Rehearsal at ESMAE with Álvaro Salazar

Today I went to a rehearsal at ESMAE (Superior Scholl of Music and Performing Arts - Porto) where two creations of two of my ex-professors, Jorge Peixinho (unfortunately death after longtime) and Álvaro Salazar (pictured), were played.

Peixinho's Fantasia-Impromptu is plenty of his personal poetics and unique genius that inspired all generations of portuguese "avant-gardistes". Portugal stills not capable of honouring him as a great musicien and great creator he was. Portugal always favoured bastards and corrupts, so there's little surprise when Peixinho died by an heart stroke almost in oblivion, "buried" in a minor town (his own town).

Álvaro Salazar's Noturno em Lizara (2009) is a short slice of quit abstract music where the composer combines great inspiration with a kind of contemplating pace. Amazingly this old man, who can actually hardly get a sight of myself (him lost about 75% of his vision), know very well how his music should sound and lead the musiciens to some sort of very interesting achievement.

Later on, at concert, we were given versions of two XX century's major classics: Luciano Berio's Sequenze VIIB and Pierre Boulez's Dialogue de l'ombre double, the former for sax solo, and the later for saxo and tape. Gilberto Bernardes was the inspired sax player.

Note: I never wrote Álvaro Salazar's name on my curriculum because (unfortunately) I went to very few of his (great) classes...

Dereliction of duty, errors, conflicts of interest

Blame for Britain's banking implosion is now being spread far and wide. Latest in the firing line are auditors Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young and PwC who are accused by a House of Lords committee of a 'dereliction of duty' in not sharing vital information with regulators.

This comes hot on the heels of a working paper from the Bank of England earlier this week which focused on the serious errors of the credit rating agencies and their conflicts of interest. dailymail

A new dawn for transgenic in Europe

Approval of the Amflora potato could signal a fresh approach to genetically modified organisms.

The European Commission last week approved Amflora — a genetically modified (GM) potato developed by German chemical company BASF. The potato — engineered to produce a form of starch that is better for some industrial purposes in, for example, paper manufacturing, adhesives and textiles — is the first GM crop to be approved for cultivation in the European Union (EU) for 12 years. Monsanto's MON 810 maize (corn), which is engineered to be resistant to the European corn-borer caterpillar, was licensed in 1998. nature

Note: the undemocratic EU's officials did aprove, this weeck, transgenic food in EU, depite knowing that european people would refuse it, if asked. Maybe some lobby bribed them...

With stoicism a nation rallies

Less than 24 hours after the 11 March earthquake and tsunami struck north-east Japan, destroying much of its infrastructure, a hard-hat army descended on the damage like antibodies around a virus. This weekend, hundreds of miles of once warped and buckled motorways are again open to traffic. independent


Japan pays 'suicide squads' fortunes

Four reactors at stricken plant to be decommissioned

Subcontractors offered £760 a day - 20 times going rate - to brave radiation levels but some refuse

One expert who designed reactor says race to save reactor two is 'lost'

Radiation levels in sea water 3,335 times higher than normal

Readings are almost three times worse than last week

Unmanned drone photographs plant from the air amid health fear for pilots

American robots dispatched to help containment efforts

dailymail

Missing Libya woman spurs reporters

Eman al-Obeidy hasn't been seen since she accused Gadhafi troops of a horrible assault. yahoo/thecutline


Syrian police shoot nine people dead

• Six die in assault on mosque in southern city of Deraa

• Activists call for mass demonstration on 'Dignity Friday'

guardian


Note: the most upset of all is that those Iranian's mullahs did break the very first and hopefully middle east uprising against those macabres dictators and their odd and unfair feudal system. They used the most vicious ways to successfully breakdown iranian protesters. Last year Iran did more than 250 executions.

