Why didn't Putin receive Nobel Peace Prize?

http://english.pravda.ru/world/europe/11-10-2013/125880-nobel_peace_prize-0/

A strange situation we have with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. This year, it was awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

As the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, said the organization received the Peace Prize "for considerable contribution to the widespread elimination of chemical weapons."

In Russia, reactions to the news were, shall we say, quite emotional, as President Putin was nominated for the prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee explained why the prize was awarded to the OPCW. The organization "performing inspections and eliminating stockpiles of chemical weapons, as well as acting in other ways, makes every effort to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons."

American goverment is still in shutdown, doesn't feel like attacking our allies now

http://rt.com/usa/government-shutdown-live-update-564/

Thursday, October 10

03:01 GMT: The Federal Aviation Administration has recalled 800 of the over 3,000 aircraft inspectors who were ruled non-essential at the beginning of the shutdown to oversee the “most critical” aspects of airplane production, the FAA announced in a statement. Since October 1 FAA inspectors have not been able to perform random safety checks, analyze flight data for safety trends, or examine airline maintenance procedures.
02:53 GMT: The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have no choice but to close on Thursday due to the ongoing government shutdown, agency spokesman Eliot Brenner told reporters. The NRC is responsible for maintaining the safety of US nuclear plants, and will furlough 3,600 of its 3,900 researchers and engineers, although all resident inspectors at nuclear sites would remain on duty. Brenner also said enough staff will remain on hand to respond to emergencies but all other functions would be severely restricted. The agency’s daily reactor status and event report will not be available during the shutdown.
02:40 GMT: Influential Republicans in the House are considering a short-term increase in the US debt limit, a move that could potentially break the stalemate in Washington and save the US from what some fear would be devastating economic damage. Officials told the Associated Press Wednesday night that rank and file Republicans are expected to debate the issue Thursday before Speaker Boehner, and a small cadre will meet with President Obama in the White House. What, if any, conditions the bill would carry remain unknown, but the sources did say that raising the debt ceiling has taken precedence over resolving the shutdown among Washington lawmakers.

Chinese police rescue 92 abducted children in crackdown on human trafficking

ThatRussian busted me out of Gitmo, I'm back to drawing brutally offensive images.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10341281/Chinese-police-rescue-92-abducted-children-in-crackdown-on-human-trafficking.html

Police forces from 11 provinces were involved in the operation to break up a massive network that stole, bought and sold children in Henan province in central China and other provinces.

Revealing one of the biggest busts of its kind in years, officials said on Saturday that the group had targeted children in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in China's southwest and transported them to other provinces for sale.

The exact date of the police operation, which was the result of a six-month investigation, is not known.

Child abduction is a major problem in China, where such police operations have become regular occurrences as authorities crack down on child trafficking.

Strict family planning laws, a traditional preference for boys, ignorance of the law, poverty and illicit profits drive a thriving market in babies and children.

Americans spend millions on planes that will be used against mud huts

http://rt.com/usa/air-force-unmanned-fighter-flight-301/


The US Air Force and the Boeing aerospace and defense corporation announced they have successfully converted a retired F-16 into a drone. It is now possible for fighter jets to fly supersonic speeds, land, and operate normally without a pilot on board.
Boeing announced Tuesday that modified versions of the F-16 Fighting Falcon will operate as a QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target for use in Air Force training practices. Last week, two Air Force pilots controlled the first successful flight from the ground station at Florida’s Tydall Air Force Base.  
The maiden flight departed from the runway as normal and completed a series of simulated maneuvers in the air over the Gulf of Mexico, surpassing the speed of sound and landing safely. 
“It was a little different to see it without anyone in it, but it was a great flight all the way around,” said US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Inman, the commander of the 82nd Aerial targets Squadron. “It’s a replication of current, real world situations and aircraft platforms they can shoot as a target. Now we have a 9G capable, highly sustainable aerial target.” 
The Air Force has maintained that QF-16s will only be used in training exercises when pilots are completing dogfight simulations in the air. The planes remain capable of being flown by an on board pilot though, and a bomb will be placed on board in the event that an unmanned plane needs to be destroyed. 
While only six QF-16s have been developed, the revamped F-16s will replace the Q-4 drones currently used in training exercises after a number of those crashed in Florida. 
“Currently, the majority of aircraft parts for the QF-4 are no longer being manufactured,” Inman told the Panama City News Herald. “The QF-16 provides a complete supply chain that is still active and will maintain replacement part availability for our entire aerial target fleet.”

Yet another hypocrite-off in America

http://rt.com/usa/racism-usa-nazi-dakota-234/

Hundreds of protesters gathered in a North Dakota town on Sunday to speak out against plans by an American Nazi group to buy up property and take over the local government in an effort to build a bastion against diversity.
About 300 protesters, including some 200 Native Americans from nearby reservations, gathered outside the Leith City Hall where Jeff Schoep, leader of the National Socialist Movement presented his plans for turning the tiny North Dakota town  – population 24 – into a segregated place where whites can live among themselves. 

Group of protesters, including native American Indians, protest against the National Socialist Movement (NSM) in Leith, North Dakota. (Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. Image from flickr.com user@uneditedmedia)

According to Schoep, however, the plan for a single-race town in Leith is part of a much broader plan.

"We have to start somewhere," he told Reuters. "So if we start in small towns and spread out from there, it's sort of a test ground in that sense, where if we're able to get off the ground here, then we're able to get off the ground in other places."

