Prisoners in Guantanamo can appeal

Foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts, the US Supreme Court has ruled.

It overturned by five to four a ruling that upheld a 2006 law that took away the rights of suspects to seek full judicial review of their detention. It is not clear if the ruling will lead to prompt hearings for the detainees. Some 270 men are held at the US naval base, on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

Time an injustice and violation of the human rights to end for good!

Clinton will quit?

Hillary Clinton will withdraw from the race to become the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, and back her rival Barack Obama, her campaign says.

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama gained enough delegates to win the nomination, after the final votes of the primary season. Mrs. Clinton has still not admitted in public that she lost the contest, but on Saturday she will do so "and express her support for Senator Obama".

Mr. Obama has already announced a team to help select his running mate. Reports that Mrs. Clinton was ready to concede came after she made a conference call to senior Democrats in Congress.

At a Democratic Party event in Washington, Mrs. Clinton will also "express her support... for party unity", her communications director Howard Wolfson said. Earlier, it had been announced that the event would be held on Friday, but Mr. Wolfson said it had been delayed a day "to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend".

Hillary had the ability to have a multi-collective voters and supporters often from all sides of the American political life; the big question now is if these people are going to support Obama.

Venezuela’s spy law

A new intelligence law brought in by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has caused concern among rights groups who say it threatens civil liberties.

Mr. Chavez argues the law will help Venezuela guarantee its national security and prevent assassination plots and military rebellions. The new law requires Venezuelans to cooperate with intelligence agencies and secret police if requested.

Refusal can result in up to four years in prison. The law allows security forces to gather evidence through surveillance methods such as wiretapping without obtaining a court order, and authorities can withhold evidence from defense lawyers if it is considered to be in the interest of national security.

One part of the law, which explicitly requires judges and prosecutors to cooperate with the intelligence services, has caused concern among legal experts. "Here you have the president legislating by decree that the country's judges must serve as spies for the government," Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director for Human Rights Watch, said.

Chavez seems to find out that there is a line that separates a public hero to a dictator and unfortunately he’s ready to cross this line!

Obama declares victory

Barack Obama has declared himself "the Democratic nominee for president of the United States".

He was speaking to a cheering crowd on the last day of the primary season, as projections showed he had earned enough delegates to clinch the nomination. Of the states that voted, Montana was won by Mr Obama and South Dakota by his rival Hillary Clinton, US media say. In her own speech to supporters, Mrs Clinton refused to concede and said she would make a final decision later.

Barack might declares victory but the question remains, what Hillary will declare?

Nairobi food protests

Kenyan police have fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people demonstrating against the soaring cost of food.

Protesters in the capital Nairobi carried placards demanding the government cut the cost of basic Kenyan staples like maize flour. The police said the demonstration was illegal and four arrests were made.

Food prices in the east African country have risen sharply since the recent political crisis led to shortages. December's disputed presidential election triggered violence across Kenya, leaving 1,500 people dead and some 600,000 people displaced.

Let’s wait, we might see food clashes all around the world with the speed oil prices increase!

Australian troops goodbye to Iraq

Australia, one of the first countries to commit troops to the war in Iraq five years ago, has ended its operations there.

Australian troops are due to begin returning home in a few days in line with a promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who swept to power in November. He said the Iraq deployment was making Australia more of a terrorist target.

The Australians had deployed more than 500 troops in Iraq, helping to train some 33,000 Iraqi soldiers. About 300 Australians will remain inside Iraq on logistical and air surveillance duties. No Australian soldiers were killed in combat in Iraq though several were wounded.

Not that 500 men staying is making a lot of difference but them leaving it will make!

Ovi today

And that was May 2008... by The Ovi Team
Wow! What a month May turned out to be for Ovi magazine. First we published our 3,000th contribution, then we released the 'ME' theme issue and then we had to deal with Finnish copycats.

A Hard Look at the European Union's Cultural Identity: Part 1 by Emanuel L. Paparella
This New Europe, after World War II has finally transformed itself in the European Union and is based on purely neutral, that is to say, non-ideological, economic, scientific, educational foundations.

Drugs: The next theme issue by Asa Butcher
Following on from the success of the 'ME' theme issue, Thanos and I have decided upon 'Drugs' as the next in the long line of Ovi theme topics. What comes to your mind when you think of drugs?

