African Union asks UN for immediate action on Mali

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — In an open letter Thursday to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the president of the African Union urged the U.N. to take immediate military action in northern Mali, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked rebels earlier this year.

Yayi Boni, the president of Benin who is also head of the African Union, said any reticence on the part of the U.N. will be interpreted as a sign of weakness by the terrorists now operating in Mali. The AU is waiting for the U.N. to sign off on a military plan to take back the occupied territory, and the Security Council is expected to discuss it in coming days.

In a report to the Security Council late Wednesday, Ban said the AU plan “needs to be developed further” because fundamental questions on how the force will be led, trained and equipped. Ban acknowledged that with each day, al-Qaida-linked fighters were becoming further entrenched in northern Mali, but he cautioned that a botched military operation could result in human rights abuses.

The sprawling African nation of Mali, once an example of a stable democracy, fell apart in March following a coup by junior officers. In the uncertainty that ensued, rebels including at least three groups with ties to al-Qaida, grabbed control of the nation’s distant north. The Islamists now control an area the size of France or Texas, an enormous triangle of land that includes borders with Mauritania, Algeria and Niger.

Two weeks ago, the African Union asked the U.N. to endorse a military intervention to free northern Mali, calling for 3,300 African soldiers to be deployed for one year. A U.S.-based counterterrorism official who saw the military plan said it was “amateurish” and had “huge, gaping holes.” The official insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Boni, in his letter, said Africa was counting on the U.N. to take decisive action.

“I need to tell you with how much impatience the African continent is awaiting a strong message from the international community regarding the resolution of the crisis in Mali. … What we need to avoid is the impression that we are lacking in resolve in the face of these determined terrorists,” he said.

The most feared group in northern Mali is al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, al-Qaida’s North African branch, which is holding at least seven French hostages, including a 61-year-old man kidnapped last week.

On Thursday, SITE Intelligence published a transcript of a recently released interview with AQIM leader, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, in which he urges Malians to reject any foreign intervention in their country. He warned French President Francois Hollande that he was “digging the graves” of the French hostages by pushing for an intervention.

Also on Thursday, Islamists meted out the latest Shariah punishment in northern city of Timbuktu. Six young men and women were each given 100 lashes for having talked to each other on city streets, witnesses said.

___

Associated Press writer Virgile Ahissou in Cotonou, Benin and Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali contributed to this report.

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Study: DVRs now in half of US pay-TV homes

NEW YORK (AP) — A new survey finds that digital video recorders are now in more than half of all U.S. homes that subscribe to cable or satellite TV services.

Leichtman Research Group‘s survey of 1,300 households found that 52 percent of the ones that have pay-TV service also have a DVR. That translates to about 45 percent of all households and is up from 13.5 percent of all households surveyed five years ago by another firm, Nielsen.

The first DVRs came out in 1999, from TiVo Inc. and ReplayTV. Later, they were built into cable set-top boxes. The latest trend is “whole-home” DVRs that can distribute recorded shows to several sets.

Even with the spread of DVRs, live TV rules. Nielsen found last year that DVRs accounted for 8 percent of TV watching.

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Russian court bans “extremist” Pussy Riot video

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court ruled on Thursday that video footage of the Pussy Riot punk group protesting against President Vladimir Putin in a church was “extremist” and should be removed from websites.

The demonstration last February offended many Russian Orthodox Christians. But Putin has been criticized by U.S. and European leaders over what they saw as disproportionate jail sentences imposed on three Pussy Riot members. Their trial was also seen by Putin’s critics as part of a clampdown on dissent.

The Moscow court said it had based its ruling on conclusions by a panel of experts who studied the video, showing band members in colorful mini-skirts and ski masks dancing in front of the altar of Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox cathedral.

Judge Marina Musimovich said the footage “has elements of extremism; in particular there are words and actions which humiliate various social groups based on their religion”. She said it also had calls for mutiny and “mass disorder”.

The verdict said that free distribution of the video could ignite racial and religious hatred.

The court’s ruling applies to other videos released by the band, including a performance in Moscow’s Red Square, where calls for mass disorder could be heard. Such calls were not made inside the church.

