Blatter hails electric Maracana, predicts great World Cup

FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrives attends a media briefing to discuss the Confederations Cup and the latest preparations for next year's World Cup finals in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro July 1, 2013. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

RIO DE JANEIRO: FIFA president Sepp Blatter hailed the Maracana fans and the electric atmosphere at Sunday’s Confederations Cup final as the most incredible he had ever heard and said Brazil would host a great 2014 World Cup.

Speaking at a news conference where FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke pledged possibly to bring World Cup matches to Brazil’s impoverished favelas via fan zones and giant screens, Blatter declared the test event a success despite unrest on the streets.

What moved Blatter most during the two-week competition was the astonishing rendition of the Brazilian national anthem before Sunday’s final between Brazil and Spain, a game the hosts won 3-0.

“In all my years I have never witnessed anything like that,” Blatter said on Monday.

The 70,000-plus crowd at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium continued singing the anthem after the musical accompaniment stopped, rising to an ear-splitting crescendo.

They continued chanting and singing after the match began and by the time Fred scored the opening goal after two minutes it was impossible to hear the person next to you talking without them shouting.

“The Maracana is something exceptional and that was a very special roar. The fans were extraordinary yesterday. Not fanatical fans but fantastic fans,” Blatter said.

“They sang the national anthem for so long they delayed the start of the match for two minutes but it was not important. Yes there have been problems but they will be solved and we will have a great World Cup in Brazil next year.”

Scenes of riot police firing tear gas were common during the tournament with protests centred on a number of grievances, the main one being the contrast between expensive new stadiums and the poor state of public services including health and transport.

“It was a success despite all the unrest and protests,” Blatter said. “But I think the social unrest is now resting. I don’t know (for) how long but it is now resting.”

Valcke said the protests would not stop the governing body’s plans to take the World Cup to the people next year.

“There are three million tickets available for the World Cup but this is a land of 200 million people so we will have fan zones and giant screens in different locations, maybe in the favelas and other places where people have no access to the stadium,” he said.

“We want to give them the chance to watch and be part of the World Cup. We have done it before in past World Cups and that is exactly what we will do in Brazil.”

F1 introduces stronger rear tyres in Germany

LONDON (Reuters) - Formula One teams will have stronger rear tyres at the German Grand Prix this weekend, and a new type from the Hungarian race at the end of this month, Pirelli said on Tuesday.

A series of high-speed tyre blowouts triggered safety fears and driver complaints at Silverstone last weekend.

The Italian company said in a statement that it would bring in rear tyres with inner belts made of Kevlar, a reinforced fibre, which had been made originally for teams to try out in Canada last month but were not used.

From the Hungary race onwards, new tyres that will combine the 2012 structure and 2013 compounds will be introduced after being tested at Silverstone in mid-July.

First Firefox smartphone launches in Spain

MADRID: The world’s first consumer sales of a smartphone powered by the Firefox operating system have launched in Spain.

The new phone, ZTE Open, went on sale Tuesday at 69 euros ($90) and runs on  a Firefox system developed by the Mozilla Foundation, which campaigns for open  development of the online world.

 

Mozilla, a non-profit community of developers and users, enters as a minnow  into a market dominated by the mighty duopoly of Apple and Google whose iOS and  Android programmes are in 90 percent of smartphones.

 

Mozilla joined with Spain’s Telefonica and Chinese handset maker ZTE to  launch the new handset, which uses the Internet as the platform for all its  functions and applications.

 

“We believe that smartphones need to be more open and that the web is the  platform for making this possible,” Telefonica Espana chief executive Luis  Miguel Gilperez said in a statement.

 

Telefonica said it planned to sell Firefox OS devices in other markets  including Colombia and Venezuela in the “coming weeks”.    

 

Mozilla chief operating officer Jay Sullivan predicted the new phone would  stimulate a “new wave of innovation for the web”.    The ZTE Open has a 3.5-inch screen, 265 MB RAM, a 3.2 MP camera and comes  with a 4GB microSD memory card. It has messaging, email, calendar, FM radio,  camera, Nokia mapping and the Firefox browser.

