Danny Puff

WASHINGTON (AP) In the midst of talking black history with Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys, Maya Angelou breaks out singing a hymn a cappella.

The acclaimed poet and author wants to show Keys, a New Yorker, what "lining out," call-and-response singing that is popular in black churches down South, sounds like.

That teaching moment is one of many during Angelou's third annual Black History Month program, "Telling Our Stories," airing on more than 175 public radio stations nationwide throughout February.

Angelou says she is obligated to share her knowledge and experience with younger people like Keys, in a way that is not "preaching" but gives context to the "human truth."

"We owe the truth, not just the facts," she said recently in a phone interview from her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. "I'm celebrating my 84th year on this planet. I've seen many things, I've learned many things. I've certainly been exposed to many things and I've learned something: I owe it to you, to tell you."

Angelou said she is sharing black history in "a way that you get it and don't even know you got it," with songs, poems, jokes and short stories woven throughout interviews with five guests, including Keys, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, diplomat Kofi Annan and actress and playwright Regina Taylor.

Keys talks about growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen and how the diverse city influenced her sound. The performer, who began studying European classical music at the age of 7, said her influences range from the greats like Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Nina Simone to chart-topping peers like rappers Nas and Jay-Z.

Winfrey chats with Angelou during the special about their close friendship spanning over two decades, starting the Oprah Winfrey Network and her return to acting in the Lee Daniel's film "The Butler."

"One of the wonderful things about Oprah: She teaches you to keep on stepping," Angelou said. "She had the most powerful and popular program for 25 years and she stepped down and took on a bigger task, starting OWN."

Angelou added, "She teaches the young people: Keep on going, continue and continue with some pizazz, some laughter and some style."

Angelou interviews Hudson, an Oscar and Grammy winner, about her journey from singing in her Chicago church choir to performing at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Norway last year; and Taylor, a Golden Globe-winning actress and playwright who was the first black woman to play Juliet in William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" on Broadway.

This year's special mostly focuses on women in media and entertainment, and heavily uses music to convey history.

"I think music is one of the hero/sheroes of the African-American existence," Angelou said, noting that black history has been preserved through music, via songs on slave ships to Negro hymns passed down in Baptist churches.

The single man spotlighted as a guest on the radio program is Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He talks about climbing the ranks in diplomacy and his mission of public service.

"Mr. Kofi Annan has behaved too fabulously as secretary-general of the United Nations and he's had more than one stint at the job and he has earned a Nobel," she said. "Sometimes we don't know about any African except Nelson Mandela and oft times, we don't know any Afro-American man."

Angelou jokes that next year she will feature all men for the annual special, with rapper Common already in mind.

"Or mostly men, because there are men of such quality African-American men such riches, such dignity and humor," she said. "They just run through my mind now."

Another man who brings Angelou great pride is Richard Blanco, the youngest, the first Hispanic and the first gay person to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration last month at President Barack Obama's second swearing-in. Angelou was the first black woman to recite a poem at an inauguration, President Bill Clinton's in 1993.

"He showed great courage," she said of Blanco, "and it's courage (that) is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently. So I was very pleased with that."

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Online:

http://mayaangelouonpublicradio.com

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Four protesters were arrested entirely in the buff as they took to the steps of San Francisco City Hall in a brazen challenge of the city's ban on public nudity on Friday, the first day it went into effect.

One woman and three men one wearing just a mesh thong were taken into custody as about a dozen other protesters in various states of undress paraded around with painted slogans on their bodies, holding up signs with messages such as "The Human Body is Beautiful."

Police gave them a 15-minute warning to disperse or put pants on before officers arrested those who failed to cover themselves. The protesters said their arrest would advance the cause of "body freedom."

"No matter what, we're going to continue practicing body freedom," said Gypsy Taub, a mother of two who hosts a local cable program devoted to the nudist cause. "In a society that's repressed and crazy, that glorifies war and at the same time criminalizes the human body ... nudity is a political statement."

In December, the Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 in favor of the ordinance, which prohibits exposed genitals in most public places, including streets, sidewalks and public transit. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that nudity was not protected free speech and upheld San Francisco's ban on most displays of public nudity.

Protesters vowed to appeal the judge's decision.

Police spokesman Albie Esparza said the arrests were simply an attempt to enforce compliance with the law, which the city enacted after residents complained about people in various stages of undress.

