http://www.moscowtopnews.com/Moscow Top News - moscowtopnews.comhttp://www.moscowtopnews.com/pix/logo.jpghttp://www.moscowtopnews.com/http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2093                    The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has been forced to reveal details about his intimate and private life with his wife, to make the deepest personal statement about his sexuality and his personal advisor, Christopher Myers, has been forced to resign from his job. Why? Because some Internet blogger insinuated something. It's Big Brother, Cor Blimey! Tabloid Britain!Thu, 2 Sep 2010 22:16:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2092The recently completed Operation Nanook (August 6 to 26), an operation which Canada began after Russia made claims to Arctic territories in 2007, involved an unprecedented degree of collaboration among military forces from Canada, the USA and Denmark: NATO member states. Yet is there not a commercial interest behind the sabre-rattling?                               There are five states with Arctic claims. Four of them are NATO member states (the three mentioned above plus Norway). The other is Russia. Operation Nanook this year took a new turn: far from being a purely Canadian exercise, it involved unprecedented cooperation among three NATO member states.  Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:22:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2091                          FC Zenit St. Petersburg and PFC CSKA Moskva in the Europa League and FC Spartak Moskva in the Champions League are the flag carriers of Russian football in the UEFA competitions 2010-2011. Spartak's main rivals will be Marseilles and Chelsea, Zenit will have to measure forces with AEK Athens and Anderlecht, while CSKA appear on paper to have an easier ride. CSKA Moskva entered the group phase of the Europa League in great style, sweeping Anorthosis Famagusta FC aside 6-1 over two legs (4-0 in Moscow and 2-1 away). Zenit St. Petersburg dropped down from the Champions' League after losing over two legs to French team Auxerre (1-0 and 0-2) while FC Spartak Moskva remain Russia's only hope in the Champions. Spartak meet Marseilles, Chelsea and Zilina (Slovakia) in Group F, the first game being played away in Marseilles. In the Europa League, CSKA Moskva meet Palermo (Italy), Sparta Prague (Czech republic) and Lausanne (Switzerland) in Group F while Zenit face Anderlecht (Belgium), Aek Athens and Hajduk Split (Croatia). Aleksei FEDEROV PRAVDA.Ru  Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:23:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2090                            A sick internet joke or a serious business proposition? A restaurant in Germany has been conducting an advertising campaign for people to donate body parts which will be transformed into delicious dishes at a new restaurant called Flime. The advertising campaign has been carried out not only online but also on television and in the press. Calling for donors to donate body parts "any part of the body", the restaurant, called Flime, in a secret location in Berlin, claims that the donors will be considered "members" of a new dining cult. The "members" will declare themselves willing to donate "any part of their body" while the resulting hospital costs will be borne by the restaurant which is looking for "an open-minded surgeon". Flime declares it is inspired by the Brazilian Waricaca tribe, whose "compassionate cannibalism", consuming the parts of a loved one, was said to help the bereaved get through the mourning process by becoming joined to the dead. Other dishes advertised at Flime are the traditional Brazilian feijoada, or black bean stew (boiled meats stewed with black beans and served on a bed of white rice) and bolinho, which are fried balls of meat, fish or vegetables served with a dip. It is not yet clear whether this is a hoax, a publicity stunt by a restaurant that is due to open or simply extremely bad taste, since it evokes the shocking case of Armin Meiwes, the Hannibal of Hesse, who in 2001 filmed himself stabbing to death computer programmer Bernd Juergen Brandes, who had volunteered to be eaten and killed. Meiwes at the time claimed there were around 800 cannibals in Germany in an underground movement. Timofei BELOV PRAVDA.Ru  Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:12:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2089                                The plight of the Negev Bedouin inside Israel rarely makes the pages of the international press, yet the suppression of these people by the Israeli authorities is a history of racism, intolerance and discrimination more befitting of Nazi Germany than a modern State which claims to be a democracy. As Moshe Dayan said in 1963 "This phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear". The sheer irony in Israel's arrogant stance against the Negev Bedouin, Israeli citizens but Arabs, is sickening: 70,000 people live in 45 villages, their communities do not appear on maps, therefore they do not exist and as such, they have no right to municipal services. No running water, no electricity supply from the national grid, no sewer network, no schooling. Not being recognised as formal communities, they do not have building rights and therefore any shelters which do exist, are bulldozed. As Moshe Dayan said in 1963 "This phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear". Throughout its