 

First online reviews of the phone were mixed, though almost all admired the  low price.

 

Online technology review site engadget.com said there was a “significant  amount of lag” in the user interface when scrolling web pages or navigating  applications. But a reviewer on pcworld.com said he noticed no lag in a short  test.

 

Telefonica said the ZTE Open was the first of a series of Firefox OS  devices to be launched this year, noting support by other manufacturers  including Alcatel OneTouch, LG, Huawei and Sony.

 

Mozilla, which aims to take third place behind Android and iOS, announced  its plans for Firefox OS at a mobile telephone fair in Barcelona in February  last year.

 

Google’s Android ran 69 percent of all handsets sold last year and Apple’s  iOS 22 percent, said a study by independent analysts Canalys.

 

Analysts say the two leaders will still dominate the market in 2013  although there could be room for a third player.

 

There are several operating systems vying for that number-three spot,  however, including Microsoft’s Windows Phone, Blackberry, Firefox and Samsung’s  open-source project Tizen.

UMMI NAZEERA KINI BERHIJRAH

Alhamdulillah... akhirnya Ummi Nazeera menemui jalan yang diredhai oleh Allah apabila beliau mula bertudung penuh berbanding penampilan bebasnya sebelum ini. 

Apa yang menarik, Ummi Nazeera juga telah membuang kebanyakan gambar lamanya di Instagram dan Facebook berkemungkinan mahu memulakan hidup baru. Jika benar begitu niatnya, tahniah diucapkan! 

Klik untuk imej besar...

Petua kecantikan wajah

Petua

1) Merahkan bibir: sapu madu asli pada bibir setiap mlm sebelum tidur. 2) Hilangkan bintik hitam dan putih: sapu muka dgn putih telur,kemudian tampalkan dgn tisu muka.sekali lagi sapu putih telur atas tisu muka yg ditampal.biarkan kering.setelah kering, tanggalkan perlahan-lahan. 3) Hilangkan parut jerawat: tumbuk kulit kayu manis hingga jadi serbuk. ambil sedikit serbuk kayu manis tambah dgn air dan sapu pd bekas jerawat. 4) Kulit cerah dan licin: gosok limau nipis pada badan dan muka ketika mandi.  Selamat mencuba!

8 Cara Mudah Kuruskan Badan Dengan Berkesan

8 Cara Mudah Kuruskan Badan Dengan Berkesan

Apakah anda masih kekal gemuk walaupun anda dah cuba pelbagai cara untuk kuruskan badan?

Biar saya beritahu anda satu rahsia:

Jangan harap anda nak kurus kalau anda tak tahu 8 cara asas untuk kuruskan badan anda. Malah, jika anda betul-betul amalkannya, anda akan kurus dengan berkesan!

Bagaimana? Teruskan bacaan anda...

Saya akan senaraikan kesemua 8 cara mudah tersebut seperti berikut:

1. Kawal Pemakanan Anda 

Pastikan anda berhenti sebelum anda rasa kenyang atau terlalu kenyang.
Tahukah anda, setiap lebihan makanan/ kalori yang anda makan akan bertukar menjadi LEMAK jika ia tidak dibakar melalui aktiviti harian anda. 
Fakta: Setiap lebihan 8000 unit kalori dalam badan, berat badan anda akan naik 1KG!

2. Kurangkan Karbohidrat, Lebihkan Protein

Untuk pengetahuan anda, pengambilan karbohidrat dalam kuantiti yang banyak akan menggemukkan badan anda. Malah karbohidrat hanya memberikan kesan kekenyangan yang sementara (2 jam sahaja) dan kemudian anda akan berasa lapar semula.
Protein pula lebih cepat mengenyangkan serta rasa kenyang itu bertahan lebih lama.
Jika anda kurangkan karbohidrat (ambil portion kecil sahaja), badan anda akan membakar lemak anda sebagai sumber alternatif bagi membekalkan tenaga kepada anda setiap hari. Oleh itu, badan anda akan kurus dan langsing!

