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Thongs Underwear Countdown begins to W Doha launchas Starwood gears up to introduce the brand to the region in styleThe

fashionable building of the W stands ready and proud, towering 29 stories over the premium West Bay area of the city. As the

mid 2008 launch date of the W Doha Hotel & Residences draws closer, a clear picture is finally emerging about the enigma that

is W. Owned by J&A Jaidah, principals of J&A Jaidah Holdings, one of the most well known and well respected private companies

in the Middle East, the Starwood Group’s first W Hotel in the Middle East promises to live up to all the hype and

expectations that have surrounded it since the initial announcement.Founded on the belief that “there are customers who seek

a balance between style and substance”, W, the fastest growing luxury brand in the world, is known for its characteristic

high-energy interiors, lifestyle driven design and all-pervading technology. Like the other W hotels around the world, the W

Doha will cater specifically to the tastes of the young & young at heart, but with a uniquely Qatari twist. “Starwood is out

not only to bring the W to Qatar, but also to bring Qatar to the W,” stated Safak Guvenc, General Manager, W Doha Hotel &

Residences. “The local culture and flavor will be clearly evident in every aspect of the design, services and ambiance.”

With its 291 innovative W guest rooms & suites and 154 W Luxury serviced apartments, “W Doha will give guests something they

have never seen before in the region,” said Safak Guvenc. It has been built to not just be a place to stay, but to enjoy a

whole experience, inspiring and indulging guests with refreshing personal touches and whimsical environs. Plush 400-thread-

count sheets and 100% goose down comforters are standard in every room, as are soft velour and microfiber bathrobes in rooms

and suites respectively. Each room has access to an extensive choice of movies, music and video programs on demand, played

back on the superb music system, DVD player and LCD screen televisions that every room features.Also spoiling guests are the

fully stocked MUNCHIE BOXES and variety of turndown amenities for every night of the week.Technology is omnipresent, with all

digital services but a mouse click away for guests to access. Guestrooms are fully wired, featuring the latest cutting-edge

services such as WiFi internet access, high-speed laptop connectivity, iPod cradles and the most advanced in-room

entertainment systems in the industry.And the icing on the cake will be W’s trademark Whatever/Whenever? service – a

concierge that will arrange for whatever a guest requests – from a flower bouquet at 2 am to a private hot air balloon trip

over the desert – whenever it is requested, as long as it’s legal.” And there’s also the W Insider, ensuring that guests

are welcomed, wowed and delighted whenever they step into the living room (lobby).And if you thought that the W was just

another place to leave your luggage and return only to sleep at night, you’d miss out on so much the hotel has to offer.

According to Safak Guvenc “guests will be spoiled for choice with ways to spend their time within the hotel”. The fully

equipped SWEAT gym will satisfy even the most dedicated fitness freaks. Those looking purely to wind down could head to the

BLISS? spa for a relaxing massage or chill out in the temperature controlled WET pool with its very own underwater music and

multi-colour fibre-optical lighting. Aggressive retail therapy at the W store by Plum might be the calling of others. Two

concept restaurants by world-famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten - Market by Jean-Georges and Spice Market will pamper

guests’ palates with exotic international cuisine, while the Crystal Lounge and Wahm will offer an opportunity to lighten

up over a Shisha or a drink with friends.Business travelers will find their every whim fulfilled before they even ask. With

almost 1,000 square metres of meeting and event space, W Doha will be able to host business and social gatherings of up to

500 people. High speed WiFi internet access, plasma screens and state-of-the- art AV equipments will be available for use at

the click of a button. The Sensory Set Up? of the meeting rooms, a unique W concept, will stimulate all five senses with mood

music and aromatherapy scents, thought-provoking place cards and creative catering, retro candies and inspiring

games..Standing right across from the popular City Center mall, the W Doha is only a 15-minute drive from the airport. Doha’

s beautiful Corniche, as well as beach and watersports facilities are just 5 minutes away by car, while the challenging

greens of the Doha Golf Club are a quick 10 minute drive.W has carved out a niche for itself in a crowded and often

commoditized market. It is, before anything else, the hotel for the young at heart. Ross Klein, president of W Hotels

worldwide, elaborates “W is about escaping from the routine and becoming part of all that is ‘Now’. Everyone and

everything at the W Doha will be geared towards making sure that guests have an unforgettable experience.”Being the first W

in the Middle East, the W Doha will set the precedent for more W Hotels soon to be opened in Dubai, Amman and possibly other

cities in the region. Meanwhile, the residents and tourists in Doha will have the W to cater to their every whim and desire.

Stacking Equipment * U.N. proposes high-level pledging conference for Myanmar* Ban to send U.N. humanitarian chief to

Myanmar* Thai PM fails to persuade junta to let in aid workers* U.S. emergency flights to continue for now (Updates with

British ambassador, paragraph 9)By Aung Hla TunYANGON, May 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Wednesday up to 2.5

million people might have been affected by the Myanmar cyclone and proposed a high-level donors conference as the Myanmar

junta again limited foreign aid.The European Union's top aid official said the military government's restrictions on foreign

aid workers and equipment were increasing the risk of starvation and disease.U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes told

reporters between 1.6 and 2.5 million people were "severely affected" by Cyclone Nargis and urgently needed aid, up from a

previous estimate of at least 1.5 million.Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej met Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein in

Yangon and urged him to ease visa rules for relief workers. He said he was told Myanmar could "tackle the problem by

themselves."Myanmar state television raised its official toll to 38,491 dead, 1,403 injured and 27,838 missing.The

International Federation of the Red Cross estimated on the basis of reports from 22 organizations working in Myanmar that

between 68,833 and 127,990 people had died.In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly expressed

frustration over the slow response of Myanmar's reclusive leaders, proposed holding a "high-level pledging conference" to

deal with the crisis.Ban spoke to reporters after meeting with representatives of Myanmar and countries from Asia, Europe and

America.Britain's U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, however, indicated that the high-level conference would be more than a

donors' meeting, calling it a "major international meeting" in line with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's calls for a U.N.

summit on coordinating aid efforts in Myanmar.Ban also proposed appointing a joint coordinator from the U.N and the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations to oversee aid delivery and said he would soon send Holmes to Myanmar.Myanmar's U.N.

ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, said he was pleased that participants had agreed the crisis should not be politicized but must

remain a humanitarian issue.However, Ban, Sawers and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad all said failure to properly handle the

crisis would inevitably politicize it."The way it will get politicized is if ... assistance is not allowed to arrive in a

timely manner to save lives, and no time should be lost," Khalilzad said. "The Myanmar government has a responsibility to

ensure lives are saved, not lost."TRICKLE OF AIDNearly two weeks after the deadly cyclone swept through the heavily populated

Irrawaddy delta, foreign aid was still a trickle.Myanmar, formerly called Burma, was once the world's biggest rice exporting

country, but more than 40 years of military rule have left it impoverished. The military junta has repeatedly crushed pro-

democracy movements and tightly restricts visits by foreigners.Samak told reporters in Bangkok that Myanmar's leaders had

insisted that teams of foreign experts, who have been refused entry, were not needed."They are confident of dealing with the

problem by themselves. There are no outbreaks of diseases, no starvation, no famine. They don't need experts, but are willing

to get aid supplies from every country," Samak said.Louis Michel, the top European Union aid official, disagreed. "There is a

risk of water pollution. There is a risk of starvation because the storages of rice have been destroyed," he told reporters

in Bangkok."We want to convince the authorities of our good faith. We are there for humanitarian reasons," he said. He

dismissed suggestions from some European countries that they should bring in aid without awaiting permission from the

authorities.Adm. Timothy Keating, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, also rejected that idea.He said U.S. emergency

aid flights would continue for the time being, despite Myanmar refusing permission for U.S. officials to monitor, or help

with, distribution.A senior U.S. military official in Washington said there were signs aid was stacking up at Yangon airport

and said Washington wants to fly choppers to the areas hit worst.The official said there were reports that some 230 camps had

been set up to house more than 230,000 displaced people. "They're springing up all over the place," he said. "The problem

they have is a lack of water and sanitary facilities."Officials said despite reports that some supplies were being stolen or

diverted by the army, the humanitarian needs were so great that they would keep making deliveries -- while continuing to urge

that U.S. aid workers be granted visas.World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran said in Washington her organization had so

far reached 28,000 people."A critical issue now is access," she said. "Our flights are allowed to bring in some supplies, but

far from enough - a massive effort is needed to save lives..." she told a U.S. Senate hearing.Holmes also warned that

epidemics of diseases like cholera, malaria and measles "can break out at any time now."One group of Christian doctors has

been treating children in churches, operating below the government's radar. "We have to try to do something," said one of the

doctors, giving children diarrhea medicine in a church north of Yangon.More heavy rain and winds were forecast in the delta

as a tropical depression moved in, but the U.N. weather agency discounted fears a new cyclone was forming.In a gesture to

critics, Myanmar's rulers invited 160 personnel from Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand to assist in the relief, but

experts said that was a fraction of the number needed. (Additional reporting by Darren Schuettler, Nopporn Wong-Anan, Carmel

Crimmins amd Pracha Hariraksapitak in Bangkok; Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Susan Cornwell and Missy Ryan in

Washington) (Writing by Louis Charbonneau and Jerry Norton; Editing by Alan Elsner) (For more stories on Myanmar cyclone

click on [nSP152717] or follow the link to Reuters AlertNet www.alertnet.org)

Sexy Camisoles A new trend in wearing camisole tops as outerwear is partly responsible for camisole sets enjoying a surge of

recent popularity. Camisole sets, like many sexy lingerie items, have a rich and varied history. Provided here is a brief

look at the history of camisole sets.Chemises Besides loincloths, chemises are perhaps the oldest known form of underwear for

both men and women. Historically, chemises were long, simple pieces that were worn underneath the clothes of both men and

women, beginning in the medieval era. Although chemises never really disappeared until the early 20th century, changing

fashions required variants on the chemise to be created. Perhaps the biggest changes in the history of lingerie occurred with

the rise of the corset.Of Corsets and Camisoles Corsetry began in the Renaissance period, when straight, boyish figures went

out of fashion and décolletage became the new ideal. Corsets of this era were fairly rudimentary and fit easily underneath

the chemises of the time. As corsetry became more elaborate and dress styles changed, however, it was necessary to find a

garment that would hide the corset without adding unwanted bulk. The solution was the camisole. Camisole sets, however, were

far in the future.By the Victorian era, a tiny waist and large bosom were considered the height of fashion. This effect was

achieved through the tight lacing of heavy corsets. However, traditional chemises were quite long, effectively hiding the

corset but adding the illusion of weight. The new camisoles, by contrast, were short and light. They easily hid corsets but

were not bulky. Camisoles quickly joined chemises as must-have fashion items. As modern panties had not yet been invented,

however, camisole sets were not yet available.Teddies Thanks to the increasing athleticism of young women at the turn of the

