:3” fetched 49,250 pounds – the same amount paid for Orhon’s “Untitled.” The price estimate for both works ranged between 50,000 and 70,000 pounds.

The other Doğançay work sold at the auction was “Triangular Shadows on Canvas,” which sold for 37,250 pounds – slightly above the lower end of the estimates.

Akakçe had a solid presence in the sales with four works, but none changed hands. The single Chalayan work at the auction, “Airmail Dress,” received no bid.

The top-selling work, “Abstract Composition,” was not the only Devrim work in the sale, which also featured smaller-size paintings by the master. “Abstract Composition,” which sold for over $1 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London, is considered an exceptional and rare work by Nejad Melih Devrim, one of the most important Turkish artists of the 21st century. (LONDON - Hürriyet Daily News)

Four unmissable day trips from London

Oxford University, with its spectacular architecture and gardens, is a major tourist attraction. (Doug McKinlay/LPI)

If you need a break from London after a week of hectic sightseeing, England’s compactness means there are many day trips on the doorstep of the capital. From the dreaming spires of Oxford to sophisticated, sexy Brighton, from upper crust Windsor and Eton to classy Bath, you can easily hop on a train or bus to a range of real gems.

Oxford
The Victorian poet Matthew Arnold called Oxford “that sweet city with her dreaming spires”. For visitors, the superb architecture and unique atmosphere of the university – made up of more than three dozen colleges and synonymous with academic excellence – and their courtyards and gardens remain major attractions.

The town dates back to the early 12th Century, having developed from an earlier Saxon village, and has been responsible for educating some 26 British prime ministers, including Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron.

Best sight: Pitt Rivers Museum is an Aladdin’s cave of explorers’ booty spread over three floors, crammed with fascinating items like blowpipes, magic charms, voodoo dolls and shrunken heads from the Caribbean, Africa and the Pacific.

Best place to eat: The Jericho Tavern is a chilled out venue with big leather sofas, a large beer garden and a live-music venue upstairs (supposedly Radiohead played their first gig here). This old coaching inn just outside the city gates in the trendy Jericho district is also an excellent gastropub.

Best place to drink: Turf Tavern is hidden away down a narrow alleyway off Holywell Street. This tiny medieval pub is one of the town’s best-loved, and bills itself as “an education in intoxication”. Home to real ales and student antics, it is always packed and is one of the few pubs in Oxford with plenty of outdoor seating.

Getting there and away: Oxford Tube and Oxford Express buses depart every 10 to 30 minutes from London’s Victoria coach station and the journey takes about one hour 40 minutes. There are two trains per hour from London’s Paddington station, with a journey time of around an hour.

Brighton
With its large student population, the country’s biggest gay scene outside London, and working-class families down for a jolly, this city by the sea caters to everyone. It offers atmospheric cafes, excellent restaurants, old-style beach seafood huts and a good-for-a-laugh amusement pier.

The town’s character dates from the 1780s, when the dissolute, music loving Prince Regent (the future King George IV) built his outrageous summer palace, the Royal Pavilion, here as a venue for lavish parties by the sea. And that charmingly seedy “great-place-for-a-dirty-weekend” vibe lasted throughout the gang-ridden 1930s of Graham Greene’s novel Brighton Rock and the mods versus-rockers rivalry of the 1950s and ‘60s.

Best sight: The Royal Pavilion Palace , Brighton’s primary attraction, is an extraordinary folly – Indian palace on the outside and over-the-top chinoiserie within. The first pavilion, built in 1787, was a classical villa. It was not until the early 19th Century, when Asian things were all the rage, that the current confection began to take shape under the direction of John Nash, architect of Regent’s Park and its surrounding crescents. The entire over-the-top edifice, which Queen Victoria sold to the town in 1850 (apparently she found Brighton “far too crowded”), is not to be missed.

Best place to eat: Family-owned restaurant Sam’s of Brighton in easternmost Kemp Town is well worth the journey for its innovative take on dishes like roast breast of guinea fowl and braised Southdowns lamb. Brunch is served from 10 am on the weekend.

Best place to drink: The Basketmakers Arms Pub, which has eight ales on tap, is probably the best traditional pub in Brighton, located in the North Laine district, southeast of the train station. Food (like fish of the day and Mexican chilli) is way above average and served daily from noon to 8:30 pm (7 pm on Saturday, 6 pm on Sunday).

Getting there and away: National Express runs hourly buses from Victoria coach station (two hours). There are about 40 fast trains each day from London’s Victoria station (slightly less than an hour), and slower ones from Blackfriars, London Bridge and King’s Cross.

Windsor and Eton
With its romantic architecture and superb state rooms, Windsor Castle is one of Britain’s premier tourist attractions and, since it is so close to central London and easily accessible by rail and road, it crawls with tourists in all seasons. If possible, avoid visiting on weekends and during the peak months of July and August when the queues to get into Queen Elizabeth’s humble abode are at their longest.

If you cannot avoid these periods and need a respite from the crowds, cross the pedestrian Windsor Bridge over the Thames and head for Eton, which by comparison it is far quieter. And while it, too, is a one-trick pony in the form of the world’s most prestigious boys’ school, its pedestrianised centre is lined with antique shops and art galleries.

Best sight: British monarchs have inhabited Windsor Castle for more than 900 years. It is also well known to be the Queen’s favourite residence and the place she calls home after returning from her work “week” (now just Tuesday to Thursday) at the “office” (Buckingham Palace). A disastrous fire in 1992 nearly wiped out this incredible piece of English cultural heritage, but luckily damage , though severe, was limited. A £37 million pound restoration, completed in 1997, returned the state apartments to their former glory.