sixty-year history, Israel's policy towards these Bedouin people has been deplorable, seizing their traditional lands, restricting their nomadic practices and housing them in slums, taking away their grazing rights. This, despite the fact that in 1948 these people swore allegiance to the State of Israel and adopted Israeli citizenship in return for pledges that they would be allowed to continue with their way of life and retain use of their lands. As Moshe Dayan said in 1963 "This phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear". From then until 1966, the Bedouin were cornered into a triangle between the towns of Arad, Yeruham and Rahat, a region known in Hebrew as Siyag (enclosure) while the State of Israel claimed over 85% of the Negev Land, alleging that the Bedouin never had property rights. As Moshe Dayan said in 1963 "This phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear". While the lands were confiscated, the grazing rights were severely restricted: the 1950 Black Goat law prohibited the grazing rights of black goats, the only animal suited to these conditions, one bred by the Bedouin for thousands of years and whose hair they used to weave into tents. As Moshe Dayan said in 1963 "This phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear". Today, over half of the 180,000 Bedouin in the Negev are crammed into the Israeli new townships, destroying their traditional way of life, with no regard whatsoever for tribal or clan culture. Unemployment is rife, livestock is banned, crime is high, hopes are non-existent. Yet this enables the Israeli authorities to claim that the Bedouin have access to municipal services and public utilities in these townships, therefore the pastoral and nomadic lifestyle is an option...which is paramount to being considered illegal. As Moshe Dayan said in 1963 "This phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear". The Bedouin community has formed the Regional Council of Unrecognised Villages and is fighting for the traditional land tenure rights of these people, derided by the Israeli authorities and forgotten by the international community, which tacitly approves of Moshe Dayan's words and ignores the wanton destruction of a culture in a blatant display of racism and discrimination. Source: A Brieg History of the Negev Bedouin By Dr. Yeela Raanan Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru  Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:20:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2088                                    New research by leading scientists points towards the shocking scenario of millions of Americans having been exposed already to serious and dangerous health risks, while the reaction from the authorities was first a media blackout together with threats and now, a wall of silence. What is going on? The allegations are, quite frankly, alarming: "A biochemical bomb went off in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 - a bomb that was as dangerous and destructive as a nuclear blast". Lingering death, a long-drawn-out horrific and painful death taking years, for millions of Gulf residents, "millions exposed to uncontrolled haemorrhaging, lesions, cancers". These quotes are taken from the recent work by US based writer and investigative journalist Terrence Aym*. From blow-out to black-outTue, 24 Aug 2010 02:38:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2087                                The people of Pakistan have been left to rot by the international community. The scale of the flood disaster has either been wholly misunderstood or else there are forces at play which wish to take advantage of a destabilized Pakistan; the pitifully weak response by the international community moves this country and the region nearer to the abyss of chaos. This week UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the UN General Assembly "Make no mistake: this is a global disaster, a global challenge. It is one of the greatest tests of global solidarity in our times".Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:34:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2086Thursday is the UN World Humanitarian Day, in which the United Nations remembers the heroic efforts of those who risk their lives, and sometimes pay the ultimate price, in the most devastated and dangerous corners of the globe to bring assistance, hope and a life to the victims. A noble precept...but are opposing forces not at play here?                             How many of those States which sign Humanitarian Conventions and Protocols and pledge aid and assistance, dropping bags of grain with their country's flag or initials stamped visibly and boldly on the side, are not also making billions out of producing or selling weapons systems?Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:48:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2085                                    Now the wildfires have been tamed in Russia's vast hinterland and for the first time in weeks the thermometer in Moscow has dropped down to a comfortable cooler 23C, experts are beginning to realise quite how devastating this Summer has been for Russia's wildlife. Among the victims hardest hit are Russia's 30 species of bats.Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:42:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2084A test was conducted on foodstuffs in a kitchen after an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning which left dozens of people ill. Was it the seafood, the eggs, the fish, the meat or the salad? It was the salad. Studies reveal that what people perceive as the "healthiest" foods may in fact be the most dangerous. Everydayhealth.com has compiled a list of the top ten rogue foods responsible for food poisoning. Top of the list of the study conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and published in everydayhealth.com* is leafy green vegetables such as lettuce and spinach. According to the FDA reports on cases of food poisoning from 1990 to 2006, this was the main source associated to 363 outbreaks and 30 per cent of all foodborne illnesses. The reason: blood from meat dripping into the vegetable bin and contamination with meats washed in the same sink - or salads prepared last on chopping boards after the seafood, meat and fish have been prepared. Plus, green leaves are often eaten unwashed. Second, predictably, are eggs (352 outbreaks), where salmonella is the main culprit. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for every one case of salmonella reported, 38 cases are not. Experts say that a simple test, placing an uncooked egg in water and throwing it away if it floats, can avoid most cases of infection, as can cooking the egg until the yolk is hard. Number three - fish; namely, tuna salad (268 outbreaks). Scombrotoxin, resistant even to cooking, can build up if the fish is not refrigerated properly after being caught; tuna is followed  by oysters (132), which being eaten raw pose more of a risk, mainly through two sources of infection: norovirus or vibrio. At number five comes potatoes (108), not from the tuber itself but due to cross contamination in potato salads (mayonnaise). Responsible for 83 outbreaks, cheese is number six on the list, mainly through unpasteurized cheeses such as feta, camembert and brie (more likely to be infected with Listeria, according to the report) which is the reason why pregnant women are advised to avoid soft cheeses, due to the fact that they are twenty times more like to succumb to this illness. Number seven: ice cream (75 outbreaks). Salmonella and staphylococcus bacteria are the main causes of infections - in 1994 thousands of people across 41 states became ill with salmonella from a batch of ice cream. Places eight, nine and ten in the list are surprisingly occupied by tomatoes (salmonella, getting into the druit through its root system or norovirus entering through damaged skin); bean sprouts (e.coli and salmonella flourish in the warm and moist environments in which they grow) and finally, berries (Hepatitis A virus, Cyclospora parasite infection). Food safety experts recommend the 5 Cs: clean, cook, combat cross contamination, chill...and fundamentally, use your common sense. * http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition-pictures/top-ten-food-contamination-culprits.aspx Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru  Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:22:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2083A recent study shows that in the United States of America, the number of girls reaching puberty by the age of seven has doubled in the last decade. Scientists are still investigating the reasons, but early conclusions point towards obesity and the ingestion of chemicals which mimic the female hormone, oestrogen.                                   Research conducted by a team of American scientists* and revealed in the study "Pubertal Assessment Method and Baseline Characteristics in a Mixed Longitudinal Study of Girls", published in Pediatrics, the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, shows startling revelations: namely that the number of white girls reaching puberty by seven has doubled since the year 1997.Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:13:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2082Gone are the days when an elderly lady could take a leisurely stroll on a Summer evening, take a bus ride to the nearest city and come back at dusk or go to visit a grandchild by train. Forty years ago, such activities were a normal part of life. Today in 2010, they can be a death sentence.                             This article does not refer to any particular country, city, town, village of community but is composed based on reports from communities across the USA, Europe, Latin America and even certain cities in Asia. Wherever they are, it is supposed that readers will feel, how true it is and what is happening to our society?  Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:07:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2081                        The buzz-words of the moment are Naomi Campbell and blood diamonds, Cristiano Ronaldo and his troupe of girlfriends and the (sickeningly close) new soccer season. However, where is the story about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Niger? (Where?) where 670,000 children are at risk of starving to death and eight million people need emergency food assistance?Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2079  Thank You, Comandante! Today Fidel Castro can enjoy his 84th birthday, having recovered totally from the poor health which forced him to step down as President of the Council of State in 2006. More than wishing him a Happy Birthday, it is the right occasion to say Thank You, Comandante as the free world celebrates alongside its hero, hopefully for many more years to come. Place "Fidel" in any search engine - one word - and see the result. For some reason it must be. And for some reason, today August 13, not only Fidel Castro, but millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of this intercontinental hero. Fidel Castro Ruz inherited a poor country with a largely illiterate population, 600,000 people were endemically unemployed, 500,000 farmers lived in makeshift huts, most of the rural population had work on the plantations for four months of the year. Two per cent of the population had access to running water, 43% were illiterate and 14% suffered from tuberculosis. After Fidel Castro took power in January 1959, a road-building program was started,  medicine prices were cut and the casinos were turned into schools as a massive education program was undertaken, taking Cuba to the status of leader among American and Caribbean countries in educational standards. The Agrarian Reform laws redistributed land, women were liberated by the Federation of Cuban Women, which launched programs to bring women into the workplace, and in 1975, for the first time in the country's history, the Family Code stipulated that men and women were equal before the law. An excellent healthcare system was built; Cuba has the second-best doctor to patient ratio in the world (1:170), Cuban hospitals provide world class service in a number of areas of medicine to growing numbers of foreign nationals. In sports, with limited resources and despite the USA's inhuman and inhumane blockade, Cuba ranked ninth in the world at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. However, Fidel Castro did not restrict his ideas and ideals to Cuba, but internationalised his Revolution, bringing freedom and affordable public services to millions of people around the globe. Tens of thousands of Cuban medical aid workers provide services in over 70 countries in America, Africa, Oceania and Asia; Fidel and Cuba have championed the causes of HIV/AIDS awareness, gay rights, anti-imperialism, the end to world hunger, reforestation and sustainable green development, among others and Fidel was one of the first world leaders to call for a cancellation of Third World Debt. Cuba's Escuela Latino Americana de Medicina in Havana is attended by 9.000 students from around the world who train - for free- to be the doctors and nurses of tomorrow. Education, development and healthcare programmes have been exported to scores of developing countries, with costs supported by Cuba, despite the blockade, for decades, since the internationalisation program in 1963. Cuban troops fought alongside their African brothers in the independence movements in numerous African states, such as Namibia (where Fidel is considered a national hero), Angola, Tanzania and Sierra Leone, bringing freedom to millions of oppressed people. Among the many awards Fidel Castro has earned are numerous Honoris Causa doctorates proffered by European and Latin American Universities, the World Health Organization's Health for All Award in 1998, the Lenin Peace Prize in 1961 and the Russian Writers' Union Mikhail Sholokhov Prize in 1995. Fidel Castro Ruz resigned formally and definitively in 2008, stating he did not have the health or physical mobility which his position required, stepping upstairs into the position of senior statesman, writing his weekly column, advising not only his Government as General Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party but by keeping abreast of international events, also informing the international community of what is going on behind the scenes at this dangerous moment in world history. A founder and champion of Intervention Journalism, Fidel is as lethal with the pen as he was with the AK-47. Today he calls for peace, bridge-building, debate and dialogue, the fundamental precepts of democracy. For all of this, we say not only Happy Birthday, Comandante, but also Thank You, as we celebrate with you, with the good news that your health has improved. It is not surprising that the international press does not mention one single Cuban development program or one single success in social and economic development. Those who control the information stand outside the party and remain outside the embrace of the collective goodwill of humanity, today centred very much around the figure of Fidel Castro Ruz on his 84th birthday. Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru  Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:32:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2080                              Dozens of mysterious deaths in the Venezuelan rainforest among indigenous peoples caused two University of California researchers to investigate. Dementia, fever, extreme hydrophobia... the results of their investigation are horrifying: man-attacks by vampire bats infected with rabies.Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:31:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2078With the beginning of Ramadan, the Ninth Month of the Islamic Calendar, come hot debates, as to whether Moslems should be allowed to slit the throats of sheep in public, to make the call to prayer (Adhan) in non-Moslem communities, to build a Mosque near Ground Zero. Religion provides an excellent banner for an "us and them" conflict, where the higher the value of the "them", the greater the justification of "us". While sport, and particularly soccer, constitute an easy-to-grasp graphic opportunity to associate with one side or the other on a primary level (the colours of many soccer teams are the primary red, blue or green), religion, being supra-human, is that much more powerful a vehicle to define who we are, how we behave and what we believe. There is a reason for everything - the reference to religion or health after the sneeze (it was the first sign of Bubonic Plague), the covering of the mouth during the yawn (so that the soul does not escape and the Devil does not enter), the superstition surrounding Friday 13 (Jesus was crucified on a Friday and there were 13 people at the Last Supper). And there is a reason for religion, namely to temper the human spirit of ambition, so necessary for our survival; the notion was created that there is something superior to us, so whoever you are and however high you might be, there is something even greater and your end will be the same as the beggar on the street. Note the words "our" and "us" because if within religions rules are drawn for behaviour within a certain society (this is what we do and we meet regularly to stress the point) then on a planetary scale we are all equal before God, or before Mother Nature. This message does not go down very well with those who wish to perpetuate conflict by abusing religion, whether it be Islamist blasphemers who warp the noble precepts of the Koran, Jewish Zealots who are criticised in the Talmud, or Christian Crusaders civilizing the world with the Bible and the Bullet (against every single norm in the New Testament) - or crying out against the construction of the Mosque near 9/11. And the fuel for the fires of these bigots is ignorance, which leads us to the premise that education and religion must go hand in hand, that development and not deployment are the key words involved in crisis management and to the premise that the mix of ignorance and religion is as lethal as it is manipulative, as dangerous as it may be appealing, for some. Therefore with the start of Ramadan, it is important that people understand its finer cultural and social aspects. Ramadan is basically a concentration upon God, a month of fasting between dawn and dusk, a month of prayer and introspection, and a month of charity. It is a month of giving. It was the month in which the first verses of the Koran were revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. Charity and Peace are fundamental aspects of the Islamic faith. Abuse of religious texts and bad journalism create sweeping nonsensical beliefs that Islamic is the same as Islamist (extremists) while the reality is that the supposed perpetrators of 9/11 were the antithesis of the religion they were supposed to have defended. In religions terms, 9/11 does not make sense. And here we reach the crux of the matter: obviously, religions should be a convergence of cultures and not a clash of creeds. And that is why, along with education, common sense comes into the equation. The words of President Barack Obama regarding the issue surrounding the construction of a Mosque near Ground Zero sum up the way in which the civilized and educated world should think: "This is America and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable" However, discipline and doctrine can create flash points, and these are the chink in the armour so easy to exploit by those who foster their own position through the manipulation of religion. How provocative is it, or how provocative should it be, for a woman to wear a burqah in public, in Afghanistan, in Tel Aviv, in Paris? Or for a muezzin to call out the Adhan, loudly, at first light, in Riyadh, in Tanger, in Madrid? Or for the right to perform the Thabiha (ritual slaughter of an animal) on a lamb in Damascus, or Detroit, or Moscow? Or indeed how provocative is it for that infernal din of the church bells on a Sunday morning to wake those Saturday night revellers...in London, in Tirana or in Cairo? "Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia" (I am myself and what surrounds me) said Ortega y Gasset. I believe that by leaving it here, the words of this Spanish philosopher and writer have said it all. Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru  Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:40:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2077Brazilian striker Robinho is rumoured to be set for a move. Where to? Turkey and Germany figure among the most favoured destinations according to the latest soccer gossip as the new season gets under way. Absent from the 0-0 draw between his club Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur FC in the English premier League, Brazilian striker Robinho is said to be on the move, destined for Fenerbaçhe in Turkey or Schalke 04 in Germany. According to French soccer edition L'Equipe, Schalke 04 coack Felix Magath wants Robinho to team up with his former colleague from Real Madrid, Raul. Robinho, 26, who played a master game for Brazil in last weeks' 2-0 win away to the United States of America, has had difficulty in finding form at City, the club he joined two seasons ago in a 42-million Euro deal from Real Madrid, where he teamed up with Raul and played together for three years. The deal with Schalke, according to the French publication, would be worth 25 million Euro. Meanwhile the championships are off. In England, Chelsea got off to a 6-0 start, a thrashing of West Bromwich Albion, one of those clubs too big for the second tier and often not quite good enough for