Deport radical cleric Abu Qatada, orders UK court

Abu Qatada, shown here in a 2000 file image, has been accused by the UK government of supporting terrorism.
The UK’s highest court Wednesday ordered that the man known as Osama bin Laden’s spiritual ambassador to Europe be deported to Jordan, despite claims that he faces torture, local media have reported.

The court also ordered that two Algerians, known only as “RB” and “U,” be deported to Algeria. Radical cleric Abu Qatada, also known as Omar Othman, has been engaged in a long-running campaign to remain in the UK since he arrived 16 years ago. UK ministers have described Qatada as an “inspiration” for terrorists such as Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker behind the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The government has claimed that he is a national security risk who fundraised for terrorist groups, including organizations linked to bin Laden; and that he publicly supported the violent activities of those groups. Qatada has denied the allegations. It is expected that he will appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights. Welcoming the judgment, UK interior minister Jacqui Smith said: “I’m delighted with the Lords’ decision today in the cases of Abu Qatada and the two Algerians ‘RB and U’. It highlights the threat these individuals pose to our nation’s security and vindicates our efforts to remove them. “My top priority is to protect public safety and ensure national security and I have signed Abu Qatada’s deportation order which will be served on him today. I am keen to deport this dangerous individual as soon as I can.” Qatada came to the UK on a forged United Arab Emirates passport in 1993, according to court documents, and claimed asylum for himself, his wife, and their three children. The UK government recognized him as a refugee and allowed him to stay in the country until 1998. Qatada applied to stay indefinitely, but while his application was pending, a Jordanian court convicted him in absentia for involvement in two 1998 terrorist attacks and a plot to plant bombs to coincide with the millennium. By 2002 the UK government said it suspected Qatada was a terrorist and a national security risk. Refusing him leave to stay in Britain, it ordered he be deported and detained him. Last June a three-judge appeals panel freed Qatada under strict bail conditions, including fitting him with an electronic monitoring tag and ordering that he stay at home for 22 hours each day.

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The panel said there was no reason to continue holding him but that he presented a “continuing and significant” threat. The deportation decision Wednesday by the Law Lords followed the government’s appeal against that decision. But human rights group Amnesty International said it was “gravely concerned” by the consequences of the decision. “What is not acceptable is to use suspicion of involvement in terrorism to justify sending someone to face a real risk of torture or other serious violations of their rights,” said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International, in a statement. “If these individuals in question are reasonably suspected of having committed a criminal offence relating to terrorism, it is always open to the UK authorities to charge them and give them a fair trial. “It would be deeply worrying if the Law Lords’ decision were to be taken by the UK government as a green light to push ahead with deporting people to countries where they will be at risk of abuses such as torture and unfair trials.” Duckworth also said that diplomatic assurances from the governments of Algeria and Jordan about the suspects safety, were “completely unenforceable and as such cannot be relied upon.”

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Indian hepatitis outbreak leaves 19 dead

Stanford presents a trophy to the winners of his Twenty20 cricket tournament in November 2008.
Health officials in India’s Gujarat state are investigating a hepatitis outbreak that has left 19 people dead in less than two weeks, authorities said Wednesday.