The websites are now likely to be included in a state register and could be blocked if the banned content is not removed.

The Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor said that once the court decision takes effect it will monitor how it is implemented.

Three members of Pussy Riot convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for their “punk prayer”, which the Russian Orthodox Church has cast as part of a concerted attack on the church and the faithful.

The women said the protest, in which they burst into Christ the Saviour Cathedral and called on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin, was not motivated by hatred and was meant to mock the church leadership’s support for the longtime leader.

Band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are serving two-year jail sentences over the protest last February. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, walked free last month when her sentence was suspended on appeal.

“To me this is a clear attribute of censorship – censorship of art and censorship of culture, of the protest culture which is very important for any country, let alone for Russia,” Samutsevich told reporters outside court.

“Now of course the fact that they will be blocking all Pussy Riot videos as I understand, all photos – this is horrible. Naturally, I will lodge an appeal and I will try to do it today,” she added.

Putin, a former KGB officer who has cultivated close ties with the Orthodox church over 13 years in power, has rebuffed Western criticism about the prison terms meted out.

(Additional reporting Valery Stepchenkov; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Energy Bill for ‘cleaner economy’

29 November 2012 Last updated at 10:14 ET

Energy Secretary Ed Davey says the Bill will transform the energy landscape

Energy minister Ed Davey has unveiled the government’s much-trailed Energy Bill, setting out the roadmap for the UK’s switch to “a low-carbon economy”.

Energy firms can increase the “green” levy from £3bn to £7.6bn a year by 2020, potentially increasing household bills by £100.

But big, energy-intensive companies could be exempt from the extra costs of the switch to renewable energy.

There are also proposals for financial incentives to reduce energy demand.

The “transformation” will cost the UK £110bn over ten years, Mr Davey said.

He told MPs: “Britain’s energy sector is embarking on a period of exceptional renewal and expansion.

“The scale of the investment required is huge, representing close to half the UK’s total infrastructure investment pipeline.”

The government’s plan formed the “biggest transformation of Britain’s electricity market since privatisation,” he said.

Measures proposed in the Bill and consultations include:

• Household energy bills to rise £100 on average by 2020


• “Green” levy charged by energy firms to rise from £3bn to £7.6bn


• Switch to clean energy to cost £110bn over ten years


• Bill aims to encourage investment in low-carbon power production


• Energy-intensive companies may be exempt from additional charges


• Possible financial incentives to reduce energy consumption

Mr Davey said government policy was “designed specifically to reduce consumer bills”, arguing that without a move to renewable energy, bills would be higher because of a reliance on expensive and volatile gas prices.

Continue reading the main story

The government has unveiled plans to exempt some of Britain’s biggest industries from charges for clean electricity.

The Energy Bill confirms that households will be expected to pay about £100 a year on average to get more power from nuclear and renewables.

But it looks as though energy intensive firms won’t have to pay the extra charges. It’s feared that if their energy bills rise too high, they’ll move manufacturing jobs abroad.

The move may prove controversial with consumer groups.

The Bill confirms that households would provide £7.6bn of subsidy to nuclear and renewables by 2020 to keep the lights on and to meet targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

The government says the investment will shield the UK from volatile gas prices and force down costs in the long run.

But ministers have also announced that some of biggest industrial polluters in the UK – like steel and cement – may not be asked to pay extra. These global firms threaten to take their jobs elsewhere if power bills rise.

The government has recognised that if you are trying to cut global emissions of carbon, it’s futile driving away firms to pollute somewhere else. But many households may wonder why they’re being forced to pay extra whilst big firms are not.

Follow Roger on Twitter @rogerharrabin

The Energy Bill aims to move the UK’s energy production from a dependence on fossil fuels to a more diverse mix of energy sources, such as wind, nuclear and biomass.

This is to fill the energy gap from closing a number of coal and nuclear power stations over the next two decades, and to meet the government’s carbon dioxide emissions targets.

By allowing energy companies to charge more, the government hopes they will have the confidence to invest the huge sums of money that are needed to build renewable energy infrastructure such as windfarms.

But the opposition said that investment in renewable energy had fallen under the coalition.

