BAM -New York City Opera's Powder Her Face, Feb 06, 2013

 "New York City Opera
Composed by Thomas Adés
Conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer
Directed by Jay Scheib

Inspired by the real-life sex scandal that rocked Britain in the early 60s, English composer Thomas Adès' 1995 chamber opera returns to BAM 15 years after its New York premiere at the BAM Majestic Theater (now the BAM Harvey Theater).  In this new production from New York City Opera, director Jay Scheib presents his genre-defying vision, integrating technology and daring physicality to this modern opera that plays off the public's obsession with the tabloid controversy surrounding a series of Polaroid photos of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, dubbed the “Dirty Duchess."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - Dark Matter: Experiment to shed light on dark particles, Feb 06, 2013

 "In a man-made cavern, deep beneath a mountain, scientists are hoping to shed light on one of the most mysterious substances in our Universe - dark matter.
The Gran Sasso National Laboratory seems more like a Bond villain's lair than a hub for world class physics.
It's buried under the highest peak of Italy's Gran Sasso mountain range; the entrance concealed behind a colossal steel door found halfway along a tunnel that cuts through the mountain."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - Who, What, Why: What is the method for reconstructing Richard III's face? Feb 06, 2013

 "Bones found in a Leicester car park have been confirmed by DNA testing as those of Richard III. But what was the technique scientists used to reconstruct his face?
The only thing scientists had to go on was a skull. No portraits of the king done during his reign survive.
And yet scientists have built a model of Richard III's face. How?
Richard died in 1485 but his bones are well preserved. This doesn't surprise anthropologists as in the right conditions - soil with low acidity and few bugs - bones remain pristine for thousands of years.
The team of scientists at Dundee University doing the facial reconstruction never got near the bones. They were sent CT scans and photographs of the skull, which they ran through a computer programme.
At this point no-one knew if it was Richard III or not, says Caroline Wilkinson, Dundee University's professor of craniofacial identification. It was crucial to ignore any existing preconceptions about what Richard looked like. The shape of the face had to be based entirely on the scans."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - The Indian women pushed into hysterectomies, Feb 06, 2013

 "Thousands of Indian women are having their wombs removed in operations that campaigners say are unnecessary and only performed to make money for unscrupulous private doctors.
Sunita is uncertain of her exact age but thinks she's about 25 years old. I met her in a small village in Rajasthan, north-west India, surrounded by chewing cattle and birdsong. She was covered in jewellery, from a nose-stud and rings to bangles which jangled when she gestured with her hand.
Her face hardens when she tells me about her operation.
"I went to the clinic because I had heavy bleeding during menstruation," she says.
"The doctor did an ultrasound and said I might develop cancer. He rushed me into having a hysterectomy that same day.""

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - Tunisian politician Chokri Belaid shot dead in Tunis, Feb 06, 2013

 "Tunisian opposition politician Chokri Belaid has been shot dead outside his home in the capital, Tunis.
Relatives say Mr Belaid was shot in the neck and head on his way to work.
He was a prominent secular opponent of the moderate Islamist-led government and his assassination has sparked protests in towns around the country.
President Moncef Marzouki has cut short a visit to France and cancelled a scheduled appearance at a summit in Egypt to return home."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - France action in Mali is real war, says Le Drian, Feb 06, 2013

 "French forces are embroiled in a "real war" with "terrorists" around the Malian town of Gao, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said.
Islamist militants were swept from Gao last month, but Mr Le Drian said clashes were continuing in the area.
French forces were deployed nearly a month ago to combat al-Qaeda-linked militants who had taken over Mali's desert northern regions.
Paris says it wants to begin pulling out its 4,000 troops in March.
The Mali militants have been routed and cleared from most of the population centres."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - CIA operating drone base in Saudi Arabia, US media reveal, Feb 06, 2013

 "The US Central Intelligence Agency has been operating a secret airbase for unmanned drones in Saudi Arabia for the past two years.
The facility was established to hunt for members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen.
A drone flown from there was used in September 2011 to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric who was alleged to be AQAP's external operations chief.
US media have known of its existence since then, but have not reported it.
Senior government officials had said they were concerned that disclosure would undermine operations against AQAP, as well as potentially damage counter-terrorism collaboration with Saudi Arabia.
The US military pulled out virtually all of its troops from Saudi Arabia in 2003, having stationed between 5,000 and 10,000 troops in the Gulf kingdom after the 1991 Gulf war. Only personnel from the United States Military Training Mission (USMTM) officially remain."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

IB TIMES - 8.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Solomon Islands, Feb 06, 2013

"The quake occurred at a depth nearly 3.6 miles (5.8 km) close to the Santa Cruz Islands, which are part of the Solomon Islands nation, according to the USGS. This was later revised to a much deeper 17 miles (28.7 km).
The epicenter of the quake occurred 347 km east of Kira Kira in the Solomons, Reuters added.
A three-foot wave hit the island of Lata, and One News of New Zealand quoted the director of nursing at Lata Hospital, Augustine Bilve, saying some villages have been destroyed by the tsunami.
"According to the information I have there are three villages close to Lata, but it's more likely that other villages along the coast of Santa Cruz would also be affected.""