A statement on the official Web site of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) www.ecb-co.uk confirmed that joint talks with the West Indies Cricket Board over a “new sponsorship deal” had been called off. Stanford backed a much-criticized $20 million winner takes all Twenty20 match between his all-star team and England in Antigua last November. The lucrative series is due to continue for five years and the ECB had been in negotiations with Stanford over an annual tournament at Lord’s starting next year and an English Premier League, all using the Twenty20 format. Stanford also has links with other sports, most notably golf, where he is the title sponsor of the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis in June. The 58-year-old billionaire is also set to back an LPGA tournament in Houston at the end of the year and is involved in tennis and sailing events. But it is his high-profile connection with cricket which has made the headlines, landing a helicopter on the home of cricket Lord’s before clinching a deal to bring the England team to the Caribbean for the richest one-off in the history of the sport. His all-stars team, comprised in the main of established West Indian Test players, thrashed England to become instant dollar millionaires in the “Stanford Super Series”. But the week-long tournament attracted negative headlines as Stanford was pictured, some said inappropriately, with the wives of the England team while their partners were on the field. Already under pressure over England’s involvement, ECB chairman Giles Clarke faced calls for his resignation on Wednesday as the full extent of the fraud charges became clear. Conservative peer Lord Marland, who recently aborted a challenge to Clarke for his position, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “In most other businesses some people would resign if they had been involved in such a fiasco as this.” Clarke told the Independent newspaper “I will not be resigning,” but admitted the business relationship with Stanford was with hindsight a mistake. “We had the best of intentions, so yes,” he added. The implications for the cash-strapped West Indies cricket board, already under fire for their handling of the abandoned second Test against England in Antigua, could be more severe. In its draft strategic plan, published on its official Web site www.windiescricket.com, the board admits to “lack of financial stability, chronic cashflow problems and low reserves.” Stanford had promised to invest up to $100 million over the next four years, much to grassroots schemes in the various Caribbean nations. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused the chairman of Stanford Financial Group in an $8 billion fraudulent investment scheme.

The SEC raided the Houston offices of Stanford and froze the assets of three companies he controls on Tuesday. Stanford Financial Group could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Schwarzenegger sends out 10,000 layoff notices

Unemployed construction workers demonstrate in Los Angeles, California.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued 10,000 layoff notices Tuesday, affecting a wide spectrum of state employees and aimed at dealing with the state’s budget crisis, a spokesman said.

California lawmakers resumed negotiations late Tuesday after the longest legislative session in state history over the weekend resulted in a budget impasse. “Every state employee who receives a salary under the general fund is affected, and the governor began issuing layoff notices for the least-senior employees in various agencies,” said Aaron McLear, the governor’s press secretary. The layoffs would begin on July 1, which marks the fiscal year, and includes jobs in the Departments of Health and Human Services and Corrections, among others, McLear said. Another 10,000 layoff notices could be issued on Wednesday in other departments, he said. The governor, facing a $42 billion deficit, was prompted to move on the layoff notices after lawmakers missed a Monday night deadline to reach a budget deal, McLear told CNN late Monday. The Republican governor, who declared a fiscal emergency in December, has butted heads for months with the Democratic majority over alleviating the state’s $11.2 billion revenue shortfall this fiscal year alone. The cuts would save California $750 million for the year. The state’s $42 billion deficit is for the current and next fiscal years. iReport.com: What you’d fix first Schwarzenegger warned lawmakers about the cuts last week, urging them to approve the latest budget proposal. However, voting was stalled over a 30-hour weekend session as the legislature mulled over 26 pieces of legislation that make up the budget package. Interactive: See projected state budget gaps » The State Assembly in Sacramento postponed action until Tuesday. A single Republican vote was holding the budget from passing with a two-thirds majority, McLear said. The cuts wouldn’t begin until the start of the fiscal year on July 1, starting with employees with the least seniority. Last month, the state began delaying $3.5 billion in payments to taxpayers, contractors, counties and social service agencies so the state could continue funding schools and making debt payments. Watch more on California’s budget woes » On Tuesday, Kansas managed to work through its budget issues, which had forced the state to suspend tax refunds and caused concern it would not be able to to pay state employees.