20th century, bloomers became extremely popular. Meanwhile, corsets were no longer in fashion due to mounting concerns over

possible health risks. In this climate, the teddy was born. Teddies could be considered the earliest example of camisole

sets. At that time, teddies were one-piece garments featuring a camisole attached to a pair of baggy shorts.The 1920s The

flapper era of the 1920s was a time for increased liberation for many women. This era marks the beginning of the sexy

lingerie age. As teddies became shorter, tighter and sexier, some designers experimented with separating the two pieces. This

was the beginning of modern camisole sets.The 1930s to the 1980s Sexy lingerie styles gradually became progressively more

risqu, particularly during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. However, it was the heady aftermath of the sexual

revolution that would dramatically change lingerie styles forever.The 1980s Stars like Madonna ushered in a new trend -

underwear as outerwear. For the first time, lingerie came out of the bedroom and onto the world stage. This underwear as

outerwear trend set the stage for the camisole sets of today.Modern Camisole Sets Today, camisoles are a basic staple in the

wardrobes of females from teens to adults. Camisole tops and matching panties are generally sold as camisole sets. The

panties may remain hidden, but increasingly, the tops are designed to be worn as outerwear. A typical camisole top serves

multiple functions. It can be worn alone with jeans or a skirt. It can provide an interesting layered effect when worn under

a sheer top of a contrasting colour. It can also provide an important layer when dressing for cold weather.Many of today's

camisole sets are designed strictly for the bedroom. Look for sexy lingerie styles in a wide range of fabrics, styles and

colours. Soft and comfortable yet highly sexy, camisole sets offer a wonderful option for sexy lingerie.

Shoe Parts Edward Timpson is the Conservative candidate in the Crewe and Nantwich byelection, charged with taking on

Labour's Tamsin Dunwoody, the daughter of the late Gwyneth. A 34-year-old son of the family behind the famous chain of

British shoe shops, his upbringing was enlivened by the fact his parents fostered more than 80 children - many of whom, he

says, were escaping "very difficult starts in life". On the face of it, he may look like an archetypal member of the moneyed

Cheshire set, but this detail - along with the fact that he says he was inspired by his childhood to forge a career in family

law, specialising in "the welfare of vulnerable children" - suggests something a bit more complicated; a belief, perhaps, in

exactly the Cameroonian "fraternity" that some insightful Labour people are beginning to take very seriously.But never mind

all that. The Labour campaign, under the command of the Birmingham MP Steve McCabe, has rebranded its chief adversary "Tory

Boy Timpson", and is going for him with an eye-popping ferocity. Volunteers have been stalking him dressed in top hat and

tails; now, there comes a very nasty leaflet titled "Tory candidate application form", replete with questions and ticked

boxes. Number one is, "Do you live in a big mansion house?" Question two is - and, really, the sense of humour on display is

quite something - "Do you think that regeneration is adding a new wing to your mansion?" The third reads: "Have you and your

Tory mates on the council been soft on yobs and failed to make our streets safer?" But the best is saved for question four,

at which point pantomimic class hatred is suspended and we get something altogether more sinister. "Do you," it asks, "oppose

making foreign nationals carry an ID card?"Though the Tories seem to be hardly mentioning it, the presence of immigration in

the campaign isn't a surprise. What's unsettling is the language used by Labour, and the implication of a tough measure to be

wrought on uncooperative outsiders. It has to be said: there are deeply unpleasant historical echoes here that would cause

any decent person to blanch, but the people behind the Dunwoody campaign surely know exactly what they're doing.There has

been a Polish community in Crewe since the 1940s, but as many as 6,000 Poles have made their home there during the past four

years. According to the BBC, Cheshire police unofficially estimate that they make up one in 10 of the town's population.

Local schools are inevitably feeling the pressure, and though the social fabric seems to be holding up, things have hardly

been easy. With all that in mind, the essential Labour strategy is clear enough: not to concentrate on anything progressive

or inspiring but to run instead on a mixture of the Dunwoody bloodline, utterly witless class warfare, and the politics of

fear. One wonders what the more shrill aspects of the party's campaign will do for Crewe's community relations - but there

again, it's doubtful that such thoughts are troubling many Labour high-ups. Misanthropic nastiness, after all, seems to be a

central plank of the government's fightback.This stuff has a pedigree dating back well into the Blair years but seems to be

turning ever more ugly. Among the first announcements in the wake of May 1 was a loud Home Office pledge to try to realise

Brown's drive for "British jobs for British workers", by forcing employers to prove no Briton can fill a vacancy before

offering it to anyone from outside the EU. Soon after, there came Jacqui Smith's bizarre plans to "harass" badly behaved

youths using video cameras and a technique hyped as "frame and shame". Going back a few months, one thinks also of James

Purnell's proposed clampdown on the long-term jobless, Caroline Flint's priceless proposal that the workshy should be

threatened with homelessness, and the government's increasingly baffling drive on "Britishness", in which fine words about

inclusion are often overshadowed by the sense of dog-whistles being desperately sounded.Given the absence of any

comprehensible government message, such talk - much of which, as Charles Clarke recently put it, "flatters some of the most

chauvinistic and backward-looking parts of British society" - is now in danger of drowning everything else out. Moreover, as

the voters of Crewe may well have surmised, none of it adds up.While seizing on fears about immigration, Brown has still made

no headway on the issue of agency workers, which underlies so many modern tensions. At the same time as maligning many of the

nation's youth as yobs, Labour also wrings its hands about their "unlocked talent". Apparatchiks are encouraged to wage class

war for the cameras, but the government refuses to talk about compelling the ultra-wealthy to pay their way, or to make any

move on, say, the totemic issue of charitable status for private schools. The impression is of politics at its most dried-up

and disingenuous. The result: activists and once-loyal supporters decide to leave the party well alone, and floating voters

decide that Cameroonian confidence and optimism is much the better option.And so to a question focused 150-odd miles south of

Crewe. As Labour lays waste to what remains of its progressive credentials, one thinks immediately of that handful of young

(ish) Brownites - Ed Miliband, Douglas Alexander, Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper - who usually go out of their way to talk up the

party's supposed soul, and the parts of the government's record that reflect it. Where are they, and why won't they speak

up?Even if what they had to say was couched in the obligatory political code, we'd know it when we heard it. Behind the

scenes, they must surely alert Brown to a simple choice: cut this stuff out and rediscover that moral compass - or bequeath

them a political husk so robbed of its essential identity that it will take at least a generation to even begin to revive it.

