SOCIETY - In the midst of the forest grow supermarkets

Rio Branco (Brazil) The advance of civilization in the Amazon rainforest has so far followed a predictable pattern. The loggers are clearing the land for cattle, which, in turn, pave the way for crops ... And the next step is the introduction of shopping malls. A few years ago, many scientists thought that the Amazon was not habitable.

Today, at least five cities in the Brazilian has more than 300 000 inhabitants, a population sufficient to attract retail chains. By late 2011, four of the largest cities will be equipped with large American style shopping malls and developers have three others in their boxes. A modern consumer economy is taking place in a region which, in the minds of many, amounts to an impenetrable jungle and rivers infested with piranhas.

Abdel Halim Khaddam: Bashar al-Assad is overthrown in a month or a month and a half "

"Within a month, or month and a half, Bashar al-Assad is toppled," he told La Vanguardia in an exclusive interview Abdel Halim Khaddam, former Syrian president in office, Vice President for twenty years and Foreign responsible for fourteen. Khaddam was one of the strongmen of the Syrian Government, despite being Sunni and not belong to the Alawite minority that runs the country for nearly half a century.

Seven sentenced to death to gays and lesbians

Homosexuality is punishable by death in a total of seven countries as denounced on Monday the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGTB). To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, transphobia and biphobia held on Tuesday, the FELGTB denounced the attacks on activists in Africa and the Middle East.

As stated, maintaining relationships with a same sex is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Iran, Mauritania and Sudan. Of the 53 states of Africa 37 criminalizing homosexuality, he said, stressing that some would go beyond punishing the "promotion of practice." Such is the case of Uganda, whose bill "anti-gay" is currently on hold because of international pressure, and Malawi, where he has handled a hardening of the Penal Code for lesbians and bisexual women with sentences of up to five years prison.

IVORY COAST - Major challenges facing Ouattara

The arrival of Alassane Ouattara business opens a new page in the history of Côte d'Ivoire. It is far from being a definitive solution to the Ivorian crisis. Moreover, the president knows this. Thus there is reconciliation and pacification its two main priorities. Reconciliation looks complex. The post-election violence has left deep wounds that heal in no way effect the will of France or the UN.

Scandals and crimes

Only when the facts will clarify what really happened on that fateful room Sofitel Hotel 2806 Manhattan, we know if this is a big deal out of a powerful personage or talk about a crime to be tried by U.S. law. Be careful, in the United States are not jokes, Nicholas Sarkozy said Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director to propose the International Monetary Fund.

In continental Europe we tend to keep a fine line of responsibility between public and private acts, so that a celebrity or famous can get away with a scandal in the U.S. or England would be considered a crime. It is unthinkable that Berlusconi's misdeeds, published and supported by explicit videos, have not been finished years ago his political career in the U.S..

Initiated an oral and anal sexual conduct and attempted to initiate sexual intercourse

The judge just denied bail by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested on Saturday for trying to rape a waitress at the hotel I was staying. The complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court detailing the crimes allegedly committed by the French socialist in room 2806, for which he could be sentenced to up to 74 years in prison.

Here are the positions of those accused, "Detective Steven Lane, plate 03295 of the special victims squad in Manhattan, states as follows: May 14, around 12:00 pm at 45 West 44th street in the county and state of New York, the defendant committed the following crimes: The defendant initiated an oral and anal sexual conduct with another person by coercion by force, the defendant attempted to initiate sexual intercourse with another person by coercion to force The accused subjected another person to sexual contact by coercion by force, the accused overpowered another person, the accused subjected another person to sexual contact without the consent of the latter, and for that the defendant touched the sexual and other intimate parts of another person by force and without legitimate purpose to degrade and abuse of this person, and in order to satisfy the sexual desire of the accused.

CHINA - redoubled attacks against Ai Weiwei

More than two weeks after the arrest of the artist, the official Chinese media continues its offensive against him. Several editorials critical of both the character, an avant-garde stands by its opposition to the tradition, and the intervention of the international community. The Huanqiu Shibao, said that "it is a Chinese court - and not the international community - which must decide if Ai has committed an economic crime or not." The newspaper denounced the intrusion of the international community as an internal matter.