Uncertain Times

During this time, however, Portugal's government will need to borrow more money. From now until June, some €9.2 billion ($13 billion) of sovereign debt needs to be refinanced on the markets, of which €4.2 billion is due in April alone. Borrowing, however, might become unbearably expensive for the transitional government. spiegel


Bailout request seen as 'inevitable'

Bailout request seen as 'inevitable' following prime minister's resignation after failure to push through austerity measures. guardian

Note: the portuguese problem is the "legal corruption". Most of portuguese people struggle to. Politicians, magistrates, diplomats and so on, are the ones who can afford some luxury, because they are the ones whom still get great retirement pensions (keep in mind that the minimum wage in Portugal is less than 500 euros but politicians, magistrates, top militars, diplomats and catedratic professores, among others, can easly get 5000 or 6000 euros - 14 months a year - as retirement pension: where going Portugal get the money to still paying all live long for those ineffective people?! - think at unrelying portuguese justice system, at junkie level of some portuguese superior courses, at those ridicule portuguese diplomats, and, by the way, is you who want the portuguese army to go along with to war zones like Iraq?), and some were embroiled (helped by the bankers, of course who won big profits) in the corruption big businesses, where the public money went towards theirs offshore acounts. Romenia and Bulgaria are worse? I' m not sure: the "legal corruption" in Portugal go through absolutely legal contracts with obscure clausules which give always guaranteed huge profits to the companies choised by the government, and it went up to billions euros. I'm not at all sure that Romenia and Bugaria are more corrupts than Portugal. Anyway they will be the same huge problem to the eurozone, if they suced to enter it.

But corruption is not a concern to EU's officials. They just are concerned at compelling the portuguese government to change labour laws instead of to compel it to change laws to tackle the "legal corruption" that ruined the country.


Fears of 'Lehman-style' tsunami

The Greek debt crisis has spread to Spain and Portugal in a dangerous escalation as global markets test whether Europe is willing to shore up monetary union with muscle rather than mere words. telegraph

Note: Paul Krugman said that “the biggest trouble spot isn’t Greece, it’s Spain”.

Syrian troops kill six protesters

DERAA, Syria: Syrian forces killed six people yesterday in an attack on protesters in a mosque complex in the southern city of Deraa, and later opened fire on hundreds of youths marching in solidarity, witnesses said. thepeninsulaqatar

Seeing through the fog

Killing Colonel Gaddafi cannot be a war aim, nor indeed regime change in Libya - though we may hope that happens.

Meanwhile, we should help the rebel forces. As former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind says, the arms embargo chiefly affects the rebels; it should instead be directed at the government side.

We should, nonetheless, be prepared for the possibility that the no-fly zone will not be conclusive: we could be in much the same position in a month's time as now. But that is still preferable to Colonel Gaddafi having things his own way. standard


Innocents still being attacked

One doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “They are talking about a ceasefire, they are talking about a no-fly zone, for me that does not mean anything. My people here are under attack. telegraph


The ineffectual Baroness Ashton

The ineffectual Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign affairs guru, displayed her diplomatic naivety when she sided with the Germans in opposing a no-fly zone. telegraph


Gold reserves worth more than $6bn

Libya has declared gold reserves worth more than $6bn at current prices, thought to be held largely at home. bbc

Japan tragedy seared into the world's imagination

... the way it haunts us with some of our most basic fears: Death by water. Or rubble. Or nuclear fallout.

Add to that, it's a crisis with an impact that will be felt around the planet: Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world, its third-largest economy, its most successful car-seller and its second-most generous giver of foreign aid.

"This event has the potential to be the most globally disruptive natural hazard in modern times," said Rob Verchick, a disaster expert at Loyola University in New Orleans. yahoo/AP

Gadhafi vows 'long war'

TRIPOLI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi vowed a "long war" against the international military force that struck at his forces with airstrikes and dozens of cruise missiles that shook the Libyan capital early Sunday with the sound of explosions and anti-aircraft fire. In the capital of the rebel-held east, the Libyan leader's guns appeared to go silent. yahoo/AP


Bodies crowd Benghazi morgue

At least 24 bodies of fighters and civilians, many burnt beyond recognition, lay in the morgue of Benghazi's main hospital on Sunday.

The hospital's wards were filled with men, women and children wounded in Saturday's assault by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the rebels' eastern stronghold. independent


Gaddafi's tanks have reached the centre of Misrata

1.31pm: Reuters are now reporting that Gaddafi's tanks have reached the centre of the rebel-held city of Misrata.