the first. Drogba scored a hat-trick, Malouda 2 goals and Lampard one. In France, while Toulouse and Caen have both scored maximum points from the first two games, Marseilles, Bordeaux and Arles-Avignon have yet to get a draw even. In Russia, Zenit was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Dinamo Moskva but retains the leadership by a comfortable margin. Russian Premier League Tom 1 - Krylya Sovetov 1; Zenit 1 Dinamo Moskva 1; Saturn 0 Rostov 2; Spartak Nalchik 4 Sibir 2; Amkar Perm 1 Alania 0; CSKA Moskva 4 Anzhi 0; Terek Grozni 1 Rubin 1; Lokomotiv Moskva 2 - Spartak Moskva 3 Classification After 17 games unless stated 1 - FC Zenit St. Petersburg (16 games, 40 points); 2 - CSKA Moskva (16,33); 3 - FC Rubin Kazan (33); 4 - Spartak Nalchik (31); 5 - FC Rostov (28); 6 - Lokomotiv Moskva (23); 7 - Spartak Moskva (16, 23); 8 - FC Tom Tomsk (22); 9 - FC Terek Grozny (21); 10 - FC Saturn (20); 11 - FC Dinamo Moskva (16, 20); 12 - FC Anzhi Makhachkala (19); 13 - FC Alania Vladikavkaz (18); 14 - FC Amkar Perm (15); 15 - PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara (12); 16 - FC Sibir Novosibirsk (9). Aleksei FEDEROV PRAVDA.Ru  Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:31:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2075Dmitry Medvedev's initiative on the transition to energy-saving lights is supported by 55 percent of Russians. This data is from a survey conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTIOM). The majority of residents endorsing the president were from the Urals (69 percent), residents of medium-sized cities (59%) and highly educated respondents (64 percent). A quarter of the respondents (25 percent) responded negatively to this initiative. Those who favor the transition to energy-saving lights, argue, first of all, that they are more economical. The second leading reason - to save money. Among other reasons - the «obsolescence» of incandescent lights, a longer period of use for energy saving bulbs, the brightness of light and environmental friendliness. Opponents do not approve of the refusal of incandescent lights, explaining their attitude is mainly due to the high price of energy saving lights (35 percent). Many of the respondents in this group believe that the new lights are harmful to health (20 percent). According to the poll, most Russians recognize the importance of energy conservation: 38 percent believe that this is a priority task that requires an immediate solution, and 42 per cent say although regard it as a serious problem, but only in conditions of crisis, the idea is to focus on other more pressing issues. Lisa KARPOVA PRAVDA.Ru  Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:59:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2074                          However incredible it may seem, there are people who are using Russia's wildfires - all 600 of them - to try to provide tinder to fuel the flames of politics. Such is the case in the amazingly derogatory article by political analyst Yulia Latyina in the Moscow Times, "Putin Sang Songs While Russia Burned".Sun, 8 Aug 2010 17:02:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2073                                    In his most recent "Reflections", Fidel Castro Ruz spoke of the growing secrecy over-ruling Washington's foreign policy, a secrecy which gives rise to the notion that a sinister cloud is looming over the horizon of international relations, while in the Middle East the stakes are raised almost daily and the prospect of a nuclear war sees its status raised from chatter to newspaper articles.Sun, 8 Aug 2010 16:45:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2072              It is official: FC Chelsea and Portugal midfield player Deco is going to play for Fluminese in Brazil, according to both clubs. Deco's name is no longer in the first team squad and Stamford Bridge has issued a statement confirming yesterday's claim by Fluminese that the player has returned to his country of origin. Anderson Luis de Souza (Deco), 32, awarded with the Portuguese Ordem de Dom Henrique, Brazilian, naturalized Portuguese, has returned to Brazil after a 13-year career in Europe's top clubs which saw him also play 75 games for Portugal (5 goals).Sun, 8 Aug 2010 16:38:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2071Ever since President Lula won the first of his two Presidential elections in 2002, Brazil has grown from strength to strength, while his social policies targeted the poor, bringing millions out of poverty and from welfare to workfare, contributing towards the economy. Today Brazil has proudly announced that it has surpassed the average world GDP per capita. Do we pay attention to the sunshine today or the clouds on tomorrow's horizon?                                     Precisely ten years ago, for the first time in my life I felt first-hand the significance of buying power: with ten thousand dollars in cash in my pocket, I could have bought the entire contents of most small and medium-sized shops I entered in Brazil. Ten years ago, a Brazilian emigrant could come to Europe, earn the minimum salary, five years later return to Brazil and if not live like a king, had his life sorted out in terms of a house and a business.Mon, 2 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2070                                Women's rights are high on the international agenda as the world moves towards a more egalitarian model, finally creating and respecting gender equality and the empowerment of women. As regards AIDS, what is the situation involving women in particular and the population in general, in the Russian Federation, CIS countries and in the international community? PRAVDA.Ru presents its exclusive interview*. 