Monday, February 29, 2016

The EU is our own Hotel California: We can check out, but we'll never leave...

I’m sorry to break this to you but it looks as if we’ll have to endure not one but two EU referendum campaigns.

The second one, by the way, will definitely end in a vote to stay in.

The ‘exit’ campaign was last week cunningly taken over by Tories who don’t want to leave the Superstate and will use a vote to leave (if it happens) as the basis for yet another round of negotiations with Brussels.

Boris Johnson and Michael Howard are ancient liberal Europhiles, who have learned how to seduce the Tory Party with speeches that sound Right-wing but aren’t really. It is painful to see this cynical seduction technique at work, and watch the old ladies fall for it. Full story...

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Jimmy Savile raped 8 at BBC including 10 yr old...

Jimmy Savile "would gratify himself sexually on BBC premises whenever the opportunity arose" and staff missed numerous opportunities to stop him, the long-awaited report into the scandal has found.

Dame Janet Smith's review found there was a culture of "reverence and fear" towards celebrities at the corporation and that "an atmosphere of fear still exists today in the BBC".

When a junior female employee at Television Centre complained to her supervisor that she had been sexually assaulted by Savile, she was told "keep your mouth shut, he is a VIP", the report found.

The key findings of the report include: Full story...

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Italian grandmother scoops degree with top marks - aged 87...

Anna Valanzuolo Carcaterra proved that age is just a number on Monday when the 87-year-old picked up her degree at a university in Naples.

The retired primary school teacher enrolled on a bachelor's degree course in literature at Federico II University in 2011, as she had always regretted not going to university in favour of getting a job and having a family after finishing secondary school.

Despite her age, Carcaterra still had to face the same nerve-wracking ordeal that all Italian students endure before graduating - orally defending her thesis in front of a commission of academics.

Her grandchildren, children and friends were all there to support her as she explained her work on how the writings of medieval post Dante Alighieri influenced the 19th century revolutionary poet Ugo Foscolo.

 Eventually, Carcaterra took her degree - graduating with top marks and honours. Full story...

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New press crackdown in Malaysia...

The Malaysian government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, beset by a swarm of scandals overseas, is doing its level best to make sure that as few as possible of the country’s 30.6 million citizens learn about them.

Unfortunately its efforts have not stopped the cascade of international stories in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and France that are making Malaysia look like Zimbabwe outside the country. Although they are leaking in, mostly the stories are not reaching deeply into the population. Now the domestic news portals that reprint them or print other news of the scandals are being blocked or threatened.

The New York Post on Feb. 28 joined the crowd, dropping a 1,200 word story saying US federal investigators “are probing what could end up being ‘one of the largest money-laundering frauds in the world’” – allegations over the flamboyant activities of the precocious Penang-born financier Jho Taek Low, who helped Najib set up the disastrous 1Malaysia Development Bhd., the government-backed state investment fund. Swiss authorities announced they are investigating 1MDB for money laundering in the loss of US$4 billion – immediately after Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told a press conference he had cleared Najib of wrongdoing.

The Financial Times on Feb. 26 carried a full-page story raising questions about the activities of former Goldman Sachs Asia Vice President Tim Leissner in engineering the US$3 billion worth of bonds that launched 1MDB in the first place. Full story...

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The epic journey of a refugee cat to find its family...

Is "porn addiction" a real thing?

Crews called his three-part video series "Dirty Little Secrets". It's a frank account of his use of porn, which he says started when he was just 12 years old. The first instalment in his series has been viewed more than three million times, and has attracted thousands of comments.

Crews, a former American football player now better known for his TV and film roles, recounts in detail how he used to spend hours looking at porn.

"Pornography really messed up my life in a lot of ways," he says. "If day turns into nights, and you are still watching, you've probably got a problem. And that was me."

And he admits his addiction almost cost him his relationship with his wife, the gospel-singer Rebecca King-Crews, from whom he temporarily separated. Thousands on Facebook applauded Crews for his honesty. Full story...