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But Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ended the budget impasse by signing a bill to balance the budget, according to CNN affiliate KMBC-TV. The signing of the bill was a key demand for Republicans who had been blocking the Democratic governor’s plan to transfer $225 million into the state’s main bank account from other state government accounts. With her signature, Sebelius ended a cash crunch a half-hour before a key payroll budget deadline. KMBC reported the state’s 42,000 employees should receive their biweekly paychecks on time Friday. With Sebelius’ signature on the bill, the state may not have had enough money to pay state employees, or provide money for schools and health-care providers. Kansas also stopped processing income tax refunds last week because of low funds, said Department of Administration spokesman Gavin Young. “This political game the Republican leaders are playing affects real Kansas families,” Sebelius had said Monday in a written statement. “The Republican legislative leadership is jeopardizing our citizens’ pocketbooks for no other reason than to play political games — games in which the only ones set to lose are Kansas families, workers and schools.” Kansas’ money problems stem in part from the recession, but also from “substantial” funding to finance public schools and Medicaid, said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt. Young said as of Monday, Kansas only had $10 million in its general fund. The state has some 42,000 full-time employees, but about 55,000 paychecks are affected, he said. And the economic woes are also a problem for neighboring Colorado. State workers may face unpaid time off in an effort to spare Colorado’s colleges and universities millions of dollars in budget cuts, KUSA-TV reported Tuesday. Interactive: Estimated job growth across the country Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, announced plans recently to furlough some state workers in an effort to balance the budget. There is roughly $600 million in budget cuts that need to be made by the end of this fiscal year in June, according to KUSA. State lawmakers will debate a bill in the House later this week that would require furloughs for state workers depending on how much money they make. “It’s drastic, but we’re in a drastic situation,” Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, told KUSA. If the bill passes, state employees making $60,000 or more would be subject to two unpaid days off per month. Those earning $40,000-$59,999 would be forced to take one and a half days off. Anyone taking home $39,999 or less would take one furlough day per month. Denver’s Democratic Mayor John Hickenlooper instituted a furlough system for city workers. In Washington state, KOMO-TV reports that proposed budget cuts have led to protests in its capital, Olympia. State officials are looking at some $300 million in cuts as part of a package the governor is expected to sign this week. Lawmakers are also aiming to cut nearly $6 billion over the next two years. But about 100 union members, state employees, school supporters and health-care providers rallied on the lawn of the Capitol, telling lawmakers to stop the budget cuts to health care and education and prevent tuition hikes. State employees say they want fair pay, better benefits and pensions and no layoffs. “We’re in challenging times, and I think the government needs to be looking at things in a new way,” Rodolfo Franco, president of the Local 304 chapter of the Washington Federation of State Employees, told KOMO. The budgetary woes are also affecting Hawaii, a state heavily dependent on tourism and hospitality that is typical hit hard by a recession. Hawaii faces a nearly $2 billion budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year. That figure has led legislators to seek alternative ways of balancing the budget, including possible reductions in health and retirements benefits for government workers, KHNL-TV in Honolulu, Hawaii, reported Tuesday. One bill being debated in the legislature aims to cut off insurance benefits for all employees retiring after July 1 regardless of how many years the employee earns. On the East Coast, states including New York and Florida, which have high unemployment rates and huge budget shortfalls, are also looking to cut programs. Watch more on how the stimulus plan will work » In New York, the expected budget shortfall is around $1.7 billion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. President Obama took his economic stimulus message to Florida last week to hard-hit Fort Myers. The jobless rate in the area is 10 percent, up from 2.3 percent this time in 2006, and the area’s foreclosure rate of 12 percent is the highest in the nation. Interactive: See where the stimulus money is going » And Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose state has been especially hard-hit by the recession and the near-collapse of its auto industry, says job creation is paramount to turning the economy around. “We see the impact of this every day, and I’m speaking not just for Michigan, but for governors across the country. We need help. We need it now. And it’s not about budgets; it’s about creating jobs in our states,” she said recently on CNN’s State of the Union with John King.

That sentiment is echoed by nearly every governor, as witnessed by an urgent statement put out by the National Governors Association in late January. “States are facing fiscal conditions not seen since the Great Depression — anticipated budget shortfalls are expected in excess of $200 billion. To address these shortfalls and meet balanced budget requirements, states have begun taking action to cut government services or increase revenue. Absent federal action, states will have to take even stronger actions that will make the recession more severe and slow the nation’s economic recovery,” the group said in a letter released January 27.

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Taiwanese economy slumps into recession

People line up to receive $108 U.S. dollars worth of shopping vouchers in Taipei, Taiwan, last month.
Taiwan’s economy slumped 8.36 percent during the last three months of 2008, the government said Wednesday.

