Ikang given humanitarian position

Ikang given humanitarian position

JAKARTA: Rocker-cum-businessman Ikang Fawzi says he is excited to
be named ambassador of the humanitarian group Indonesia Red
Crescent (BSMI).

"When it was first offered to me, I was delighted to accept
it. This is going to be my vehicle to voice my gratitude to God.
I want to repay my loan to God," said the father of two
daughters.

With his new title, 46-year-old Ikang wants to encourage his
'celebrity' friends to take part in charity activities,
especially those run by BSMI. He also plans to involve colleagues
and businesspeople from the Indonesian Chamber of Trade.

"Compared with doctors and paramedics who were sent to
Pakistan in the middle of the fasting month, what I've done is
nothing," Ikang said, as quoted by Antara.

BSMI is set to send a medical team to help survivors of the
Pakistan earthquake.

"While we're busy amassing consumer items to welcome the Idul
Fitri holidays, the doctors and paramedics will be on a
humanitarian mission away from their families," he said.

When asked what he hoped to gain from his position at BSMI,
Ikang said,"I already had enough when I joined BSMI; like my
career as a singer, what we can do is help make things better for
people -- that's the main thing."

Ikang, married to former model Marissa Haque who is now a
member of the House of Representatives, was popular in the 1980s
and early 1990s. Besides singing, he also starred in a number of
locally made films. --JP

;AP;
ANPA ..r..
Britain-Beckhams
David and Victoria Beckham seek libel damages over claims their
JP/20/GUESS

David and Victoria Beckham seek libel damages over claims their
marriage is unhappy[

Beckhams may sue over marriage claims

LONDON: Soccer star David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl
Victoria are taking legal action against a newspaper that claimed
their "happy marriage" is a sham.

The pair are seeking libel damages against the News of the
World newspaper over an article which carried the headline: "Posh
and Becks on the Rocks." The case will be heard before a judge
and jury at London's Law Courts in December.

During a pretrial hearing on Monday the couple's lawyer, Hugh
Tomlinson, said the Beckhams would argue that they had been
defamed by the newspaper and there was no truth in the story that
alleged that the pair were maintaining a false image of a happy
marriage to protect their financial interests.

Richard Spearman, for News Group Newspapers -- publishers of
the News of the World, said the article suggested that because
the Beckhams' "substantial fortunes depend upon their public
perception, the claimants have been cynically and hypocritically
trying, for financial reasons, to convince the public that they
continue to enjoy a happy marriage."

Spearman said the defense would argue that that suggestion was
true and would also question the state of the celebrity marriage.
"Is it unhappy, rocked by rows and tensions because of David
Beckham's infidelity or is it happy? We say unhappy," Spearman
said.

Tomlinson, for the Beckhams, said the couple promoted
themselves as a happily married couple because they were.

The trial starts on Dec. 5 and is expected to take two weeks.
It is not the first time that David Beckham, the England and Real
Madrid soccer star whose income is the highest in world soccer,
has pursued libel action against Britain's tabloid media.

In August, Beckham accepted damages from tabloid The People
for an article that falsely accused him of making hate calls to a
former nanny.

GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 18, 2005 18:22:43

;AP;
ANPA ..r..
US-Warren Buffett
Multimillion-dollar deal announced for book about Warren Buffett
JP/20/GUESS

Multimillion-dollar deal announced for book about Warren Buffett
AP Photo NY119[ By HILLEL ITALIE= AP National Writer=

Multimillion-dollar deal for Buffet

NEW YORK: A bidding war for an authorized biography of the
"ideas" of billionaire Warren Buffett has been won by the Bantam
Dell Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc.

Tentatively titled The Snowball: How Warren Buffett Collected
Friends, Wisdom and Wealth, the book is scheduled to come out in
2008. Several publishers were interested and a representative
close to the deal said it was worth more than US$7 million,
although not as much as the reported $10 million to $12 million
for former President Clinton's My Life.

Former General Electric Co. CEO Jack Welch reportedly got $7.1
million for his best seller, Jack: Straight From the Gut.

The Snowball will be written by Alice Schroeder, a former
insurance analyst at Morgan Stanley, where she met Buffett. This
marks the first time a book will be written with his cooperation,
but the contract was negotiated with Schroeder.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by Dell, the book
will focus on Buffett's business strategies. It will be based on
the "thousands of hours" Schroeder spent with Buffett and on
"unprecedented access to his files, friends and associates."

The 75-year-old Buffett is considered of special interest both
for his personal wealth, estimated by Forbes magazine at $40
billion, and his folksy style.

Buffett is known as the man who built a 1956 partnership of
four relatives and three close friends into a holding company
worth about $100 billion. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns insurance,
soft drink, candy, furniture, restaurant and carpet firms.

Yet Buffett is also known to wear sweat pants and sweat shirts
in his spare time. He is a longtime fan of hamburgers, french
fries and Cherry Cokes, and enjoys bridge and playing the
ukulele.

GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 20, 2005 06:38:27