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

TRIBUNE - World welcomes 2013 in rolling New Year’s party, Jan 02, 2013

 "NEW YORK: A million people cheered in New York’s Times Square Tuesday, as the traditional crystal ball dropped to mark the start of 2013, bringing a rolling global New Year’s party that kicked off in Australia to US shores.
An estimated one billion television viewers around the world also watched the Big Apple extravaganza, which climaxed when the mayor, aided by a bevy of Rockettes dancers, sent the huge, glittering ball down at one minute to midnight, sparking kissing and dancing."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

DANIEL - IRIMIA - Video: Alien Invasion in 2012? Three huge UFOs heading to Earth! Arrival expected in December! Dec 26, 2012

 "Americans want to know everything about aliens and summon President Obama to tell the truth. Thousands of Americans have signed a petition asking the White House to disclose the so-called “X files”.
More and more people are convinced that the U.S. government has information about a possible alien invasion, which could take place in December 2012."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

RADIO TIMES - Christmas 2012: best TV on today, Wednesday 26 December, Dec 26, 2012

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012, Dec 26, 2012

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

THE WORLD - Israel Kills Head of Hamas Military Wing, Nov 15, 2012

 "The head of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, has been killed during a series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
He and another senior Hamas official died when the car they were traveling in was hit in Gaza City.
Israel says it’s the start of a broader operation, fueling concerns about a larger conflict."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

SODAHEAD - President Barack Obama WINS Reelection, Nov 15, 2012

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

THE JOURNAL - Venice flooded as 200 evacuated in Tuscany, Nov 15, 2012

 "FLOODWATERS DRENCHED MOST of the tourist destination of Venice and led to the evacuation of 200 people in Tuscany, as bad weather hit northern Italy at the weekend, authorities said today."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

PETITION SITE - Please help stop September 15 deadline for death of Harp Seals at Aquarium des Iles, Quebec, Canada, Sep 13, 2012

 "We are writing to urge you and your organizations to take immediate steps to help save the lives of Zak and Mika, two captive 6-month old Harp Seals pups. They were captured from the wild this spring as newborn pups by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO-MPO) for the purpose of providing them to the Aquarium des Iles in Quebec for tourism display."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Consumers International - Are consumer groups heading for extinction? Sep 13, 2012

 "Following the CIVICUS World Assembly, CI’s Luke Upchurch reflects on the relevance of consumer groups in a changing civil society.
Last week’s three-day CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal, Canada was a heated, energetic affair, reflecting a civil society movement grappling with its place in a rapidly changing world.
This year’s event brought together civil society organisations from across the globe to look at defining a new social contract. Following Rio+20, Occupy, the Arab Spring and the EU/US economic crisis, many of the organisations present at the event were questioning the role and relevance of traditional civil society organisations - something the consumer rights movement itself must do.As consumers turn to user-generated sources of information about products and services; as single-issue groups take on traditional consumer rights issues; and as online activism challenges the conventional thinking around what constitutes action, our movement is left wondering what it can offer the next generation of consumer rights advocates."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

VOGUE News, Sep 13, 2012

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

IRISH TIMES - Child mortality declines significantly, Sep 13, 2012

 "Countries across the world are making rapid progress on child survival rates, showing it is possible to bring down child mortality significantly in two decades, the United Nations Children's Fund said today.
In its latest report on child survival, Unicef hailed a sharp drop of about 40 per cent in the number of children under the age of five dying, with the estimated global toll falling from nearly 12 million in 1990 to 6.9 million in 2011.
There was progress across diverse nations with varied wealth, Unicef said, providing evidence that neither a country's regional nor economic status was necessarily a barrier to being able to reduce child death rates."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

DAILY BEAST - Did Obama Err in Tolerating Egypt's Intolerant Muslim Brotherhood? Sep 13, 2012

 "Egyptian protesters burn the US flag during a demonstration against a film deemed offensive to Islam on September 12, 2012 outside the US embassy in Cairo. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GettyImages)
Mitt Romney has received much (deserved) criticism for his maladroit comments on the 9/11 embassy attacks.
But you know what? There is a critique to be made of the Obama administration's approach to Islamism, especially in Egypt - and it doesn't require anyone to hurl false charges that the president "sympathizes" with the killers of Americans.
The critique is this:
The Obama administration has staked its foreign policy on the assumption that the best way to deal with radical Islam is by engaging with radical Islam, thus splitting the men of violence from the men willing to try politics.
By this theory, the problem with radical Islam was its method (terrorism), not its goals (establishing Muslim Brotherhood style governments)."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS