FIFA candidates targets of blackmail

Singapore - Two men who launched challenges to Sepp Blatter for the leadership of world football body FIFA have been targeted in an attempted blackmail scam, a report said on Saturday.

Prince Ali bin al Hussein and Michael van Praag, who has now pulled out of the race, were both approached by Kenya-based conmen who said Blatter had gathered sensitive information about them.

Singapore's The New Paper and Dutch daily De Volkskrant said the men demanded money to hand over the information from what they claimed was a smear campaign orchestrated by Blatter.

According to The New Paper, Jordan's Prince Ali, who is now Blatter's sole challenger in next week's FIFA vote, and van Praag both confirmed approaches.

"We have had a number of individuals coming forward with similar allegations," a spokesman for Prince Ali was quoted as saying.

"Our approach has been to try and set up meetings with these individuals so we can assess them and the information they are giving for ourselves."

The conmen said the director of an India-based security company put together a surveillance report on Prince Ali for submission to Blatter's daughter, Corinne.

But when contacted by The New Paper, both the investigator and Corinne Blatter denied all knowledge and said they had been set up.

"I do not know who is behind it but it is clearly intended to damage my father's reputation," Corinne Blatter was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the approaches by email appeared genuine but details such as the investigator's phone number and email address were wrong.

"I have no idea who would want to set me up, especially on such an elaborate scam as this," the investigator, who was not named, told The New Paper.

"I have never worked for Ms Corinne Blatter in any way."

Van Praag received an email which stated: "Some time in late August 2014, Sepp commissioned some espionage work on you fearing you might stand against him in future."

The Dutch FA chief said: "What do you think it would mean for my image if I were to respond to those e-mails?

"If it is true that they are working on a case against me,then so be it. I have nothing to hide."

Van Praag and Portuguese great Luis Figo withdrew from the FIFA race on Thursday, leaving Prince Ali as the only man standing between Blatter and a fifth term as president on May 29.

Swiss-based FIFA has been hit by a succession of scandals, including claims of widespread bribery in the run-up to Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

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Hidden dimensions: 3D scanner reveals the inner secrets of artworks

"The application allows the user to actually see inside the painting. For instance, in (one) painting we've discovered a mysterious number 34 drawn underneath the colour layers. We also discovered that one of the capes was originally green"
It has long been known that, below the surface, works of art often contain important information about how they were created. However, revealing those secrets in a way that does not damage the object is a major challenge for art experts.
Now, researchers at the University of Oviedo in northern Spain think they have the answer: a scanner using the highly versatile material, graphene.
Samuel Ver Hoeye, a telecommunications engineer involved in the research explained its advantages:
“Graphene acts as a frequency multiplier. It is able to generate higher frequency signals out of lower frequencies, in a relatively easy way. Graphene also allows us to go deeper into the work of art, and to identify the chemical composition of its materials,” he said.
Graphene scanner
The pictures obtained with the graphene scanner are then combined with image processing techniques and 3D high-performance scanning to generate images of sealed 3D objects, whose hidden secrets can then be studied more easily.
Yannick Francken, a computer scientist with 4DDynamics who is also working on the EU-funded programme demonstrated the computer-imaging process:
“What you see (here) is the real colour of the works of art. It has been virtually illuminated, and virtually recorded by a camera. Technically the most challenging part is to combine all the individual scans. These scans need to be automatically aligned. And if that is not perfectly done, within a 0.2 millimetre accuracy, then we get really bad colour reconstruction.”
The scanner was designed by scientists at a European research project studying both 3D objects and paintings, which have a 2- dimensional surface. The scanner has a versatility much needed in the world of art conservation and restoration, as research project coordinator Javier Gutiérrez Meana explained:
“Existing scanners for works of art are currently very expensive. Our technology has been designed to be much cheaper. It results in a compact, lighter scanner that can easily be transported to museums or laboratories to study objects.”
Beneath the surface
Conservation experts at the Asturias Museum of Fine Arts provided researchers with canvasses to test their device on. It was also
tested on valuable historical pieces from the museum’s collection.
Marta Flórez Igual, one of the museums conservators, said the results were encouraging: “We can discover the depth of the varnish and the colour layers. We can see if there were preliminary drawings beneath the actual painting, and what the materials used for those drawings were. We are also trying to see if the scanner is also able to identify the different materials inside the painting, like varnishes, binders and pigments.”
User experience
Data from the graphene scanner is currently being used to develop a smartphone application based on Augmented Reality.
Museum visitors could ultimately interact with the artworks in a deeper and more engaged way, Meana believes:
“The application allows the user to actually see inside the painting. For instance, in (one) painting we’ve discovered a mysterious number 34 drawn underneath the colour layers. We also discovered that one of the capes was originally green.”
Researchers hope that the graphene scanner and its applications could become a market reality in less than 5 years.