3.  Jangan Berlapar! (Jaga Waktu Makan Anda)

Jangan lupa mengambil sarapan kerana ia akan meningkatkan kadar metabolisma badan anda. Jadi kadar pembakaran lemak anda juga bertambah cepat!
Makan setiap 2 jam dan selangkan dengan snek ringan supaya anda tidak berasa terlalu lapar.
Kadar metabolisma badan anda telah menurun selepas 7.00 malam. Setiap makanan yang diambil selepas itu akan dicerna dengan perlahan dan menyebabkan kegemukan.
Jadi, pastikan anda berdiet TANPA berlapar. Bagaimana? 

4. Elakkan/ Kurangkan Minuman Bergula dan Berkafein

Contoh air bergula adalah air berkarbonat. Kandungan gula dalam air gas ini adalah sangat tinggi iaitu 7-8 sudu gula bagi setiap hidangan!
Pengambilan gula yang berlebihan akan menyebabkan masalah kegemukan serta akan mendatangkan penyakit serius seperti kencing manis.
Manakala kafein pula bukan sahaja menyebabkan kadar metabolisma badan menurun (kesannya gemuklah!), malah juga boleh menyingkirkan nutrien seperti vitamin daripada badan anda.

5. Minum Air Kosong 8 Gelas Sehari

Air kosong adalah sangat bagus untuk badan anda kerana hampir keseluruhan badan mengandungi air. Maka, amalkan minum air kosong sebanyak 8 gelas (2-3 liter) setiap hari.
Selain itu, air yang mencukupi dapat menyingkirkan bahan perkumuhan yang tak diperlukan oleh badan anda. Lemak yang telah diuraikan juga disingkirkan melalui air kencing dan perpeluhan.

6. Lakukan Aktiviti Fizikal/ Senaman Ringan

 Anda digalakkan untuk melakukan aktiviti fizikal yang ringan (30 minit) setiap hari untuk bakar kalori yang berlebihan dalam badan anda.
Cara yang paling mudah: Anda tahan nafas dalam-dalam (pada bahagian perut) selama yang mungkin, kemudian lepaskan semula. Lakukan sekurang-kurangnya 7 kali sehari. Aktiviti ini akan bantu mengempiskan perut anda.
Selain itu, apalah salahnya jika sekali- sekala anda menggunakan tangga jikaoffice/ rumah anda tidak terlalu tinggi. Malah, anda juga boleh amalkan aktiviti ini di shopping mall. Sambil shopping, sambil kurus!

7. Pilih Program Diet/ Kuruskan Badan Yang Terbaik

 Perhatian: Jangan sesekali membuang duit anda di slimming center. Anda jejakkan kaki sahaja ke dalam pejabat mereka, anda perlu bayar RM300 hanya untuk mendapatkan consultation/ khidmat nasihat mereka. 

Jika anda fikir mesin-mesin mereka boleh menguruskan badan anda, anda silap! Akhirnya, anda akan diberikan suatu jadual pemakanan yang sangat ketat sehinggakan salah satu menu anda adalah satu batang lobak untuk waktu petang!

Anda boleh rujuk blog saya untuk mendapatkan program diet yang benar-benar berkesan, semulajadi dan tidak membebankan. Malah, ia mengikut kesemua 8 cara mudah untuk kuruskan badan dengan berkesan yang saya senaraikan di sini. 

8. Positifkan Diri Anda

Akhir sekali, anda buatkan satu target yang ingin anda capai seperti berapa berat yang ingin anda capai dalam jangka masa tertentu. Kemudian, disiplinkan diri anda untuk mengikut perancangan yang telah dibuat.

