Stubb asks more transparent election laws

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb says that he would like to see more transparent election laws in place before next year's European Parliament elections. In a discussion the Foreign Minister also said actions by the regime in Myanmar are close to a violation of human rights.

Stubb described the present election campaign financing system in Finland as "secretive" and said that it is good that a public debate came up recently about political campaign financing. He said that he himself knows who the contributors to his European Parliament election campaign were.

So the first important act the new Finnish foreign minister was …internal!!! And he managed pretty well to …piss off a few colleagues of his!

The Ovi magazine today

Born to be Wild by Valerie Sartor
John Hare is the only person in the last 50years to obtain permission to enter a desolate area in Chinese Xin Jiang, and one evening in early May he presented an update on his camel preservation work for the Wild Camel Protection Foundation.

Le contenu de la télévision de nos jours by Dimitra Karantzeni
Pour commencer, l’opinion qui fait l’unanimité est que la télé est une révolution vraie dans les technologies découvertes du XX siècle.

"fallen faces" by Bohdan Yuri
"A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote." - Yevgeny Yentushenko

Life Undercover #76 by Thanos K & Asa B
It is time to change the sheets... our inquisitive duvet-loving hero has some female company now asking the great questions of life, religion and the universe.

The Ovi magazine today

Kosovo's cannibalism by Thanos Kalamidas
In a civil war, like the one that happened in the former Yugoslavia, there are good guys and bad guys, since the truth is that there were a lot of times I felt very lonely or that due to my origins I was blamed to support only one side.

Why the Poor Stay Hungry by Rene Wadlow
As the United Nations Secretary-General said on 29 April 2008 at the end of a high-level meeting of UN Agencies in Bern, Switzerland devoted to the world food crisis "The food crisis threatens to undo all our good work."

Relocation of Rohingyas in a Deserted Island in Thailand by Rohingya Human Rights
In 1852, the government of the French Emperor Napoleon III opened a penitentiary island known as "Devil's Island" which was used for the settlement of convicts ranging from political prisoners to the most hardened of thieves and murderers.

EU's Regional Policy and Kurdish Question by Europe & Us
The Republic of Turkey has a credibility problem regarding solutions to the Kurdish question. Accepting Kurds as interlocutors seems difficult for those ruling elites whether they are old-style Kemalists or new-fashion Islamists.

A cartoon from Ovi magazine

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...Namely the State of Israel by The Ovi Team
An article from Gush Shalom, whose primary aim is to influence Israeli public opinion and lead it towards peace and conciliation with the Palestinian people.

The Un-peaceful Pacific by Lorem Ipsum
Today China is more than a defensive, easily offended, blustering nation: the PRC is a superpower with economic clout, nuclear weapons, an independent space program and currently the chary host to the 2008 Olympic Games.

Après la stabilisation des Balkans, vers la balkanisation de l'UE by Newropeans-Magazine
Tout le processus d'élargissement de l’UE aux pays des Balkans tel qu’il est actuellement mené, et qui repose sur des chantages à l’intégration européenne...

Lift Spirits #03 by Thanos K & Asa B
Lift doors slide open, you enter, press the button and then face that awkward proximity to a stranger... perhaps this will lift your spirit.

Microsoft walks away from Yahoo

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Today's Ovi magazine

Obama's Religion by Christopher Wilkinson
One of the rights guaranteed to all Americans is the right to religious freedom. Everyone has the right to believe, congregate, and share information. There has been a lot of talk recently about Mr. Obama's religious convictions.

Missing Alex - A Greek thriller (in Greek) by Dimitra Karantzeni
Η εξαφάνιση του Άλεξ - Μία υπόθεση θρίλερ

"whiskey on the menu" by Bohdan Yuri
"You don't have to suffer to be a poet. Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone." - John Ciardi

Photoville: Microsoft walks away from Yahoo by Thanos Kalamidas
Software giant Microsoft has dropped its three-month-old bid to buy internet firm Yahoo because the two sides cannot agree on an acceptable sale price.

Hezbollah airport spying

A fierce political row has broken out in Lebanon over claims that the radical Shia movement, Hezbollah, secretly filmed aircraft at Beirut's airport.

Heads of the Western-backed government accused Hezbollah of preparing for some kind of terrorist attack. Hezbollah dismissed the accusations as scare mongering. The exchanges reflect the divisions that have paralysed Lebanon for eight months and left the country without a president for much of that time.

Is the never ending story!

The Ovi magazine today

Democracy, Presidential Election and the Lobby: Part 1 by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
The first in a three-part analysis of democracy, the US presidential election and the Lobby.

Creating barbarians by Thanos Kalamidas
Every time there is something on the news about funny situations between America and the eastern front, I remember an old poem by the Greek poet Kavafis entitled "Waiting for the barbarians".

Caption This! May 2008 by The Ovi Team
It is simple. Look at this photo of London's new mayor Boris Johnson and write a caption/speech bubble/thought bubble or anything else that captures your imagination.

Romanian Report by Euro Reporter
Romania has been an EU member since January 1, 2007, it has the ninth largest territory in the EU and has 22 million people, but more importantly it receives another Euro Report today.

Zimbabwe in doubt

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change has ended a meeting in Harare without deciding whether to contest a run-off presidential vote.

A delegation is to visit South Africa to consult MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai before making a final decision. Mr Tsvangirai has not ruled out taking part. Incumbent President Robert Mugabe would win automatically if he did not.

On Friday the MDC rejected first-round results that gave Mr Tsvangirai the most votes, but not outright victory. Mr Mugabe has accepted the official results of the 29 March election, and confirmed he would stand in a run-off. The date has still to be set, but it is expected to be within 21 days.

