Stravinsky's Firebird Suite (1945 version) - Academy Symphony Orchestra - Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 - 9 July 2018)

Anne Dufourmantelle: The Ideology of Security

Pierre Boulez - Répons (Salzburg Festival, 1992)

A gross insult to the Tibetan people

“Intercontinental’s hotel in military-occupied Tibet is serving China’s repressive regime and human rights abuses against Tibetans. More than 120 of my fellow Tibetans have self-immolated calling for an end to the Chinese rule. The ‘Lhasa Paradise’ will serve Chinese business and political interests only and is a gross insult to the Tibetan people.”

January 27, 1945

The Red Army has liberated the Nazis' biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-western Poland.

Claudio Abbado (26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014)

Was an Italian conductor. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra.

WW I

collection of First World War records

16 year-old Amina Filali, raped, beaten and forced to wed her rapist, killed herself

Right now, there is almost no news coverage and no pressure on legislators to do the right thing. When our call is 1 million strong, we’ll place ads in the newspapers that MPs read and stand with Moroccan activists outside of Parliament with a sea of pink balloons representing the massive global response. Let’s honour Amina's memory by ensuring her tragedy is never repeated. 

Stop the Monsanto frankenseed factory

Monsanto's extending its power over the globe, with a massive new frankenseed factory in Argentina. Sofía Gatica and local neighbours have spoken out, and she has received death threats and a brutal beating. The threat is urgent -- let's stand with them and stop the plant.

Monsanto manufactures the genetically modified seeds that, when combined with toxic pesticides, create the devastating 'monocultures' -- where nothing grows but a single plant -- that increasingly cover our planet. Now they plan to build one of the world's largest GM seed factories in Malvinas.

Volgograd rocked by suicide bombing

Russian media reports, quoting law-enforcement sources, said that the explosion happened after a police officer tried to stop a suspicious young woman near security gates installed to prevent guns and explosives being taken inside the station. Security officials expressed hope that the bomber would be soon identified.

Soldiers found an unexploded grenade at the scene, Vladimir Markin, an investigative committee spokesman, told the news agency RIA. He said the metal frames installed at the entrances of all Russian railway stations and airports – a security measure often ridiculed in the Russian media – had prevented more casualties. A train from Moscow was due to arrive half an hour after the explosion took place.

Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is a railway hub on the route connecting European Russia with central Asia. It acts as a gateway to the Caucasus, and is 600 miles from Sochi, the Black Sea city where the Olympics are scheduled to start on 7 February. Russian authorities have insisted there will be no security threats to the event, despite the city lying just west of the restive North Caucasus region. In July Doku Umarov, leader of the remaining Chechen jihadist groups, warned that militants would try sabotage the Games.

VW Camper

The last ever Volkswagen "Type 2" - more commonly known as the VW Camper, kombi or bus - rolls off the production line on December 31.

It is being retired after 64 years in continuous production because it cannot be adapted to meet modern safety regulations.

Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion

Are biofuels worse than fossil fuels?

environmentalists say biofuels made from some food crops contribute more greenhouse gases than the fossil fuels they are designed to replace

Jailed Pussy Riot members could be freed

Legislation set to be passed by Duma could also grant amnesty to Greenpeace activists awaiting trial on hooliganism charges

Protestors Block Fracking Site

With Giant Wind Turbine Blade

3 Countries That Are Bailing on Climate Action

Japan isn't the only industrialized country at Warsaw walking away from previously stated climate goals and attracting criticism for throwing a spanner in the works, an issue also explored here in Grist. Australia and Canada are emerging as strong opponents of more aggressive climate action and are likely to come up short on their commitments to reduce their emissions.

'Lawrence of Arabia' Star Dies

O'Toole was one of the most gifted performers of his generation, rising to fame almost with his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia" and appearing in a variety of screen classics like, "Beckett," "The Lion in Winter," "My Favorite Year," "The Last Emperor" — and cult favorites like, "What's New Pussycat," "The Ruling Class," and "The Stunt Man."

Pope defends criticism of capitalism

Pope Francis says trickle-down economics do not help the poor

("Trickle-down economics" and the "trickle-down theory" are terms in United States politics to refer to the idea that tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and upper income levels will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole)

Stories to move people

I want my stories to move people — I don’t care if they’re men or women or children. I want my stories to be something about life that causes people not to say, “Oh, isn’t that the truth,” but to feel some kind of reward from the writing. And that doesn’t mean that it was to have a happy ending or anything — but just that everything the story tells moves [you] in such a way that you feel you’re a different person when you finish.