Timbang berat badan anda maksimum sekali sahaja dalam seminggu. Ini untuk mengelakkan anda kecewa jika tiada penurunan berlaku. Iyalah, anda takkan nampak kesannya dalam sehari!
Jika anda positifkan diri, anda akan menghasilkan result yang positif!

Semoga Berjaya!

7 Cara Kempiskan Perut Buncit

1. Minum air masak yang banyak.

Apabila tubuh badan kita menerima sumber air yang banyak, keadaan itu akan mencairkan kuantiti sodium dalam tubuh badan sehingga membolehkan kuantiti air yang keluar dari tubuh badan juga meningkat. Mendapatkan jumlah air yang banyak juga akan menjaminkan fungsi hempedu yang lebih efektif sewaktu proses pembuangan air berjalan dengan lancar.

2. Makan perlahan-lahan.

Ketika menjamah makanan, kita tidak digalakkan makan dengan cepat kerana udara akan terkepung di dalam usus dan seterusnya membentuk gas yang menggalakkan perut menjadi buncit. Makanan yang tidak dikunyah sehingga kecil juga tidak dapat dicerna dengan sempurna yang seterusnya menyebabkan proses kembung perut berlaku.

3. Kurangkan garam dalam makanan.

Terlalu banyak garam dalam proses diet akan menambah ekstrak sodium terhadap cairan dalam tubuh dan melambatkan mekanisme proses pengeluaran air dari sel badan. Akibatnya, perut akan menjadi kembung dengan gas-gas yang terbentuk.

4. Makan makanan yang penuh serat.

Serat adalah elemen yang penting dalam piramid makanan. Untuk mengimbangi kuantiti air dalam tubuh badan, amalan memakan sayur-sayuran hijau dan buah-buahan seperti epal dan pear dapat membantu dalam proses penjagaan ini.

5. Kesan pengambilan ubat.

Terdapat juga kajian yang dilakukan mengatakan, pengambilan pelbagai jenis ubat-ubatan menjadi salah satu punca perut menjadi buncit. Sebagai contoh, ubat Aspirin yang terlalu kerap di ambil akan menyebabkan timbulnya penyakit lain seperti sembelit.

6. Hindari sembelit.

Sembelit berlaku apabila seseorang itu mengalami masalah dalam pembuangan dan hanya membuang tidak lebih dari tiga kali seminggu. Sebagai akibat dari penyakit ini, perut akan mengumpul gas-gas yang berlebihan dan merangsang isi perut mengumpul lemak-lemak yang boleh menyebabkan kekembungan dan buncit. Oleh itu, pengambilan serat adalah digalakkan.

7. Lakukan senaman atau bersukan.

Bersukan sebanyak tiga kali seminggu dapat membantu meningkatkan kadar metabolisme dalam tubuh badan yang bagus untuk pembakaran dan pemecahan lemak. Bersukan akan membantu menggerakkan cairan berlebihan dalam perut dan dikeluarkan dari tubuh badan sebagai peluh. Ini seterusnya akan mengekalkan bentuk badan seseorang yang sesuai dengan ketinggian dan berat badan.

Selamat mencuba!

Brazil juara Piala Konfederasi

RIO DE JANEIRO: Dua gol daripada Fred serta satu jaringan Neymar membolehkan tuan rumah Brazil mengalahkan juara dunia Sepanyol 3-0 dalam perlawanan final Piala Konfederasi, di stadium Maracana awal pagi ini.

Fred menjaringkan gol pertama Brazil kurang dua minit selepas perlawanan bermula dan Neymar menambahkan jumlah jaringan pasukan itu sejurus sebelum separuh masa pertama berakhir.

Sementara itu, Fred menjaringkan gol kelima dalam lima perlawanan pada awal separuh masa kedua untuk memberi kemenangan yang boleh dikatakan mudah mengatasi Sepanyol.