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Increase daily movement to avoid age-related brain shrinkage...

Scientists have linked physical exercise to brain health for many years.

In fact, there’s compelling evidence that physical exercise helps build a brain that not only resists shrinkage but increases cognitive abilities1 by promoting neurogenesis, i.e. your brain’s ability to adapt and grow new brain cells.

In essence, physical activity produces biochemical changes that strengthen and renew not only your body but also your brain — particularly areas associated with memory and learning.

The converse is also true. Researchers have shown a sedentary lifestyle correlates to brain shrinkage, which increases your risk of memory loss and other cognitive problems. Full story...

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Is Narendra Modi's government unravelling?

(...)

But what has rankled most are the campus arrests. Critics have condemned them as an assault on the freedom of expression. Yet government ministers have refused to back down, vowing to punish what they describe as "anti-national elements".

Commentators have described the student arrests as a "national embarrassment" and a "self-goal" for Mr Modi's government. A columnist wrote that sending the police after the students was like "swinging a battle-axe to crack a nut".

The government, said another analyst, was "seeking out conflict" rather than resolving it. The New York Times wrote trenchantly that Mr Modi and his political allies were "determined to silence dissent". Rights watchdog Amnesty International, never a friend of Mr Modi, has joined in, blaming his government for contributing to a climate of growing intolerance for dissent.

Mr Modi has so far preferred to remain silent - even on his favoured Twitter - about the rising frenzy over nationalism being stoked by his party. Full story...

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Swiss voters reject hardline initiative on criminal foreigners...

Voters have clearly rejected – by 58.9% to 41.1% – an initiative to automatically deport foreigners who commit certain crimes.

Only six of 26 cantons – Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Uri, Appenzell Inner Rhoden and Ticino – approved the controversial initiative.

The result does not change the fact, however, that people without a Swiss passport – a quarter of the Swiss population – who commit a serious crime (or two lesser crimes within ten years) could still be deported for up to 15 years.

The leftwing Social Democratic Party wrote on Sunday of a “historic victory”, saying the public had defeated the People’s Party’s “totalitarian claim to power” and the “far-right spiral of radicalisation” had been stopped.

Flavia Kleiner, head of the NGO committee against the so-called enforcement initiative, said the outcome was a signal to the People’s Party leadership that the public had had enough of their scaremongering. Full story...

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Four brothers beheaded for cannabis in Saudi Arabia...

More than two dozen countries around the world punish drug possession and sale with a death sentence. Among them, Saudi Arabia has some of the harshest laws against cannabis.

Selling marijuana or hash is almost always punishable by death.

Those laws caught up with four members of the same extended family, executed Wednesday for drugs possession, including large quantities of hashish.

Hashish is a concentrated form of cannabis made from compressed trichomes.

While Saudi Arabia did not disclose the amount of hashish recovered, officials announced this week that four men were beheaded by sword in the city of Najran. Full story...

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Saudi man gets 10 years, 2,000 lashes over atheist tweets...

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing his atheism in hundreds of Twitter posts.

Al-Watan online daily said Saturday that religious police in charge of monitoring social networks found more than 600 tweets denying the existence of God, ridiculing Quranic verses, accusing all prophets of lies and saying their teachings fueled hostilities.

It says the 28-year-old man admitted to being an atheist and refused to repent, saying that what he wrote reflected his own beliefs and that he had the right to express them. The report did not name the man.

The court also fined him 20,000 riyals, about $5,300. Source...

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Sikh group calls for politicians and media to stop using term 'Asian' to describe Rotherham grooming gang...

A Sikh group is urging the media and politicians not to describe the Rotherham grooming gang as “Asian” as the term is too vague and “besmirches” communities.

Four of the six people convicted offences including rape and assault as part of years of sexual abuse in the Yorkshire town were of Pakistani heritage, while two others were British women.

(...)

