Six In The Morning Sunday May 18

In Brazil, labor protests ramp up as World Cup nears

VINCENT BEVINS

A month before the start of the World Cup soccer tournament, organized labor groups across Brazil have begun a series of strikes and other protests for higher pay and better working conditions.

Associations of police officers, teachers, transportation workers, public employees and security guards have all left their posts or engaged in demonstrations, joining groups of homeless people and political activists also taking to the streets as the June 12 kickoff of the FIFA competition looms.

China evacuates 3,000 nationals from Vietnam as conflict simmers

Vietnamese government clamps down on demonstrations after attacks on Chinese and other foreign businesses

• Kate Hodal in Ho Chi Minh City, and agencies
• theguardian.com, Sunday 18 May 2014 04.28 BST

China has evacuated more than 3,000 of its nationals from Vietnam, state media reported on Sunday, after a wave of anti-China unrest following Beijing's deployment of an oil rig in contested waters.

But the anti-China protests planned for Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City, originally sanctioned by the Vietnamese government, were quickly stopped by scores of uniformed and secret police.

Armed with batons and walkie talkies, they contained the small group of protesters holding up notebook-sized banners reading "Vietnam is small but no coward" and chanting "Vietnam! Vietnam!".

PATRICK COCKBURN

Sunday 18 May 2014

This spread of 'holy fascism' is a disaster

World View: 'Wahhabisation' is being used against other Muslims and Christians alike to subjugate women and crush dissent

Earlier this month, Saudi liberal activist Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, 10 years in prison and a heavy fine for insulting Islam. In fact, his crime was to establish an online discussion forum where people were free to speak about religion and criticise religious scholars.

He had been charged with "apostasy" in 2012, because of his writings and for hosting discussion on his Saudi Arabian Liberals website, and was sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes but on appeal a heavier sentence was imposed.

Mr Badawi will appeal against the verdict, but it is complicated by the fact that his lawyer and brother-in-law, Waleed Abulkhair, is himself in jail.

Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau: the Man Who Would Be Africa's Bin Laden

BY ROBERT WINDREM

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau wants to be Africa's Osama Bin Laden, and has ratcheted up his anti-American rhetoric in an effort to spread his influence globally, according to a more-nuanced profile of him developed since he orchestrated the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls more than a month ago.

U.S. counterterrorism officials and terrorism experts say that Shekau, whose age is unknown and background mysterious, has developed a sophisticated media operation aimed at helping him achieve that goal. But they are divided on his ability to become an influential leader of militant Islam, with some calling him mentally unstable while others argue he is “crazy like a fox.”

Pyongyang building collapse leaves many casualties

 

By JUNG-YOON CHOI1 hour ago

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean officials offered a rare public apology for the collapse of an apartment building under construction in Pyongyang, which a South Korean official said was believed to have caused considerable casualties that could mean hundreds might have died.

The word of the collapse in the secretive nation's capital was reported Sunday morning by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, which gave no death toll but said that the accident was "serious" and upset North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.


Pulp Fiction: 20 years on

Two decades ago, Quentin Tarantino’s ultra-violent comedy-thriller changed cinema. But was that for good or ill?

NICHOLAS BARBER

 

 

Sunday 18 May 2014

20 years ago this month, Quentin Tarantino’s second film, Pulp Fiction, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. And that was just the beginning: the $8 million production went on to gross over $200 million worldwide, while at the 1995 Oscars Tarantino and his co-writer, Roger Avary, won for their screenplay, and the film itself earned a Best Picture nomination.

Its competitors? Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Quiz Show and The Shawshank Redemption. That’s a stronger selection than most of the period’s Best Picture shortlists, but it’s clear that Pulp Fiction was in a different universe from its fellow nominees. It was a non-linear anthology of three stories, with an additional prologue and epilogue. It contained shocking bloodshed alongside snappy screwball banter. And it featured a cast of criminal low-lifes who gave as much thought to discussing foot massages as they did to shooting dead their victims.