"Two people were killed so far today by snipers. They (snipers) are still on the rooftops. They are backed with four tanks, which have been patrolling the town. It's getting very difficult for people to come out," one resident, called Sami, told Reuters by telephone.

"There are also boats encircling the port and preventing aid from reaching the town."

Abdelbasset, a spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, told Reuters: "There is fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi's forces. Their tanks are in the centre of Misrata ... There are so many casualties we cannot count them." guardian

Note: UN knew that it would happend... Did not France stop Gadaffi's war veihicles towards Benghazi and this city would be now under his will.

Gadhafi strikes rebels as diplomats mull action

BENGHAZI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi took advantage of international indecision to attack the heart of the 5-week-old uprising on Saturday, sending troops, tanks and warplanes to swarm the first city seized by the rebels. Crashing shells shook buildings, and the sounds of battle drew closer to Benghazi's center. yahoo/AP


French fighter planes are enforcing the no-fly zone

2.48pm: Sarkozy has confirmed that French fighter planes are already enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya, particularly Benghazi.

Speaking at a press conference after the emergency Paris summit, he said: "As of now our aircraft are preventing [Gaddafi's] planes from attacking the ground." guardian

Debt, Austerity and How to Fight Back

Corporate America’s unprovoked assault on working people has been carried out by manufacturing a need for fiscal austerity.

We are told that there is no more money for essential human services, for the care of children, or better public schools, or to help lower the cost of a college education.

The fact is that big banks and large corporations are hoarding trillions in cash and using tax loopholes to bankrupt our communities. the nation

UN orders air strikes against Gaddafi

In a momentous vote that could change the course of a conflict that had seemed close to a devastating end, the United Nations last night authorised military action against forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya. independent


"Libya declares ceasefire after UN resolution"

Note: rubish! Air strikes against Gaddafi should go ahead.

Japan weighs need to bury nuclear plant

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese engineers conceded on Friday that burying a crippled nuclear plant in sand and concrete may be a last resort to prevent a catastrophic radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from Chernobyl in 1986.

But they still hoped to solve the crisis by fixing a power cable to two reactors by Saturday to restart water pumps needed to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods. Workers also sprayed water on the No.3 reactor, the most critical of the plant's six. yahoo/Reuters

Note: those reactores are from General Motors, aren't?

Japan dumps water on overheating reactor

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese military helicopters and fire trucks poured water on an overheating nuclear facility on Thursday and the plant operator said electricity to part of the crippled complex could be restored in a desperate bid to avert catastrophe. yahoo/Reuters

Gaddafi forces bomb airport at rebel stronghold *

Libyan rebels shot down at least two bomber planes that attacked the airport in their main stronghold today, according to residents who witnessed the rare success in the struggle against Muammar Gaddafi's superior air power. independent

* with the complicity of the so-called international community...

U.S. shows growing alarm over Japan nuclear crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States showed increasing alarm about Japan's nuclear crisis on Wednesday and urged its citizens to stay clear of an earthquake-crippled power plant, going further in its warnings than Japan itself.

The State Department said the United States has chartered aircraft to help Americans leave Japan and had authorized the voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama -- about 600 people. yahoo/Reuters

Global financial aftershock

In 1923, when a strong earthquake destroyed most of Tokyo, Japan suffered a crippling economic downturn that may have hastened the onset of military rule. Yet financial markets around the world barely shrugged.

Ninety years on, Japanese cash plays a crucial role in global bond and stock markets. Despite two decades of stagnant growth on home turf, Japan is the second largest foreign owner of US government securities, with nearly $900bn of America's public debt. This time it could be the rest of the world that takes a financial hit while the Japanese economy booms. guardian

Japan prepares for the worst

New reactor blast raises fears of meltdown

Final death toll could reach 'tens of thousands'

Markets crash over fears of economic fallout

independent

Second blast at stricken Japan nuclear plant

The second hydrogen explosion in three days rocked a Japanese nuclear plant today, devastating the structure housing one reactor and injuring 11 workers.