Nadir Afonso (December 4, 1920 – December 11, 2013)

Nadir Afonso, (December 4, 1920 – December 11, 2013) was a geometric abstractionist painter. Formally trained in architecture, which he practiced early in his career with Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, Nadir Afonso later studied painting in Paris and became one of the pioneers in Kinetic art, working alongside Victor Vasarely, Fernand Léger, Auguste Herbin, and André Bloc.

As a theorist of his own geometry-based aesthetics, published in several books, Nadir Afonso defends that art is purely objective and ruled by laws that treat art not as an act of imagination but of observation, perception, and form manipulation.

Stop The Trans-Pacific Partnership

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a huge, ultra-secret deal among twelve major countries that would give corporations unprecedented power — allowing them to use new global tribunals to sue our governments for passing laws that protect us, but reduce their profits! 

11.12.13

Ukraine Famine-Genocide

The Ukrainian Famine was dreadful famine premeditated by the Soviet Union, headed by Joseph Stalin during 1932-1933, as a means to undermine the nationalistic pride of the Ukrainian people. It served to control and further oppress the Ukrainian people by denying them the basic vital essentials they needed to survive. The Ukrainian Famine is also known as Holodomor, meaning “death by hunger.”

Nelson Mandela dies aged 95

Nelson Mandela, the towering figure of Africa's struggle for freedom and a hero to millions around the world, has died at the age of 95.

The TPP is a threat to democracy

The TPP is a threat to democracy, undermining national sovereignty, workers' rights, environmental protections and Internet freedom. 

Spain Has Indicted Hu Jintao Over Tibet

The Madrid-based Tibetan Support Committee originally filed a lawsuit against then-President Hu in 2006, alleging that the Chinese Communist Party leader was responsible for the torture and repression of the Tibetan people. The lawsuit also names six other former leaders of the CCP, including Mr. Hu’s predecessor, Jiang Zemin.

Luciano Pavarotti (Modena, Italy, 1935 - Modena, 6 September 2007)

After his debuts in Italy (1961) and in the United States (1967), the “king of the high C's” became a worldwide favorite in such notable roles as Donizetti's Nemorino, Puccini's Rodolfo and Cavarodossi, and Verdi's Riccardo, often performing at the Metropolitan Opera. He has made numerous concert recordings with great sopranos and was one of the “Three Tenors”—a venture that brought him mounting fame and fortune. in NYT Guide to Essential Knowledge

Longer sentences to "honour" murders

Before she died, Heshu (another "honour" victim) wrote this letter: "Me and you will probably never understand each other, but I'm sorry I wasn't what you wanted, but there's some things you can't change. Hey, for an older man you sure have a strong punch and kick. I hope you enjoyed testing your strength on me. It was fun being a 16-year-old at the receiving end. Well done."

The Independent, 13 June 2007, pag 33

Stop "honour" murders!

In the pictures of them (Banaz's murders) in the newspapers, their eyes shine bright. No shades of self-doubt

The Independent, 13 June, 2007, pag 33


"You will be the next", Asian woman is told

Violence is behind high suicide rates

The Times, June 13, 2007, pag 15

Tribal muslim "justice" in UK

Mahmod Mahmod murdered daughter Banaz

The victim of an "honour killing" had been dismissed by police as a fantasist

Mr Sulemani (Banaz's boyfriend) was deemed unsuitable because he did not come from the villages in Iraqi Kurdistan where the Mahmods originated.

Banaz feared for her life when her father came towards her menacingly, wearing gloves, and she jumped through a window.

When she told a police officier, PC Angela Cornes, about what happened, her account was dismissed as fantasy.

Mr Cornes even wanted to have her charged with criminal damage for breaking the window.

One of the men later admitted his part in the crime, while the other two have fled the country.

Metro UK, June 12, 2007


Because Mr Sulemani was not a strict Muslim and not from the Mirawaldy region, Miss Mahmod's father ruled that she would never marry him.

When Ari Mahmod (Banaz's oncle) saw the photograph of the embrace (taken by a member of the Kurdish community), he contacted a gang of Kurdish thugs and planned the murders.

The Times, June 12, pag 7


The possibility that such crimes were going undetected was strengthened when it emerged that three times as many Asian women aged between 16 and 24 commited suicide, compared with the national average.

idem, pag 6