“One of the demands in the Sikh Manifesto that we published a year ago before the General Election was that the government should encourage public bodies and the media to abandon the use of the term ‘Asian’ when describing perpetrators for reasons of political correctness.

“If the four men that have been found guilty and carried out the abuse were Pakistani Muslims, this is how they should be described and not called Asian.” Full story...

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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Peacock in China 'died of fright' after tourists tried to take selfies with it...

A peacock at a Chinese wildlife park died after visitors enticed it with food, plucked its feathers and took selfies as they held it, domestic media reported.

The five-year-old male bird apparently dropped dead after it was manhandled by two groups of tourists at Yunnan Wild Animal Park in China’s south-west, according to the local Metropolitan Times.

“Peacocks are very difficult to get close to unless you entice it with food,” a park employee, named as Bai, told the newspaper.

 “When a third group of tourists tried to catch the peacock, they were stopped by employees. But half-an-hour later, the peacock died," he said, adding that it was “frightened to death”. Full story...

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Egypt is one of the 'biggest prisons' for journalists...

The situation for journalists in Egypt has become “unacceptable” with dozens of reporters and bloggers being held in jail, Reporters Without Borders has said in an open letter to the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

The Paris-based watchdog urged the government to release at least 32 reporters said to be being detained or serving prison sentences.

In April last year, Reporters without Borders ranked Egypt 158th out of 180 countries in its global press freedom index. Since then, the number of raids on media organisations and reporter arrests has continued to rise.

In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists listed Egypt as the second biggest jailer of journalists worldwide, trailing shortly behind China. The number of those imprisoned rose dramatically in 2015, nearly doubling after Sisi’s administration assumed power. Full story...

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Denmark opens first food waste supermarket selling surplus produce...

A charity has opened Denmark's first ever food surplus supermarket.

The store in capital city Copenhagen called Wefood will sell produce at prices 30 to 50 per cent cheaper than normal supermarkets.

Per Bjerre from the NGO behind the market, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, said: "WeFood is the first supermarket of its kind in Denmark and perhaps the world as it is not just aimed at low-income shoppers but anyone who is concerned about the amount of food waste produced in this country.

"Many people see this as a positive and politically correct way to approach the issue."

Wefood have deal with Føtex (one of the biggest supermarket chains in Denmark) for bread and other products. Full story...

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John Oliver on Hollywood whitewashing ...

Netanyahu asks for 'Israeli apartheid' tube posters to be removed from London underground...

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has asked the UK government to remove hundreds of flyposters on London Underground trains put up by pro-Palestinian activists which claim that his country’s policies amount to apartheid.

The posters, designed to look like genuine adverts, were pasted on tube trains by London Palestine Action as part of this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week. Political leaders in Jerusalem and Jewish organisations in the UK condemned the posters.

Netanyahu asked Israel’s foreign ministry director, Dore Gold, to raise the matter with British government officials while on a trip to London. “I asked him to demand from the British government that the posters be removed,” he told parliamentary colleagues, according to reports in the Israeli media.

Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party and a former finance minister, said London residents had “entered the underground and found a series of antisemitic, anti-Israel signs calling us an apartheid state, accusing us of torturing children, or murder, of terrible things”. Full story...

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German government to use Trojan spyware to monitor citizens...

A spokesman for the German interior ministry announced on Monday that the government had approved the usage of Trojans to monitor suspected citizens.

The interior ministry spokesman defended the government's decision, saying "basically we now have the skills in an area where we did not have this kind of skill." The program was already endorsed by members of the government in autumn 2015, the ministry said.

Trojans are software programs, also known as malware, specially designed to get into users' computers. They are often used by hackers and thieves to gain access to somebody else's data.

 In order to use the malware, government officials will have to get a court order, allowing authorities to hack into a citizen's system. Full story...

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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

We don’t need a new president; we need a new consciousness and a new system...