Water levels dropped precipitously at another reactor, completely exposing the fuel rods and raising the threat of a meltdown. independent


Tide of 1,000 bodies overwhelms quake-hit Japan

TAKAJO, Japan – A tide of bodies washed up along Japan's coastline, crematoriums were overwhelmed and rescue workers ran out of body bags as the nation faced the grim reality of a mounting humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis Monday after a calamitous tsunami.

Millions of people were facing a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures in the northeast devastated by an earthquake and the wave it spawned. Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity and the fuel rods at another were at least briefly fully exposed, raising fears of a meltdown. The stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries including big names such as Toyota and Honda. yahoo/AP

Explosion at Japan nuke plant

IWAKI, Japan – An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor, but a radiation leak was decreasing despite fears of a meltdown from damage caused by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, officials said.

Government spokesman Yukio Edano said the explosion destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is placed, but not the actual metal housing enveloping the reactor.

That was welcome news for a country suffering from Friday's double disaster that pulverized the northeastern coast, leaving at least 574 people dead by official count.

The scale of destruction was not yet known, but there were grim signs that the death toll could soar. One report said four whole trains had disappeared Friday and still not been located. Local media reports said at least 1,300 people may have been killed. YAHOO/AP

Note: "four whole trains had disappeared"

Europe's response in disarray as Gaddafi makes gains

France recognises rebels as Libya's legitimate government as dictator's son threatens escalation after troops take key cities. independent

Note: France is allright. UE did whats the butcher Gaddafi and his son expected: talks and no action. UE seems going to an end. Hippocrit UK would be very, very, happy (of course...), but it would be a tragedy to countries like Grece and Portugal. They were unable to create an real democratic tradition and huge statewide corruption destroyed any social cohesion. Totalitarian regimes are waiting on the corner (nothing new for them... and that isn't a tragedy to Europe... Iberians and balkanians are used, even in "democracy", for that kind of system...). Anyway a "democracy" like the portuguese is just rubish and corruption. Portuguese banks are among the main responsibles for that. They are embroiled in all corruption business system, and they are the main beneficiary of that corrupt system. BES (Saint Spirit Bank...), owned by GES (Saint Spirit Group...), is apparently the most corrupt and is embroiled in dirty deals like Portucale and submarines, namely.

Libyan warplanes strike rebels

Libyan warplanes launched fresh airstrikes on rebel positions around a key oil port today, trying to block the opposition fighters from advancing toward Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital, Tripoli.

Rebels in the area said they can take on Gaddafi's elite ground forces, but are outgunned if he uses his air power. independent

Note: they need a no-fly zone NOW!


America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels

Desperate to avoid US military involvement in Libya in the event of a prolonged struggle between the Gaddafi regime and its opponents, the Americans have asked Saudi Arabia if it can supply weapons to the rebels in Benghazi. The Saudi Kingdom, already facing a "day of rage" from its 10 per cent Shia Muslim community on Friday, with a ban on all demonstrations, has so far failed to respond to Washington's highly classified request, although King Abdullah personally loathes the Libyan leader, who tried to assassinate him just over a year ago. independent

Note: they need a no-fly zone NOW!


SAS and MI6 officers released

The group's capture is a major embarrassment to the British government and could potentially undermine the rebels' claims that the revolution, which has rippled through Libya for the past fortnight, has had solely domestic roots. Officials in Benghazi's organising committee, which is trying to organise civilian and military affairs, criticised the British team's decision to make a clandestine entry to the country, claiming it had fuelled doubts about their intentions. guardian

Note: stupid british!

Europe is doing nothing to help this people?

Another inhabitant reported that at least 20 tanks had rolled into the town and had started shelling its square. "The fighting has intensified and the tanks are shelling everything on their way," Abu Akeel said. "They have shelled houses. Now they are shelling a mosque where hundreds of people are hiding. We can't rescue anyone because the shelling is so heavy." guardian

Ten kilometres or so behind them was another worrying development for the 200 or so fighters within Zawiyah. First six, then eight, BM-21 missile launchers appeared in a tree-fringed meadow, their rockets pointing towards the town.
...
Snipers are firing at anyone who moves. guardian

King blasts banks for exploiting customers

Financial crisis could happen again, says Bank of England governor, with warning signs already of short-term profit fixation. guardian

Note: there's no anymore revolutions in Europe? (not like the portuguese's flowers revolution wich result is Portugal: the most corrupt eurozone's country)

Europeans are just stupid bastards paying for the bankers' billions salaries and bonuses?