The island’s economy spiraled into recession with its second straight quarter of economic losses. For the third quarter of 2008, Taiwan’s real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, slipped about 1 percent, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. Behind the dismal economic numbers is a global recession that is sapping demand for the products Taiwan makes. “The types of exports that Taiwan ships to the West — electronics — are very severely affected, very sensitive to changes in Western consumer sentiment,” said Frederic Neumann, a senior Asian economist for HSBC. The GDP numbers are the broadest measure of Taiwan’s economic activity. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of falling GDP. Taiwan’s central bank, in a move to boost the economy, on Wednesday dropped its key interest rate one-quarter point, to 1.25 percent.

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Since the end of 2007, the central bank has lowered rates by more than 2 percent. In January, the Taiwanese government offered the island’s residents up to $108 each to go shopping, in another attempt to stimulate the economy. More than 90 percent of those eligible took up the offer, pumping about TW $86 billion ($2.6 billion) into the economy and sending shoppers to malls, officials said.

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Sport counts the cost after Stanford charged

Stanford presents a trophy to the winners of his Twenty20 cricket tournament in November 2008.
English cricket chiefs have broken off negotiations with Allen Stanford after the Texan tycoon was charged by U.S. regulators over an alleged multibillion dollar fraud.

A statement on the official Web site of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) www.ecb-co.uk confirmed that joint talks with the West Indies Cricket Board over a “new sponsorship deal” had been called off. Stanford backed a much-criticized $20 million winner takes all Twenty20 match between his all-star team and England in Antigua last November. The lucrative series is due to continue for five years and the ECB had been in negotiations with Stanford over an annual tournament at Lord’s starting next year and an English Premier League, all using the Twenty20 format. Stanford also has links with other sports, most notably golf, where he is the title sponsor of the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis in June. The 58-year-old billionaire is also set to back an LPGA tournament in Houston at the end of the year and is involved in tennis and sailing events. But it is his high-profile connection with cricket which has made the headlines, landing a helicopter on the home of cricket Lord’s before clinching a deal to bring the England team to the Caribbean for the richest one-off in the history of the sport. His all-stars team, comprised in the main of established West Indian Test players, thrashed England to become instant dollar millionaires in the “Stanford Super Series”. But the week-long tournament attracted negative headlines as Stanford was pictured, some said inappropriately, with the wives of the England team while their partners were on the field. Already under pressure over England’s involvement, ECB chairman Giles Clarke faced calls for his resignation on Wednesday as the full extent of the fraud charges became clear. Conservative peer Lord Marland, who recently aborted a challenge to Clarke for his position, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “In most other businesses some people would resign if they had been involved in such a fiasco as this.” Clarke told the Independent newspaper “I will not be resigning,” but admitted the business relationship with Stanford was with hindsight a mistake. “We had the best of intentions, so yes,” he added. The implications for the cash-strapped West Indies cricket board, already under fire for their handling of the abandoned second Test against England in Antigua, could be more severe. In its draft strategic plan, published on its official Web site www.windiescricket.com, the board admits to “lack of financial stability, chronic cashflow problems and low reserves.” Stanford had promised to invest up to $100 million over the next four years, much to grassroots schemes in the various Caribbean nations. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the chairman of Stanford Financial Group in an $8 billion fraudulent investment scheme.

The SEC raided the Houston offices of Allen Stanford and froze the assets of three companies he controls on Tuesday. Stanford Financial Group could not immediately be reached for comment.

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‘Pull My Finger’ subject of court fight

Sixth sense: Hollywood action king Jerry Bruckheimer is famous for his uncanny ability to recognize a potential hit movie.
First came the iPhone. Then, there was the "iFart" flatulence noise download. Now, there’s "Pull My Finger" — and next could come the lawsuits.