A new consciousness, and a new system which springs from that elevated consciousness, is what the United States needs most right now – not a new president. Here we are again in the midst of another long election cycle in the US, and what has changed? Yes, there are more “outsiders” this time, to the extent that you can call Sanders (a career politician) and Trump (a billionaire intent on always getting the best deal, in true capitalistic style, no matter what) “outsiders”. You see it every election cycle; a new candidate emerges, promising hope, change and sometimes even a revolution. But how often does it actually lead to significant, lasting and beneficial change? Can any candidate really deliver as much freedom, peace and abundance to the average person as much as an improved new system?

Many get swept away by the euphoria of it. Obamamania was a classic example. Obama was Mr. Hope and Change, but as many have noted, he turned out to be Bush on steroids, or tyranny with a smiley face. Obama has continued and expanded all the wars, spearheaded a whole new type of war (remote-controlled drone killings) and signed pieces of legislation like the NDAA which allows Americans to be held indefinitely without trial, in gross violation of the 6th amendment among others. Is this the kind of hope and change people thought they were getting when they voted for Obama?

Hope and change, or similar notions, are almost always seized upon by politicians vying for office, because they play off people’s dissatisfaction with the status quo. However, history shows us that generally the promised change never quite happens in a way that’s good for the people. The movement or revolution in the making tends to dissipate once the candidate takes office. It leaves us betrayed and trapped, like a donkey tricked into doing hard work, reaching forward for the carrot on a fishing line that always remains out of grasp no matter what he does. Full story...

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Great balls of fire! Mobile phones are ‘cooking’ men’s sperm...

Using a mobile phone for even one hour a day can be so damaging to sperm that men may develop difficulties conceiving, fertility experts have warned.

A study by British scientists has found that exposure to mobile phones close to the testicles, or within a foot or two of the body, can ‘cook’ sperm, dramatically reducing its levels.

Results from the study showed that men who keep their phones in their pocket during the day had reduced sperm levels in 47 percent of cases, as opposed to just 11 percent of the general population.

More than 100 men were analyzed in the study, which found that men not only keep mobile phones close to their groin, but also keep charging phones a few centimeters from their beds.

The study, published in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine, suggests that leaving phones near the bed while sleeping can also pose a threat to sperm counts. Full story...

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India's caste system: Outlawed, but still omnipresent...

Growing up in India, I remember our middle school civics teacher telling us clearly: caste discrimination was a thing of the past.

And yet, not really.

Yes, the system that forced so-called "untouchables" to clean public toilets was outlawed; yes, the importance of one's caste was eroding as India grew more middle class, especially in the big cities. But we all knew that caste clung to us all. It was everywhere.

In many cases, it was broadcast in our surnames. Political parties were created to cater to castes. Marriages and business alliances were plotted to further them. Castes stuck together. Full story...

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Wireless wake-up call...

Ad blockers: How online publishing is fighting back...

Programs such as Adblock Plus, AdFender and Popup Blocker Pro have long claimed to protect consumers from intrusive web ads that slow down our browsers and hoover up personal data.

Around 200 million people globally are estimated to use such apps.

But for businesses that depend on web advertising, ad blockers could cost an estimated $21.8bn (£15bn) in lost revenue a year.

While some dispute this figure, most in the industry agree that ad blockers threaten publishers' ability to provide content free at the point of use.

Now publishers and advertisers are fighting back; the battle of the blockers is heating up. Full story...

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American College of Pediatricians warns about toxic effects of Gardasil vaccine...

In the minds of many concerned parents, there is no more toxic, dangerous vaccine in the world than Gardasil. More children and teens have been maimed, hospitalized, injured and even paralyzed by HPV vaccines than any other category of vaccine interventions. And now, the American College of Pediatricians -- a strongly pro-vaccine group -- is sounding the alarm over the toxicity of Gardasil.

Gardail vaccines could be "associated with the very rare but serious condition of premature ovarian failure (POF)," says the ACP on its website.

