Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

• Portuguese state broadcaster blames news chief for police access to unaired protest footage - The Washington Post

  "Portugal’s state broadcaster is blaming its head of news for allowing police to privately view raw footage captured during violent clashes with anti-austerity protesters outside Parliament earlier this month. The revelation that the police had access to the footage has prompted concerns about the safety of journalists as well as the broadcaster’s independence. It remains unclear whether any laws were broken."

  tags: portugal protest antiausterity europeanunion europe

• Israel calls its own bluff on the Palestinian Authority's UN bid

  "As Adam Shatz aptly put it in the London Review of Books, the arrangement Israel and the PA have is nothing short of extraordinary: "the security forces of a country under occupation are being subcontracted by third parties outside the region to prevent resistance to the occupying power, even as that power continues to grab more land." Both the US and Israel have no interest in disturbing that arrangement.  "

  tags: israel colonialism imperialism palestine independence

• Groups fear US rivals’ cheaper gas boost - FT.com

  "Concerns among European companies over the rising gap with US rivals in their cost of energy is mounting with two leading business groups raising alarm over the issue. The European Union’s focus on pushing up use of renewable energy has led to sharp increases in energy costs in Europe, according to a “manufacturing manifesto” drawn up by Orgalime and Ceemet, two Brussels-based trade associations that represent 200,000 companies across the continent."

  tags: europe unitedstates gas oil competitiveness energy inputs manufacturing

• Turkey lifts headscarf ban in religious schools

  "Turkey has lifted a ban on female students wearing headscarves in schools providing religious education, in a move drawing criticism from secularists who see it as fresh evidence of the government pushing an Islamic agenda. Education has been one of the main battlegrounds between religious conservatives, who form the bedrock of support for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, and secular opponents who accuse him of imposing Islamic values by stealth."

  tags: turkey religion laicism secularism

• Bahraini MP escapes punitive action after burning Israeli flag in parliament

  "A Bahraini lawmaker, who set the Israeli flag alight in parliament last week in protest against Israeli aggression on Gaza, has narrowly escaped punitive action by other MPs, a newspaper reported. Bahraini MP, Osama Al-Tamimi, smuggled in fuel in parliament to torch the Israeli flag without any warning, the UAE-based Gulf News reported Wednesday."

  tags: bahrain israel protest gcc politics

• Egypt speeds vote on draft constitution - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

  "A divisive panel boycotted by liberals and Christians was set to rush out a draft new Egyptian constitution as protests mounted over the political future nearly two years after Hosni Mubarak's overthrow. President Mohamed Morsi had just last week given the constituent assembly an additional two months until February to complete its work."

  tags: egypt protest resistance morsi muslimbrotherhood constitution

• U.S. vows to vote against Palestinian U.N. statehood bid

  "The United States reaffirmed Wednesday that it intends to vote against a Palestinian request for enhanced status at the United Nations. “We intend to vote no.... We think this is a mistake,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. “We oppose this move altogether.”"

  tags: israel colonialism palestine protest unitedstates obama

• Saudi King Abdullah appears for first time since Nov. 17 surgery

  "Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Azizi appeared on television on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing a back surgery on Nov. 17. In pictures broadcast on state television, the monarch, who is in his late 80s, looked in good health as he was shown receiving members of the royal family in Riyadh. "

  tags: saudiarabia ksa gcc king monarchy succession politics

• Hey Europe! Want someone to build your roads? Forget the bank—go talk to…a pension fund? - Quartz

  "After a US-led financial crisis and a euro-area sovereign debt crisis, European banks have drastically reduced lending to people and companies. Traditional business activity has slowly begun to dry up even in northern and western Europe as the crisis drags on and banks deleverage. Even the most stable of companies and projects are having trouble getting financing. At the same time, investors have thrown their capital into the safest places they can find: US Treasuries, German bunds, Scandinavian real estate, and Swiss francs, to name a few of the choicest assets. Consequently, these assets are now giving extremely low yields. What this adds up to is a perfect marriage of excess funding and opportunity. Institutional investors that seek stable returns and are willing to invest for the long term, such as pension funds and insurance companies, are looking for more profitable places to park their money, just as governments, utility companies and the like are hungry for financing."

  tags: finance infrastructure pensions investments europe unitedstates

• UFOs over Denver are insects

  "As a skeptic and an astronomer, I’m sometimes asked what it would take for me to believe in UFOs (in this case, meaning alien spaceships). I usually say, “One landing on my front lawn.” But what don’t convince me are blurry photos and unreliable eyewitness testimony. Unfortunately, the media make my job a lot harder. I’ve seen local news reports and TV shows identifying all kinds of things as a UFO, including Venus, Jupiter, and once even bits of seed fluff from trees."

  tags: random ufo denver unitedstates media

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