"We're not here to arrest and cite people if we don't have to, but if we have to, we will enforce the law," he said. "We want to admonish as many people as possible and try to gain compliance."

Activists challenging the measure also had argued that the ordinance was unfair because it grants exceptions for nudity at permitted public events such as the city's gay pride parade. They complained that forcing people to cover up would undermine San Francisco's reputation as a city without inhibitions.

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VIENNA (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger credited his simple upbringing amid the lakes and hills of Austria for a recent conversion to fully fledged green activism, the latest stage in his varied career.

The former body-builder, star of the "Terminator" action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 21.

"Growing up in my house, we knew about sustainability before it was hip. We called it 'necessity'," Schwarzenegger told an environmental conference he hosted in Vienna this week.

"We didn't have video games, televisions or iPhones. We had the rolling hills, the castles, the ruins, and the beautiful lakes," he said. "Even after I made it big and became governor of California, I held on to this love of nature."

The "governator" - who left office and split with his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver in 2011, has recently returned to making action movies - expressed surprise at the turn his life had taken, after he had thought all his ambitions fulfilled.

"When I was a little boy in Austria, all I could think about was moving to America, to become the greatest bodybuilder champion in the world and make millions of dollars and be an action hero," said Schwarzenegger.

"My dream became reality. Who knew my greatest achievement would be in the real world fighting for a green energy future? Green energy wasn't even in my vocabulary."

(Reporting by Derek Brooks; Writing by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Paul Casciato)

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An Austrian member of the European Parliament is under investigation over suspect expenses claims totalling 1.3 million euros, including one item listed as "elephant".

In a request to the European Parliament to waive Hans-Peter Martin's immunity, the Vienna prosecutor's office said it suspected the independent MEP of embezzling public funds and making money "illicitly for himself or a third party by fraudulent means".

"It is suspected that, by using money for the reimbursement of election campaign costs for purposes other than those intended, Dr Hans-Peter Martin has committed crimes of misuse of funding ... and embezzlement," said the request, made last May and seen by Reuters.

Martin, 55, says the allegations are an invention by adversaries upset by his efforts to expose the parliament's waste of public funds.

"I see a direct link between the fact that I have made these things public and now false allegations being leaked to the press," Martin told Reuters last week.

Asked about some of the details and figures set out by the prosecutor, Martin said they were accurate but that no embezzlement was involved.

The prosecutor's request details a series of suspect or unexplained expenses that were claimed either in Austria or via the European Parliament.

Among them is a payment of 832,800 euros for "public relations work" that the prosecutor says was made to "businessmen who are friends of Dr Hans-Peter Martin, even though no (equivalent) services were provided".

Another concerns the employment of a parliamentary assistant at a cost of 67,343 euros. The prosecutor said it suspected the individual "never actually carried out work" for Martin in connection with his parliamentary activities.

One claim for 2,200 euros was identified in accounts as being for an "elephant".

Martin says he in fact meant to claim for books about Auschwitz from an Austrian publisher called "Ephelant". The publisher does offer such a book, priced at 22 euros. (http://www.ephelant-verlag.at/)

Parliament's legal affairs committee will meet this month to discuss Martin's immunity, a spokesman said. The assembly had already suspended Martin's immunity once at prosecutors' request, in September 2011.

Martin, a former journalist who has sat in the European Parliament since 1999, said he looked forward to clearing his name. "It if were up to me there would be no immunity in the first place," he said.

(Reporting By Claire Davenport; Editing by Luke Baker and Kevin Liffey)

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President George W. Bush holds his dog Barney after arriving in Waco, Texas, in this December 26, 2007 file photo. Former first dog Barney Bush, the black Scottish terrier who romped on the White House grounds in George W. Bush s time there, has died at age 12, the former president said in a statement. The playful pooch had been suffering from lymphoma.

Barney played a starring role in the presidential mansion, notably in BarneyCam holiday specials featuring footage from a camera that caught a dog s eye view of senior aides like Karl Rove. He was also a reliable fixture on the White House website.

Bush announced his dog's passing in a statement:

Laura and I are sad to announce that our Scottish Terrier, Barney, has passed away. The little fellow had been suffering from lymphoma and after twelve and a half years of life, his body could not fight off the illness.

Barney and I enjoyed the outdoors. He loved to accompany me when I fished for bass at the ranch. He was a fierce armadillo hunter. At Camp David, his favorite activity was chasing golf balls on the chipping green.

Barney Bush, as painted by former president George W. Bush

Barney guarded the South Lawn entrance of the White House as if he were a Secret Service agent. He wandered the halls of the West Wing looking for treats from his many friends. He starred in Barney Cam and gave the American people Christmas tours of the White House. Barney greeted Queens, Heads of State, and Prime Ministers. He was always polite and never jumped in their laps.

Barney was by my side during our eight years in the White House. He never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend. Laura and I will miss our pal.

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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong introduced measures on Friday to tackle a shortage of baby milk formula as food-safety-conscious mainland Chinese people flock to the city to stock up on supplies ahead of a Lunar New Year holiday.

The Hong Kong government cut the luggage allowance on trains that connect the city to the mainland to 23 kg (50 lb) from 32 kg (70 lb) and limited the number of cans of milk powder a person can take back into the mainland to two per visit.

It said it would also set up a hot line from Friday evening allowing Hong Kong mothers to place orders for seven brands of infant formula and ensure that orders placed by this weekend are delivered by the new year holiday, which starts on February 10 and runs for a week in China, when most shops are closed.

A series of scandals involving food produced in China, including milk, has sapped the confidence of many mainland consumers, who have flocked to Hong Kong to shop, angering residents of the wealthy city who say the problem has led to shortages and pushed up prices.

"The scandals here definitely have had an effect," said Kevin Der Arslanian, a business analyst at China Market Research Group in Shanghai. "People don't trust necessarily that the product they buy is real or the quality is good."

High import taxes in China have also created a thriving grey market for traders who buy products tax-free in Hong Kong and take them on crowded trains across the border on trolleys, in suitcases or stuffed in their jackets, to resell for a profit.

Hong Kong was guaranteed a degree of autonomy when it returned to China under a deal that ended British rule in 1997. The baby-milk shortage is the latest in a string of issues that have troubled ties between the capitalist city and communist mainland.

Hong Kong people are so frustrated over the baby milk they have turned to U.S. President Barack Obama for help, launching a petition on a White House web site saying babies in the financial center faced malnutrition and their government is failing to solve the problem.

As of Friday evening, the petition had attracted 13,422 signatures since it was launched on Tuesday. It needs to secure 100,000 by February 28 to draw a response from the U.S. government.

Demand for Hong Kong's high quality and regulated infant formula brands shot up in 2008 when a melamine milk powder scandal made nearly 300,000 mainland Chinese children sick.

Cans of infant formula Frisolac Gold 1 were on sale for HK$260 ($33.52) at a pharmacy in Hong Kong's Mongkok district on Friday. It sells for 261 yuan ($41.97) at 360buy.com, an online retailer in China.

Pharmacy owner Charles Mui said he tried not to promote smuggling: "I only sell milk powder to customers who really use the products to feed their babies."

Chinese visitors have also been snapping up milk powder products in Europe and Australia, while the former Portuguese territory of Macau, across the mouth of the Pearl River from Hong Kong, announced a plan on Monday to give city parents priority in buying baby formula.

Recent fears over the quality of chicken in China hit sales at mainland branches of McDonald's and Yum's KFC, and further undermined consumer confidence.

($1 = 7.7555 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.2188 Chinese yuan)

(Additional reporting by Venus Wu and Stefanie McIntyre; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Robert Birsel)

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(Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd's glitzy unveiling of the long-delayed line of BlackBerry smartphones on Wednesday and a new corporate name failed to impress Wall Street analysts, with at least three downgrading the company's stock.

RIM, which renamed itself BlackBerry, showcased two devices, Z10 and Q10, running on its new BB10 operating system as the smartphone pioneer looks for a fresh start.

"Despite recent enthusiasm for RIM's new BB10 devices, we see limited scope for traction in the hypercompetitive smartphone market," Credit Suisse analysts wrote in a note.

RIM faces an uphill struggle in terms of gaining smartphone market share, the Credit Suisse analysts said, downgrading the stock to "underperform" from "neutral".

RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares were set to open 3 percent lower on Thursday. They closed 12 percent down on Wednesday at $13.78. Its Toronto-listed shares also fell by the same margin to close at C$13.86.

RIM launched its first BlackBerry in 1999 and quickly cornered the market for secure emails, but its market share plummeted after customers jumped ship to Apple Inc's iPhone and devices using Google Inc's Android technology.