Members of the Grant County Sheriff's Department, together with deputies from several nearby counties, were on hand. The North Dakota Highway Patrol also appeared on the scene in riot gear, but no violence was reported, officials said.

However, the demonstrators, some of whom had traveled miles to be in Leith, were vocal in their condemnation of the plan.

Delusional americans think that bombing Syria will make things good again

http://rt.com/news/us-russia-syria-resolution-pressure-202/

The US is pushing Russia into approving a UN resolution that would allow for military intervention in Syria, in exchange for American support of Syria’s accession to OPCW, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
“Our American partners are starting to blackmail us: ‘If Russia does not support a resolution under Chapter 7, then we will withdraw our support for Syria’s entry into the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This is a complete departure from what I agreed with Secretary of State John Kerry',” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel 1's Sunday Time program.
Chapter 7 of the UN charter would allow for potential military intervention in Syria.

The head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry went on to say he was surprised by the West’s “negligent” approach to the conflict.
“Our partners are blinded by an ideological mission for regime change,” said Lavrov. “They cannot admit they have made another mistake.”
Slamming the West’s intervention in Libya and Iraq, the foreign minister stated that military intervention could only lead to a catastrophe in the region. Moreover, he stressed that if the West really was interested in a peaceful solution to the conflict that has raged for over two years, they would now be pushing for Syria’s entry into the OPCW in the first place, not for the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
“I am convinced that the West is doing this to demonstrate that they call the shots in the Middle East. This is a totally politicized approach,” said Lavrov. 
The Russian foreign minister pointed out that in the case of a military scenario, militants would come to power and Syria would no longer be a secular state. Up to three quarters “of these guys are Jihadists,” including the most radical groups such as Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, who want to create an Islamic Caliphate in Syria and in neighboring territories, Lavrov said.
“If our western partners think at least two steps ahead, they cannot but understand it,” Lavrov noted.
As to why the West would want that, Moscow has so far received no clear answer, but hears “mantras” on the necessity to promote democracy and protect human rights, said the minister. That is important, but “responsible politicians should be guided not only by that. Not to care about stability in a key world region is absolutely irresponsible,” he added.
According to Lavrov, some experts alleged that “someone is attempting to create a guided chaos” in the region for their own benefits. However, the foreign minister said he personally sees no possible advantages that Western countries would gain if they were behind moves to stir up instability.
“There’s only an attempt to grasp a straw, and turn a blind eye to the fact that the world is changing and becoming multipolar,” Lavrov concluded.

Lavrov harked back to last year’s Geneva accord which was agreed upon by the international community, including Russia and the US. However, when the resolution went to the Security Council the US demanded that Chapter 7 be included.
“History is repeating itself. Once again in Geneva an agreement has been reached which does not contain any mention of Chapter 7. But the Security Council wants to redo the document in their own way to include it.”
He called on the West to observe international law and stop writing resolutions motivated by their “geopolitical ambitions.”

USA still thinks anyone takes them seriously

http://rt.com/news/venezuela-letter-un-visas-158/


Venezuela has sent a letter to the UN chief asking him to take measures against the United States over the denial of visas for some members of its delegation who are scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.
The letter sent by Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, requests that the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon take action in response to the apparent denial of visas, which President Maduro has said seems intended to “create logistical obstacles to impede” next week’s visit. 
Venezuela further requests that the UN “demand that the government of the US abide by its international obligations” as host of the 68th UN General Assembly. 
On Thursday, President Maduro first raised the issue of the apparent denial of visas to members of his country’s delegation, saying that “we are not traveling to New York as tourists on vacation…we are going to a UN function. I cannot accept that they have denied a visa to Major General Wilmer Barrientos” and indicated a similar situation for another member of his cabinet. 
Tension between the countries spiked on Thursday when Venezuela’s foreign minister, Elias Jaua, told media outlets that the US denied a plane carrying Maduro entrance into its airspace. The aircraft was en route to China. Washington later granted the approval, stating that Venezuela’s request had not been properly submitted. Jaua had denounced the move as “an act of aggression.”
Citing the incident, Bolivian President Evo Morales said he will file a lawsuit against the US government for crimes against humanity.
“I would like to announce that we are preparing a lawsuit against Barack Obama to condemn him for crimes against humanity,” Morales said Thursday at a press conference in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. He branded the US president as a “criminal” who violates international law.

The Bolivian president also suggested that the members of CELAC withdraw their ambassadors from the US to send a message to the Obama Administration. As an additional measure, he said he will call on the member nations of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas to boycott the upcoming meeting of the UN General Assembly. Members of the alliance include Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Saint Lucia.
“The US cannot be allowed to continue with its policy of intimidation and blockading presidential flights,” stressed Morales.

Disgusting americans forge unconvicing lies

http://rt.com/news/putin-syria-rebels-provocation-080/


Russia has every reason to believe that the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb in August was an adroit and smart provocation, President Vladimir Putin has said.
“We have every grounds to believe that it was a provocation. Of course, it was adroit and smart, but, at the same time, primitive in terms of technical performance. They took an old Soviet-made missile, which was taken out of service in the Syrian army long ago. It was most important to have ‘made in the USSR’ written [on the missile],” Putin said at the Valday discussion forum on Thursday. 
The Russian president pointed out that the August 21st attack in Damascus was not the first time chemical weapons had been used in Syria. 
“But why haven’t other cases been investigated?” he asked.
The chemical weapon attack must be thoroughly investigated and those behind it must be identified, Putin told the Valday Club meeting in Russia’s Novgorod Region. 
“No matter how difficult it might be, but if in the end we manage to answer the question… as to who committed that crime – and that was certainly a crime – the next step will follow. Then, together with our colleagues from the United Nations Security Council we will have to define the level of responsibility of those who committed the crime,” Putin said.
He stressed that measures like military strikes cannot solve every international issue, while should also be brought to the UNSC rather than discussed in the US Congress.
“This would be a strike on the world order, not Syria,” the Russian leader said. 

