UK: London Looks To Give Voice To Muted Buskers

LONDON (AFP) ― Concerned that London’s seasoned street musicians are being silenced by excessive regulation, mayor Boris Johnson is leading calls for the buskers’ voices, and guitars, to be heard again.

Camden Town in north London, with its punks and a main street bristling with “alternative” shops, has long been a favored destination for young visitors. But several months ago, buskers were ordered to silence their instruments by 9 p.m.

Some fear that in bowing to the residents’ complaints about noise, Camden has surrendered a slice of its identity.

China Jails Blogger In Online 'Rumour' Crackdown

(Beijing - AFP) A Chinese court has jailed a blogger for three years, state media has reported – the first person to be sentenced in a government-led crackdown on so-called internet rumours.

Vatican Under Global Scrutiny After UN Sex Abuse Report

Vatican under global scrutiny after UN sex abuse report (via AFP)

The UN's damning report on the Vatican's handling of child sex abuse cases has turned up the pressure on the Church to convince a sceptical international community it has adopted a zero-tolerance approach. "The Vatican has taken some steps forward,…

---

Thousands Protest Extreme Right Ball In Vienna

Thousands protest extreme right ball in Vienna (via AFP)

Thousands of people rallied in Vienna Friday to protest against the staging of an annual ball hosted by an extreme right party in a palace in the heart of the Austrian capital. State television network ORF estimated 10,000 people took part in the three…

---

French Priest Freed 'On Compassionate Grounds': Boko Haram

French priest freed 'on compassionate grounds': Boko Haram (via AFP)

The banned Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram on Wednesday said it had released a French Roman Catholic priest on compassionate grounds but insisted that no ransom had been paid. The militants, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States…

---

Anti-Apartheid Hero Nelson Mandela Dies Aged 95

Anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela dies aged 95 (via AFP)

Nelson Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, has died aged 95. Mandela, who was elected South Africa's first black president after spending nearly three…

---

US Courts Asked To Recognise Chimpanzees As People

US courts asked to recognize chimps as people (via AFP)

Walking, talking chimpanzees may be TV comedy gold but now three courts in New York are being asked to recognize four chimps as "legal persons" with fundamental rights. The move would allow the animals to be released into sanctuaries where they could…

---

UN Refugee Agency Unveils Palestinian Archive

UN refugee agency unveils Palestinian archive (via AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has unveiled a trove of pictures and film captured over more than 60 years chronicling the collective memory of those who fled or were forced into exile. Established in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees who lost…

---

United Nations: Women's Rights Resolution Passed Despite Backlash

UN women's rights resolution passed despite backlash (via AFP)

A UN General Assembly committee has agreed a landmark first resolution on women's rights defenders such as Malala Yousafzai, despite a hard fought campaign by an alliance including the Vatican to weaken the measure. A Norwegian-led coalition, which…

---

Controversy Persists Over Sex Scenes In 'Blue Is The Warmest Colour'

Controversy persists over sex scenes in 'Blue is the Warmest Colour' (via AFP)

The director of a highly charged lesbian love story that dazzled Cannes said Monday he felt "great regret" at a controversy that has threatened to overshadow the film's rapturous critical reception. Abdellatif Kechiche, director of "Blue is the Warmest…

---

Mexico To Give Equality Prize To Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai

Mexico to give equality prize to Pakistan's Malala (via AFP)

Mexico said Sunday it will award its 2013 International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for championing girls' rights to education. The award seeks to recognize Malala's efforts…

---

"Doctor Who" Zips Around The Planet In 50th Anniversary TV Special

"Doctor Who" zips around the planet in 50th anniversary TV special (via AFP)

TV's most famous Time Lord popped up simultaneously in nearly 100 countries on Saturday -- in a special 50th anniversary episode of the BBC's cult sci-fi series "Doctor Who". Fittingly, for a two-hearted, time-travelling alien who reincarnates every…

---

Huge Hunt For Paris Gunman After Shootings At Newspaper Office And Bank

Huge hunt for Paris gunman (via AFP)

A huge manhunt was under way in Paris Tuesday for a lone gunman who shot and critically wounded a newspaper photographer in his office before opening fire outside a bank headquarters and hijacking a car. Officers on foot and in squad cars fanned across…

---

French Plans For More Wind Farms Fans Controversy

French plans for more wind farms fans controversy (via AFP)

Plans to dot France with wind farms are facing fierce opposition from critics worried they will blight a landscape that has helped make the country the world's top tourist destination. France relies heavily on nuclear power but is working to shift to…

---

Ker-pow! Batkid Becomes Gotham City Hero For A Day [Video Included]

Ker-pow! Batkid becomes Gotham City hero for a day (via AFP)

A 5-year-old boy with cancer became a superhero for a day Friday, as San Francisco transformed itself into Gotham City and thousands turned out to see the Batkid fly to the rescue. Miles Scott, who was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 18 months old…

---

Princess Anne Suggests Eating Horsemeat

It looks like Princess Anne has given a brand new meaning to the expression "My kingdom for a horse"... 

I'm not too surprised by the reaction of her compatriots though. Horses and rabbits are a no-no when it comes to food in the UK. I remember the first times I carelessly mentioned that I used to eat rabbits in France... I definitely horrified many people by doing so. They kind of looked at me like if I was Hannibal Lecter in person after that. I've learned my lesson since then and now tend to keep very quiet about my former eating habits. Better safe than sorry and all that...

Loup Dargent

Outrage In France Over New Racist Slur On Black Minister

"...Minute was also the first news outlet to report that former president Francois Mitterrand had a secret daughter -- although such was its reputation for unreliability that no other media followed up its scoop at the time." Yeah... I was actually very surprised to see Minute called a newspaper in this AFP's syndicated article. As far as I remember from when I was still living in France, there was not really any proper news as such in that Far Right rag, just sheer propaganda.

Anyway, read the article and let us know what you think of that so called "newspaper", okay?

Loup Dargent

Outrage in France over new slur on black minister (via AFP)

A weekly newspaper with a front page comparing a black government minister to a monkey hit newsstands in France on Wednesday, despite legal objections and a nationwide outcry over the racist slur. Amid mounting concern over similar recent incidents,…

---

December 2015 Release For New 'Star Wars' Movie

December 2015 release for new 'Star Wars' film (via AFP)

The first of a hotly-anticipated new series of "Star Wars" movies will be released on December 18, 2015, the makers of the legendary sci-fi franchise said Thursday. The announcement lays to rest reports suggesting that the film, announced last year…

---

Christianity, Voodoo Mix On Haiti's Day Of Dead

Christianity, voodoo mix on Haiti's Day of Dead (via AFP)

In a Port-au-Prince cemetery, Haitians gathered Saturday to ask "the spirit of death" for any number of desires, ranging from housing to visas, during Haiti's Day of the Dead. "It's a tradition: on the Day of the Dead, after church, I come to greet…

---

Banksy's Nazi-Themed Picture Auctioned Off For New York Charity

Banksy Nazi picture auctioned off for New York charity (via AFP)

British artist Banksy has donated a "vandalized" oil painting to a New York thrift shop to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for HIV patients and the homeless. It is the latest stunt in the graffiti superstar's month-long pop up exhibition on the…

---