Analysts at Evercore Partners said they did not expect the new BB10 devices to cause a stir among customers, and cut their rating to "equal weight" from "underweight".

"The new hardware and operating system is a dramatic improvement versus RIMM's older products but expect a muted consumer response due to RIMM's damaged brand image," they said.

Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a note that RIM had the best possible device launch it could have hoped for, but there were many challenges ahead.

The analysts said average sales prices might be too high for many emerging market users and raised questions about how quickly businesses would adopt the new devices.

Analysts were also concerned about the delay in the launch of the devices in the United States. RIM said the devices would not be available in the country until March.

National Bank Financial analysts said the delay was very disappointing since the U.S. enterprise, government and consumer is the most important market for the Z10.

The Z10 touchscreen device will be the first of the two models to hit the market, with a rollout that starts in Britain on Thursday.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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TRURO, England (Reuters) - An estate owned by descendants of the 19th century British aristocrat for whom Earl Grey tea was named is turning history on its head by selling English tea to China.

The Tregothnan estate in the southwestern English county of Cornwall started selling tea from its tiny plantation in 2005 and last year produced about 10 metric tons (11.023 tons) of tea and infusions.

Although a drop in the ocean of global tea production, which the UK Tea Council estimated to be about 4.3 million metric tons, Tregothnan has found a niche for its products by trading on England's historical reputation as a nation of tea-lovers.

"It's unique. There's no one else who's growing tea in England and putting English tea on the market," owner Evelyn Boscawen told Reuters.

The long history of immersing tea leaves in hot water for a refreshing drink is not lost on the son of the current Viscount Falmouth and a descendant of British Prime Minister Charles Grey, for whom the bergamot-flavored Earl Grey tea is named and whose Reform Act of 1832 sowed the seeds of modern parliamentary democracy and universal suffrage in Britain.

Chinese tea has been coming to Britain since the East India Company first imported it in the 17th century for consumption by wealthy aristocrats.

By the Victorian era, taking tea had become a regular ritual at almost every level of society from elaborate afternoon tea for the rich in country houses to tea and gruel for the working poor as depicted by author Charles Dickens.

But the Boscawens at Tregothnan are bucking the historic trend of tea flowing from East to West by beginning to export some of their wares to China and elsewhere.

"We do see China as an opportunity at the moment," Boscawen said. "The Chinese are great lovers of buying exotic things from all over the world. Even if it might have come from China (originally)."

Tea, native to Asia, is not traditionally grown in Britain but can be cultivated outdoors at Tregothnan, which is situated in England's southwest and benefits from an unusual microclimate similar to that of Darjeeling in India.

Less similar to India is the tiny scale of production at Tregothnan, which might be large enough to be considered a small Darjeeling tea garden, the English estate's commercial and garden director Jonathan Jones said.

"We went into this right from the outset as being able to put the English into English tea," Jones said. "We weren't ever looking at being the new India or China, that's ridiculous."

HIGH TEA

Tregothnan projected sales of teas and infusions of 2 million pounds ($3.14 million) in 2013, with 1 million pounds coming from exports.

This is a miniscule sum in comparison to the global export market, with the world's largest black tea exporter, Kenya, predicting tea exports earnings of $1.33 billion in 2013.

But the small English operation is attracting attention, including from Chinese state television, which pitched up for several days of filming for a program to be aired in the coming months to hundreds of millions of viewers.

Tregothnan is also hoping to open a franchise of tea houses named "Festival of Tea", selling tea in a coffee-house style. They plan to open one such outlet this year in Shanghai, after "serious interest from Chinese investors," Jones said.

The export market is also a place where Tregothnan hopes to find customers willing to meet its higher prices. Small-scale production and its location means its teas can cost up to 20 times as much per cup as the cheapest market blends.

"We're in recession, but other countries aren't, so it makes sense to export," general manager Andy Phillips said. "The key is not to get dragged into competing on price."

Tregothnan has targeted the high end of the market in Britain, selling some of its products to expensive hotels like the Savoy and Claridge's, which are already major tourist destinations for expensive English afternoon teas.

Referencing the stereotypical English love of a good brew is a big part of Tregothnan's marketing strategy.

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea," is the quote attributed to Basque philosopher Bernard-Paul Heroux that adorns individual packets containing the estate's tea bags.