Mugabe’s kick to the cell is no doubt! The day is getting closer every minute!

Cubans can have home computers!

The first legalized home computers have gone on sale in Cuba, but a ban remains on internet access.

This is the latest in a series of restrictions on daily life which President Raul Castro has lifted in recent weeks. Crowds formed at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana, though most had come just to look. The desktop computers cost almost $800 (£400), in a country where the average wage is under $20 (£10) a month. But some Cubans do have access to extra income, much of it from money sent by relatives living abroad.

Since taking over the presidency in February, Raul Castro has ended a range of restrictions and allowed Cubans access to previously banned consumer goods. In recent weeks thousands of Cubans have snapped up mobile phones and DVD players. But only now have the first computer stocks arrived. Internet access remains restricted to certain workplaces, schools and universities on the island.

The government says it is unable to connect to the giant undersea fibre-optic cables because of the US trade embargo. All online connections today are via satellite which has limited bandwidth and is expensive to use.

What’s next? The revolution MacDonald’s?

Porn on the Web: Study sheds light on spider sex

Spiders "talk" to potential mates using a type of light not visible to the human eye, scientists report. A team found that male jumping spiders (Phintella vittata) are using ultraviolet B (UVB) rays to communicate with females.

While UVA rays are often used in animal communication, this is the first evidence that UVB light is also being used, the researchers said. The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

There you have it, indisputable proof that there is too much porn on the web.

Madeleine McCann: One year

Church services will be held in Portugal and Britain on Saturday to mark a year since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The three-year-old girl was last seen by her family on 3 May, 2007 in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal. Her parents, who are official suspects in Madeleine's disappearance, will mark the day privately in Leicestershire.

Many suspects, many accusations, few leads and no closer to finding the little girl. It is a terrible shame that the whole thing has become a soap opera and not a police investigation.

Ovi magazine today

London, the Mayoral Race and Boris by Binoy Kampmark
With a degree of desperation, The Guardian newspaper rolled out its arsenal to compel voters in London not to vote for the conservative candidate Boris Johnson, the bumbling, error-prone Etonian

Beauty or the beast: Notes on glorified anorexia by Alexander Mikhaylov
You know what? I think there is something wrong with my head. I came to this poignant conclusion when I realized that...¦ Well, come on! Let us say it aloud, like a brave guy: I DO NOT LIKE THIN WOMEN!

Jari Martikainen: Vol. 3 by Jari Martikainen
Finnish aircraft mechanic Jari Martikainen offers a third selection of his photography.

Escape of People of Burma through the Tunnels of Death by Rohingya Human Rights
On April 10, 2008, fifty-four Burmese migrants suffocated to death in a cold storage container while being smuggled to Thailand to escape appalling conditions in Burma.

Horny seal

An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to have sex with a king penguin. The South African-based scientists who witnessed the incident say it is the most unusual case of mammal mating behaviour yet known.

The incident, which lasted for 45 minutes and was caught on camera, is reported in the Journal of Ethology.

The penguin was not available for comment after his wife also saw the footage and demanded an explanation.

Another nail in Labour's coffin

Gordon Brown says it has been a "bad and disappointing" election for Labour, as the party suffers its worst council results in at least 40 years.

BBC research suggests Labour won 24% of votes cast in England and Wales, behind the Tories on 44% and Lib Dems on 25%.

Surely the voters expressing their dissatisfaction in volumes and we can only hope that is another nail in Brown's political coffin.

Ovi magazine today

A state abused by Thanos Kalamidas
Following on from the case of the Austrian 'father' - if it is ever possible to call him a father - and the unveiling drama with the torture and abuse of the family, I found myself thinking about the small society/neighborhood I live in.

3,000 Portuguese enslaved in Spain and the Basque Country by Alexandra Pereira
Spanish authorities estimate that the organized group that was recently dismantled in a combined operation of the Portuguese and Spanish polices must have enslaved 3,000 Portuguese.

Cahiers de la Mediterranee by Luis Portillo, Ph. D.
Señorías: Me tomo la libertad de dirigirme a Vds. para adjuntarles mi artículo "

Dino & Anty #18 by Thanos K & Asa B
Dino is a vegetarian virgin dinosaur and his best friend is Anty, a carnivorous nymphomaniac ant.

Ovi magazine today

And that was April... by The Ovi Team

Here we all are for another Ovi front covers monthly issue, but brace your self because there has been a re-design of the pages.

Beauty and Whiteness: The Indian Premier League by Binoy Kampmark
Former English cricketer Robin Jackman is giving his pitch report (25 April) in Chandigarh, and the girls, both blonde and brunette, mainly white, and unmistakably Caucasian, are dancing before him.

The next European Parliament's president is already chosen ... one year before the elections! by Newropeans-Magazine
The European Parliament has already designate who will be its next president in 2009 after the elections, even before the vote of European citizens!

Finn report by Euro Reporter
Euro Reporter heads of to Finland in search of news...

2nd Opinion #48 by Thanos K & Asa B
He is bad ...really bad! Seriously, I think you'll need a second opinion after this.

Zimbabwe goes for a run-off

A senior official with Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and incumbent President Robert Mugabe must compete in a presidential run-off, based on its election results.

Tsvangirai received 47 percent of the vote in last month's election while Mugabe received 43 percent, the senior official said. A candidate must receive 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a presidential run-off in Zimbabwe.

Asked if the results came from Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission, the official would not specify. "We have ways of knowing these things," he said. A spokesman for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change rejected the ZANU-PF figures as rigged and said the party would refuse to participate in any run-off vote.

Mugabe count the days, your cell is ready waiting!

A cartoon from the Ovi magazine

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