Once described as “the man with the golden gut,” Bruckheimer’s movies have earned more than $15 billion in box office, fueled by a potent mix of fast-moving action, big bangs and even bigger stars. Over the span of almost four decades, Tinseltown’s reigning king of action has credits including, 1980s classics “Top Gun” and “Flashdance,” high-octane action movies “The Rock” and “Con Air” in the 1990s, and most-famously the wildly successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise starring Johnny Depp. That “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” Bruckheimer’s latest movie, which stars Isla Fisher, has absolutely no explosions, not a car chase in sight and includes gratuitous references shopping and designer high heels should signal to everyone that chick flicks have well and truly arrived. “The Screening Room” caught up with Bruckheimer to ask him about the growing power of the female cinema audience, taking risks and his ability to spot movie gold. TSR: You’re thought of as the Hollywood action king. Do you think the fact that you’re moving into chick flicks with “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is a sign that Hollywood is taking the female audience more seriously Jerry Bruckheimer: I think we’ve always taken the female audience very seriously, but with the success of “Sex and the City” and a number of other movies … we know that there’s a big female audience out there, we just need to figure out the films that they really want to go see. Which is hard, you don’t really know. Hopefully, they’d want to go and see “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” Watch Jerry Bruckheimer, director P.J. Hogan and star Isla Fisher talk about “Confessions of a Shopaholic” TSR: How do you know that a film is going to be a hit With films like, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Top Gun” you resurrected genres that were dead. Is it instinct or experience JB: I think it’s just films that I really want to go and see. I really don’t know what’s going to make a picture successful. I know what a good drama is, and what good characters are, and that you should populate your film with good characters. It’s all about what audiences will be captivated by. I really don’t know. I just know what I like.

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TSR: You’re one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. What does it take to be a great producer JB: I love movies and I love making movies. It’s not about the money, it’s about can you make a good film can you entertain an audience and do you have good taste in casting and are you a good storyteller It’s all about story-telling. The better the story, the more popular the characters, the bigger your chance is of having a successful film. TSR: And how about taking risks Do you need to take risks JB: Well, I do take enormous risks. Making a pirate movie and movies like “Top Gun,” and “Beverly Hills Cop” with African-American actors in it when that wasn’t in vogue. You know, I do it everyday. TSR: How does it affect you JB: When they are a success, it makes you feel good. But not all films can be successes, so you’ve to roll with the punches and just get back up and start all over again. TSR: How has the current economic crisis affected your work JB: Well, it affects everybody. You know, budgets are tighter and stocks are down a lot for companies. But box-office fortunately for the movie business has been up. Advertisers aren’t spending as much on TV, which is not good for television products, but movies are still cheap entertainment. When people can’t go away and take vacations, they always can spend a few bucks and go to a movie. TSR: Remakes of 1980s films seem to be becoming more popular — especially horror remakes. Any thoughts on remaking some of your old films from that era like, maybe, “Top Gun” JB: Not yet, but you never know. I mean “Top Gun” was one that was a one-off it’s hard to remake that or make it a different way. TSR: Do you think long-form TV, shows like “The Sopranos” or “The Wire” with hour-long episodes and high production values have stolen audiences from the movies JB: Not at all. I think people still want to get out of their house. I mean you have a kitchen in your house I assume and you do go out to eat, right It’s the same thing. We have TVs in our homes and we watch television and we go on computers and if there’s something we want to see [at the movies] we are still going to go out because it’s an experience.

TSR: And finally, I have to ask you, are there any plans with Johnny Depp to make another “Pirates of the Caribbean” JB: Yeah, we are talking about making another one. We have Johnny certainly interested and we have him interested in another one of our projects called “The Lone Ranger” so that’s two films that we hope to make with him.

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Daily Snapshot

A Sri Lankan soldier poses in front of a Tamil Tigers emblem in the rebel group's former military headquarters.

India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament. “Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields,” he said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers. “As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms,” Mukherjee added. He noted that some civilians had either been caught in cross-fire or “stopped and even killed” by Tamil rebels as they tried to escape.

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Government troops and the Tamil Tigers are locked in a battle over the rebels’ remaining territory in northern Sri Lanka’s Vanni region. The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. Tens of thousands of people have fled the region as government forces have advanced and rebels have been pushed into a smaller and smaller patch of land.

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India: 70,000 trapped in Sri Lanka war zone

A Sri Lankan soldier poses in front of a Tamil Tigers emblem in the rebel group's former military headquarters.
India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka’s war zone.

India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament. “Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields,” he said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers. “As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms,” Mukherjee added. He noted that some civilians had either been caught in cross-fire or “stopped and even killed” by Tamil rebels as they tried to escape.