Best place to eat: Just beyond the bridge in Eton is one of the area’s finest restaurants. Terracotta tiling and a sunny courtyard garden lend Gilbey’s a Continental cafe air, but the understated decor and menu are indisputably British.

Best place to drink: The Two Brewers pub, a17th-century inn perched on the edge of Windsor Great Park and the Long Walk is close to the castle’s tradesmen’s entrance and supposedly frequented by staff from the castle. It is a quaint and cosy place, with dim lighting, obituaries for castle footmen and royal photographs with irreverent captions hanging on the wall. It does great pub food too.

Getting there and away: Green Line buses 701 and 702 link Victoria coach station with Windsor at least hourly every day (65 minutes). Trains from Waterloo station go to Windsor Riverside station every 30 minutes, or hourly on Sunday (55 minutes). Trains from Paddington go via Slough to Eton and Windsor Central station.

Bath
This delightful city of honey-coloured stone has always been renowned for its architecture, especially its fine Georgian terraces. Nowadays though, it is celebrated in equal measure for its association with the novelist Jane Austen – not so much for her actual works but for the films based on them. Sometimes it seems the crowds just cannot get enough.

Best sight: Ever since the Romans arrived in Bath, life has revolved around the three natural springs that bubble up near Bath Abbey. The 2,000-year-old baths, today part of the Roman Baths Museum, form one of the best-preserved ancient Roman spas in the world.

Best place to eat: The appropriately named restaurant Circus on the western edge of the Circus is a favourite place in Bath. The food, prepared by chef/owner Alison Golden, is excellent and beautifully presented, the welcome is warm, and you can choose to eat on the ground floor overlooking a small courtyard or in the intimate cellar dining room.

Best place to drink: The Star Inn retains its original 19th-century bar fittings and is the brewery tap for Bath-based Abbey Ales. Some ales are served straight from the barrel into traditional jugs, and you can ask for a pinch of snuff in the “smaller bar”.

Getting there and away: National Express buses links London’s Victoria coach station with Bath up to 10 times a day (around three and a half hours). There are direct trains from London, Paddington and Waterloo stations at least hourly (two and a half hours). (Source: bbc.com)

London police arrest possible suicide attacker

Armed police officers prepare for an operation after a man reportedly armed with gas canisters entered a vehicle licence office in London Friday, April, 27, 2012. AP photo

Police arrested a man who witnesses said had threatened to blow himself up in an office building in central London, forcing a busy shopping street to be sealed off in a three-hour standoff on Friday.

"We have arrested a man at Tottenham Court Road. A search of the building is under way," the Metropolitan Police said.

Witnesses had reported the man had taken four men hostage, but police said they were "not aware of any hostages at this stage" although officers were searching the building.

Police vehicles had cordoned off a 150-metre (500-feet) stretch of the road after the man entered a building reportedly with gas canisters strapped to his body and started throwing computer screens from a window on the fifth floor.

A police negotiator was at the scene while armed officers patrolled.

The incident, which started at 1100 GMT, was not terrorism-related, police said.

The Huffington Post website, whose offices are nearby, reported that the man had stormed into the offices of a company which offers courses on driving trucks. The website carried a video interview with an employee of the company, Abby Baafi, 27, who said the man had targeted her company's offices.

"He just turned up, strapped up in... gasoline cylinders. Basically he threatened to blow up the offices. Says he doesn't care about his life, doesn't care about anything," she said in the video.

"He was specifically looking for me but I said 'My name's not Abby' and he let me go."
(LONDON - Agence France-Presse-hurriyetdailynews)

Kenyans top London Marathon

Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany triumphed in the London Marathon yesterday, as the African nation served notice of its distance-running strength ahead of the Olympic Games this summer.

Turkish athlete Bekir Karayel, who has already booked his place at the London Olympics, finished 16th in two hours 13 minutes and 21 seconds, his career best and three minutes off the national record set by Mehmet Terzi in 1987.

“I’m very happy with the result, this was a good test for me ahead of the Olympics,” Karayel told the Anatolia news agency after the race. “I hope to be in the top 10 at the London Games.”

Kipsang, the second fastest man of all time, went clear of a class field in the closing stages and won in a time of two hours, four minutes and 44 seconds - just four seconds outside the course record set by fellow-Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai in last year’s race, Agence France-Presse reported.

He finished more than two minutes in front of compatriot Martin Lel (2:06:51), who overtook fellow former London champion Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia with a strong sprint finish. Kebede may have prevented a clean sweep in his race, but in the women’s event Mary Keitany successfully defended her title and enhanced her credentials for an Olympic gold this summer as Kenyan runners monopolized the top five spots.

Keitany left an outstanding field trailing to win in a time of 2:18:37, a new Kenyan national record and a personal best, well inside the time of 2:19:19 she posted in winning last year’s London Marathon.

World champion Edna Kiplagat finished second, more than a minute behind in 2:19:50, with world silver medalist Priscah Jeptoo a further 24 seconds behind in third.

Florence Kiplagat was fourth and Lucy Kabu fifth, with the strength in depth of the team leaving the Kenyan selectors with some tough choices to make ahead of the Olympic Marathon.

However, the Olympic route will be run over a significantly different course, albeit with a similar finishing stretch along the Mall, which is in front of Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, there was success for Britain in the wheelchair races, with Dave Weir and Shelly Woods ensuring a home double. Weir timed his finish to perfection to see off the challenge of Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and so win his sixth London title, while Woods overpowered her rivals to claim a second London victory in her career, finishing nearly four minutes ahead of Japan’s Wakako Tsuchida. (Hürriyet)