“The reason that’s happened is because of the uncertainty the government has created – that’s why firms have put investment on hold, or scrapped it altogether,” said shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint.

She added that the absence of a carbon cap for the energy sector for 2030 further undermined investment in renewables.

Exemptions

But in a consultation paper published alongside the Bill, Mr Davey said energy-intensive industries, such as steel and cement producers, would be exempt from additional costs arising from measures to encourage investment in new low-carbon production.

“Decarbonisation should not mean deindustrialisation”, Mr Davey said.

“The transition to the low carbon economy will depend on products made by energy intensive industries – a wind turbine for example needing steel, cement and high-tech textiles.

“This exemption will ensure the UK retains the industrial capacity to support a low carbon economy.”

Without the exemption, the government fears big companies would cut jobs and relocate abroad.

Reducing demand

The government proposals to reduce electricity demand include financial incentives for consumers and businesses alike.

Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint says the bill will see consumers will facing higher prices

For example, firms could be paid for each kilowatt-hour they save as a result of taking energy-reduction measures, such as low-energy lighting.

Householders and businesses could be given discounts and incentives to replace old equipment with more energy-efficient versions.

The government believes a 10% reduction in electricity demand could save £4bn by 2030.

But research by management consultancy McKinsey suggests there is the potential to reduce demand by as much as 26%, equivalent to 92 terawatt-hours, or the electricity generated by nine power stations in one year.

Audrey Gallacher, director of energy at Consumer Focus, said: “The government’s commitment to reduce energy demand through incentives for consumers and businesses is welcome.

“But it will come at a cost – which again will be passed onto customers.”

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Myanmar cracks down on mine protest; dozens hurt

MONYWA, Myanmar (AP) — Security forces used water cannons and other riot gear Thursday to clear protesters from a copper mine in in northwestern Myanmar, wounding villagers and Buddhist monks just hours before opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was to visit the area to hear their grievances.

The crackdown at the Letpadaung mine near the town of Monywa risks becoming a public relations and political fiasco for the reformist government of President Thein Sein, which has been touting its transition to democracy after almost five decades of repressive military rule.

The environmental and social damage allegedly produced by the mine has become a popular cause in activist circles, but was not yet a matter of broad public concern. However, hurting monks — as admired for their social activism as they are revered for their spiritual beliefs — is sure to antagonize many ordinary people, especially as Suu Kyi’s visit highlights the events.

“This is unacceptable,” said Ottama Thara, a 25-year-old monk who was at the protest. “This kind of violence should not happen under a government that says it is committed to democratic reforms.”

According to a nurse at a Monywa hospital, 27 monks and one other person were admitted with burns caused by some sort of projectile that released sparks or embers. Two of the monks with serious injuries were sent for treatment in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second biggest city, a 2 ½ hour drive away. Other evicted protesters gathered at a Buddhist temple about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the mine’s gates.

Lending further sympathy to the protesters’ cause is whom they are fighting against. The mining operation is a joint venture between a Chinese company and a holding company controlled by Myanmar’s military. Most people remain suspicious of the military, while China is widely seen as having propped up army rule for years, in addition to being an aggressive investor exploiting the country’s many natural resources.

Government officials had publicly stated that the protest risked scaring off foreign investment that is key to building the economy after decades of neglect.

State television had broadcast an announcement Tuesday night that ordered protesters to cease their occupation of the mine by midnight or face legal action. It said operations at the mine had been halted since Nov. 18, after protesters occupied the area.

Some villagers among a claimed 1,000 protesters left the six encampments they had at the mine after the order was issued. But others stayed through Wednesday, including about 100 monks.

Police moved in to disperse them early Thursday.

“Around 2:30 a.m. police announced they would give us five minutes to leave,” said protester Aung Myint Htway, a peanut farmer whose face and body were covered with black patches of burned skin. He said police fired water cannons first and then shot what he and others called flare guns.

“They fired black balls that exploded into fire sparks. They shot about six times. People ran away and they followed us,” he said, still writhing hours later from pain. “It’s very hot.”

Photos of the wounded monks showed they had sustained serious burns on parts of their bodies. It was unclear what sort of weapon caused them.

