Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts

Thursday, April 28, 2011

CINEMA: Fifty cult films from the Soviet era to (re) watch on YouTube

AFP - The Russian film studios Mosfilm and Google, through its YouTube video platform, announced Wednesday it posted a free fifty of the greatest Soviet films in original version with subtitles.

Mosfilm said in a statement that every week five additional films will be made available on its channel www.youtube.com / Mosfilm.

Many cult films are already available: "The White Sun of the Desert", a western transposed in Central Asia on the adventures of a Soviet soldier, "Ivan Vasilyevich changing profession," a comedy about a scientist inventing a machine to travel back in time , or "The irony of fate" a romantic comedy about the trials of a man drunk on the evening of New Year.

"The goal of this project is to give the public an opportunity to legally watch quality videos and block illegal use of our films," said the director general of Mosfilm, Karen CHAKHNAZAROV.

"Most movies are online with subtitles in foreign language for the public to other countries can also watch movies of Mosfilm," he said in a statement.

At the time of the USSR, Mosfilm was one of the largest film studios in the world, whereas the Soviet cinema as a vital tool for propaganda in the country and abroad.

Image: YouTube screenshot.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

At least 126 bodies found in mass graves in the north-east

AFP - Ten more corpses arrived Wednesday at the mortuary of Matamoros from mass graves in the town of San Fernando, north-eastern Mexico, bringing the total to 126 temporary body unearthed since April 1, announced the Justice the State of Tamaulipas.

According to Pedro Efrain Gonzalez, Tamaulipas prosecutors, some of the bodies found were buried for over a year.

The Mexican government awarded Tuesday the responsibility for the crimes and mass graves discovered Zetas cartel.

Another source of prosecutors who requested anonymity, it is likely that the number of bodies found continues to increase as and when research.

"Do not be surprised, we can come to exceed the figure of 180 bodies as research continues and new discoveries are possible," said the source told AFP.

According to the same charge, mass graves, often located several kilometers from each other in the large town of San Fernando, correspond to different cases of violence, not one.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

INTERNET: An online magazine published in Arabic, trying to blend foundation and Jihad ...

What's in common between beauty tips and a Kalashnikov? Not much a priori, but the first issue of Al-Shamika (Woman majestic). This new magazine from the radical Islamist movement, presents itself as a kind of "Cosmopolitan" or "She" for aspiring jihadist wife. Al-Shamika and tries to make jihad a lifestyle.

Released these days, and discovered on Monday by the British daily The Independent, he suggested, in Arabic, an explosive mix between practical advice for the modern Muslim woman and more traditional calls for jihad.The term "jihad", with multiple definitions through the ages, has been hijacked by radical movements to legitimize the armed struggle against fellow Muslims or non-Muslims.

On its front, Al-Shamika shows a submachine gun on purple background with two pictures of women covered by a niqab. The magazine mentions and, throughout its 31 pages, cosmetics (foundation ...) and practical advice (interior design ...).

"Good" raising children

In addition to these subjects "light", the magazine is very clear on his message: "The Nation of Islam requires women who know the truth about their religion and who understand what we expect of them," Can reads the editorial in the first issue.They are asked "to raise children in the tradition of jihad" or develop "a stable home for their husbands can devote itself fully to the Jihad."

"The message of Al-Shamika nothing innovative in the sense that Islamist radicals have always given a very important role to support women as men engaged in jihad," said Gilbert Ramsay, an expert on Islamist networks and Internet Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews (England).Al-Shamika also does not call for violent action.

The magazine follows the example of the ephemeral "Little Girls Khansa" newspaper also for Muslim women who disappeared after two issues.

Jihad everywhere

In terms of women's magazines of this type, the true reference would rather "Inspire", which caused a sensation in 2010. This magazine, promoted by the American preacher of Yemeni origin, Anwar al-Awlaki, became the first online publication written entirely in English, hoping to attract potential recruits in Western countries. He is currently in its fourth edition.Unlike "Inspire", Al-Shamika has not been formally identified as a publication from Al-Qaeda nebula.

"These two magazines convey the same idea: that the precepts of jihad can be applied even in occupations most routine of daily life," Gilbert Ramsay analysis.

He said jihad has led, over the Internet, the emergence of a genuine subculture that is not dominated by calls to violence. "The movements that advocate jihad will give trouble on forums and blogs to explain that support the jihad by small daily gestures, but also to participate," he says.In order to open the mind to these new converts to the next opportunity to participate in violent acts?

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Libya: The leader of the Arab League supports the no-fly zone

AFP - UN Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, called for a no-fly zone in Libya and the Arab League hopes that "role" in its implementation, in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel released before publication on Saturday.

"I do not know how or will impose this area, we will see that. The Arab League may also play a role, that's what I would advocate," said Amr Moussa in the interview to be published Monday.

