China's barbaric one-child policy
For more than 30 years, China has upheld a strict one-child policy. And despite the country's growing prosperity, novelist Ma Jian discovered that ruthless squads still brutally enforce the law with vast fines – and compulsory sterilisations and abortions
In China, procreation and childbirth are, like every facet of human life, deeply political. Since the Communist party came to power in 1949, it has viewed the country's population as a faceless number that it can increase or decrease as it chooses, not a society of individuals with unique desires and inviolable rights. At first, Mao Zedong encouraged large families and outlawed abortion and the use of contraception, urging women to produce offspring who would boost the workforce and the ranks of the People's Liberation Army. My mother dutifully gave birth to five children. Our neighbour, Mrs Wang, produced 11, and was declared a "Heroine Mother" by the local authorities and given a large red rosette to pin to her lapel.
The shadow of anti-semitism falls on Europe once more as Hungary's far-fight Jobbik party protests against World Jewish Congress meeting in Budapest
Jewish leaders gather in Budapest to highlight rising extremism and the failure of Hungary's PM to tackle it
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The Hungarian government struggled to counter allegations of institutionalised anti-Semitism on Sunday after the country's far-right Jobbik party staged a mass rally in the capital Budapest in protest against a meeting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in the city.
The WJC usually holds its assembly in Jerusalem. But it chose Budapest for its meeting, which began yesterday, to highlight what it claims is growing anti-Semitism and a rise in support for the far right in Europe, where the economic crisis is fuelling distrust in mainstream political parties.
LIBYA
Libya parliament bans Gadhafi officials from government posts
Libya's parliament has passed a law banning officials who served under ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi from government posts. The law could affect many of the country's new leaders.
The General National Congress (GNC), Libya's elected parliament, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the law. Out of 200 lawmakers present, 164 voted in favor and four against.
Given its broad scope and vague wording the Political Isolation Law could even affect Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, (pictured above), a diplomat under Gadhafi who defected to the exiled opposition in 1980. Many of these officials played key roles in the uprising that overthrew the former ruler who controlled Libya for 42 years. They will be banned from government positions for 10 years.
Venezuela says detained American using a front
May 6, 2013 - 3:54PM
Charlie Devereux
A US man held in Venezuela on suspicion of espionage was playing the part of a documentary filmmaker to penetrate the government's circle of supporters, interior minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said on Sunday.
Timothy Tracy, 35, was arrested at Caracas airport while leaving the country and charged on April 27 with conspiracy, use of false documents and association with delinquency.
The government said he was financing opposition groups to generate violence after an election on April 14, but his lawyer said he was making a documentary about political divisions in Venezuela.
"When you want to do intelligence work in another country, like all of those big intelligence agencies that do espionage work, you use a facade of being a filmmaker, a photographer or journalist because that way you can enter anywhere," Mr Rodriguez said in an interview on Televen in Caracas.
6 May 2013 Last updated at 01:28 GMT
Top directors on future of Indian cinema
Four top Bollywood filmmakers - Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee and Zoya Akhtar - have made Bombay Talkies, a film which pays homage to 100 years of Indian cinema. They tell the BBC how Bollywood will evolve over the next decade. Excerpts:
ANURAG KASHYAP
Our cinema is becoming more artistic, aesthetic and edgier.
We are heading in a direction where the filmmaker is becoming more individualistic about his work. It is not pure commerce anymore.
You also see directors making different kinds of films.
They are coming from small towns. Places like Meerut and Malegaon have their own film industries. Bihar state has at least four towns that have their own industries. Directors are shooting on home video, making DVDs and showing their work locally.
Then there are people making short films and putting them on YouTube. I like the way our cinema is moving.
Lingering problems threaten image of a 'new Brazil'
As Brazil prepares to host the World Cup and Olympics, it still faces logistical, infrastructure and security issues.
By Vincent Bevins, Los Angeles Times
RIO DE JANEIRO — After 2 1/2 years of renovations, Rio's legendary Maracana soccer stadium reopened to much fanfare in late April. Brazilian legends including Ronaldo played in a test match before an audience composed mostly of the workers who rebuilt the 78,000-capacity temple tofutebol that will be the flagship venue for next year's World Cup.
The launch was deemed a success — and allowed officials to breathe a sigh of relief before they begin to worry again about Brazil's preparations for two of the world's biggest sporting events, the World Cup in 2014 and the Rio Olympics in 2016.
In the last month, a worker died during construction of a stadium in Sao Paulo, and two other stadiums, including Maracana, missed a deadline set by the international soccer organization, FIFA, to be ready for June's Confederations Cup tournament.
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