David Cameron's recent pronouncements are not nearly as surreal as they sound: right now, the Tories really are sounding more

progressive than Labour, and that way lies not just electoral defeat, but the prospect of complete wipe-out.

Racing Clothes Tomas Scheckter stacks up as a dark horse for the win in the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.

While his Luczo Dragon Racing team no longer has the support of Team Penske, they’ve still managed to do well this month at

the Brickyard. Last weekend, they put their man into the top 11 qualifiers, despite some dicey time on the bubble.Can

Scheckter pull off the upset and defeat the Penske/Ganassi/AGR triumvirate? That’s yet to be determined, but I bet he’ll

have a say in the outcome. I talked with the driver of the No. 12 Symantec machine earlier today about his chances, his new

team, and whether he still hates a certain fast food mini-burger.Special thanks to Kirk Reynolds of Luczo Dragon Racing PR

and Tomas’ PR man Scott Walters for their help. Finally, thanks to Scheckter himself for taking the time out of his busy

schedule to do this. You all rock.Well, first off Tomas, how’s it looking at the track? Are we gonna see some cars today?“I

don’t know. We’ve seen Team Penske leave and Ganassi leave, and I think we’re not to go out too. That’s gonna be our day.

”Cool. Well, obviously, you guys qualified in the top 11, so I assume that you guys are now working toward a race set-up.

How far are you guys on that and do you feel you’re on the right track?“I think from our qualifying car, we’ll make

changes. We have a big check list to do, because before qualifying, we battled with a lot of rain. I think our car’s not

that far off. Qualifying was a little disappointing. I think we could’ve done better, and I’m happy to be in the top 11,

but I don’t think we were outside that; before qualifying, we were third.“We lost something, but our race pace should be

competitive. It’s just about getting out there and doing laps, so if we have one dry day during these next few days, we

should be there.”Let’s go back to Saturday for a moment. What was the factor in you and your team throwing out the first

run to do another and what was going through your mind when you found out that the second run was slower?“It wasn’t a good

feeling. You’re thinking to yourself so much that you’re gonna knock yourself out of the top 11 and I’d be sitting now

unqualified and having to do qualifying stuff. [On my second run], I really went up on the weight jacker and allowed it to

have the least amount of steering, go loose, but when I went into Turn 3, I got sideways on the second lap, and after seeing

what Ryan Hunter-Reay had just did, he destroyed his car and went too much. So, I came back a little bit and I knew I had to

be at a 223.3. I’d done a [223.6], a [223.5], a [223.4]…so on my first lap, I knew that I had to try to be as consistent as

I could…”How did it feel being on the bubble that day?“It’s tough. Qualifying is the most stressful day. The first day of

qualifying is — Let’s say if you don’t have a shot for pole, but getting in the top 11 is tough. And every year I seem to

be in the same place in qualifying. It was a long day to come out of it in the top 11…We couldn’t take too much risk

either, because we don’t have a spare car. You run the car so close on the edge, and if you make a mistake, that can be your

Indy 500 that goes with it.”Let’s disregard your position in the top 11 for a moment. I’ve been reading that there’s been

more detractors about the Indy qualifying format. I know Oriol Servia and Davey Hamilton didn’t say very nice things about

it. What do you think of the format?“I don’t know and I don’t really think I’m in a position to comment on it. I mean, I

know the rules going in and I have to maximize them in order to be in the right position. Would I have been happy to be out

of the top 11? No. But that’s exciting to make a run going for the pole and the top 11. It’s more of a prestigious thing.“

Not only that, the rest can qualify a little bit later and toward the end of the day, if the weather was good, the top three

or four could re-enter and then, three or four more that thought they could get into the Top 11 and the ones in [places] 11,

10 or nine would be ready to go too…It should add a lot of excitement, but it is what it is.”Your team is young, but it’s

come a long way in a short time. Your team also has a lot of experience.“We have [team manager] John Cummiskey, [chief

mechanic] Simon Morley and we have another John here — I don’t remember his last name, but he’s won a couple of [Indy

500s]. There’s a lot of experience, but we need more time…We have enough of a gap to need to do more homework. It takes

time to be as good, but to beat as many good teams as we have in quals, I’ve got to be happy. If we want to compete against

those teams, we have a lot of work to do. I think I’ve got the right guys to do it, but it will take some time.”At Kansas,

you mentioned the possibility of more races this season besides that race, Indy and Sonoma. Has anything happened on that

front since then?“I’m not sure. You know, I keep hearing different things…We’ll see how Indy turns out, and if the

sponsors are happy, then with a good result here, the sky’s the limit. But I leave that to [team co-owners] Jay [Penske] and

Steve [Luczo]. They’ve delivered on every promise they made to me and hopefully, I can have a long-term relationship with

them.”So you are hoping to stay on with Luczo Dragon if they go full-time?“There’s a lot of things about having more

races, having a full season, and there’s talks about deals on the table. Everything’s very positive and it all looks good,

but I’ll certainly be happy as soon as we get more stuff done.”After leaving Vision Racing, how did you maintain your edge

in the offseason to prepare for when a team could call — in this case, when Luczo Dragon called?“I obviously work out every

day. In fact, I’m actually in my gym clothes right now. I would go out and train all the time, and I was doing go-karts as

well. Every dry day during the first of the year, I was in one. I did a race as well, just to get the feeling again and the

adrenaline, just qualifying and getting the mind back into what it feels like and everything. That’s mainly what I did and

when I got back in [at Kansas], I was flat out on the second lap. It felt like I had been in the car the day before.”Did you

think at any point that your IndyCar career could be over or did you know that you’d be back in a ride?“Yeah, I knew. To be

honest, it was common knowledge that I was halfway to Andretti Green Racing during the offseason. There were meetings the

whole time and we exchanged a lot of paperwork. Basically, it was just down to number of flights and number of appearance

days. To be offered to drive for such a great team, even though it didn’t work out due to sponsorship issues, I knew that I

had done a good enough job. And I’ve shown that once again with a team that’s been put together; right off the bat, we

qualified fourth at Kansas and were running in second [during the race]. So, I hope to have a long future in IndyCars.”Have

you noticed similarities and differences between the other teams you’ve been with and Luczo Dragon? The way things are run?