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Government troops and the Tamil Tigers are locked in a battle over the rebels’ remaining territory in northern Sri Lanka’s Vanni region. The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. Tens of thousands of people have fled the region as government forces have advanced and rebels have been pushed into a smaller and smaller patch of land.

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Confessions of a Hollywood action king

Sixth sense: Hollywood action king Jerry Bruckheimer is famous for his uncanny ability to recognize a potential hit movie.
Hollywood uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is famous for his almost uncanny ability to recognize a potential hit movie.

Once described as “the man with the golden gut,” Bruckheimer’s movies have earned more than $15 billion in box office, fueled by a potent mix of fast-moving action, big bangs and even bigger stars. Over the span of almost four decades, Tinseltown’s reigning king of action has credits including, 1980s classics “Top Gun” and “Flashdance,” high-octane action movies “The Rock” and “Con Air” in the 1990s, and most-famously the wildly successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise starring Johnny Depp. That “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” Bruckheimer’s latest movie, which stars Isla Fisher, has absolutely no explosions, not a car chase in sight and includes gratuitous references shopping and designer high heels should signal to everyone that chick flicks have well and truly arrived. “The Screening Room” caught up with Bruckheimer to ask him about the growing power of the female cinema audience, taking risks and his ability to spot movie gold. TSR: You’re thought of as the Hollywood action king. Do you think the fact that you’re moving into chick flicks with “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is a sign that Hollywood is taking the female audience more seriously Jerry Bruckheimer: I think we’ve always taken the female audience very seriously, but with the success of “Sex and the City” and a number of other movies … we know that there’s a big female audience out there, we just need to figure out the films that they really want to go see. Which is hard, you don’t really know. Hopefully, they’d want to go and see “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” TSR: How do you know that a film is going to be a hit With films like, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Top Gun” you resurrected genres that were dead. Is it instinct or experience JB: I think it’s just films that I really want to go and see. I really don’t know what’s going to make a picture successful. I know what a good drama is, and what good characters are, and that you should populate your film with good characters. It’s all about what audiences will be captivated by. I really don’t know. I just know what I like.

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TSR: You’re one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. What does it take to be a great producer JB: I love movies and I love making movies. It’s not about the money, it’s about can you make a good film can you entertain an audience and do you have good taste in casting and are you a good storyteller It’s all about story-telling. The better the story, the more popular the characters, the bigger your chance is of having a successful film. TSR: And how about taking risks Do you need to take risks JB: Well, I do take enormous risks. Making a pirate movie and movies like “Top Gun,” and “Beverly Hills Cop” with African-American actors in it when that wasn’t in vogue. You know, I do it everyday. TSR: How does it affect you JB: When they are a success, it makes you feel good. But not all films can be successes, so you’ve to roll with the punches and just get back up and start all over again. TSR: How has the current economic crisis affected your work JB: Well, it affects everybody. You know, budgets are tighter and stocks are down a lot for companies. But box-office fortunately for the movie business has been up. Advertisers aren’t spending as much on TV, which is not good for television products, but movies are still cheap entertainment. When people can’t go away and take vacations, they always can spend a few bucks and go to a movie. TSR: Remakes of 1980s films seem to be becoming more popular — especially horror remakes. Any thoughts on remaking some of your old films from that era like, maybe, “Top Gun” JB: Not yet, but you never know. I mean “Top Gun” was one that was a one-off it’s hard to remake that or make it a different way. TSR: Do you think long-form TV, shows like “The Sopranos” or “The Wire” with hour-long episodes and high production values have stolen audiences from the movies JB: Not at all. I think people still want to get out of their house. I mean you have a kitchen in your house I assume and you do go out to eat, right It’s the same thing. We have TVs in our homes and we watch television and we go on computers and if there’s something we want to see [at the movies] we are still going to go out because it’s an experience. TSR: And finally, I have to ask you, are there any plans with Johnny Depp to make another “Pirates of the Caribbean” JB: Yeah, we are talking about making another one. We have Johnny certainly interested and we have him interested in another one of our projects called “The Lone Ranger” so that’s two films that we hope to make with him.

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