With a portion of its tea bushes nestled in the estate's pleasure gardens, Tregothnan looks more like a vast country estate than an agricultural business, and its owners live on the site which has been the family home since 1335.

Tregothnan's historic setting, with its imposing country house and graceful grounds, is important for the brand.

"It's an enormous story that goes into the whole product," owner Boscawen said.

Tregothnan is part of a wider trend of small tea producers in strange parts of the world, according to Jane Pettigrew, a tea expert and author of several books on the subject.

"People are planting tea in the most extraordinary places at the moment," she said.

"There are people in Hawaii growing tea, there are people in Canada planting tea, and there are people up in Scotland planting tea."

($1 = 0.6367 British pounds)

(Reporting By Hannah Vinter, editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Paul Casciato)

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HONOLULU (AP) More than two-thirds of Hawaii's state senators have signed onto a bill to protect celebrities from paparazzi, giving them power to sue over unwanted beach photos and other snapshots on the islands.

And the bill's author says he's pushing the law at the request of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, the former "American Idol" judge who recently bought a new home in Maui.

A representative for Aerosmith declined comment late Thursday night, saying Tyler was not immediately available.

Maui Democrat Sen. Kalani English told The Associated Press the so-called "Steven Tyler Act" will help Hawaii's tourism and film industries, encouraging famous people to come here without fear of being stalked by paparazzi.

"These are my consituents as well," English said. "Public figures have a right to reasonable privacy. There's a balance that we need to create."

The bill would open people up to civil lawsuits if they invade the privacy of public figures by taking or selling photos or videos. It defines invasion of privacy as capturing or trying to capture images or sound of people "in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person" during personal or family moments. It does not specify places where pictures would be OK or whether public places would be exempt. The bill says it would apply to people who are take photos from boats or anywhere else within ocean waters.

"Although their celebrity status may justify a lower expectation of privacy, the Legislature finds that sometimes the paparazzi go too far to disturb the peace and tranquility afforded celebrities who escape to Hawaii for a quiet life," English wrote in the bill.

Longtime Hawaii media lawyer Jeff Portnoy said the legislation is vague and panders to celebrities.

"It's unnecessary, it's potentially unconstitutional and it flies in the face of decades of privacy law," he said.

He said that it's hard to know how the court would interpret the state constitutional provision for the right to privacy in terms of this bill, but that based upon privacy-related court precedents, the law would be unnecessary.

The bill has only been introduced and referred to committee; lawmakers haven't set a date to discuss it yet. While 18 of 25 of the state's senators have signed on, including the Senate majority leader, it's unclear whether the bill would stand a chance in the state House.

English said he believes the bill is constitutional. He said the state has a provision in its constitution to protect the right to privacy.

"Generally, we've respected people's privacy but we have a different time now," English said.

Like other destinations, Hawaii has a steady stream of high-profile visitors. President Barack Obama vacations on Oahu once a year with his family, while Lance Armstrong escaped to the Big Island last month after a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey at his home in Texas.

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Anita Hofschneider can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ahofschneider .

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp will this month host its first major Playstation meeting in two years, sparking a flare-up in online speculation the Japanese consumer electronics giant is preparing to unveil the successor to its 70 million-selling PS3 games console.

Sony declined to say whether it would release a new product at the meeting in New York on February 20. "We will be talking about the Playstation business," spokesman Masaki Tsukakoshi said on Friday. A Google search for "Sony Feb 20 Playstation" returned more than 7 million hits.

The last time Sony held a Playstation event, in January 2011, it presented a protoype of its handheld Vita console. Before that, it convened a gathering in 2005 two months after it first demonstrated the PS3 concept. A meeting in 1999 revealed designs for the PS2.

It has been more than six years since Sony launched the PS3 home console, a longer gap than between it and its PS2 predecessor, adding to the anticipation that it will soon disclose its next gaming concept.

Since Sony's last home console launch, the games market has been transformed by the boom in smartphones and tablet computers that have wooed players with free or cheap games.

Sony and other console makers Nintendo Co Ltd and Microsoft Corp now have to contend with competition from hand-held devices made by Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics and others.

Analysts expect that tablets and other mobile devices will match the power and graphics of today's games consoles within a few years.

Struggling under competitive pressure, Nintendo on Wednesday cut its sales target for the Wii U, successor to its 100 million-selling Wii, to 4 million machines by the end of March from its launch in November, compared with an earlier forecast for 5.5 million.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

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