Bradley Manning 'forced to sleep naked'

WikiLeaks suspect made to relinquish boxer shorts for about seven hours due to 'situationally driven' event. guardian


Bradley Manning may face deah penalty

'Aiding the enemy' among 22 new charges brought against US soldier held in solitary confinement. guardian

Note: US act, very often, as deeply disgusting nation. To often... Maybe because the horrendous conservative. Also because the f... conservative inside the democratic party! Manning did the most interesting thing in the last 20 years. Kill him and it will be a war.

Bad for the environment like the Republican

A bit like the Republican party, they are white, seemingly indestructible and bad for the environment. But after an absence of four years, foam plastic coffee cups have made a comeback in the basement coffee shop of the United States Congress building after Republicans began reversing a series of in-house green initiatives undertaken by Democrats. guardian


Libyan leader laughs off international pressure

Muammar Gaddafi has insisted that the people of Libya love him and denied during an interview that there have been any demonstrations against his regime. guardian

Note: hang the butcher!

Opposition leaders placed in 'safe house'

Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi and their wives were placed in a "safe house" for their own welfare, but they have not been arrested, Iranian government sources told CNN Saturday. cnn

Note: Iranian's government rigged the elections and did the same as Gaddafi - the monster - against opposition and protesters.

Iran in secret uranium talks with Zimbabwe

The Associated Press news agency (AP) have revealed that they acquired an intelligence report Tuesday that shows Zimbabwe is a key focus in Iran’s covert global search for uranium, to sustain its controversial nuclear programme. thezimbabwean


Iran Courting Pariah Leaders in Uranium Search

Iran is expanding its covert global effort to obtain uranium, according to a new intelligence report from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member nation. The Associated Press reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly expressed interest in Zimbabwe’s uranium supplies since visiting the country in April and meeting with President Robert Mugabe. bigpeace


Iran threatens Olympic boycott over logo design

Iran has threatened to boycott the London 2012 Olympics unless organisers agree to change the design of the logo.

The Iranian government has lodged a formal protest with the International Olympic Committee over the four-year-old logo, claiming that it must be changed since it spells out the word 'Zion'. yahoo

Note: "It's not the first time that the logo has been at the centre of an unusual complaint: it has been heavily criticised ever since first being unveiled in 2007, and has been compared to everything from a swastika to a stylised image of two people making love." *

* two british gays making sex (not love).

Europe's tangled ties to Gadhafi

The two elderly men were surrounded by scads of beautiful young women, but theirs was the real courtship, a pas de deux between a ruthless North African dictator and a fawning European leader. bellinghamherald

Note: "British-based corporations alone have inked deals worth more than $1 trillion in oil and gas exploration."

Hunt for Gaddafi's loot begins

With Gaddafi’s hold on power fading fast, financial authorities in the UK and Switzerland say they are in the process of freezing the Libyan leader’s accounts, while the embattled government denies such funds exist.

­Switzerland on Thursday ordered a freeze of any assets being held by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Swiss banks. rt

Note: Gaddafi, and some of his sons, must be hanged.


Did UK let Gaddafi Off the Hook?