The protest is the latest major example of increased activism by citizens since the elected government took over last year. Political and economic liberalization under Thein Sein has won praise from Western governments, which have eased sanctions imposed on the previous military government because of its poor record on human and civil rights. However, the military still retains major influence over the government, and some critics fear that democratic gains could easily be rolled back.

In Myanmar’s main city of Yangon, six anti-mine activists who staged a small protest were detained Monday and Tuesday, said one of their colleagues, who asked not to be identified because he did not want to attract attention from the authorities.

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Video Games: Art-Tested, MoMA-Approved

Citing a palpable “aesthetic experience” in classic games while eschewing others, the Museum of Modern Art announced Thursday that it has assembled a new collection of video games. The museum’s initial collection includes 14 classics like Pac-Man and Tetris, but also more recent additions to the canon like Passage and Canabalt. The museum has a “wish list” of about 40 total games, which include Pong, The Legend of Zelda, and Minecraft. The games will be exhibited starting in March 2013, but the selections aren’t necessarily what you’d expect.

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Video games are art. That’s a fact (which has some notable dissenters) that’s even been determined by the Supreme Court in a a case decided in 2011. And games have been embraced by art institutions before. In an exhibition this year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum explored The Art of Video Games. But in a blog post today, Paola Antonelli, senior curator in MoMA‘s department of design, explained that the museum’s intention is not as simple as evaluating the artistic value of certain video games. They want to look at games from a design perspective: “Our criteria, therefore, emphasize not only the visual quality and aesthetic experience of each game, but also the many other aspects—from the elegance of the code to the design of the player’s behavior—that pertain to interaction design.” 

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Because the museum is looking for specific design traits, Antonielli explained that MoMA has not acquired, and is not looking for, some games that might seem like “no-brainers to video game historian.”

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Here are some images of the games MoMA has acquired, via the museum: 

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Tetris

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flOw

Myst

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Thousands celebrate Hobbit premiere in New Zealand

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people packed New Zealand’s capital city, clambering on roofs and hanging onto lamp posts on Wednesday to get a glimpse of the stars at the red carpet world premiere of the film “The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey”.

Wellington, where director Peter Jackson and much of the post production is based, renamed itself “the Middle of Middle Earth“, and fans with prominent Hobbit ears, medieval style costumes, and wizard hats had camped out the night before to claim prized spaces along the 500 meter (550 yards) red carpet.

Jackson, a one time newspaper printer and the maker of the Oscar winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy more than a decade ago, was cheered along the walk, stopping to talk to fans, sign autographs and pose for photos.

The Hobbit trilogy is set 60 years before the Rings movies, but Jackson said it has benefited from being made after the conclusion of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy saga.

“I’m glad that we established the style and the look of Middle Earth by adapting Lord of the Rings before we did the Hobbit,” Jackson told Reuters from the red carpet.

Jackson, a hometown hero in Wellington, said the production had been on a “difficult journey”, alluding to Warner Brothers’ financial problems, and a later labor dispute with unions.

“Fate meant for us to be here,” he told an ecstatic crowd, which hailed him as a film genius, but also a down to earth local boy.

“I came here to see the stars but also Peter (Jackson)…I loved the Lord of the Rings and that made me want to be here, without him none of it would be here,” said teenage student Samantha Cooper.

OLD FRIENDS

The cast was no less enthusiastic about the Hobbit, especially those who had starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

British actor Andy Serkis, who plays the creature Gollum with a distinctive throaty whisper, said picking up the character after a near-ten year break was like putting on a familiar skin.

“I was reminded on a daily basis with Gollum (that) he’s truly never left me,” he said.

Most of the film’s stars attended the premiere, including British actor Martin Freeman, who plays the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, and Elijah Wood. Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf, was absent.

Freeman, known for his roles in the comedy The Office and Sherlock Holmes, said he looked for a different, lighter, slightly pompous Baggins from the older, wiser character played by Ian Holm in the Rings movies.

“Between us – Peter (Jackson) and me — we hashed out another version of Bilbo. There’ll be others, but our version is this one and I hope people like it,” he said.

The production was at the center of several controversies, including a dispute with unions in 2010 over labor contracts that nearly sent the filming overseas and resulted in the government stepping in to change employment laws.

