17-year-old ballerina wins coveted Prix de Lausanne

February 05, 2012

By HIROYUKI MAEGAWA / Correspondent

LAUSANNE, Switzerland--With her favorite ballerina looking on from the judges' panel, 17-year-old Madoka Sugai took home first prize in this year's prestigious Prix de Lausanne, a competition for young ballet dancers, on Feb. 4.

Sugai dazzled the judges, who included renowned Japanese ballerina Miyako Yoshida, a past winner of the event, and her idol.

"The consensus decision of all nine judges was that she was outstanding in every element," Yoshida said of Sugai. "She even showed signs of improvement from her performance on the day before the finals. I felt her energy in the contemporary dance section."

This year, 79 individuals participated from 19 nations. Twenty-one of those dancers advanced to the finals. The competition, designed for dancers between 15 and 18, was divided into classical and contemporary dance categories.

Along with Yoshida, Tetsuya Kumakawa, ex-principal at The Royal Ballet, is also a past winner of the Prix de Lausanne.

"I have been able to reach this achievement because of all those people who have supported me until now, including my teachers and father," said Sugai, who resides in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. "I am full of gratitude. I still cannot believe (I came in first place) and I feel like I am still in a dream of dance. I was able to dance with enthusiasm."

Libyan diplomat Omar Brebesh dies 'under torture'

3 February 2012

Mr Brebesh was detained on 19 January after being called in for questioning by a militia in Tripoli

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Libya Crisis

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Libya's former ambassador to France has died less than 24 hours after being arrested by Tripoli-based militia, a US-based human rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch said marks on Omar Brebesh's body suggest he died as a result of torture under detention.

Mr Brebesh served under former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled after a nine-month civil war last year.

The country's interim government is under mounting pressure to prevent the abuse of thousands in custody.

Mr Brebesh was detained on 19 January after being called in for questioning by al-Shuhada Ashura militia in Tripoli, Human Rights Watch quote his son, Ziad, as saying.

A day later, his family heard his body had turned up at a hospital in Zintan, about 100km (60 miles) southwest of the capital, the rights group said.

"Photos of Brebesh's body, seen by Human Rights Watch, show welts, cuts and the apparent removal of toenails, indicating that he was tortured prior to death," the group said in a statement.

Bashir Brebesh: "Is this what we fought for? It's a disaster"

Cuban ex-President Fidel Castro launches memoirs

4 February 2012

"I have to take advantage now, because memory fades," Fidel Castro said at the launch of his memoirs

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Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has made a rare public appearance to launch his memoirs.

The book, Guerrilla of Time, is almost 1,000 pages long and relates his childhood and rise to power in the Cuban Revolution.

Fidel Castro, 85, said it was every Cuban's duty to fight until the last moment, for Cuba, the planet, and humanity.

He had not been seen in public since April last year.

Communist Party newspaper Granma said the launch at the Havana Convention Centre lasted more than six hours.

Jean Dujardin Oscar 'under threat' over film posters

Members of the public had complained saying they found the posters offensive

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3 February 2012

Movie billboards in Paris featuring The Artist actor Jean Dujardin might affect his chances of winning an Academy Award, according to French press.

The country's advertising standards authority ARPP said the posters, promoting Les Infideles (The Players), "present a degrading image of women".

One of the adverts features Dujardin holding the bare legs of a woman, with his head between her high-heeled feet.

Le Parisien said the US would not find the "salacious photos" amusing.

But L'Express magazine questioned whether any row over the posters would actually affect the actors chances of taking home the best actor Oscar.

The publication asked whether removing the posters was "logical, given their openly misogynistic character, or a disgraceful censorship that reveals the strength of political correctness in our society?"

'Flamboyant idiots'

Clinton denies any U.S. role in killing Iranian scientist

Clinton denies any U.S. role in killing Iranian scientist (1:32)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Iran's threats to close the Strait of Hormuz were provocative and dangerous. She also denied the U.S. had any role in the killing of an Iranian scientist. (Jan. 11) (CBS News)




http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/clinton-denies-any-us-role-in-killing-iranian-scientist-132/2012/01/11/gIQAWSrWrP_video.html

Iran launches new military exercises after threat to close strategic Strait of Hormuz

( Office of the Supreme Leader / Associated Press ) - In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader’s office, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivers Friday prayers sermon, at the Tehran University campus, Iran, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. Iran will help any nation or group that confronts the “cancer” Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday. He also said in remarks delivered to worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran and broadcast on state TV that the country would continue its controversial nuclear program, and warned that any military strike by the U.S. would only make Iran stronger.