Warmongling UN inspectors ignore evidence on Syria chemical attacks

http://rt.com/news/syria-russia-chemical-attacks-054/

UN inspectors ignored evidence on chemical weapons use in Syria secretly passed to them by Damascus, said Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister in an exclusive interview to RT. That is why the UN report is biased and needs reinvestigation, he said.
“The Syrian authorities have conducted their own sampling and investigation, analysis in terms of possible evidence of the rebels being responsible for the tragic episodes both on August 21, but beyond that also on August 22, 23 and 24,” Sergey Ryabkov told RT's Maria Finoshina, who caught up with him during his visit to Damascus to discuss these allegations.
“This is new material - new material for us. But this is not already completely new material for the UN,” Ryabkov specified, revealing that there were actually several chemical attacks in Syria in August and that the UN inspectors, headed by Swedish scientist Dr. Ake Salstrom, were informed about this, but ignored the information in their report.
“This material was discreetly handed over to Ake Salstrom, the head of the UN mission of experts here [in Syria] which came to investigate the Ghouta incidents. Salstrom was asked to look into it and eventually factor this new evidence into the final report. It never happened in fact,” Ryabkov told RT. “This is one of the reasons why we criticize the speed with which the report was released… and also an incomplete content of this report,” he said.
Moscow wants the UN inspectors to return to Syria and continue investigating in order to determine who was responsible for the chemical attack.

Glorious Brazilian goverment rejects american lies

http://rt.com/news/brazil-postpone-president-visit-us-984/

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has postponed a state visit to Washington in response to the US spying on her communications with top aides. Rousseff is demanding a full public apology from President Obama.
Barack Obama spoke with Rousseff on Monday in an attempt to persuade her into following through with the trip, the Brazilian president's office said, according to AP.

Brazil’s TV Globo reported that the call between the two presidents lasted for about 20 minutes. Obama and Rousseff discussed revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on the Brazilian leader’s phone calls and emails. The two presidents then “jointly” agreed to cancel the meeting, Globo reported, citing the presidential office.

The Brazilian government said in a statement that "the conditions are not suitable to undertake this visit on the agreed date." It expressed hope that the conflict will be resolved “properly” and the trip will happen "as soon as possible."

The state visit was initially scheduled for October 23. The Obama administration has confirmed that the visit was canceled.

"The president has said that he understands and regrets the concerns disclosures of alleged US intelligence activities have generated in Brazil and made clear that he is committed to working together with President Rousseff and her government in diplomatic channels to move beyond this issue as a source of tension in our bilateral relationship," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.   

Glorious redesign

Hello comrades. For two months I've been heavily drinking, and I come back to dissaray and squandering. Therefore now I take control over this blog. Don't worry, goverment approved comics are just as witty and funny.

Since I'm in charge, let's establish some ground rules
Rule 1 - Russian Federation is a glorious country with perfect goverment.
Rule 2 - USA is incredibly jealous of our glorious successes, and therefore must perish.
Rule 3 - Putin is the best leader this country ever had, and by denying that you shall be sent to gulag

That is all, I'll come up with more rules later as I'll get more drunk. GLORY TO RUSSIAN FEDERATION!

German banker falls asleep on keyboard, transfers $293M

http://newsfixnow.com/2013/06/13/german-banker-falls-asleep-on-keyboard-transfers-293m/

There are several jobs that could makes employees feel sleepy like mattress tester, sleeping pill ginny pig or truck driver. Ok, maybe not the last, but this smart guy wasn’t only tired, he was full on depositing some z`s into his sleep account.

The German banker was supposed to make a simple transfer of 62.4 euros when the sand man took him by the hand. Poor guy was so tired he ‘accidentally’ fell asleep on the number 2 keyboard key and transferred 222,222,222.22 euros instead. That is the equivalent of $293 million U.S.

Not only did the keyboard snoozer make the error, his colleague withdrew his focus and verified the transfer was correct. The colleague was fired.

Russia possible candidate for peacekeeping in the Golan Heights

RT on Russia's quest for peace

Tensions are rising in the Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border. Skirmishes between Syrian rebels and regime forces has led Israel to increase its military presence in the area, and U.N. peacekeepers to leave the conflict zone. The Philippines are considering pulling their 341 peacekeepers from the increasingly dangerous situation and the 377 Austrian ones have already left, following confrontations with Syrian rebels over a U.N. controled crossing post. Hope for U.N.´s mission in the Golan Heighs now comes from Russia, as Putin has offered to send personell to replace the Austrians and keep the area free of further clashes.

'Muhammad' left out of Swedish Coke campaign

The Local reports on the name-dropping

A Europe-wide PR campaign by Coca-Cola is having the company´s logo on the bottles replaced by common names in the respective countries. In Sweden, the bottles will bear the names of Daniel, Emma and Johan, among others. However, one common name that will not be seen on the shelves is Muhammad, since Coca-Cola fears that it will be seen as provocative and insensitive towards Muslims. They worry that it would stir up strong emotions if they were to put the name of the prophet on a brand so strongly associated with the U.S.