Team philosophy, culture, things like that?“I mean, you walk into the Ganassi shop and it’s a huge place. They have all the

offices around you and they’re looking down at the shop. It’s put you in awe. Whereas, our shop now — I don’t want to

sound degrading — it’s about the size of my living room! But that makes it about the quality of people that are doing

stuff.“Jay wants to spend money on the right things and not spend it on the wrong things. He wants to invest money properly

…We’ve done a great job with it, and we’re thinking about expanding to bigger shop space. But every team’s different. You

have owners that push you, you have owners that can hold you back…Every place has been a little bit different.”What will it

take for you and your team to beat the Big Three — Team Penske, Ganassi and AGR? That would be a big feat in today’s

IndyCar Series.“Indy is a very special place in how you go out to race. It’s not all about speed, although I think people

know that I can drive the car quick. A lot of it is about survival. When we can survive and get in a position to win the

race, that’s when I need to go to another level. I suppose if you have the opportunity to win the race, that’s what it’ll

take: the best pitstops these guys put together, me being good mentally and physically in the car, and lots of luck as well.

If you can have all of that, then yeah, we can have a shot at winning.”Do you see other drivers outside the Big Three teams

taking this thing? Vitor Meira? Your old teammate Ed Carpenter? One of the newcomers?“Yeah, definitely. These Champ Car guys

are rookies, but they are and have been worldwide, experienced drivers with teams that have won titles. Some of them have

driven oval races, if not 500s…You know, there’s a danger everywhere, and the racing is, if someone doesn’t get it at the

right time, or gets a cut tire, or the yellow goes your way, then the guy with the best strategy has the lead in race with 10

to go. There are numerous things you have to be scared of, and if you concentrate on your own car, and do your own things

right, I guess that will put you in the mix at the end.”Tomas, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk with me

today. This’ll be my last question, and I just want to show that I’m not always all business with this. I don’t know if

this will annoy you, but have you learned to like White Castle hamburgers?“(Laughs) No, I haven’t.”Come on! It’s been

four years, man, I’ve seen the Panther tape!“From what I hear, the trick is to get really drunk and then try to eat them.”

Well, if not White Castle, do you like a specific fast food burger? McDonald’s? Burger King? Wendy’s?“I try to stay away

from that. My dad [former Formula One world champion Jody Scheckter] is an organic farmer in England. He’d kill me. But, I

will say, a McDonald’s Big Mac every now and then doesn’t kill anybody.”

Name Brand Jeans Mohan Murjani’s father B.K. Murjani left India in 1930 and moved to Shanghai to start the family’s

apparel business. And now, Mr Murjani has a sense of coming full circle as he, along with his son, Vijay Murjani, builds up a

portfolio of leading global brands to cater to the luxury, premium and specialty lifestyle segments in India.“I joined the

family business in 1966 and right from the start was keen on transitioning from manufacturing to designer branding and

marketing,” Mr Murjani says. And that’s how the group launched its first brand Marco Polo in the US. “Till then we were

only into manufacturing and the single largest garments manufacturing operation in Asia,” he says. And his career of

marketing and building designer brands which started with Marco Polo was to culminate in launching the world’s first

designer jeans Gloria Vanderbilt in 1979 and then Tommy Hilfiger, then an unknown designer, in 1985.“For me, Tommy and

Gloria were two extremes of the American marketing challenge. Gloria was a new category of the jeans product - the women’s

fitted designer jeans and we spent a huge amount of money on building the brand. Tommy, on the other hand, was an unknown

designer in those days and a buzz had to be created around him using innovative methods,” he reminisces. And now Mr Murjani,

who still retains an Indian passport, dreams about launching an Indian designer in the global arena.“In those days, having

an Indian passport was almost like being a second class citizen. But I’ve always been proud of my Indian identity, even

though I was sometimes mistaken as an Italian because of my family name,” he says. And now he sees a great potential in a

resurgent India for luxury brands such as Gucci and Jimmy Choo which his group has introduced here.“I’ve been trying to set

up shop and do something in India ever since the 1980s and I was actively involved with the Festival of India in New York in

the late 1980s. And so when the opportunity presented itself and India’s consuming class was making its presence felt in the

late 1990s, I asked my son Vijay to move here, which he did in 2000,” Mr Murjani, who is chairman of the Murjani group,

says.“We were after all the only Indian family that had developed and launched global fashion brands and it made sense for

us to bring brands such as Tommy Hilfiger to this market,” he adds. And now, 42 years after its foray into the world of

luxury lifestyle branding, the Murjani group is pulling out all stops to ensure that the customers in India get the same

experience as anywhere else in the world.And while the elder Mr Murjani spends time between New York City, Hong Kong and

London, his son Vijay, who is the MD of the group, has relocated to Mumbai. “My daughter Malini is a designer and she’s

based in Manhattan while my elder son Manoj lives in Singapore and runs a company called The Wellness Group,” he says.