The only sour note at the premiere came when animal rights activists held up posters saying “Middle Earth unexpected cruelty” and “3 horses died for this film”, after claims last week that more than 20 animals died during the making of the film.

Event organizers tried to block out the protesters’ posters with large Hobbit film billboards. Jackson has said some animals died on a farm where they were housed, but none had been hurt during filming.

The movies have been filmed in 3D and at 48 frames per second (fps), compared with the standard 24 fps, which Jackson has likened to the quality leap to compact discs from vinyl records.

The second film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be released in December next year, with the third “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” due in mid-July 2014.

(Editing by Elaine Lies)

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Little Company Makes a Big Play for Net Domains

The Internet seems like an endless expanse, but it actually functions like a very crowded real estate market. Website domain names are like property addresses. Nicer neighborhoods command higher prices. Speculators, sometimes unsavory ones, abound. That’s why the auction of 1,400 new suffixes in mid-2013, beyond ubiquitous designations such as .com, is such a big deal. It’s the first major expansion of domain names since 2004, attracting interest from Google (GOOG) and Amazon.com (AMZN), as well as Donuts, a little-known Bellevue (Wash.) company that wants to grab as many new addresses as possible and license them for a hefty profit.

The domain game can be surprisingly lucrative. Back in 2010 an offshore holding company called Clover Holdings, based on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, paid $ 13 million for the rights to sex.com, according to Kieren McCarthy, author of a book about the sale. The introduction of suffixes such as .app, .law, and .financial likely will also attract all manner of companies. Amazon bid for the suffix .book, while Google applied for .ads, .buy, and .google, among others.

These requests go to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has coordinated the Internet addressing system since the U.S. government privatized that responsibility more than a decade ago. Icann, which is funded by the registration of domain sites, is preparing to release the 1,400 new suffixes. The group charges $ 185,000 to evaluate each application. (Nice work if you can get it.) After Icann finishes that screening process, spokesman Brad White says, if two or more qualified applicants can’t agree to run .school or .horse jointly, they go to the highest bidder.

Speculators often try to buy the rights to website names valuable to other parties and then extract premiums to license them. The real worry is cybersquatting, the purchase of domains either to block a competitor from using them or to create look-alike websites designed to fool consumers and undercut a rival’s business. While cybersquatting is illegal under U.S. trademark law, courts often defer to Icann-recognized international tribunals because many cases involve foreign parties.

In the latest Internet domain expansion, Donuts has emerged as the most prolific bidder. The company spent more than $ 56 million on applications for 307 new suffixes before the deadline passed in May, compared with 99 for Google and 76 for Amazon. Jonathan Nevett, the company’s executive vice president for corporate affairs and one of its four founders, says it wants to build its own central clearinghouse for new website names that it can license to businesses and other consumers. “This has been the most constrained space you can think of,” says Nevett, a former adviser to Icann, who says he’s been working on the current bid since 2005. More than $ 100 million in venture capital is backing Donuts, whose applications include about 140 unchallenged bids, including for .mortgage and .dentist.

Jeffrey Stoler, a licensing lawyer with McCarter & English, has warned Icann that some of Donuts’ customers may wind up cybersquatting because of its links to Santa Monica (Calif.)-based Demand Media (DMD), whose clients have included squatters in the past. Stoler writes that Donuts Chief Executive Officer Paul Stahura was once president and chief strategy officer of Demand Media, which, including subsidiaries, has received more than two dozen negative rulings from arbitrators, in cases often involving cybersquatting or “bad-faith” actions. Icann spokesman White says that kind of censure can lead Icann to bar a company from operating domains.

Donuts has an arrangement to sell Demand 107 of its top domain names, according to a June press release from Demand. “Donuts and its key executives are, by Icann’s established eligibility guidelines, unsuited and ineligible to participate” in the bidding process, Stoler wrote in a July letter to Icann. Stoler declined to comment on whether he represents any competing domain bidders. “We have no concerns about Donuts’ eligibility as an applicant,” Stahura wrote in e-mailed comments. “The letter is trying somehow to make a link that doesn’t exist.”

