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Thailand Rice Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej piqued global interest this week when he suggested the formation of a rice cartel with other producers, a government spokesman said. The idea came as his deputy and commerce minister proposed a rice producer summit that would include Thailand, Vietnam, India and China. Only India has so far voiced support; it is second to Thailand as the world's largest rice producer. The notion of a rice cartel comes amid skyrocketing food prices that have been linked -- at least in part -- to rising energy costs, the business of another cartel: the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. Its 12 member nations supply about 40 percent of the world's oil. Laos Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalansy said Friday the Laotian government would "seriously consider" the idea of creating a cartel to gain "bargaining power," The Associated Press reported. "Our priority is to help vulnerable groups in the country, both the producers and consumers," AP quoted Yong as saying. "We are especially vulnerable because we are a landlocked country so everything depends on irrigation." Cambodia, which in the past has championed the rice cartel idea, also welcomed the latest proposal and said it was a "necessity" given the current global food crisis, AP reported. "By forming an association, we can help prevent a price war and exchange information about food security," AP quoted Cambodia's chief government spokesman Khieu Kanharith as saying. The United Nations is establishing a task force to address what it calls a global food crisis. In early April, the Indian government announced a ban on exports of low-grade rice, which is essentially produced for domestic consumption, in an effort to control a surge in local food prices amid tightening supplies. "There's no shortage of rice in India, but our buffer stock of rice has fallen. This means we could be going into the danger zone," said Amit Mitra, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Vietnam and Cambodia -- other major rice producers -- also have placed restrictions on rice exports. Meanwhile, the Thai cabinet recently decided to release more than 2 million tons of rice to the domestic market in order to maintain the price of rice in the country. The typical goal of a cartel is to regulate prices. Last week in the United States, warehouse retailer Sam's Club, a Wal-Mart division, announced it would begin limiting specialty rice sales. A similar retailer, Costco, reportedly took similar action, but no limits were put on the purchase of the mass-market rice that's primarily consumed in the United States.

Pigment Yellow If you've seen the film "Memoirs of a Geisha ", from which our cover image was derived, you'll recall the exquisite makeup used by the top Geisha girls, especially the intense red rouge they would delicately paint onto their lips and dilute to create a soft, natural pink tone for their faces.This unique, all-natural makeup is called "beni", and it's making a comeback after decades of decline.Though its beauty is unmatched, beni's high cost and scarce availability caused it to be quickly replaced by standard makeup and lipsticks in the post-WWII years. Now, however, Japanese cosmetic company Isetan-Honten is reintroducing Kyobeni Rouge for those women who would like to re-establish a link to an ancient and honorable tradition while pampering themselves with a frighteningly expensive beauty product.Kyobeni Rouge, from Japan's Isetan-HontenKyobeni Rouge, from Japan's Isetan-HontenKyobeni Rouge is undeniably expensive. According to Britain's Daily Telegraph, Isetan-Honten's "new collection costs from 70,000 to 300,000 yen ($675 to $2,850) for a pot holding less than a third of an ounce, or 30 to 50 applications, so an evening's use can cost up to $100."Traditional Geisha's makeup kitTraditional Geisha's makeup kitThe selling cost can be justified by the manner in which beni is made. The process starts with a certain species of orange-petalled safflower found in Japan's Yamagata mountains, and only flowers hand-picked before sunrise in July are used. These flowers contain 99% yellow pigment but just 1% red - and it's the red pigment that must be isolated through soaking and steaming.

Meat Meal The Philippines has lifted the temporary ban on importation of Australian meat and bone meal (MBM) feeds after international veterinary authorities certified that such products are now free of the "mad cow" disease. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap issued the directive after the Animal Health Organization adopted a resolution recognizing Australia as one of its member-countries free of the "Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy" or the mad cow disease, which is a transmissible, fatal brain ailment afflicting cattle. Authorities have raised the possibility that "mad cow" could be the cause of a new variant of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human brain-wasting illness.In lifting the ban, Yap said that MBM and other inedible products are regulated and verified by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and are processed under the Australian Standard for Hygienic Rendering of Animal Products. "The Australian Standard used in Australian MBM, meat meal, bone meal, blood meal, feather meal, poultry meal, poultry by-product meal, tallow, poultry oil, and fish meal production is designed to eliminate pathogens relevant to Australia and prevent re-contamination of processed rendered products," Yap said. Australia currently exports MBM to Indonesia, Canada, the United States, European Union, Malaysia, South Africa, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Red Star Apple Mobile phone group Vodafone scored its first deal to sell Apple Inc's iPhone after the UK group lost out to Telefonica's O2 to sell it in Britain. Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company by revenue, has been competing with operators and retailers to secure the right to sell the iPhone -- the touch-screen device which combines Apple's popular iPod music player, a video player and Web browser. Vodafone will sell the iPhone in 10 countries. O2 has described the device as a star performer which draws increased numbers of customers into its stores. Customers using the phone have also driven up data revenues by surfing the Internet and sending emails, a key attraction to operators as the cost of making calls decreases. "Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network," the British-based firm said in a statement without giving any more details.