Britain put pressure on an international court not to indict Colonel Gaddafi for war crimes despite evidence that implicated him in the maiming of more than one million people in Sierra Leone, the Chief Prosecutor on the case has claimed. humanrightsdoctorate


Tyrant’s bid to safeguard his billions Wealthy

Colonel Gaddafi was yesterday desperately trying to safeguard his multi-billion pound fortune – including a large amount invested in Britain. unitedkhmer


GADDAFI ORDERS SUPPORTERS TO HIDE EVIDENCE

DESPOT Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has ordered a mass clean-up of ­bodies to hide his atrocities and crimes against humanity. express

Watercolour wonders

No one will leave this exhibition informed of Swiss and Saxon schools of watercolour painters; no one will have been reminded of Delacroix, Nolde and Klee as experts in the medium; no one will know that, on their travels, it was the medium of choice for itinerant painters from Moscow and Madrid throughout the 19th century, or that there were Italians whose best work was watercolour. Brian Sewell in standard

Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal tops 100

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has doubled its nuclear weapons stockpile over the past several years, increasing its arsenal to more than 100 deployed weapons, The Washington Post reported late Sunday. dawn

Note: US gave billions for that. And we didn't care...


Crime against women in Delhi

The Delhi policeman is a figure of legend, renowned for sloth, corruption, brutality and casual misogyny. A constable is classed as semi-skilled labour on government pay scales. Almost all the many dark detective novels set in northern India published in the last year or so have featured scenes of torture, humiliation, venality or simple incompetence set in the local thana, or police station. Most are based on true stories. guardian

Note: India is basically rubbish and corruption.

Libya no-fly zone call by France *

Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the calls for a Nato-imposed no-fly zone to be enforced over Libya to "prevent the use of that country's warplanes against [its] population".

Sarkozy, the current president of the G8 and G20 economic forums, has also called for the European Union to impose sanctions against Libya and suggested that the assets of the family of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, should be frozen. guardian

Note: "Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the former foreign secretary Lord Owen became the first British politician to call for a no-fly zone, adding that the west should be concerned about the possibility that Gaddafi would unleash chemical weapons.

"We know that this is a person who could unleash either chemical or biological weapons, which he possibly still has. He is one of the worst despots we have seen for many a century. He is deeply unstable, and has been for 42 years," Owen said."

* fails to get David Cameron's backing...

Anyway: I cannot waiting to see Gaddafi's (and some of his sons) hanging (if Saddam did, Gaddafi must do!).

Britain sent sniper rifles to Gaddafi

Britain approved the export of sniper rifles to Libya just months before marksmen began murdering protesters in Tripoli. standard


Arms dealer's wife donated to Conservative Party

The Conservatives received a £300,000 gift from the wife of a billionaire former arms dealer caught up in the furore that forced a Cabinet minister's resignation.

Details of the donation emerged as David Cameron neared the end of a tour of the Gulf in which he was forced to defend weapons sales to authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. independent

Gasland

There is no such thing as bad publicity. But the PR adage seems to have been overlooked by the US energy lobby, whose attacks on a documentary on natural gas drilling have increased the film's pre-Oscar buzz. The attacks - including a demand to strike the film, Gasland, from contention for the Academy Awards - have brought a fresh burst of public attention to the documentary as well as its subject, a controversial method of natural gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing. news.reportlinker.com


Hydraulic fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process whereby rock formations deep below the Earth's surface are cracked and held open with chemicals and proppants in order to allow the gas that is trapped within the rocks to escape upward so that it can be collected. The chemicals that are used to hold the fractures in the rock formation open are currently industry trade secrets, protected much like the formulas for Coca-Cola or pharmaceutical drugs are. examiner

2 Mar 2011: Mikhail Gorbachev turns 80

The first and the last Soviet Union president, Mikhail Gorbachev, celebrates his 80th birthday on Mar 2. It follows a year of other key anniversaries for the architect of glasnost and peristroika. The 25th anniversary of his accession as Soviet leader, the 20th anniversary of his inauguration as USSR executive president and 20th anniversary of his Nobel Peace Prize all fall in 2010. newsahead


Mikhail Gorbachev slams Vladimir Putin

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union, attacked Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for grabbing political power and robbing the Russian people of their Democratic choice.