"I speak of humanitarian action. It is with a no-fly zone, to support the Libyan people in their struggle for freedom and against a regime increasingly disdainful," Moussa said.

As to who should assume the leadership of such a zone, Mr.Moussa believes that "it depends on the decision of the Security Council (UN).The UN, the Arab League, African Union, Europeans - everybody should participate. "

The Arab foreign ministers would hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday on the subject.

The Arab League said it was opposed to military action against Libya but could support the establishment of a no-fly zone.

Establishing an air exclusion zone amounts to a ban on aerial survey of a specific area in order to prevent the Libyan planes to suppress civilians.

Friday, EU leaders have increased the pressure on the Libyan regime by agreeing to talk with the opposition and the military option cautiously referring to protect civilians, which does however not unanimous.

They decided at a meeting in Brussels that "security of the population (Libya) must be guaranteed by all means necessary" and that we must consider "all options" available, in an allusion to a possible military intervention but specifying that it should be "a demonstrated need, a clear legal basis and support of the region" - which means primarily the Arab League.

Germany, in particular, fears that Europe embarks on "a war" interminable.France and Britain pushing it the other way and try to obtain the agreement of the Security Council of the UN.

Amr Moussa, "Gaddafi lacks awareness that President Ben Ali in Tunisia and Egyptian ruler Mubarak demonstrated by resigning."

Moussa believes in a "domino effect" in the Arab world and the fall of other autocratic rulers: "It is only the beginning," he said, including finding "extremely tense" situation in Yemen.

"The region (Middle East) is about to change radically in a short time. What we live is the discovery by the Arab world of true democracy," Mr. Moussa held, "c is a unique opportunity. "

Sunday, February 6, 2011

CAMBODIA: New clashes on the border between Thailand and Cambodia

AFP - New clashes erupted Sunday near a disputed temple on the border between Cambodia and Thailand, the day after a cease-fire between the two countries, said a Cambodian military commander at the AFP.

"We're beating us at this time, they started shooting at us," the official said, referring to the Thai soldiers.

The new clashes broke out around 6:35 p.m. local time (11:35 GMT).

After fighting with heavy weapons Friday for about two hours, firefights had occurred again at dawn on Saturday for about thirty minutes.Before the two neighbors herald a cease-fire.

During the fighting, the most violent since 2008, at least five people were killed: a soldier and a villager Thai and two Cambodian soldiers and one civilian.

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

TUNISIA: Opposition Islamist Ghannouchi in Tunis after 20 years of exile

AFP - The Tunisian Islamist opposition Ghannouchi was scheduled to return Sunday afternoon in London after his country for over 20 years of exile, through the fall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had harshly mate Islamists in the early 90s.

A spokesman for the old opponent, aged 69, said that this return, feared by some sectors of Tunisian society, including feminists and secular circles, will not be "triumphant" and on the contrary Rached Ghannouchi who wants to hand over to young people in the lead, simply wants to return as a "free man".

During a demonstration, hundreds of women screamed Saturday at Tunis their determination to defend the emancipation gained over half a century on the eve of the return of Rached Ghannouchi.

"We are here to affirm the rights acquired by women and prevent any backsliding, to say that we are not prepared to negotiate our freedom with the Islamists," said Amel Betaib, a lawyer.

Rached Ghannouchi founded in 1981 Nahda (Renaissance), with intellectuals inspired by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and said today represent a moderate form of Islam close to the AKP in Turkey.

Tolerated, including the coming to power of Ben Ali in 1987, the party was suppressed after the 1989 elections, which he claimed the list had received at least 17% of the vote.

Mr. Ghannouchi had then left Tunisia to Algeria, then to London. In 1992 he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment with other religious leaders for a plot against the president.

The Tunisian government transition, set up after the fall of Ben Ali on January 14, adopted a draft amnesty law that will concern the Islamists, and must be voted by Parliament.What is not yet done but should not however be an obstacle to his return.

Ghannouchi, who no longer president of the Islamist movement, says he also will not be a presidential candidate in the forthcoming elections and wants to transform his movement into a legal political party to participate in upcoming legislative transition team in power since the fall of Ben Ali's task was to organize.

A law still in effect prohibited from forming a political party on a strictly religious.

Monday, January 24, 2011

BELGIUM: 30,000 demonstrators to Brussels to demand a government

AFP - More than 30,000 Belgians took part Sunday in Brussels in a march of "shame" to expose the unprecedented political crisis lasting record that threatens the unity of the country, due to differences between Flemish and Francophone, and ask formation of a government.

This is the first time since the Belgian parliamentary elections of 13 June 2010, ordinary citizens are expressing their exasperation with massively to the current impasse.

They were responding to a call via the Internet popularized five young Flanders and Brussels, three students and two employees, claiming no political affiliation even if one of them is the son of Minister of Justice, a Flemish Christian Democrat .Their motto: a march of "shame" for the kingdom.