Sergio Ramos gagal melaksanakan sepakan penalti bagi Sepanyol pada minit ke-55 dan pemain pertahanan Sepanyol, Gerard Pique dibuang padang selepas mendapat kad merah kerana mengasari Neymar pada minit ke-68

Neymar juga memenangi anugerah pemain terbaik kejohanan Piala Konfederasi, manakala penyerang Sepanyol, Fernando Torres memenangi anugerah Golden Boot dengan jaringan lima gol semasa kejohanan itu.

Penjaga gol Brazil, Julio Cesar pula memenangi anugerah Golden Glove.

Barisan pemain

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho (Hernanes, 88), Oscar, Hulk (Jadson, 73), Neymar, Fred (Jo, 80). 

Spain: Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Fernando Torres (David Villa, 59), Pedro Rodriguez, Juan Mata (Jesus Navas, 52), Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets, Alvaro Arbeloa (Cesar Azpilicueta, 46), Jordi Alba.

5 GAMBAR - PERKAHWINAN HANNY HARMY

Gambar anak Julie Dahlan, Hani Nur Zara Harmi, 31, atau lebih dikenali dengan Hanny Harmy yang selamat melangsungkan perkahwinannya dengan Acem sabtu lalu. Tahniah! 

Klik untuk imej besar...
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

FOR THE RECORD: Never give up on the dream

I REMEMBER one cold and windy night when I was 15, lying on my small and stiff bed in the dark of night in Sekolah Menengah Sains Selangor, the boarding school I was attending.

I remember pulling up my blanket that night, trying to stay warm from the cool air that sneaked in through the windows of my dormitory.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, punctuated by the occasional symphony of insects combined with the gentle snoring of my dorm-mates.

Everyone was asleep but I remember lying there on the lower bunk bed, staring into the bottom of the bed above. It was the middle of the night but I was wide awake. I could not sleep because my mind was preoccupied with a favourite thought at that time.

Well, truth be told, it wasn’t just a thought. It was more like a dream that kept coming back whenever everything goes quiet and my thoughts, free from any distractions, would begin wandering by itself.

My mind would wander far and wide, exploring different places around the world, armed with the coolest gadgets and flying vehicles, all the crazy things that a 15-year-old would dream of but somehow in the end, it would always come back to the same thing.

In the end, my fantasies would always end with me playing a 3.7m Steinway grand piano surrounded by violins, violas, cellos, double basses, trumpets, trombones, saxophones and a solid rhythm section with kick-ass drums, bass and guitars.

The strings would be all around me. A solo violin would fly off into the stratosphere, the horn section would blast out an intricate harmony and I’d be totally lost in the music, and feeling extremely and sincerely happy.

Many years have now passed since that night. I’m now hurtling towards my mid-40s and the journey of life has taken me to places I’ve never thought I’d be, doing things I’ve never thought I would be doing and working with people who I never thought I’d meet.

I guess that applies to each and every one of us.

We dream crazy dreams when we are young, when no one tells us those dreams are impossible. We dream crazy dreams when no one tells us there are limits to what we can do.

At 15, we aren’t yet distracted by college. At 15, we don’t have colleagues laughing at our dreams, no bosses to tell us what we can or can’t do and our parents tolerate our crazy ideas with unconditional love.

When we enter the real world, get a job and have a family, life and its responsibilities, and rules would pummel its realities into our heart, stamping out any distant memory of any crazy teenage dream we ever had.

Life has a way of making us forget what we really want to do in the first place.

Think about this when you are going through life. Think about that when you’re in your endless meetings. Think about that when you fill your day with doing things that you never thought you’d be doing or worse, you never ever wanted to do in the first place.

Make that presentation, bind those documents, sign those memoranda of understanding, monitor those numbers, have those meetings... but try to remember why you stepped into the real world in the first place.

The world deserves to hear your crazy ideas and plans even though ironically, it tries to make you forget what they are.

The world may look like it doesn’t want to listen but it sorely needs creativity, originality and courage, which were so alive inside of you all those years ago.