Official number of Guantanamo Bay hunger strikers jumps to 100

http://rt.com/news/guantanamo-bay-hunger-strikers-502/

The official number of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay reached 100 on Saturday – three more than the day before. Twenty of the detainees are receiving enteral feeds, five of whom are being observed in a detainee hospital.

Lawyers for the detainees contest the official numbers, saying that some 130 prisoners are actually taking part in the protest. The hunger strike began around February 6, when detainees claimed prison officials searched their copies of the Koran for contraband, according to their attorneys.

Prisoners are also protesting their extrajudicial incarceration at the prison. Most of Guantanamo Bay’s 166 detainees have been cleared for release or were never charged, a situation that has prompted criticism from human rights organizations.

Fury over 'plan to sell' Nepal embassy building in London

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22213812

A government committee is in London to look into the viability of selling the Victorian villa, which it only pays a small amount to lease.
It is in one of the UK's most expensive roads in central London.
The Nepalese government says the committee is only fact-finding and no decisions have been made.
"I want to make it clear to you that the government has not taken any decision, so it all depends on the recommendation of the team," said Nepalese foreign ministry spokesman Arjun Thapa.
The house in Kensington Palace Gardens is on the same road as mansions owned by the billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and the Sultan of Brunei.
One property expert says the villa is worth about $153m (£100m).
UK Nepalese community leaders say the embassy was given because of strong ties between Nepal and Britain, and it should be kept

Greece farm shooting: 30 injured in pay dispute

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22198699

About 30 migrant workers have been injured in a shooting on a strawberry farm in Greece after requesting salaries that had not been paid.

The migrants - mainly from Bangladesh - were shot at by at least one farm supervisor, in a Peloponnesian village in southern Greece.
Several of the workers have been taken to hospital but none are in a critical condition.
The owner of the farm in Nea Manolada and one foreman have been arrested.

How far can North Korea's missiles reach?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9962585/Graphic-how-far-can-North-Koreas-missiles-reach.html

The regime is understood to have substantial numbers of short- and intermediate-range missiles such as the Nodong, a variant on the Scud missile.

With a range of around 1,000km, the Nodong could in theory strike in South Korea and Japan. However, its poor accuracy makes it an ineffective battlefield weapon and it is unlikely North Korea would be able to pinpoint US military bases in the region, although it could cause serious civilian casualties.

The middle-range Musudan missile is of major concern to Japan as its 4,000km capability would allow the North Korean regime to strike anywhere in Japanese territory. Estimates of the size of North Korea's Musudan arsenal vary widely, with figures ranging from only a dozen to more than 200.

The Taepodong 1 was North Korea's first multi-stage missile, a significant technological development where the weapon depends on different thrusters at different times. However it has proved a poor performer, with limited range and unreliable accuracy.

Cyprus offered bailout from Russian energy firm Gazprom...if they sell offshore gas rights

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/385718/Cyprus-offered-bailout-from-Russian-energy-firm-Gazprom-if-they-sell-offshore-gas-rights

The huge multinational already own vast gas deposits in Siberia, and reportedly want the beleaguered country's Mediterranean Sea rights.

The firm are reportedly looking to acquire the rights as the emergence an independent gas industry in Cyprus would undercut their pricing power.

The news of a private financial package comes as Germany warned the country's banks may never reopen if a bailout is not agreed.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "It is important that Cyprus gets a sustainable banking sector in the future.

"The current banking sector is not sustainable."

Jailed Leader of the Kurds Offers a Truce With Turkey

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/world/europe/kurdish-leader-declares-truce-with-turkey.html?_r=1&

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — The jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on Thursday called for a cease-fire and ordered all his fighters off Turkish soil, in a landmark moment for a newly energized effort to end three decades of armed conflict with the Turkish government.

Since its start late last year, the peace effort has transfixed a Turkish public traumatized by a long and bloody conflict that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives and fractured society along ethnic lines. While there have been previous periods of cease-fire between Turkey and Mr. Ocalan’s group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., never before has there been so much support at the highest levels of both the Turkish and Kurdish leadership.

“We reached the point where weapons should go silent and ideas speak,” Mr. Ocalan wrote in a letter read out to jubilant crowds gathered in the Kurdish heartland here in southern Turkey. “A new era starts when politics, instead of guns, comes to the forefront.”

For the Turkish government, seeking peace within its borders is a step toward realizing its ambition to be a regional power broker. For the Kurds, the call for peace carries with it the hope of more rights under a new constitution and the freedom to express a separate identity within a country that for decades denied their existence, forbade them to speak their language and abused their activists.

The declaration by Mr. Ocalan was seen as a critical confidence-building step in the peace process. It brought ecstatic celebration among the huge crowds gathered outside Diyarbakir to celebrate Nowruz, the traditional spring festival. Lawmakers read out statements in both Turkish and Kurdish as waves of yellow, red and green, the traditional Kurdish colors, rippled through the masses.

The deal is far from done, however. Notably, while Mr. Ocalan called for militants to retreat to bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, he did not order them to disarm. And a long process of constitutional reform and negotiations over Kurdish prisoners lies ahead.

Cameron says Argentina should respect vote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21752581

David Cameron has called on Argentina to respect the wishes of the people of the Falkland Islands to remain British.

The prime minister said the almost unanimous vote in favour of staying a British overseas territory was the "clearest possible result".