Gorbachev's complaint revolves around a plan for Putin and current Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to decide who will be permitted to run for president of Russia in next year's elections. "This is not Putin's business. It is the business of the nation. It is the business of elections. It is the business of those who will vote," he said. yahoo


Classic Russian Corruption

Alexey Navalny leaps out of his chair and draws five black circles on a whiteboard. The circles represent players in Russia's multibillion-dollar oil industry. With boundless energy and lightning speed, he draws lines and connects the dots, telling the story of what he calls classic Russian corruption. guardian

'Free Benghazi'

Libya's second city, Benghazi, appears to have fallen beyond the control of Muammar Gaddafi, with the local military defying his regime and monarchy-era flags flying from government buildings. guardian


41 years of summary executions, theft and corruption

The Libyan people are witnessing the last lashings of a dying beast. He has oppressed them for 41 years. Forty-one years of disappearances, summary executions, theft and corruption, and 41 years of humiliation. guardian

Hypocrisy goes on

David Cameron was last night accused of using his Middle East tour to promote Arab democracy as a cover for arms sales.

The Prime Minister was branded a ‘disgrace’ after it emerged that he has taken eight defence firms with him on a four-day visit to the region.
...
At the same time, Defence Minister Gerald Howarth and 50 British companies were flying the flag at an arms export show in the United Arab Emirates, also attended by Libyan generals.

Criticism of Britain’s cosy trade relations with Arab dictators has focused on Tony Blair’s Deal in the Desert with Colonel Gaddafi in 2004. dailymail


Tanks, helicopters and fighter jets

International condemnation is growing in response to reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is using tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to quell the most serious challenge to his 42-year rule. aljazeera

The naked truth

When the curators go on to admit that "art of the present requires no specialist knowledge; we are all experts in the present", they are in danger of explaining themselves away. If they are not experts, why are they in charge of this exhibition? Why should we believe anything they say of it or its exhibits? standard


The (british) "liberal system"

It's interesting, then, to read about the case of 21-year-old Sacha Hall, who is facing trial for allegedly helping herself to food that had been thrown out and was awaiting disposal. Ms Hall lives in a flat above a Tesco Express in Essex and last January she apparently saw the store staff throwing away large quantities of chilled food following a power cut. She is accused of joining passers-by in helping herself to some of it, including pies, potato waffles and ham. Magistrates in Chelmsford, Essex heard that the store manager had seen Ms Hall handing the bags into her flat through her bedroom window.

The police were called and Hall was arrested, handcuffed, and charged with taking £215 worth of food, in a little-known crime of "theft by finding", an offence with a maximum sentence of seven years. standard

The biggest heist of all in Inside Job

Here's the biggest story of our time, lucidly told. Inside Job, nominated for best documentary feature at the Oscars, explains how the financial crash of 2008 happened, who was responsible and how little they have been held to account. standard


How bankers caused the financial crisis

The film Inside Job brilliantly exposes the corruption in US banking that led to the 2008 crash. guardian


Berlinale Opens with Strong Political Message

The 2011 Berlin International Film Festival opened on Thursday evening with a strong message of support for the Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who is facing six years in prison in his native country. Jury head Isabella Rossellini read out an open letter from the filmmaker in which he is openly critical of the Tehran regime. spiegel

Libya clashes spread to Tripoli

Security forces have shot dead scores of protesters in Libya's second largest city, where residents said a military unit had joined their cause.

While Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi attempted to put down protests centred in the eastern city of Benghazi against his four-decade rule, Al Jazeera began receiving eyewitness reports of "disturbances" in the capital Tripoli early on Monday as well.

There were reports of clashes between anti-government protesters and Gaddafi supporters around the Green Square. aljazeera


Libyan forces storm protest camp

Libyan special forces have stormed a two-day-old protest encampment in the country's second largest city, clearing the area, witnesses said.

Access to the internet was also cut at around 2am local time on Saturday removing one of the few ways Libyans can get out information about the waves of anti-government protests in one of the most isolated and repressive nations in North Africa. standard


Iran protester's death 'hijacked by regime'

Saane Zhaleh, who was killed in clashes between protesters and security forces, is being falsely described as a pro-government militia member, according to his family. guardian


F... perverts are demanding executions

Thousands of worshippers and regime-backers have gathered for Friday prayers demanding the execution of opposition chiefs whom officials say have rebelled against Iran's Islamic establishment. yahoo/AFP


Bahrain, Libya and Yemen

Reports of dozens killed by Gaddaffi's security forces, while Bahrain troops leave scores wounded. guardian