ShowBizz #40 by Thanos K & Asa B
An arrogant rooster, a sycophant pig, a wiseass dog and an intelligent tortoise are just some of the stars of Thanos and Asa's Show Bizz.

S. Asia 'focus for al-Qaeda fight

Washington has pinpointed the frontier areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan as the most pressing central point in which to win the war on terror.

Michael Chertoff, the US secretary for homeland security, said that successes against al-Qaeda should not lead to a weakening of resolve. He warned that militants in Pakistan were training recruits who could mix inconspicuously in Western society.

He questioned whether Pakistan's rulers had the right strategy to respond. Mr. Chertoff said the US had succeeded in pushing back al-Qaeda in Iraq and argued that Muslims in Iraq were now reacting against indiscriminate militant violence. But he warned that: "If we lose our resolution, we could find ourselves actually losing ground."

Perhaps they should start thinking if Musharraf is an ally or a foe!

Homeless Japanese lived in a… closet

A homeless woman who sneaked into a man's house and lived undetected in his closet for a year was arrested in Japan after he became suspicious when food began disappearing.

Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top compartment of the man's closet and arrested her for trespassing, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday.

The resident of the home installed security cameras that transmitted images to his mobile phone after becoming puzzled by food disappearing from his kitchen over the past several months. One of the cameras captured someone moving inside his home Thursday after he had left, and he called police, believing it was a burglar. However, when they arrived, they found the door locked and all windows closed.

"We searched the house ... checking everywhere someone could possibly hide," Itakura said. "When we slid open the shelf closet, there she was, nervously curled up on her side." The woman told police she had no place to live and first sneaked into the man's house about a year ago when he left it unlocked.

Sorry I find it had to believe but this must be a closet the size of a room because if you see my closet …not an ant can live in there! The bad news is that it is terrifying where poverty can lead you. However the good news is that she came out of the …closet!

Discussing terrorism settlement with Libya

Negotiations between the United States and Libya that could result in compensation for past acts of state-sponsored terrorism by Libya are under way, a senior State Department official said Friday.

U.S. and Libyan officials met Wednesday and Thursday, the official said. The nations hope to hammer out a deal in which Libya would "resolve all outstanding claims in good faith" and offer "fair compensation" to victims and their families, he said.

"We are just at the beginning of this process. The goal is to get something that is fair and comprehensive," the official said.

Amazing who would expect that from Muammar Gaddafi back in eighties? Life has some strange turns!

Crane collapses in NYC

At least one person has been killed and two seriously injured by the sudden collapse of a crane in New York's Upper East Side during the morning rush hour.

It crashed into the top floor of a 23-storey block of flats as it fell. Seven buildings in the area have been evacuated as a precaution, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

It is the second such incident in the city this year - seven people died in a crane collapse in the same wealthy Manhattan area in March.

This latest collapse took place at the intersection of East 91st Street and First Avenue. At a news conference, Mayor Bloomberg said that all the casualties were construction workers and that the man who died was believed to be the operator of the crane.

There is no comment when there is somebody innocent dead only condemn to the responsible!

Europe fuel protests

Fuel protests triggered by rising oil prices have spread to more countries across Europe, with thousands of fishermen on strike.

Union leaders said Portugal's entire coastal fleet stayed in port on Friday, while in Spain, 7,000 fishermen held protests at the agriculture ministry. French fishermen have been protesting for weeks, with Belgian and Italian colleagues also involved.

UK and Dutch lorry drivers held similar protests earlier this week. The strike reflects anger at the rising cost of fuel, with oil prices above $130 a barrel. Trade unions say the cost of diesel has become prohibitively high, after rising 300% over the past five years. Wholesale fish prices, meanwhile, have been static for 20 years.

They drive the European family is a bankruptcy and they are doing nothing to help! In the end EU is going to be European penniless!

No to refugee camps

South Africa's government has denied it is setting up massive migrant or refugee camps for the tens of thousands of foreigners who fled recent attacks.