He said Argentina should take "careful note" of the referendum, and Britain would always defend the islands.

It follows pressure from Argentina over its claims to the islands, 31 years after the Falklands War with the UK.

Most Argentines regard the islands, which they call Las Malvinas, as Argentine and their recovery is enshrined in the national constitution.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has made clear that her country does not recognise the referendum, insisting it has no legal validity.

However, Mr Cameron said the islanders were entitled to the right of self-determination.

Black smoke on day 2

Black smoke billows from Sistine Chapel chimney, showing that Cardinals at Vatican have yet to agree on new pope.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dead at 58

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21679053

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has died, his vice-president has announced.

Mr Chavez had not appeared in public since he returned to Venezuela last month after cancer treatment in Cuba.
An emotional Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday evening, flanked by leading Venezuelan political and military leaders.
Earlier, he said the 58-year-old Venezuelan leader had a new, severe respiratory infection and had entered "his most difficult hours".
One of the most visible, vocal and controversial leaders in Latin America, the former army paratrooper won the presidency in 1998 and had most recently won another six-year presidential term in October 2012.

Twitter in Pyongyang: how North Korea got the mobile internet

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/feb/28/twitter-north-korea-mobile-internet

"Hello world from comms center in #Pyongyang."
That Twitter missive, sent Monday from Koryolink's main service centre in downtown Pyongyang using my iPhone, marked a milestone for North Korea: it was believed to be the first tweet sent from a mobile phone using the country's new 3G mobile data service.
Later, as we were driving through Pyongyang, I used my iPhone to snap a photo of a new roadside banner referring to North Korea's controversial 12 February nuclear test while the Associated Press's chief Asia photographer David Guttenfelder uploaded an image to Instagram of a tour guide at a mountain temple, geotagged to Pyongyang.
Pretty ordinary stuff in the world of social media, but revolutionary for North Korea, a country with intricate rules to stage manage the flow of images and information both inside and beyond its borders.
In the past, rules were strict for tourists visiting North Korea. On a bus journey across the demilitarised zone into the border city of Kaesong in 2008, we were told: no mobile phones, no long camera lenses, no shooting photos without permission. The curtains were drawn to prevent us from looking outside as we drove through the countryside, and through the cracks we could see soldiers stationed along the road with red flags. We were warned they'd raise those flags and stop the bus for inspection if they spotted a camera pointed out the window. As we left North Korea, immigration officials went through our cameras, clicking through the photos to make sure we weren't taking home any images that were objectionable.

Horsemeat found in Ikea meatballs in Czech Republic

In reference to:
http://polandball-news.blogspot.de/2013/02/ikea-dragged-into-horse-meat-scandal.html

IKEA dragged into horse meat scandal

The Local on the meaty news

Horse meat has been found in IKEA´s Swedish meatballs, prompting the furniture giant to halt meatball sales in 15 countries across Europe. The test that proved positive for horse meat was made in the Czech Republic, though it is not yet known how much of the meat came from horses. This is the first case in the ongoing European horse meat craze where horse infused meat may have been produced in Sweden. Dafgård, the producer of the meatballs, are performing their own DNA tests on their meat, but has as of yet found nothing suspicious.

UK loses top AAA credit rating for first time since 1978

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21554311

The UK has lost its top AAA credit rating for the first time since 1978 on expectations that growth will "remain sluggish over the next few years".

The ratings agency Moody's became the first to cut the UK from its highest rating, to Aa1.

Moody's said the government's debt reduction programme faced significant "challenges" ahead.

Chancellor George Osborne said the decision was "a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country".

"Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it," he added. "We will go on delivering the plan that has cut the deficit by a quarter."

But the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Osborne now risks being dubbed the "downgrade chancellor".

North Korea Threatens South with "Final Destruction"

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/19/north-korea-un-threat.html

Nuclear-armed North Korea has used a UN disarmament meeting to warn that South Korea risks "final destruction."

The comments Tuesday by a North Korean diplomat at the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament come a week after Pyongyang conducted a third nuclear test.

"As the saying goes, a new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger. South Korea's erratic behaviour would only herald its final destruction," North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the meeting, Reuters reports.

South Korea called the tests a flagrant violation of UN resolutions and a threat to the entire international community.

U.S. envoy Laura E. Kennedy tweeted later that the North's comments had been "offensive."

Numerous countries including the U.S., Britain and Germany, condemned North Korea's latest test at the meeting and urged North Korea to abide by UN resolutions barring it from testing nuclear weapons or missiles.

Even China, a longtime provider of food, fuel and other support, had warned North Korea not to conduct a third nuclear test.

"The North Korean regime's reckless disregard for the global will is again on display," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said after the latest nuclear test.

"What makes such actions even more unconscionable is the fact that the North Korean people starve and are denied their basic human dignity while the Pyongyang regime squanders limited resources."

Greek accused of 'surreal' Dalí painting theft in New York

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/20/greek-accused-dali-painting-theft

A Greek man has been accused of an inept attempt to steal a Salvador Dalí painting from a New York gallery, taking the picture as security cameras rolled and later, in a panic, trying to send it back anonymously.

Phivos Istavrioglou also left fingerprints that helped detectives track him down – another misstep in a botched fine art caper that even he found foolish, according to an account of a confession contained in court papers.

As soon as Istavrioglou walked out of the Upper East Side gallery last summer with the Dalí watercolour and on to Fifth Avenue, he "was scared and couldn't believe what a stupid thing he did", the papers say.