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By Associated Press, Published: February 4 | Updated: Sunday, February 5, 10:39 AM

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran began ground military exercises Saturday and defiantly warned that it could cut off oil exports to “hostile” European nations as tensions rise over suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Tehran has stepped up its rhetoric as international pressure mounts over allegations that it is seeking to develop atomic weapons, a charge it denies.

Abduction of Chinese workers in Sudan stirs criticism of Beijing

By Andrew Higgins, Published: February 2

Hong Kong — When China evacuated some 30,000 of its citizens from Libya early last year, official media fell into patriotic rapture. Television screens and newspaper front pages filled with pictures of flag-waving returnees. Xinhua, the state-run news agency, issued a commemorative DVD. The People’s Liberation Army Daily vowed that “no Chinese will ever be left behind.”

A year later, patriotic pride has turned to anger amid growing frustration over the fate of 29 Chinese nationals abducted by rebels in Sudan on Saturday. The Chinese, employees of a huge state-controlled engineering and construction company, Sinohydro, are being held by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, a ragtag militant outfit.

The drama in Sudan’s remote, oil-rich South Kordofan region — the latest in a string of attacks on Chinese working overseas — poses a delicate problem for the ruling Communist Party: how to manage the growing nationalism that it has done so much to promote. Party propaganda, pride at China’s recent achievements and a deep sense of grievance over China’s mistreatment at the hands of foreigners in the past have combined to stir demands for robust action.

Report says 3 more people set themselves on fire in China to protest its Tibet policies

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, February 5, 10:51 AM

BEIJING — A report says three more people have set themselves on fire to protest China’s policies toward Tibetans in a remote area in southwest China.

U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia said Sunday the three set themselves on fire Friday in Seda county in Sichuan province. It says one person died and the others are in serious condition. A woman who answered the phone at the county government office Sunday denies the incidents happened.

Romney, the Rich and the Rest

OP-ED COLUMNIST

By CHARLES M. BLOW

Published: February 3, 2012

No one should be surprised that the Tin Man has a tin ear.

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Damon Winter/The New York Times

Charles M. Blow

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More Poor. A Cause for Concern.

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After all, Mitt Romney is the same multimillionaire who joked that he was “unemployed” while he was “earning” more in one day than most Americans earn in a year and paying a lower rate on those earnings than most Americans do.

This is the same man who bragged last month that he liked to fire people at a time when nearly 13 million people are out of work and who accepted the endorsement this week of Donald Trump, who has made “You’re Fired!” his television catchphrase.

This is the same man who in November claimed that federal employees are making “a lot more money than we are.” What?! We? What we? Please direct me to the federal employees with the $20 million paychecks. In fact, The Washington Post pointed out in November that federal employees on average “are underpaid by 26.3 percent when compared with similar nonfederal jobs, a ‘pay gap’ that increased by about 2 percentage points over the last year while federal salary rates were frozen.”

And who could forget his remark that “corporations are people.” Classic.

But this week when Romney said that he wasn’t concerned about the very poor in this country, he jumped in the pickle barrel and went over the waterfall.

First, his statement:

“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich. They’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America — the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Romney went on to say that his campaign was focused on “middle-income Americans” and that “we have a very ample safety net” for the poor.

He later tried to clarify, saying that his comments needed context. Then he said that the comments were a “misstatement” and that he had “misspoke.” Yeah, right.

Where to begin?

First, a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities last month pointed out that Romney’s budget proposals would take a chainsaw to that safety net. The report points out that cuts proposed by Romney would be even more draconian than a plan from Representative Paul Ryan: “Governor Romney’s budget proposals would require far deeper cuts in nondefense programs than the House-passed budget resolution authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan: $94 billion to $219 billion deeper in 2016 and $303 billion to $819 billion deeper in 2021.”

What does this mean for specific programs? Let’s take the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, since “food stamps” have been such a talking point in the Republican debates. The report says the Romney plan “would throw 10 million low-income people off the benefit rolls, cut benefits by thousands of dollars a year, or some combination of the two.  These cuts would primarily affect very-low-income families with children, seniors and people with disabilities.”

Does that sound like a man trying to “fix” our social safety nets? Absolutely not. Romney is so far up the beanstalk that he can no longer see the ground.

Can Egypt Avoid Pakistan’s Fate?

By MICHELE DUNNE and SHUJA NAWAZ

Published: February 3, 2012

Washington

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ONE year after the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian military is closing down civil society organizations and trying to manipulate the constitution-writing process to serve its narrow interests. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, where the military has also held sway for more than half the country’s existence — for much of that time, with America’s blessing — a new civil-military crisis is brewing.

For the United States, the parallels are clear and painful. Egypt and Pakistan are populous Muslim-majority nations in conflict-ridden regions, and both have long been allies and recipients of extensive military and economic aid.