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Recharging without cables: the road ahead for electric cars

"As far as electronics are concerned, we've developed 99 percent of its full potential and we have what is needed to produce an efficient wireless charging station"

Electric vehicles are undoubtedly a form of transport with a future, but many technical challenges have to be overcome before they replace petrol and diesel-fuelled cars.

Researchers in Zaragoza in northern Spain are working on resolving one of the biggest problems; how to efficiently recharge batteries.

The scientists involved in the EU-supported Unplugged project have developed an innovative wireless charging station for electric vehicles. Unlike other systems it can charge electric cars or vans in around 20 minutes.

Lourdes García, an industrial engineer with Endesa, said the position of the coils is key: “The system works with coils that are buried under the tarmac of the charging station. It’s use inductive technology. The coil is energized from the electric grid. When the vehicle is positioned correctly on the charging station, a connection is made between the coils and the car. The coils transfer energy to the car. It’s a very flexible, modular system. You can charge cars, vans or electric buses”.

Researchers say the method is easier, safer, more vandalism-proof and has less visual impact than charging with cables.

José Francisco Sanz Osorio, an industrial engineer with the Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption said they are now turning to industry to help complete the testing: “As far as electronics are concerned, we’ve developed 99 percent of its full potential and we have what is needed to produce an efficient wireless charging station.

“The remaining work concerns coils; that is where we are lagging behind. We need to find coil manufacturers interested in this product. But these coils are so innovative, that it is still hard to find those manufacturers,” he said.

The project also aims to convince the public of the benefits of electric vehicles.

But firstly, there were major technical challenges to overcome, as Axel Barkow, an electronics engineer and project coordinator explained: “First on the level of communication, that is, how to make operable the communication between the car and the infrastructure. “Then on the level of energy transmission. That is: How can a 3,7 KW car be charged at a 50 KW charging station. And finally we were addressing the problem of positioning, because positioning the car correctly – that means positioning the coils under the station in line with those on the car. That has a big impact on charging efficiency.”

So how can drivers get the full potential of this technology?

The answer lies in developing a system that assists drivers to position their cars exactly over the charging coils, so no energy is wasted. Barkow’s colleague Jörg Küfen said their solution involves magnetic fields, optics systems and algorithms: “At the end of the project we’re now at a point where we can say, that with a camera and a radio frequency identification (RFID) support system we can enable a driver to approach the inductive charging system in the correct way.”

More research is needed to increase the charging station’s potential and to optimise its operability, according to José Francisco Sanz Osorio: “We’re working at a given frequency, but in other countries they can be working with a different frequency. So we need to harmonize those frequencies. We also need to agree on the size of the coils, on the distances of electric emissions. All this is needed for the system to be fully interoperable”.

“I think as far as cars are concerned we are very close to a serial production, said Barkow. “That is, I think, we will see cars that are equipped with this technology within the next one or two years”.

The next big issue, researchers say, is how to develop a dynamic charging system, that will allow vehicles to be charged on the move on motorways and streets.

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Renard quits as Ivory Coast coach

Abidjan - Frenchman Herve Renard has stepped down as coach of his Africa Cup of Nations winners Ivory Coast, according to official sources on Friday.

The charismatic 46-year-old led the 'Elephants' to their first African title since 1992 in February, when they defeated Ghana on penalties, but is now hotly tipped to take over at Ligue 1 side Lille.

"I said to myself, that after the success at the CAN, it would be difficult to do better and I have to open myself up to other challenges," Renard told the press.

Renard had been at the helm of the Ivory Coast since August 2014 after signing a two year contract but that deal has now come to an end.

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Cosafa Cup quarter-final line-up

Johannesburg - Cosafa Cup quarter-finals line-up.
Sunday, May 24
Namibia v Zambia - 15:00
Botswana v South Africa - 17:30
Monday, May 25
Ghana v Madagascar - 17:00
Malawi v Mozambique - 19:30

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Ride; the waves in Helen Hunts new movie

‘Ride’ is the tale of a single mother who travels across the US to join her college dropout son as he begins his new life as a surfer.

The film is written and directed by Helen Hunt: “I had this idea hearing the phrase ‘soccer mom’ all the time, in Canada you hear ‘hockey mom’, in LA you hear ‘surf moms.’ And there’s all these moms sort of benched while their kids play and I thought, ‘You should be flipping that around and we need to get the mother on the field or in the water so that was sort of the impetus for the movie.”

As well a writing and directing ‘Ride’ Hunt steps from behind the camera to perform in the movie, she says it was inevitable: 

“The first movie I made I told myself, I played this game with myself as if I wasn’t going to be in it and then ultimately I was. This time I didn’t bother because I really didn’t think I could get another actor to put up with what I put up with. I was in the ocean for nine hours at a stretch. You can’t ask a civilized human being to do that.”

‘Ride’ is currently making waves in the US and Canada.

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