Furthermore, none of the junk science "safety" studies touted by the vaccine industry ever tracked post-vaccination outcomes regarding ovarian health. "[L]ong-term ovarian function was not assessed in either the original rat safety studies or in the human vaccine trials," explains the ACP. Even more, because doctors are so aggressively propagandized by the cash-rich vaccine industry, they don't even realize that HPV vaccines can cause ovarian failure. "Most primary care physicians are probably unaware of a possible association between HPV and POF and may not consider reporting POF cases or prolonged amenorrhea (missing menstrual periods) to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)," says the ACP. Full story...

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World arms sales up 14 percent in past 5 years, led by US...

A Swedish think-tank says global arms exports increased 14 percent during the five years to 2015, with the U.S. retaining top position after its sales grew 27 percent from the previous five-year period.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says sales from the next biggest exporters, Russia and China, also increased but fell for numbers 4 and 5, France and Germany.

The top five exporters accounted for 74 percent of all arms sales, with the U.S. and Russia supplying a total of 58 percent.

The think-tank said in its report Monday that China saw the largest growth during the five-year period of 88 percent.

The five biggest weapons importers were India, Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. Source...

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Monday, February 22, 2016

How schools are wrecking your reading...

(...)

It can safely be assumed that during the twelve (12) years since this shocking news was released, little has been done to slow the rate of decline in literacy levels, and next-to-nothing has been done to decrease the numbers of illiterates and functional illiterates. The cost of this ever-growing national disaster is heartbreakingly high, both for the compromised individuals and for the nation as a whole. NAAL’s definition of literacy: “The ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” The noninstitutional population of adults and teens aged 16 and over (not seasonally adjusted) not in the workforce during January of 2016, was 95,051,000. One cannot help but wonder about a correlation between the 2016 unemployment figures and those 93,000,000 illiterates and functional illiterates counted by NAAL in 2003.

In January of 2015, Dr. Sandra Stotsky said that most US college freshmen read at 6-7 grade levels. The assigned reading selections in today’s public schools are written at such low reading levels that the students using those materials fail to develop the vocabulary base, reading fluency, and content reading experiences necessary to prepare them for college/university complex reading and thought processes. I observed the same problems when I taught freshmen reading and English classes at a state university in Michigan. The vast majority of my students read at a fifth-grade level when tested with reading materials written in the 1920s. The students were quite offended when informed of their actual reading levels. As they were provided with additional materials to read, they had to admit that, indeed, they could not read classic academic fare. They then became angry at their high school teachers for not expecting more of them. These students could not write about their readings, either. One Detroit student explained how he became an “A” composition student: “Almost no one turned in homework so just by writing something, anything, and turning it in, I was an A student.” Full story...

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Good pussy and bad pussy at the New York Times...

The New York Times vendetta against Donald Trump continues with its latest theme that The Donald is “vulgar.” This highly newsworthy charge recently made it to the front page with the headline, “With a Slur for Ted Cruz, Donald Trump Further Splits Voters.” The Times tells us that the slur involved a “vulgar word.” How this “splits voters” is not made clear – but never mind.

Not until paragraph ten, after a boring slog through nine paragraphs of gratuitous anti-Trump invective do the two intrepid reporters required to track down this momentous story inform us what the “”vulgar word” is, thus: “In New Hampshire on Monday, Mr. Trump shared with an audience a supporter’s comment about Mr. Cruz. “She said, ‘He’s a pussy’, he told the crowd.

Turning quickly to Wikipedia we find: “Common meanings of the noun include ‘cat,’ ‘coward or weakling’ and ‘the human vulva or vagina.’” Leaving ‘cat’ out of the matter, we can turn to the idea of “weakling” to describe Cruz although that lets him off lightly. This is clearly the idea that Trump’s supporter meant to convey. Not especially vulgar to the mind of this writer.

But let us turn to the third meaning “vagina.” This indeed would be considered a vulgarity in many quarters although that is not what the female Trump supporter meant. Where might we find “pussy” used in that vulgar way? The name of the all female group “Pussy Riot” surely qualifies. And how has the Times treated Pussy Riot? The enthusiasm of the Gray Lady for the “punk” group has bordered on the ecstatic over the years. One small example is this: “…Pussy Riot? You couldn’t ask for more appealing activists. …..they were young and attractive and intelligent…” Full story...