Demand Executive Vice President Dave Panos disputed Stoler’s complaint in a September letter to Icann, calling it “rife with false statements and misinformation.” Panos’s company is distinct from Donuts, and the two companies have no equity relationship, says Brian Jacobs, founder of Donuts investor Emergence Capital Partners. In addition to the 107 domains it hopes to purchase from Donuts, Demand is applying for dozens of Icann’s names on its own behalf.

White declined to comment on the Donuts case because Icann does not comment on individual applicants, but says the group will rigorously screen each of the 1,930 bidders.

The bottom line: Internet registry Donuts’ attempt to buy 307 forthcoming domains is fueling concerns that it will license websites to cybersquatters.

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German lawmakers condemn Google campaign against copyright law

BERLIN (Reuters) – Senior German politicians have denounced as propaganda a campaign by Google to mobilize public opinion against proposed legislation to let publishers charge search engines for displaying newspaper articles.

Internet lobbyists say they are worried the German law will set a precedent for other countries such as France and Italy that have shown an interest in having Google pay publishers for the right to show their news snippets in its search results.

Lawmakers in Berlin will debate the bill in the Bundestag (lower house) on Thursday. Google says the law would make it harder for users to retrieve information via the Internet.

Google launched its campaign against the bill on Tuesday with advertisements in German newspapers and a web information site called “Defend your web”.

“Such a law would hit every Internet user in Germany,” Stefan Tweraser, country manager for Google Germany, said in a statement. “An ancillary copyright means less information for consumers and higher costs for companies.”

The campaign has caused outrage among some members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition.

“The campaign initiated by Google is cheap propaganda,” said conservative lawmakers Guenter Krings and Ansgar Heveling.

“Under the guise of a supposed project for the freedom of the Internet, an attempt is being made to coopt its users for its own lobbying,” the two said in a statement.

Supporters of the law argue that newspaper publishers should be able to benefit from advertising revenues earned by search engines using their content.

Under the plans, publishers would get a bigger say over how their articles are used on the Internet and could charge search engines for showing articles or extracts.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a member of the Free Democrats (FDP) who share power in Merkel’s government, said she was astonished that Google was trying to monopolize opinion-making. She is responsible for the law.

“PANIC MONGERING”

Germany’s newspaper industry, suffering from economic slowdown and keen to get its hands on any revenues it can, backs the plans and railed against Google’s campaign.

“The panic mongering from Google has no justification,” Germany’s BDZV newspaper association said in a statement.

“The argument from search engine companies that Internet searching and retrieval will be made more difficult is not serious. Private use, reading, following links and quoting will be possible, just as before.”

Internet lobbyists in Brussels fear the European Commission is sympathetic to publisher demands for a piece of Google’s profits online. Recent statements, they say, are proof.

“Consumers are not the only ones facing difficulties,” Michel Barnier, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said in a speech on November 7. “Think of newspaper publishers who see the content they produce being used by others to attract consumers on the net and generate advertising revenues.”

French newspapers and magazines want Google to pay them for linking to their articles on Google. The French government has named a mediator to negotiate with the press and Google to try to get a deal by the end of the year.

If no deal emerges, President Francois Hollande’s government will ask parliament to draft a law modifying copyright laws to protect the press from appropriation of its content online, according to a letter signed by two ministers on November 28.

(Additional reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt, Claire Davenbport in Brussels and Leila Abboud in Paris; Writing by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Gareth Jones and)

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Disney Channel to debut ‘Sofia the First’ Jan. 11

NEW YORK (AP) — Disney says its animated children‘s series “Sofia the First” will premiere Jan. 11 on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior networks.

Created for kids ages 2 to 7, “Sofia the First” is about a young girl who becomes a princess and learns that honesty, loyalty and compassion are what makes a person royal.

Sofia is voiced by “Modern Family” actress Ariel Winter, and her mother is played by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Sara Ramirez.

Last week’s premiere of the “Sofia the First” animated movie drew a total audience of more than 5 million viewers. It was the year’s top-rated cable TV telecast among kids ages 2 to 5.

In the series’ debut episode, Sofia strives to become the first princess to earn a spot on her school’s flying derby team.

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