"A beard for Belgium"

"What we want? We want a government," chanted the protesters, often young, the 224th day of the crisis which saw the country deprived of effective government, a record in Europe.

Many demonstrators wore also on Sunday a placard with the slogan "Divide? Not in our name!" Slogan of a meeting of artists and intellectuals held in Brussels on Friday evening, which caused a stir.

The participants, mixed Flemish and Francophone, have denounced the line defended by the Nationalist party emerged as the winner of legislative independence, the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which contributes to the current political stalemate.

The tone of humor, speaking Geluck Philippe, the famous designer of the "Cat", is called a "revolution of mussels and fries," the Belgian national dish, along the lines of "jasmine revolution" Tunisian .

Other successful slogan, "A beard for Belgium" could be read on stickers flown Sunday some 34,000 demonstrators (by police), following a call from the Belgian actor BenoƮt Poelvoorde no longer to shave until the denouement of the crisis.

A text divides the Flemish majority

"We want a solution.Not this trench warfare between political parties, "said one protester Flemish, Christopher, 27, researcher in sociology from the University of Antwerp (Flanders, north).

For him, Sunday's protest reflects "the beginning of a rift between Flemings," since the right Flemish - N-VA and the Christian Democrats VCT - dismissed on January 6 a draft agreement prepared by a socialist Flemish with a mission of conciliation.

This text was instead supported by the Flemish and Francophone left participant for more than seven months in the endless negotiations in September

Single incident of the gathering on Sunday, five Flemish extremists were detained by police when they tried to destroy tracts for demonstrators.

One of the organizers of the march, Vandereecken Simon, a graphic designer for 23 years, welcomed a success "has exceeded our expectations."

"Our politicians will have to react after such a mobilization. Otherwise, we'll see what steps to take," he told AFP.

Belgium has been administered since 2010 by a firm responsible for caretaker absence of agreement on a new reform of its institutions.

The Francophone Wallonia and Brussels want to limit the autonomy demanded by the Flemish reinforced (60% of the estimated 11 million Belgians), particularly in tax matters, lest it be the beginning of the end for the country.

Tony Blair believes it was right to topple Saddam Hussein

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has delivered Friday to a new exercise of self-justification for its second appearance in a year before the commission to shed light on British entry into the war in Iraq in 2003, alongside the Americans.

The chairman of the inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, had sent more than a hundred additional written questions to the former Labour leader. It opened in early morning discussions expected to last 4 to 5 hours, explaining that the second call was to "clarify" the answers provided so far by Mr.Blair.

Midway through the hearing broadcast by news channels continuously, the tone of the five investigators appeared a little less polished and the responses of Mr Blair were a little less abrasive, compared to the controversial meeting in January 2010.

However, the British prime minister from 1997 to 2007 did not change his argument on the merits, convinced of the rightness of his decision to go to war, and did not immediately brought new elements.

And so much that he refused - to the dismay of Sir Chilcot - to authorize the publication of his correspondence "very private" with former U.S. President George W.Bush, on the period when the two leaders have decided to "regime change" in Iraq during a meeting in Mr. Bush's Texas ranch in April 2002, eleven months before the invasion.

As in January 2010, Friday's debate revolved around three key issues: the war was legal in the absence of explicit UN resolution? Mr Blair said he deliberately manipulated public opinion to never proved the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Iraq, which justified going to war? What was the reality of the alignment of Tony Blair - then called "Bush's poodle" by its detractors - the American neoconservatives?

A year ago, Mr.Blair had defended "no regrets" his "right decision" to overthrow "the monster Saddam." "Saddam's regime was brutal, it was a repressive military dictatorship. It was a source of instability and danger to the region," he said Friday.

The war was legal? The Attorney General, Senior Counsel for the Government, which this week again said he was "uncomfortable" about the absence of a UN resolution, has finally sided with the supporters of the invasion, assured Mr Blair."Otherwise, the United Kingdom could not, and did not participate in the decision to oust Saddam."

The reason for maintaining the secrecy of his correspondence with U.S. President? "Notes (addressed) to President Bush were very private. They were written when I wanted to get a change or adjustment of policy. It should be confidential," said Tony Blair. And these notes "are essentially in agreement with what I have expressed in public".

Asked about the front that were loaned, M.Blair has denied having said or written "George, whatever your decision, I will follow you."

In January 2010, a lawyer by profession and outstanding speaker had borrowed a backdoor to escape protesters and journalists. This time he entered through the main issue by asking a few seconds for photographers, while a score of demonstrators coalition Stop the War "chanted" Bliar ", a pun combining" Liar (liar) the surname of the former leader.

Among the demonstrators, Peter Brierley, whose son was killed in Iraq, called the trial of Tony Blair "war criminal".