Istavrioglou, 29, of Athens, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to grand larceny during a brief court appearance in Manhattan where a judge set bail at $100,000 (£65,000). His attorney had no immediate comment.

Prosecutors accused Istavrioglou of stealing the painting, Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio, in broad daylight while visiting New York in June. After pulling it off the wall, he stashed it in a shopping bag and flew with it back to Athens, authorities said.

"It was almost surreal how this theft was committed – a thief is accused of putting a valuable Salvador Dalí drawing into a shopping bag in the middle of the afternoon, in full view of surveillance cameras," the district attorney, Cyrus R Vance Jr, said.

Shortly after learning authorities had distributed security photographs of him that were seen around the world, Istavrioglou took the $150,000 work out of its frame. He then rolled it up in a cardboard tube – "in a manner befitting a college dorm poster" – and mailed it back to New York without a return address, prosecutor Jordan Arnold said.

New York police department detectives lifted fingerprints from the shipment that matched one from a juice bottle that they say Istavrioglou shoplifted last year from a Whole Foods market, giving them a name, said the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly. An investigator posing as an art gallery owner later tricked Istavrioglou into returning to New York by offering him a possible position as a consultant.

Federal agents intercepted Istavrioglou at John F Kennedy international airport on Saturday. While speaking to detectives that afternoon, court papers say, he "indicated he knew the theft would catch up to him and wants to make [the] situation right".

Pope Benedict Shows True Leadership by Resigning

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/16/opinion/martin-pope-resigns-health

When Thurgood Marshall retired from the U.S. Supreme Court in June 1991, a reporter asked him what were the medical reasons that contributed to his leaving the bench -- and its lifetime appointment -- after serving for nearly 25 years. He was his usual blunt self.

"What's wrong with me?" Marshall said at the packed news conference. "I'm old. I'm getting old and falling apart."

When the news broke this week that Pope Benedict XVI was stepping down as the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics because of his concerns about being able to do the job, many began to speculate that there were other reasons for the decision.

[...]

Poll: Only 1-in-3 wants UK to stay in EU

edition.cnn.com/2013/02/17/business/uk-referendum-poll/index.html

David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have an uphill struggle before any EU referendum according to a poll that says only one in three would vote to stay in the bloc.

The findings, which are likely to spark alarm in pro-European circles, suggest that anti-Brussels sentiment is sweeping through the British public.

Given an in-out referendum on EU membership tomorrow, 50 per cent would vote "out" against 33 per cent "in" and 17 per cent who would not vote either way, according to the poll by Harris Interactive for the Financial Times.

Latvia to join eurozone in 2014

https://rt.com/business/news/latvia-eurozone-transition-currency-305/

Despite continuing recession in the eurozone another country is joining. Latvia is switching from the lat to the euro next year.

­The transition to the common European currency is going to happen on January 1, 2014 after Latvian President Andris Berzins signed the law to introduce of euro on Friday.

In January the legislation was adopted by the Latvian parliament. After the adoption Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said the country had already met the Maastricht criteria and would request a convergence report from the European Commission and the European Central Bank on Latvia's readiness to join. “'From an economic and financial point of view, we do not see anymore hurdles in joining the euro-zone,” Rinkevics said, the Baltic Course reported.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis says “the alternative to the eurozone is being relegated to the periphery of Europe… joining the eurozone is in Latvia’s best long-term interests.”

Russia starts cleanup after meteor strike

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/16/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/index.html

A day after a spectacular meteor blast shook Russia's Urals region, the cleanup operation got under way Saturday in the hard-hit Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

Although some buildings were unscathed when sonic waves from the Friday morning explosion reverberated through the region, others lost some or most windows or had walls come tumbling down.

More than 1,000 people were injured, including more than 200 children, according to news reports. Many of them were hit by flying glass.

[...]

Altogether, more than 4,000 buildings, mostly apartment blocks, were damaged and 200,000 square kilometers (77,220 square miles) of glass were broken, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited the Chelyabinsk regional emergencies ministry as saying Saturday.

Iceland wants to ban Internet porn

edition.cnn.com/2013/02/15/tech/web/porn-ban-iceland/index.html

Iceland is working on banning Internet pornography, calling explicit online images a threat to children.

'"There is a strong consensus building in Iceland," Halla Gunnarsdottir, an adviser to the nation's Interior Minister, told England's Daily Mail. "We have so many experts, from educationalists to the police and those who work with children behind this, that this has become much broader than party politics.

"At the moment, we are looking at the best technical ways to achieve this. But surely if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the Internet."

Such a step is somewhat surprising among Western nations that, for the most part, champion free-speech rights. But the move wouldn't be unprecedented in the island nation.

Iceland has had laws banning the printing and distribution of pornography for years, but those laws haven't been updated to include the Web. And two years ago, the nation's parliament banned strip clubs, saying they violate the rights of the women who work in them.

Iceland would become the first Western democracy to try and block pornography online.