Thongs Underwear Countdown begins to W Doha launchas Starwood gears up to introduce the brand to the region in styleThe

fashionable building of the W stands ready and proud, towering 29 stories over the premium West Bay area of the city. As the

mid 2008 launch date of the W Doha Hotel & Residences draws closer, a clear picture is finally emerging about the enigma that

is W. Owned by J&A Jaidah, principals of J&A Jaidah Holdings, one of the most well known and well respected private companies

in the Middle East, the Starwood Group’s first W Hotel in the Middle East promises to live up to all the hype and

expectations that have surrounded it since the initial announcement.Founded on the belief that “there are customers who seek

a balance between style and substance”, W, the fastest growing luxury brand in the world, is known for its characteristic

high-energy interiors, lifestyle driven design and all-pervading technology. Like the other W hotels around the world, the W

Doha will cater specifically to the tastes of the young & young at heart, but with a uniquely Qatari twist. “Starwood is out

not only to bring the W to Qatar, but also to bring Qatar to the W,” stated Safak Guvenc, General Manager, W Doha Hotel &

Residences. “The local culture and flavor will be clearly evident in every aspect of the design, services and ambiance.”

With its 291 innovative W guest rooms & suites and 154 W Luxury serviced apartments, “W Doha will give guests something they

have never seen before in the region,” said Safak Guvenc. It has been built to not just be a place to stay, but to enjoy a

whole experience, inspiring and indulging guests with refreshing personal touches and whimsical environs. Plush 400-thread-

count sheets and 100% goose down comforters are standard in every room, as are soft velour and microfiber bathrobes in rooms

and suites respectively. Each room has access to an extensive choice of movies, music and video programs on demand, played

back on the superb music system, DVD player and LCD screen televisions that every room features.Also spoiling guests are the

fully stocked MUNCHIE BOXES and variety of turndown amenities for every night of the week.Technology is omnipresent, with all

digital services but a mouse click away for guests to access. Guestrooms are fully wired, featuring the latest cutting-edge

services such as WiFi internet access, high-speed laptop connectivity, iPod cradles and the most advanced in-room

entertainment systems in the industry.And the icing on the cake will be W’s trademark Whatever/Whenever? service – a

concierge that will arrange for whatever a guest requests – from a flower bouquet at 2 am to a private hot air balloon trip

over the desert – whenever it is requested, as long as it’s legal.” And there’s also the W Insider, ensuring that guests

are welcomed, wowed and delighted whenever they step into the living room (lobby).And if you thought that the W was just

another place to leave your luggage and return only to sleep at night, you’d miss out on so much the hotel has to offer.

According to Safak Guvenc “guests will be spoiled for choice with ways to spend their time within the hotel”. The fully

equipped SWEAT gym will satisfy even the most dedicated fitness freaks. Those looking purely to wind down could head to the

BLISS? spa for a relaxing massage or chill out in the temperature controlled WET pool with its very own underwater music and

multi-colour fibre-optical lighting. Aggressive retail therapy at the W store by Plum might be the calling of others. Two

concept restaurants by world-famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten - Market by Jean-Georges and Spice Market will pamper

guests’ palates with exotic international cuisine, while the Crystal Lounge and Wahm will offer an opportunity to lighten

up over a Shisha or a drink with friends.Business travelers will find their every whim fulfilled before they even ask. With

almost 1,000 square metres of meeting and event space, W Doha will be able to host business and social gatherings of up to

500 people. High speed WiFi internet access, plasma screens and state-of-the- art AV equipments will be available for use at

the click of a button. The Sensory Set Up? of the meeting rooms, a unique W concept, will stimulate all five senses with mood

music and aromatherapy scents, thought-provoking place cards and creative catering, retro candies and inspiring

games..Standing right across from the popular City Center mall, the W Doha is only a 15-minute drive from the airport. Doha’

s beautiful Corniche, as well as beach and watersports facilities are just 5 minutes away by car, while the challenging

greens of the Doha Golf Club are a quick 10 minute drive.W has carved out a niche for itself in a crowded and often

commoditized market. It is, before anything else, the hotel for the young at heart. Ross Klein, president of W Hotels

worldwide, elaborates “W is about escaping from the routine and becoming part of all that is ‘Now’. Everyone and

everything at the W Doha will be geared towards making sure that guests have an unforgettable experience.”Being the first W

in the Middle East, the W Doha will set the precedent for more W Hotels soon to be opened in Dubai, Amman and possibly other

cities in the region. Meanwhile, the residents and tourists in Doha will have the W to cater to their every whim and desire.

Stacking Equipment * U.N. proposes high-level pledging conference for Myanmar* Ban to send U.N. humanitarian chief to

Myanmar* Thai PM fails to persuade junta to let in aid workers* U.S. emergency flights to continue for now (Updates with

British ambassador, paragraph 9)By Aung Hla TunYANGON, May 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Wednesday up to 2.5

million people might have been affected by the Myanmar cyclone and proposed a high-level donors conference as the Myanmar

junta again limited foreign aid.The European Union's top aid official said the military government's restrictions on foreign

aid workers and equipment were increasing the risk of starvation and disease.U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes told

reporters between 1.6 and 2.5 million people were "severely affected" by Cyclone Nargis and urgently needed aid, up from a

previous estimate of at least 1.5 million.Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej met Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein in

Yangon and urged him to ease visa rules for relief workers. He said he was told Myanmar could "tackle the problem by

themselves."Myanmar state television raised its official toll to 38,491 dead, 1,403 injured and 27,838 missing.The

International Federation of the Red Cross estimated on the basis of reports from 22 organizations working in Myanmar that

between 68,833 and 127,990 people had died.In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly expressed

frustration over the slow response of Myanmar's reclusive leaders, proposed holding a "high-level pledging conference" to

deal with the crisis.Ban spoke to reporters after meeting with representatives of Myanmar and countries from Asia, Europe and

America.Britain's U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, however, indicated that the high-level conference would be more than a

donors' meeting, calling it a "major international meeting" in line with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's calls for a U.N.

summit on coordinating aid efforts in Myanmar.Ban also proposed appointing a joint coordinator from the U.N and the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations to oversee aid delivery and said he would soon send Holmes to Myanmar.Myanmar's U.N.

ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, said he was pleased that participants had agreed the crisis should not be politicized but must

remain a humanitarian issue.However, Ban, Sawers and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad all said failure to properly handle the

crisis would inevitably politicize it."The way it will get politicized is if ... assistance is not allowed to arrive in a

timely manner to save lives, and no time should be lost," Khalilzad said. "The Myanmar government has a responsibility to

ensure lives are saved, not lost."TRICKLE OF AIDNearly two weeks after the deadly cyclone swept through the heavily populated

Irrawaddy delta, foreign aid was still a trickle.Myanmar, formerly called Burma, was once the world's biggest rice exporting

country, but more than 40 years of military rule have left it impoverished. The military junta has repeatedly crushed pro-

democracy movements and tightly restricts visits by foreigners.Samak told reporters in Bangkok that Myanmar's leaders had

insisted that teams of foreign experts, who have been refused entry, were not needed."They are confident of dealing with the

problem by themselves. There are no outbreaks of diseases, no starvation, no famine. They don't need experts, but are willing

to get aid supplies from every country," Samak said.Louis Michel, the top European Union aid official, disagreed. "There is a

risk of water pollution. There is a risk of starvation because the storages of rice have been destroyed," he told reporters

in Bangkok."We want to convince the authorities of our good faith. We are there for humanitarian reasons," he said. He

dismissed suggestions from some European countries that they should bring in aid without awaiting permission from the

authorities.Adm. Timothy Keating, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, also rejected that idea.He said U.S. emergency

aid flights would continue for the time being, despite Myanmar refusing permission for U.S. officials to monitor, or help

with, distribution.A senior U.S. military official in Washington said there were signs aid was stacking up at Yangon airport

and said Washington wants to fly choppers to the areas hit worst.The official said there were reports that some 230 camps had

been set up to house more than 230,000 displaced people. "They're springing up all over the place," he said. "The problem

they have is a lack of water and sanitary facilities."Officials said despite reports that some supplies were being stolen or

diverted by the army, the humanitarian needs were so great that they would keep making deliveries -- while continuing to urge

that U.S. aid workers be granted visas.World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran said in Washington her organization had so

far reached 28,000 people."A critical issue now is access," she said. "Our flights are allowed to bring in some supplies, but

far from enough - a massive effort is needed to save lives..." she told a U.S. Senate hearing.Holmes also warned that

epidemics of diseases like cholera, malaria and measles "can break out at any time now."One group of Christian doctors has

been treating children in churches, operating below the government's radar. "We have to try to do something," said one of the

doctors, giving children diarrhea medicine in a church north of Yangon.More heavy rain and winds were forecast in the delta

as a tropical depression moved in, but the U.N. weather agency discounted fears a new cyclone was forming.In a gesture to

critics, Myanmar's rulers invited 160 personnel from Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand to assist in the relief, but

experts said that was a fraction of the number needed. (Additional reporting by Darren Schuettler, Nopporn Wong-Anan, Carmel

Crimmins amd Pracha Hariraksapitak in Bangkok; Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Susan Cornwell and Missy Ryan in

Washington) (Writing by Louis Charbonneau and Jerry Norton; Editing by Alan Elsner) (For more stories on Myanmar cyclone

click on [nSP152717] or follow the link to Reuters AlertNet www.alertnet.org)

Sexy Camisoles A new trend in wearing camisole tops as outerwear is partly responsible for camisole sets enjoying a surge of

recent popularity. Camisole sets, like many sexy lingerie items, have a rich and varied history. Provided here is a brief

look at the history of camisole sets.Chemises Besides loincloths, chemises are perhaps the oldest known form of underwear for

both men and women. Historically, chemises were long, simple pieces that were worn underneath the clothes of both men and

women, beginning in the medieval era. Although chemises never really disappeared until the early 20th century, changing

fashions required variants on the chemise to be created. Perhaps the biggest changes in the history of lingerie occurred with

the rise of the corset.Of Corsets and Camisoles Corsetry began in the Renaissance period, when straight, boyish figures went

out of fashion and décolletage became the new ideal. Corsets of this era were fairly rudimentary and fit easily underneath

the chemises of the time. As corsetry became more elaborate and dress styles changed, however, it was necessary to find a

garment that would hide the corset without adding unwanted bulk. The solution was the camisole. Camisole sets, however, were

far in the future.By the Victorian era, a tiny waist and large bosom were considered the height of fashion. This effect was

achieved through the tight lacing of heavy corsets. However, traditional chemises were quite long, effectively hiding the

corset but adding the illusion of weight. The new camisoles, by contrast, were short and light. They easily hid corsets but

were not bulky. Camisoles quickly joined chemises as must-have fashion items. As modern panties had not yet been invented,

however, camisole sets were not yet available.Teddies Thanks to the increasing athleticism of young women at the turn of the

20th century, bloomers became extremely popular. Meanwhile, corsets were no longer in fashion due to mounting concerns over

possible health risks. In this climate, the teddy was born. Teddies could be considered the earliest example of camisole

sets. At that time, teddies were one-piece garments featuring a camisole attached to a pair of baggy shorts.The 1920s The

flapper era of the 1920s was a time for increased liberation for many women. This era marks the beginning of the sexy

lingerie age. As teddies became shorter, tighter and sexier, some designers experimented with separating the two pieces. This

was the beginning of modern camisole sets.The 1930s to the 1980s Sexy lingerie styles gradually became progressively more

risqu, particularly during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. However, it was the heady aftermath of the sexual

revolution that would dramatically change lingerie styles forever.The 1980s Stars like Madonna ushered in a new trend -

underwear as outerwear. For the first time, lingerie came out of the bedroom and onto the world stage. This underwear as

outerwear trend set the stage for the camisole sets of today.Modern Camisole Sets Today, camisoles are a basic staple in the

wardrobes of females from teens to adults. Camisole tops and matching panties are generally sold as camisole sets. The

panties may remain hidden, but increasingly, the tops are designed to be worn as outerwear. A typical camisole top serves

multiple functions. It can be worn alone with jeans or a skirt. It can provide an interesting layered effect when worn under

a sheer top of a contrasting colour. It can also provide an important layer when dressing for cold weather.Many of today's

camisole sets are designed strictly for the bedroom. Look for sexy lingerie styles in a wide range of fabrics, styles and

colours. Soft and comfortable yet highly sexy, camisole sets offer a wonderful option for sexy lingerie.