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Random old man is asked about a football game, turns out...

Pope says world should be OPEN to migrants …but Vatican takes in just TWO refugee families...

POPE Francis has called on governments across the world to be “open” to migrants as the global crisis rumbles on.

It comes despite the Vatican taking in just two families of migrants last year.

Presidential front-runner Donald Trump hit out at the Pope for making the comments.

The Republican hopeful has previously slammed Francis for his views on migration.

Speaking last week, he said: “I don't think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico. Full story...

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How companies are secretly tracking employees' health and private lives with 'big data' to save money...

US companies are hiring 'big data' organizations to track employees’ search queries, medical claims, prescriptions and even voting habits to get insight into their personal lives, it emerged this week, raising concerns about potential data leakage and discrimination.

Businesses such as Walmart favorite Castlight Health, which produces a healthcare management app for employees, are gathering up user information about their clients' employees,The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote on Wednesday.

That data can be used by the employers to work out how many employees are likely to fall ill of specific diseases, apply for expensive surgery or even get pregnant, so that they can plan for the future, or even guide their employees' actions.

For example, after discovering that 30 percent of employees suffering back problems decided against spinal surgery after getting advice from top medical centers, Walmart asked Castlight to contact at-risk employees with advice and alternatives.

Castlight then contacted employees whose insurance and drug claims included back problems, painkillers and spinal injections with advice for physical therapists or second opinions, Jonathan Rende, Castlight's chief research and development officer, told the WSJ. Full story...

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Oscar nominated film forces Pakistan to confront 'honour killings’

Saba Qaiser’s father put his hand on the Koran and swore that he would not harm her if she came home so that her new husband could collect her “with honour”.

The 19-year-old had just eloped but reluctantly agreed, trusting his word. Instead, her father and uncle drove her to a riverbank, beat her and put a pistol to her forehead.

She titled her head at the last minute and the bullet raked through her face from eye to lips, knocking her unconscious. The two men stuffed her limp body into a gunny bag and threw it into the river, then drove off, confident that they had restored the family’s “good name”.

 But remarkably, Saba did not end up as another of the largely forgotten dead in Pakistan’s “honour killing” epidemic. She came round in the water, hauled herself ashore and found rescuers. Full story...

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Robert Mugabe's lavish birthday plans attacked as drought plagues Zimbabwe...

Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, will mark his 92nd birthday with massive celebrations despite the country being gripped by a widespread drought.

The state broadcaster led bulletins on Sunday with good wishes for the world’s oldest head of state, who has been in power for 36 years. The state-run Sunday Mail newspaper published a 16-page supplementwhile posters promoting the special edition proclaimed “Mugabe’s birthday is like that of Jesus Christ”.

Public celebrations will be held on 27 February in the south-eastern city of Masvingo – traditionally a stronghold of Mugabe’s Zanu PF party. Mugabe’s birthday has been publicly celebrated since 1986, and although political leaders would not divulge the budget for this year’s party, in previous years the event has cost up to $1m for transportation, accommodation and food for thousands of guests.

Zimbabwe is struggling with a drought that has left more than 3 million people reliant on food aid mainly supplied by the US and the EU, according to the UN. The lavish birthday celebrations have been criticised by Mugabe’s opponents, but the president’s supporters insist the party will go ahead as planned. Full story...

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EU referendum: Time to vote for real change, says Boris Johnson...

The UK's EU membership referendum is a "once-in-a-lifetime chance to vote for real change", Boris Johnson has argued as he declared support for an exit.

The London Mayor confirmed earlier to reporters that he would be campaigning to leave the union.

In a 2,000-word column for The Daily Telegraph, the Conservative MP said staying inside the union would lead to "an erosion of democracy".