And so when I go through all my routines and all the “things-to-do” lists in my notebooks, my thoughts will always go back to that cold and windy night all those years ago.

Never give up on your dream because I ain’t giving up on mine.

That orchestra is somewhere. I just need to step out and find it.

The writer is always lost. And that is good.

Lady Gaga sparks creativity, originality and courage in the music industry

Looking out for those living under the radar

PUTTING HUMANITY FIRST: The United Nations estimates that there are about 120,000 registered refugees in Malaysia. However, their existence is relatively unknown and so are their difficulties. Nuradilla Noorazam talks to a group of aspiring and passionate youngsters who are raising awareness of the plight of this 'invisible community'

WHEN a group of young, passionate individuals team up to help a community, it is bound to create a ripple and raise   societal awareness. 

Hoping to create such an awareness among Malaysians, four activists in Kuala Lumpur decided to assist refugees in the nation.

This year, they kicked off a fundraising programme to help supply a month's worth of food for 560 refugee families for the upcoming fasting month.

"Feed a Family" is a social initiative to help families of asylum seekers experience an enriching Ramadan by providing them with food and donations.

With a donation of RM200, donors are able to support one refugee family for the whole of Ramadan.

Operating under the name "Carefugees", an open group that provides care and support for the refugee community, volunteer Amin Rahman said the group's aim was to create a sustainable, fun and easy module for Malaysians to help those who were less fortunate through crowd sourcing.

"We mainly communicate with our friends and followers through social media and word of mouth.

"It is quite remarkable to see that there are many Malaysians who do not know about asylum seekers who are suffering in their own backyard.

"When they find out about the asylum seekers, they are willing to help as Malaysians are compassionate and charitable in nature."

"Carefugees" is still looking for funding to proceed with future projects, like a mentor programme for refugee children and supplying education materials.

Volunteer Amira Hisham said the group expected the number of refugees from the Middle East to increase in the next two weeks because of the political instability there.

"We started with 550 families for the campaign and now, we are preparing for 600 families."

Amira added that the voucher mechanism had been proven to be successful as people were more willing to donate using a voucher.

"For every RM50 donated, donors will get a blue voucher as proof of their donation.

"If they donate RM200, they will get four vouchers," she said, while her friend, Wajahat Meenai, displayed the voucher.

Social activist Azra Banu said "Carefugees" was working hand in hand with the non-governmental organisation Malaysian Social Research Institute and its Sahabat Centre, a service centre for asylum seekers who have registered with the institute, as well as government agencies.

"The number of refugees from the Middle East has doubled since last year.

"Last year, there were 290 Middle Eastern refugee families in Malaysia. Now, there are 560 families.

"We think that it is high time for us to help these families, so that they do not have to suffer."

Azra said "Carefugees" was planning to set up a school for 200 refugee children in the near future using the funds that they had collected.

"Refugee children deserve an education as much as anyone else.

"We have also realised that at times like these, women appear to be more resilient than men.

"We have women in the refugee community who can sew and cook.

"They want to work hard to cater to their community."

Refugee children who have no access to schools spend time at community centres and depend on volunteer teachers for an education.

Rooney still a headache for Moyes

LONDON: David Moyes will walk straight into a searching test of his man-management skills next week after it emerged Wayne Rooney is still angling to leave Old Trafford.

The former Everton manager's Manchester United reign officially begins tomorrow and he was hoping to launch it in style by persuading Rooney to forget his differences with retired boss Sir Alex Ferguson and channel his energies into United's Premier League title defence.

But, in a stance that will alert new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, the 27-year-old is evidently in no mood for reconciliation and is expected to tell Moyes he still favours leaving.

It is understood United are beginning to contemplate how much they could ask for the England striker, who cost them STG27 million (RM135 million) from Everton in 2004.

Should Moyes fail to talk him round, United will hold out for at least STG25 million.

Chelsea look better placed than Arsenal to lure him, though it is thought the Rooney camp have not ruled out a move abroad.