1. PRAVDA.Ru What is the situation in the Russian Federation regarding the AIDS epidemic?  Mon, 2 Aug 2010 22:55:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2069Is Israeli President Shimon Peres stupid, senile, arrogant or insensitive? In the Tablet interview given last week to an Israeli journalist, Israel's President stated categorically that there is an "anti-Semitism" element involved in policymaking by the British Establishment. However, as Israel's President should know, the term "anti-Semitic" is a non-entity, a misnomer, an expression used and abused by pathologically sensitive elements in the Israeli establishment.                                         By definition, as Shimon Peres should know, a Semite is a person who speaks a Semitic language, including Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Tigre. So the term "anti-Semitic" is per se, nonsense, an idiotic phrase coined by those who wish to capitalise on a feeling of collective guilt or collective blame, gaining points at the expense of history's pogroms against the Jews.Mon, 2 Aug 2010 22:49:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2068Tradition or act of cruelty? Spanish or Catalan custom? These two questions were answered today by the people of Catalonia - or rather, by their Parliament, the result of a petition taken to the legislative assembly with 180,000 signatures calling for the abolition. The result has brought about mixed feelings in Catalonia in particular and Spain in general.                             The bullfighting ban in Catalonia comes into effect in January 2012. Is this the first in a wave of campaigns which will ban the "corrida" (bullfight) in the whole of Spain? Tensions are high, arguments are heated in this country, where the ancient tradition of fighting the bull employs thousands of people directly or indirectly.Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2067The recent meeting of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) in Lisbon, Portugal was focused on a new role for women and the media in solving problems in facilitating dialogue and breaking down social barriers, such as hate-fuelled stereotypes as a first step towards meaningful dialogue with practical results.                               UN Security Council Resolution 1325 taken one decade ago this month stressed the urgent need for women to be given equal participation and full involvement in matters of peace and security, due to the fact that women and children are frequently the victims of conflict and because of "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building".Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:56:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2066India's telecom revolution is bearing fruit, propelling this South Asian giant to new frontiers as a pioneer of worldwide digital inclusion, furthering equal opportunities, creating the conditions for every child to have access to knowledge and the chance of an education - as a birthright.                         India's new machine is a low-cost computing and access device, unveiled on Thursday in New Delhi. At an initial cost of just Rs 1,500 (35 USD), a figure which could fall as low as 10 dollars in the near future, according to the Indian Ministry of Education. Based on the Linux operating system, the prototype includes an Internet browser, a PDF reader, touch screen, videoconference capacity and the design permits the user to add new functions.Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:50:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2065                        Dilma Roussef, backed by Lula Ever since President Lula won the first of his two Presidential elections in 2002, Brazil has grown from strength to strength, while his social policies targeted the poor, bringing millions out of poverty and from welfare to workfare, contributing towards the economy. Today Brazil has proudly announced that it has surpassed the average world GDP per capita. Do we pay attention to the sunshine today or the clouds on tomorrow's horizon?Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:40:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2064                                    What exactly is going on in the Gulf of Mexico? When there are reports of media blackouts, then the natural reaction is to start investigating, and in the current environmental catastrophe, the more stones one turns, the more horrific the potential scenario becomes. While scare mongering is as pointless as it is dangerous, the truth remains that the media have the duty to inform.Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:56:00 +0400http://www.moscowtopnews.com/?area=postView&id=2063                The United States Senate has called for Britain to hold a full and independent enquiry into whether BP lobbied for the release of the Libyan held in Scotland over the Lockerbie bombing. This position reveals two things: ignorance (the jurisdiction was not a British question, but a Scottish one) and arrogance (suppose the Senate held an independent inquiry into the Iraq War as Britain has done?)Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:50:00 +0400