Hotel Slippers Doha Doha's landmark Ramada Plaza has introduced a Ladies Only floor, a first for Qatar. In response to customer demand and to cater for the growing number of businesswomen travelling alone in the Gulf and to the rapidly growing hub of Doha, a total of 17 guest rooms have been transformed to make the female traveller feel more comfortable and at home.Female only beauty salons and spas as well as family sections in restaurants are commonplace in Doha, but the Ramada Plaza is the first hotel to bring in the concept of purpose-designed female only rooms and a designated floor.In addition to the services already offered to hotel guests, the rooms will feature one hundred percent pure Egyptian cotton linen sheets and bathrobes, slippers, extra towels and a variety of luxury Molton Brown brand bathroom amenities, including facial mist and make up remover.The lighting in the room has been changed to create a softer and more relaxing atmosphere and is focused around the specially fitted full length dressing mirror.A selection of women's magazines can be found in the rooms, a departure from the usual business and travel fare usually offered in hotel rooms.The floor will also come equipped with a special room service menu where ladies can choose from a selection of treats including lighter and lower fat dishes. The hotel has also hand picked a selection of all time favourite chick flicks for women business and leisure travellers to relax to in the privacy of their rooms.Last month a "women's only" hotel opened in Riyadh, in the strictly segregated Saudi Arabia. The Luthan Hotel and Spa is owned by a group of 20 Saudi princesses and businesswomen. All staff working at the hotel are women.Some luxury hotels in the United Kingdom, United States, India and Africa have picked up on the trend of catering to the women business traveller and have introduced female-friendly rooms, suites and amenities.

Ladies Brief A good comeback is like a great third act in American lives; it's the triumphant return, the end of the story. James Cagney retired in 1961, then made a triumphant comeback in 1981 with Ragtime. But a good movie never deals with the aftermath of the comeback. Just as often as not, the comeback leads to nothing. Cagney died a few years after the hubbub. Though we all love a good comeback, the following is a list of comebacks that weren't the end of the story, and didn't provide the inspiring coda that they could have.1. Sylvester Stallone in Cop Land (1997)Stallone's is one of the most fascinating, dramatic careers in cinema. His fame is so huge that his name and face -- or at least his characters -- are known the world over. He had a fairytale rise to fame with Rocky (1976), complete with tales of writing it in a weekend. He has a lot of charisma, and earned an Oscar nomination for acting. He has directed eight feature films and contributed to the screenplays for nearly twenty. People whisper about how smart and savvy he is behind the scenes.Yet he has made more expensive flops than just about any other actor, alive or dead, and he's difficult to take seriously anymore; his image is that of a monosyllabic dope. In 1997, James Mangold wrote a terrific role for him, which required him to play sad, saggy, dragging rather than pumped up and heroic.He pulled it off spectacularly, even if the rest of Mangold's film doesn't quite live up to its centerpiece. Stallone should have gone on to bigger and better things, but instead, he reverted right back to brain-dead action duds like Get Carter and Driven. Interestingly, he had another small comeback recently with Rocky Balboa (2006), but again squandered it with the follow-up, this year's Rambo. Regardless, Stallone's life will someday make a great book.2. Pam Grier in Jackie Brown (1997)Grier was a box office star in another dimension, in the drive-ins and inner city theaters during the Blaxploitation days; she could "open" a movie better than most mainstream stars at the time. When that run ended, her career floundered, and she was relegated to supporting roles in forgettable films (one of her high points was in a Steven Seagal film). When Tarantino wrote this rich role for her, it looked as if his magic would work again as it had for John Travolta.She stepped up and gave an astonishing performance, exhausted, but wise. But Jackie Brown didn't draw the crowds, and Grier was unjustly overlooked during the year-end awards (although, frankly, so was Robert De Niro). And after that, the parts just didn't come in, though she did appear in Jane Campion's bizarre, breathtaking Holy Smoke (1999). On a side note, Michael Keaton (who was a big star for a brief period in the late 1980s) also appeared in this movie, and also failed to benefit from it.3. Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (1997)What was it about 1997 that brought all the old stars back in interesting roles? Perhaps everyone was trying for a Tarantino/Travolta repeat. Reynolds was once a favorite of Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Aldrich, and, of course starred in Deliverance. He was the number one box office star for five years in a row in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but mainly in substance-free films. (How many Smoky and the Bandit or Cannonball Run sequels did we really need?)Years later Paul Thomas Anderson saw that Reynolds could project a kind of fatherly tough love in his tale of a tight-knit group of porno filmmakers; he was good enough that he landed his first and only Oscar nomination (usurped by Robin Williams). Since then, he has worked steadily, but mainly in junk like The Dukes of Hazzard and the soulless 2005 remake of his own great 1974 film The Longest Yard. This year, he has worked with Uwe Boll (!) and appeared in the universally despised Deal. Is it possible that he's not quite as savvy as Stallone?4. Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream (2000)This is an example of how it usually goes in Hollywood. In the 1970s, Burstyn was among the very best available, a combination of sexy and tough, but high-quality, with memorable roles in films like The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist and Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, not to mention winning an Oscar and several other nominations. But as soon as she started to show the slightest sign of maturity, the roles began drying up.She appeared in more and more television, while her male co-stars kept working and younger actresses landed the big roles. Years later, Darren Aronofsky gave her another chance to shine with her dazzling, desperate performance as a dumpy housewife addicted to diet pills. She received her sixth Oscar nomination, but what followed? The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (bleh) and more TV. When the same thing happened to Bette Davis's career, she at least wound up with an interesting second life in exploitation and horror films (thanks to her comeback hit What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?).5. Bela Lugosi in Ninotchka (1939)One can argue that Lugosi, in Dracula (1931), is one of the most famous faces in movie history. But Lugosi's career after that slid drastically downhill, embodied by a number of increasingly cheap horror and exploitation films, eventually ending with his trio of Ed Wood flicks. His only break came in 1939 when the celebrated, irreplaceable director Ernst Lubitsch cast him in Kommissar Razinin, in this legendary comedy opposite Greta Garbo (and written by Billy Wilder).The film was a huge success and was nominated for four Oscars. I've never come across anyone who wrote much about Lugosi in this film, and I doubt he got much consideration for it, especially since his other roles the same year included Son of Frankenstein (as Ygor), the Ritz Brothers comedy The Gorilla and the sci-fi serial The Phantom Creeps. The following year, his career continued as before, and all hope of Ninotchka leading to bigger things was lost.6. Marlon Brando in The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris (both 1972)Despite having been a brute force in the 1950s, Brando was practically unemployable by 1971. His reputation as a demanding troublemaker sent financiers running for cover. These two films made a huge impact both critically and financially and Brando received Oscar nominations for both (Tango was released in America the following year). However, this comeback did nothing to restore Brando to his former glory. Rather, although he was now a box office draw, he continued on his stubborn, difficult streak.His performances were unnecessarily showy (The Missouri Breaks) or expensive (Superman, Apocalypse Now) or both, his films flopped as often as they hit (Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, The Island of Dr. Moreau) and some were deemed un-releasable (The Brave, Free Money). On the other hand, I find that Brando in this late period found a new kind of warmth and lightness missing from his early work, especially in comedies like The Freshman and Don Juan DeMarco and in lightweight entertainments like The Score. He also earned his eighth and final Oscar nomination in 1989 for A Dry White Season. So maybe a little humility was a good thing!7. Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy (1983)Jerry Lewis was one of the top U.S. box office draws in the 1950s (with Dean Martin) and in the 1960s (solo). He directed some of the most visually inventive comedies of that period, with The Bellboy (1960), The Ladies Man (1961) and The Nutty Professor (1963), among others. At some point toward the end of the decade, his career simply crashed. Lewis attempted to direct again in the early 1980s with Cracking Up, and though the French loved it (they viewed him as an auteur), it flopped here.But at the same time, Martin Scorsese showed that Lewis could still be a powerful presence, taking his sense of humor and veering it toward darkness. The King of Comedy is an undisputed classic today, and if it had been understood as such back then, things might have been different. Lewis might have had the chance to participate more directly in things like the 1996 Nutty Professor remake, or better still, to keep making his own films. On the plus side, he has continued to turn up sporadically in interesting things like Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995).