New York raises taxes on Sandy-hit houses

http://rt.com/usa/news/city-tax-property-values-052/


New York homeowners from regions most severely impaired by Hurricane Sandy have suffered damage to their homes and expensive repairs – but the city is now inflicting a heavy tax hike upon those residents, claiming their property values have risen.
“Common sense dictates their property values have fallen, if not plummeted in some cases,” Councilman Michael Nelson (D-Brooklyn) told the New York Post.
But the city claims that property values for homes in Manhattan Beach, Coney Island, Staten Island and the Rockaways have shot up – even though many of these properties were damaged in the storm and still require repairs. As a result, the city is inflicting higher taxes upon many of these residents to make up for the lost revenue from the storm – including residents whose homes remain so impaired that they have not been able to move back in.
“This is totally insensitive and heartless,” Ira Zalcman, president of the Manhattan Beach Community Group, said in the interview with the Post. “We just sustained one of the worst national disasters in our nation’s history, and now the city is delusional, claiming our property values went up.”
Zalcman said he has already received more than 30 complaints from residents about the tax increases, and he himself is a homeowner whose property tax bill will go up – probably by $200 for the fiscal year.
Nelson has called the tax hikes “heartless” and “something the city must immediately remedy.”
“It raises real doubts about whether [the Finance Department] is doing enough to ensure fair and accurate assessments,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “As New Yorkers world to rebuild their homes and lives, we cannot allow them to be hit twice.”
Even homes that were partially swept away and houses whose windows and doors are boarded shut will be subjected to the tax hikes, whose rates will be finalized in May.
Stephen Moran, vice chairman of Community Board 13, said that Hurricane Sandy left him with $300,000 worth of repairs and cannot understand how the city is justifying raising his taxes.
“How do you increase taxes for people who no longer have 100 percent of their houses remaining?” he said.
The citywide outrage has prompted the City Council to launch an investigation into the heightened property-tax assessments. One city official told the Post that these assessments were made before Sandy ravaged New York in late October, but Mayor Bloomberg on Monday defended the tax hikes and suggested that the storm did not affect property values.
“Prices continue to go up in spite of these things,” he said, despite real estate brokers claiming the opposite.
And unless property owners appeal to the city Tax Commission before March 15, many homeowners and hurricane victims will see their tax rates go up this fiscal year, thereby inflicting further costs on those already burdened with repairs.

Iran releases video 'proof' US drone decoded

https://rt.com/news/iran-us-drone-decoded-609/

Iran for the first time showcased supposed evidence it has managed to access some of the data stored on a US ‘Sentinel’ drone it captured back in December 2011. The claims are based on aerial footage aired by an Iranian TV channel.

Earlier in April, the country’s military officials announced that Iranian experts have decoded the drone's intelligence gathering system and hard discs, but provided little proof of the breakthrough.

But the newly released video details the first examples of the unmanned air vehicle’s activities, including flying around the Kandahar airfield (KAF) in Afghanistan, a building under surveillance and a Reaper drone parked at the KAF.

­Interestingly, the drone’s erase sequence never kicked in when it lost control, making data recovery possible.

German minister Annette Schavan quits over 'plagiarism'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21395102

German Education Minister Annette Schavan has resigned after a university stripped her of her doctorate for plagiarism.

Duesseldorf's Heinrich Heine University voted last Tuesday to remove her doctorate following a review.
Ms Schavan, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, insisted she would still fight the university's ruling.
In 2011, Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg also quit after allegations he plagiarised his thesis.
Johanna Wanka, the culture and science minister of the state of Lower Saxony, has been appointed as Ms Schavan's successor.
Part of the education minister's brief is to oversee German universities.

Massive blizzard paralyses US northeast, 1 dead

http://rt.com/usa/news/blizzard-nemo-us-snow-800/

A potentially record-breaking snow storm has brought the US northeast to a grinding halt and left one dead. Thousands lost power amid flight cancelations and a nuclear plant shutdown, as authorities declared an emergency situation in five states.
The blizzard, which has been dubbed ‘Nemo’, struck the east coast on Friday, dumping up to 38 inches (96.5 cm) of snow in some areas. The storm clobbered New York during the night, leading to mass flight cancelations and the closure of roads, while across the northeast over 640,000 homes were left without power

A 74-year-old woman was killed in the Massachusetts town of Poughkeepsie when a woman lost control of her car due to falling snow and knocked her down. She later died in hospital. The storm has been blamed for three other deaths in Canada.
A state of emergency has been declared in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Maine with citizens being warned to stay indoors.
“This is a very large and powerful storm, however we are encouraged by the numbers of people who stayed home today,” Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told reporters. Fuel shortages have already been reported in a number of states as motorists queue at petrol stations to fill up in the face of a potential crisis.
Winds reached speeds of over 60km/h with forecasters expecting hurricane-force gusts of up to 97km/h as the storm’s intensity increases.

Accused Witch Burned Alive in Papua New Guinea

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/alleged-witch-burned-alive-papua-guinea-18434480

A mob stripped, tortured and bound a woman accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of horrified witnesses in a Papua New Guinea town, police said Friday. It was the latest sorcery-related killing in this South Pacific island nation.
Bystanders, including many children, watched and some took photographs of Wednesday's brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were published on the front pages of the country's two largest newspapers, The National and the Post-Courier, while the prime minister, police and diplomats condemned the killing.

CIA operating drone base in Saudi Arabia, US media reveal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21350437

The US Central Intelligence Agency has been operating a secret airbase for unmanned drones in Saudi Arabia for the past two years.

The facility was established to hunt for members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen.

A drone flown from there was used in September 2011 to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric who was alleged to be AQAP's external operations chief.

US media have known of its existence since then, but have not reported it.

Senior government officials had said they were concerned that disclosure would undermine operations against AQAP, as well as potentially damage counter-terrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

Hollande gets the hump in Mali, but he’s happy about it!

https://rt.com/news/hollande-mali-camel-gift-323/

French president Francois Hollande has been given a baby camel by government of Mali as token of gratitude for the French military helping rid the north of the country of Islamist rebels.