Aid agencies had said the government would reveal plans to set up seven camps for up to 70,000 people. But a home affairs spokeswoman said temporary shelters accommodating 2,000 each would be set up instead. A formal announcement will be made on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the UN said it is helping South Africa plan relief efforts. It is conducting a survey of the conditions in the police stations and municipal halls in which the displaced people are currently living, UN spokesman George Nsiah said.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has warned that those sheltering in makeshift camps or outdoors have been left without protection - either physical or legal. "It's very cold at night; it's almost like one or two degrees. It's been raining in the last few days," said MSF South Africa programme director Muriel Cornelis.

"And then legal protection - most of them do not have any status, no legal status, no temporary status." A spokesman for the UNHCR said very few of the displaced foreigners fit the formal definition of "refugee".

Nevertheless, the government is coming under considerable pressure to organize better accommodation than the makeshift camps currently housing most of the displaced people. Correspondents say it has made it clear that any option which isolates rather than integrates foreigners into the community would be contrary to its policy.

That’s one thing I found really difficult to believe and I’m happy is not true, refugee camps in South Africa, that was …going too far!!!

South Africa and refugee camps

South Africa is to set up seven refugee camps around the country for foreign migrant workers who have fled a recent wave of anti-immigrant violence.

The holding camps will take up to 70,000 people from the increasingly unsanitary conditions at temporary shelters put up around state buildings. The government decision comes despite strong advice from respected international aid agencies.

They say South Africa does not have the expertise necessary to run the camps. Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), the medical charity, says conditions for people seeking refuge in the existing shelters are worsening.

This is embarrassing for a country that has suffered for so long and so much in camps!

The Ovi today

The dark side of the moon: Confession of a househusband by Alexander Mikhaylov
I feel genuinely sorry for my wife who, when being asked this simple question "And what your husband does?" is always struggling with a right answer. The honest reply to such an inquiry would be "Why, he is a househusband."

"Humphry" by Jan Sand
"Poetry, like the moon, does not advertise anything." - William Blissett

iBite by Asa Butcher
iBite is a snappy selection of news from around the world accompanied by a cynical, albeit humourous, comment.

Jarmo Kukkonen's "Timescapes - Aika maisemassa" by Otso Kantokorpi
Jarmo Kukkonen on tullut tunnetuksi meditatiivisen mielenmaiseman maalarina.

The Ovi today

Dustin' off the Eurovision by Clint Wayne
Yippee!! Eurovision is upon us once again as Belgrade hosts this year's competition. All the sad Euro-muppets will be partying through the marathon event and enthralled to know which eastern bloc country will win it this year.

International Conference on the Creative Industries and Intellectual Property: Day 2 by Sofia Gkiousou
Another good day in London and again I descended upon the Birkbeck Clore Management Centre - in the heart of Bloomsbury, London - to watch the proceedings of the Conference on the Creative Industries and Intellectual Property.

Texte de la lettre ouverte aux Députés espagnols by Luis Portillo, Ph. D.
Je me permets de vous écrire pour porter à votre connaissance le suivant article que j'ai écrit "Sahara occidental: Les raisons légitimes du peuple sahraoui", qui a été traduit en anglais, français et italien, comportant une bibliographie ad hoc dans c

"My Niece in Zimbabwe" by Emmanuel Sigauke
"A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself." - E.M. Forster

Latvian Report

From the original Ovi magazine (Ovi lehti in Finnish)

Gang of former KGB agents operating in Latvia

A criminal group composed of Soviet-era KGB agents and former and present special service agents are operating in Latvia, the country's prime minister said Thursday. "We know people, their names, concrete crimes, we have testimonies, but we haven't detained anyone yet," Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis said.

The criminal gang - allegedly linked to certain politicians - is believed to be involved in extortion and drug trafficking in the small Baltic EU country, he said. Kalvitis did not disclose any names, but called on President Valdis Zatlers to hold a special national security council meeting "as soon as possible." Theoretically Kalvitis' allegations could be true, said Lolita Cigane, a corruption expert at Providus Center.

While one former KGB employee tries to be elected Russia's next PM, others have taken a different path that is usually the plot of a James Bond film.

Latvia extends peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan

Latvia has decided to extend its peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan for another year, allocating $14 million in funds, the governmental press service said Tuesday. The ex-Soviet Baltic state plans to send a total of 260 troops into the country in two alternating troop contingents, the press service said. At the moment, 100 Latvian troops are deployed in northern Afghanistan as part of the UN peacekeeping mission. A NATO and European Union member, Latvia withdrew from Iraq in June.

This year has been the bloodiest period in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led campaign to overthrow the Taliban movement in 2001, as radical Islamist forces step up attacks in an attempt to topple the government and drive foreign troops out of the country.

Latvia is certainly a country of contradictions with the World Bank ranking it as the 22nd best country for business, while it also has the most expensive chicken meat, sausages, milk, eggs, bread and sugar in the Baltic States and is facing increasing accusations of corruption.

Russian Parliament's Upper House Ratifies Latvia Border Pact

The upper house of Russia's parliament Wednesday ratified a border treaty with Latvia that allows Russia to retain a swathe of land contested by Latvian nationalists. The treaty gives Russia control of an area known as the Pytalovo district to Russians and Abrene to Latvians that was seized by the Soviet Union after World War II.

Latvian nationalists protested the agreement as a sellout when the Latvian parliament signed it earlier this year, but supporters hope the agreement will help improve often-chilly relations with Russia. Moscow frequently complains that Latvia discriminates against its large ethnic-Russian population and regards Latvia's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union as Western encroachment on Russia's border.

The 117-1 vote by the Federation Council sends the measure to President Vladimir Putin for signing. Latvia already has ratified and signed the measure. The situations sounds similar to that of some Finns and their belief that Karelia should be returned to Finland, which was also an area taken by Russia at the end of World War Two and has caused extensive diplomatic problems recently after some officials made claims regarding a secret buy-out offer made by Russia in the 1950s.

Romanian Report

From the original Ovi magazine (Ovi lehti in Finnish)

Low birth rate harming Romania

Romanian President Traian Basescu said this week that he is worried his country was “going through a demographic desert” because of a drop in birth rates since 1990. “In 17 years, Romania has lost 1.4mn people due to emigration and the lower birth rate,” Basescu said during a conference on population in the central town of Sibiu.

“Today, we count only one child per woman. If this birth rate remains as it is, we will only have 16mn residents in Romania in 2050, 11mn in 2075 and 8.5mn in 2100,” he warned. Romania currently has 21.6mn inhabitants.

In other new, tens of thousands of migrant workers from Romania are to be blocked from working in Britain amid concerns that economic migration is placing new strains on public services. Ahh, here we have the intricacies of the EU in all its glory.

Bromsgrove volunteers help out in Romania

A group of volunteers from the UK witnessed first-hand the importance of this year's fund-raising subject of the Day of Kindness (September 18th) when they visited the slums of Romania.

The week-long expedition was organised to raise awareness of one of Europe's poorest and most disadvantaged countries and was hailed as a life-changing experience by some of the volunteers on their return. The trip saw them discover the reality of the struggle many Romanians endure each day with no running water and very primitive sanitation.

For more on raising funds for The Smiles Foundation, call John and Joan Mayo on 0044 1527 875602 or log onto: www.thesmilesfoundation.org

Best women handball teams in Europe

The 2007 Women’s Champions Trophy will take place in Vâlcea, Romania from 22 – 23 September 2007. Vâlcea is no stranger to top handball events and the city is steeped in handball traditions. The arena in Vâlcea was renovated and used for the preliminary and main round of the 2000 Women’s European Championship.

The competition in Ramnicu Valcea is held for the first time under the name Champions' Tournament, called Europe's Supercup previously. The participating teams are Slagelse DT (Denmark) - winner of Champions League 2006-2007, Zvezda Zvenigorod (Russia) - winner of EHF Cup, Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea and Lada Togliatti, invited by the European Handball Federation (EHF).

Talking of balls, do you know why snakes don't have balls? It's because very few of them can dance.

Chinese executional tricks

From the original Ovi magazine (Ovi lehti in Finnish)

As we get closer to the Olympic Games year criticism is coming more often about different things, therefore Peking had to do something, even if that something is just for show. The Chinese Supreme Court has ordered judges to be more …sparing in the application of death penalties.

To this there are two sides, such as there are two sides in my head while reading this and trying to understand what the Chinese state - justice is totally controlled by the state - is after. I should be happy for the Chinese coming one step closer to understanding that respect to human life comes on many levels or shall I be my usual cynical self?