Shoe Parts Edward Timpson is the Conservative candidate in the Crewe and Nantwich byelection, charged with taking on

Labour's Tamsin Dunwoody, the daughter of the late Gwyneth. A 34-year-old son of the family behind the famous chain of

British shoe shops, his upbringing was enlivened by the fact his parents fostered more than 80 children - many of whom, he

says, were escaping "very difficult starts in life". On the face of it, he may look like an archetypal member of the moneyed

Cheshire set, but this detail - along with the fact that he says he was inspired by his childhood to forge a career in family

law, specialising in "the welfare of vulnerable children" - suggests something a bit more complicated; a belief, perhaps, in

exactly the Cameroonian "fraternity" that some insightful Labour people are beginning to take very seriously.But never mind

all that. The Labour campaign, under the command of the Birmingham MP Steve McCabe, has rebranded its chief adversary "Tory

Boy Timpson", and is going for him with an eye-popping ferocity. Volunteers have been stalking him dressed in top hat and

tails; now, there comes a very nasty leaflet titled "Tory candidate application form", replete with questions and ticked

boxes. Number one is, "Do you live in a big mansion house?" Question two is - and, really, the sense of humour on display is

quite something - "Do you think that regeneration is adding a new wing to your mansion?" The third reads: "Have you and your

Tory mates on the council been soft on yobs and failed to make our streets safer?" But the best is saved for question four,

at which point pantomimic class hatred is suspended and we get something altogether more sinister. "Do you," it asks, "oppose

making foreign nationals carry an ID card?"Though the Tories seem to be hardly mentioning it, the presence of immigration in

the campaign isn't a surprise. What's unsettling is the language used by Labour, and the implication of a tough measure to be

wrought on uncooperative outsiders. It has to be said: there are deeply unpleasant historical echoes here that would cause

any decent person to blanch, but the people behind the Dunwoody campaign surely know exactly what they're doing.There has

been a Polish community in Crewe since the 1940s, but as many as 6,000 Poles have made their home there during the past four

years. According to the BBC, Cheshire police unofficially estimate that they make up one in 10 of the town's population.

Local schools are inevitably feeling the pressure, and though the social fabric seems to be holding up, things have hardly

been easy. With all that in mind, the essential Labour strategy is clear enough: not to concentrate on anything progressive

or inspiring but to run instead on a mixture of the Dunwoody bloodline, utterly witless class warfare, and the politics of

fear. One wonders what the more shrill aspects of the party's campaign will do for Crewe's community relations - but there

again, it's doubtful that such thoughts are troubling many Labour high-ups. Misanthropic nastiness, after all, seems to be a

central plank of the government's fightback.This stuff has a pedigree dating back well into the Blair years but seems to be

turning ever more ugly. Among the first announcements in the wake of May 1 was a loud Home Office pledge to try to realise

Brown's drive for "British jobs for British workers", by forcing employers to prove no Briton can fill a vacancy before

offering it to anyone from outside the EU. Soon after, there came Jacqui Smith's bizarre plans to "harass" badly behaved

youths using video cameras and a technique hyped as "frame and shame". Going back a few months, one thinks also of James

Purnell's proposed clampdown on the long-term jobless, Caroline Flint's priceless proposal that the workshy should be

threatened with homelessness, and the government's increasingly baffling drive on "Britishness", in which fine words about

inclusion are often overshadowed by the sense of dog-whistles being desperately sounded.Given the absence of any

comprehensible government message, such talk - much of which, as Charles Clarke recently put it, "flatters some of the most

chauvinistic and backward-looking parts of British society" - is now in danger of drowning everything else out. Moreover, as

the voters of Crewe may well have surmised, none of it adds up.While seizing on fears about immigration, Brown has still made

no headway on the issue of agency workers, which underlies so many modern tensions. At the same time as maligning many of the

nation's youth as yobs, Labour also wrings its hands about their "unlocked talent". Apparatchiks are encouraged to wage class

war for the cameras, but the government refuses to talk about compelling the ultra-wealthy to pay their way, or to make any

move on, say, the totemic issue of charitable status for private schools. The impression is of politics at its most dried-up

and disingenuous. The result: activists and once-loyal supporters decide to leave the party well alone, and floating voters

decide that Cameroonian confidence and optimism is much the better option.And so to a question focused 150-odd miles south of

Crewe. As Labour lays waste to what remains of its progressive credentials, one thinks immediately of that handful of young

(ish) Brownites - Ed Miliband, Douglas Alexander, Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper - who usually go out of their way to talk up the

party's supposed soul, and the parts of the government's record that reflect it. Where are they, and why won't they speak

up?Even if what they had to say was couched in the obligatory political code, we'd know it when we heard it. Behind the

scenes, they must surely alert Brown to a simple choice: cut this stuff out and rediscover that moral compass - or bequeath

them a political husk so robbed of its essential identity that it will take at least a generation to even begin to revive it.

David Cameron's recent pronouncements are not nearly as surreal as they sound: right now, the Tories really are sounding more

progressive than Labour, and that way lies not just electoral defeat, but the prospect of complete wipe-out.