The prime minister has said leaving the EU would be a "leap in the dark".

In his weekly column for the newspaper Mr Johnson commended David Cameron for doing "his very best" in securing a deal on renegotiated EU membership for the UK. Full story...

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Lucky Chops - I want you back...

Roger Waters on why his fellow musicians are scared shitless to speak out against Israel...

American musicians who support boycotting Israel over the issue of Palestinian rights are terrified to speak out for fear their careers will be destroyed, according to Roger Waters.

The Pink Floyd star – a prominent supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel since its inception 10 years ago – said the experience of seeing himself constantly labelled a Nazi and anti-Semite had scared people into silence.

“The only response to BDS is that it is anti-Semitic,” Waters told The Independent, in his first major UK interview about his commitment to Israeli activism. “I know this because I have been accused of being a Nazi and an anti-Semite for the past 10 years.

“My industry has been particularly recalcitrant in even raising a voice [against Israel]. There’s me and Elvis Costello, Brian Eno, Manic Street Preachers, one or two others, but there’s nobody in the United States where I live. I’ve talked to a lot of them, and they are scared s***less. Full story...

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Rushdie: Iranian state media renew fatwa on Satanic Verses author with $600,000 bounty...

Forty state-run Iranian media outlets have jointly offered a new $600,000 bounty for the death of British Indian author Salman Rushdie, according to the state-run Fars News Agency.

Fars News Agency, which is closely affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was among the largest contributors, donating one billion Rials - nearly $30,000.

The announcement coincides with the anniversary of the fatwa issued the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, the agency said.

Ayatollah Khomeini, the First Supreme Leader of Iran, issued the fatwa against Rushdie on charges of blasphemy for his novel The Satanic Verses on 15 February, 1989.

The Ayatollah called for the death of the book's author along with anyone "involved in its publication". Full story...

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Sunday, February 21, 2016

Hindu priest hacked to death in Bangladesh temple attack...

A Hindu priest has been hacked to death during an attack on a temple in Bangladesh’s Panchgarh district.

Police said two people on motorbikes fired guns at Jogeshwar Roy as he left the temple, which attackers had been throwing stones at.

The men on bikes also set off explosives, injuring two other Hindu worshippers who were attempting to help the 50-year-old priest after he was attacked with what with police officer Kafil Uddin described as a sharp weapon.

The two men fled the scene following the murder, which comes less than a year after a string of similar attacks on secular bloggers. No group has claimed responsibility so far for the killing. Full story...

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Bahrain's PM wins dodgy 'peace prize'

Perhaps it's a sense of their own insecurity that makes Bahrain's royals so eager to "win" obscure and meaningless awards which can then be trumpeted in the Gulf kingdom's media.

There was a notorious occasion in 2013 when King Hamad, in the midst of ongoing repression, was named "Humanitarian Personality of the Year" in a poll by a Kuwaiti newspaper.

Allegedly, he won the title with an "absolute majority" of votes (though the number of votes was never disclosed).

According to Bahrain's government news agency, participants in the 2013 poll "praised the role of HM the King in consolidating the pillars of democracy and freedom in the Kingdom and successful tackling of all hostile plots intended to tamper with Bahrain's independence and security and the freedom of its people".

Around the same time, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added his voice to those complaining about jail sentences, ranging from five years to life, imposed on 20 opposition activists in Bahrain. Full story...

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The girl who said 'no' to marriage...

"I came from school at around 18:00, and Mum called me," Balkissa Chaibou recalls.

"She pointed to a group of visitors and said of one of them, 'He is the one who will marry you.'

"I thought she was joking. And she told me, 'Go unbraid, and wash your hair.' That is when I realised she was serious."

The young girl from Niger had always been ambitious.

"When I was little, I was dreaming of becoming a doctor. Take care of people, wear the white coat. Help people," she says.

Marriage to her cousin, who had arrived with his father from neighbouring Nigeria, would make this impossible. Full story...

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