Yes, they are going to reduce the number of state members that were convicted for economic scandals to the death penalty but - and this is a huge 'but' - since who’s going to get capital punishment: a former state member or a strong opposition leader? And to become even more cynical, do they mean that they are going to reduce the number of convicted from nearly 4,000 to nearly 3,999 and the actual executions from the 1,770 in 2005 to 1,769 this year?

Why are they doing this? Is it to keep all the NGOs from asking everybody to boycott the Olympic Games? That’s definitely a good reason for the Chinese communist party. The Chinese communist party has come a long way since the days of its founder, especially after the Cultural Revolution that came to clean up the party. Actually, if the ideas of the Cultural Revolution had any effect in today’s China the leaders of the party should be the first to be shot.

China has always been a huge market, which even the church realized centuries ago when, aside from the preaching, the monks and the missionaries always tried to make business with the Chinese. Today there is cheap labour, low costs and a society that learns to be consuming; a paradise for western companies.

The most amazing thing about the whole case was the detailed instructions the Supreme Court gave. For example, murders triggered by family disputes should not always lead to the death penalty, alike to crimes for …passion! But, the best of all comes last: those convicted of economic crimes should be treated more ‘leniently’ if they help to recoup money that was defrauded. Most likely the last one is because if they continue the way they have been leading over the last few years everybody in the central committee of the Chinese communist party will be executed!

It is only days since we published another article about capital punishment and it was for the 30 year anniversary of the last execution with guillotine in France. In that article I was talking about China and I feel a personal irony that only a few days after the Chinese Supreme Court took the decision, just as I said, to understand that the eye-for-eye punishment only makes us equally murderers, with the sentenced.

Either they are making a positive first step towards the exclusion of capital punishment or the Chinese state may just make me really angry by naively thinking that they can manipulate NGOs and democratic governments with stupid announcements like that.

Belgian Report

From the original Ovi magazine (Ovi lehti in Finnish)

Raikkonen wins third-straight Belgian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso cut McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton's world championship lead to two points as Kimi Raikkonen took a dominant win at the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps. This was Raikkonen's third-straight Belgian Grand Prix win and it allowed Ferrari to secure the constructors' championship title.

However, Ferrari actually won the constructors' title in Paris last week when the FIA World Motor Sport Council decided to strip McLaren of all its constructors' points for 2007 following evidence that they received a systematic flow of information from a spy within rivals Ferrari for nearly three months this year. The FIA fined McLaren £50m.

However, the Belgian grand Prix was further overshadowed when McLaren revealed they may file a complaint against rival team Renault about alleged use of technical information. Just where this domino effect of corruption and allegations will end remains to be seen and there is a real danger the sport will be plunged into the same disrepute as Italian football faced last year.

Belgium no longer for sale

This week Internet auction website eBay withdrew an unusual second-hand sale item, the country of Belgium, which had attracted an offer of 10 million euros. "Belgium, a kingdom in three parts" was posted on the Belgian eBay site as offering "plenty of choice" despite the caveat that it comes with "300 billion of National Debt", although the accompanying text said the kingdom "can be bought as a whole (not recommended)".

EBay spokesman Peter Burin said the site could not host the sale of anything virtual or "unrealistic", the Belga news agency reported. The 'vendor' was named as a former journalist, Gerrit Six. Offering his lot at an initial price of one euro ($A1.67), he saw 26 subsequent bids culminating in the 10 million euro offer today before the auction was halted.

10 million euros isn't too bad for a country famous for… famous for, errr, chocolate, beer and… errr… Anyway, 10 million euros isn't too bad for a country other than Belgium.

Belgium's worst crisis for 177 years
100 days have now passed since Belgium could boast of a government. Despite increasingly desperate calls by Belgium's King Albert for national unity, the federal state has hit its worst crisis for 177 years after national elections on June 10 failed to produce a government and coalition talks descended into ugly squabbling between francophone Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish.

The 39-year old Flemish IT consultant has had enough. "The Belgian franc is gone. Our football team never wins anything anymore. The monarchy cannot even appeal to the politicians to stick together. It is time for us to get a divorce," he said. "With the best will in the world, you can not build a country on a shared taste for mussels, chips and beer - no matter how tasty."

See, 10 million euros is too much.