Hollande was also given a whip to master the animal. The President noted the symbolism of the gift and promised the French would continue to fight tyranny.

"Terrorism has been pushed back, it has been chased away, but it has not been defeated yet," stressing that France was not there to oppress the local population. "France will stay by your side as long as necessary, as long as it takes for Africans themselves… to replace us," he told a large crowd in the capital, Bamako, at a monument commemorating Mali's independence from France.

In three weeks of field operations which started on January 11, French and Malian troops have recaptured most of the territory held by Islamist extremists who took over a number of key cities in the north of the country last year.

325 Army suicides in 2012 a record

edition.cnn.com/2013/02/02/us/army-suicides/index.html

The U.S. Army reported Thursday that there were 325 confirmed or potential suicides last year among active and nonactive military personnel.

"Our highest on record," said Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, deputy chief of staff, manpower and personnel for the Army.

The grim total exceeds the number of total U.S. Army deaths (219) and total military deaths (313) in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, according to figures published by the military's Defense Casualty Analysis System.

For all of last year, 182 potential active-duty suicides were reported, 130 of which have been confirmed and 52 of which remain under investigation, it said.

And 143 potential not-on-active-duty suicides were reported (96 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve), 117 of which have been confirmed and 26 remain under investigation.

Silvio Berlusconi makes Italy property tax pledge

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21314189

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has promised to abolish an unpopular local property tax if his party wins the 24-25 February elections - and to refund last year's payments in cash.
The centre-right electoral coalition has been trailing in opinion polls - but the gap has recently narrowed.
Mr Berlusconi has said he will serve as economy minister if his party wins.
The media tycoon stepped down from a third term as prime minister in 2011 in the middle of the eurozone debt crisis.

Luxurious vomit found on British beach

The Telegraph on the lucky find

A mysterious stone was found by a man walking his dog on a beach in Morecambe, England. Looking it up on the Internet, he came to the realisation that it might be a lump of Ambergris; a rare ingredient used in perfumes. Ambergris hardens over time while floating around in the sea, after having been hurled up by sperm whales with a soar throat. €50000 has been offered by a French dealer, if it turns out to be the real thing.

Netanyahu cartoon sparks anger, Murdoch says sorry

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/29/world/europe/scarfe-murdoch-apology/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Rupert Murdoch has apologized for a "grotesque, offensive" cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published in Britain's Sunday Times.

The cartoon by Gerald Scarfe depicts Netanyahu atop an incomplete brick wall with screaming Palestinians and body parts in the mortar. Netanyahu is holding what appears to be a bloody builder's trowel and the wall's mortar is colored red. The wording beneath reads: "Israeli Elections, Will Cementing Peace Continue?"

The cartoon was published on Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday and prompted complaints that it was anti-Semitic and insensitive.

Poland to send 20 'training instructors' to Mali

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/125563,Poland-to-send-20-training-instructors-to-Mali

After a meeting with President Hollande in Paris, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Poland would be sending 20 troops to take part in the EU training mission in Mali.
“Poland has no doubt that responsibility falls on the international community and the entire European Union for intervention and peacekeeping in the region, but France has taken on the most difficult task in this matter,” Prime Minister Tusk said on Monday.
Poland's president, Bronislaw Komorowski is expected to make the formal decision, Tuesday, on releasing troops for the mission in Mali, where soldiers from several EU countries will give security training to Malian troops as they fight off an Islamist anti-government insurgency in the north of the country.
French paratroopers took the ancient city of Timbuktu after ten months of insurgent occupation on Monday, securing its airport and main roads as thousands of residents greeted the troops, waving French and Mali flags, Reuters reports.

Horsemeat in burgers traced to Polish suppliers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/27/horsemeat-burgers-traced-polish-suppliers

Polish suppliers were responsible for the horsemeat in beefburgers scandal which hit supermarkets including Tesco, the Irish government has revealed.

Tests in recent days showed raw material imported by an Irish processing plant from Poland had up to 20% equine DNA. Products made for Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland were implicated in the initial scare this month caused by food standards checks late last year.

Other UK chains withdrew products made at Silvercrest, County Monaghan, and Dalepak Hambleton in north Yorkshire, both owned by the Irish-based ABP Food Group. Burger King also stopped using burgers made at Silvercrest, which suspended production more than a week ago and is now being deep cleaned.

More than 10m beefburgers are thought to have been removed from sale because of the scare, although authorities in the UK and Ireland have repeatedly said they posed no threat to human health.

West Bank account: Prankster inside E1 settlement sales secrets

https://rt.com/news/israeli-settlements-west-bank-film-436/

Israelis willing to risk buying property in disputed area in the West Bank are being offered ‘amazing’ real estate deals. More property deals are likely to come if Benjamin Netanyahu claims victory in the elections in Israel.

­Netanyahu is seeking his third term in the office and has stressed that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are to be expanded by thousands of housing units.

UK-based Jewish filmmaker Nimrod Kamer went to the disputed E1 sector in the West Bank and found out that not only settlements are being expanded, but the real estate deals in the area are beneficial to Jewish people.

In his film, made exclusively for RT, Kamer pretends to be a real estate developer, who together with a rich UK investor goes to the E1 area to acquire land and property. The filmmaker explores the area and negotiates with locals to get him a better deal.

He also reveals the public mood. At one point in the film he talks with a Jewish woman who wants to sell an apartment, who asserts that the land is Jewish, while Palestinians are just renting it.