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Report: Russian shipment of Syria copters halted off UK

By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

A ship carrying military helicopters and missiles from Russia to Syria has been effectively stopped off the coast of Scotland after its British insurers canceled the vessel’s cover, according to a report.

The MV Alaed [photo] was carrying weapons and Mi25 helicopters from the Russian port of Kaliningrad, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The vessel has been closely monitored by intelligence since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said such shipments were adding to the arsenal of weaponry available in Syria, which has spiraled into civil war.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the report, but declined to give further details. It said the vessel was being monitored but that no physical intervention had been made to prevent the ship's progress.

The ship was heading south toward the Irish Sea on its way to Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to the most recent information available from tracking website Marine Traffic. Its next move is unclear.

The British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn cover from the ship’s owner, Femco, a Russian cargo line. 

"We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria," the company said in a statement. "We have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage."

Arms shipments from Russia to Syria are not prohibited by the United Nations because attempts to impose sanctions have been vetoed by allies of Damascus, including Moscow.

However, a European Union arms embargo outlaws the "transfer or export" of arms and any related "brokering" services such as insurance to Syria by EU members, including Britain.  More >>

British ship in Cuba to mark 250th anniversary of the Battle of Havana

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- A British fleet-support ship has docked in Havana's harbor as Cuba and the U.K. prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Havana.

The gray RFA Fort Rosalie arrived Wednesday morning with more than 100 crewmembers aboard. It tied up at the cruise ship terminal and was greeted by a band playing both countries' national anthems.

British forces laid siege to Havana in June 1762 during the Seven Years' War. At the time, the city was an important base for Spanish military power in the Western Hemisphere.

Havana remained under British control until the following year, when Spain ceded Florida under a treaty. The Fort Rosalie usually aids British Navy operations. Its visit coincides with British cultural week, which includes cinematic, theatrical and musical events.

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China's city divided by disgraced Communist leader’s legacy

David Lom / NBC News

Angry pro-Bo Xilai supporter voices his opinion to the crowd in Chongqing.

By Ed Flanagan, NBC News

CHONGQING, China – Everywhere you go in Chongqing, you can see traces of the complicated legacy of Bo Xilai, the former Communist party chief who ran this municipality of 30 million people until scandal derailed him. 

At one time destined for a top post in China’s highest echelon of power, the standing committee of the politburo of the Communist Party, Bo aggressively poured money into this municipality in pursuit of his populist agenda.To drive through the windy roads that snake around this hilly metropolis is to see a city in constant transformation. Towers of low-income housing complexes dot the skyline. These social housing projects were meant to address a major national issue: the lack of affordable housing, and provided homes that cost just a few hundred dollars a year to rent. And Bo had gingko trees, said to be one of his favorites, planted across the city.

But these city improvements came at a cost: His heavy investment in capital construction projects forced the city to borrow so much money to pay for it that Chongqing owes $20 billion to the China Development Bank, according to a news report on Wednesday. The tree planting saddled the city with a $1.5 billion bill just for 2010 alone.  

The improvements weren’t the only controversial aspect of Bo’s reign over this important gateway city to the western half of China, and since his demise his critics have stepped out of the shadows to talk about the darker side of life in what had become the former leader’s personal fiefdom.

Told a Bo joke, got a year in a labor camp

In Chongqing, NBC News spoke with Fang Hong, a 51-year-old former forestry officer who made news earlier this week when he filed an appeal with a local court seeking compensation for what he alleged was an unfair sentence he served at a labor camp.

According to Fang, he was imprisoned for posting a two-line joke about Bo on his microblog that quickly went viral. Soon after, Fang said he was dragged in by police for questioning and later brought before a police tribunal where he was sentenced for “fabricating facts and disturbing public order.” 

Fang served his sentence at a labor camp where he said he was forced to assemble thousands of Christmas ornaments for export for one year.

Released earlier this year, Fang was emboldened by the criticism that has shrouded Bo following his high-profile falling out with his vice-mayor and former police chief, Wang Lijun, who famously sought refuge at the American embassy in Chengdu. That move by Wang sparked an international political scandal that now includes a murder mystery. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, is a murder suspect in the death of British businessman Neil Heywood; Bo has been officially disowned by the ruling Communist Party and has disappeared from public view.  More >>

Paralyzed athlete completes marathon in sixteen days with bionic legs

Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images

Claire Lomas, who is paralyzed and walks with the aid of a "bionic" suit, finishes the London Marathon on May 8, 16 days after the event began. The former chiropractor was in tears as she became the first person to complete any marathon using a bionic ReWalk suit.

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The Five Spies & Propaganda at The York University in England

[r] Antonio’s mother, Mirta & Choco

these guys were spies and no one of them is an artist but pure breed propaganda from a more than 53 years of dictatorship. see what these leftist idiots say  Painting Liberty in Cuba >>

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Embajada británica en La Habana confirma arresto de empresarios ingleses

Pablo Alfonso/ martinoticias.com

Stephen Purvis , jefe de operaciones de Coral Capital Group Ltd, una compañía británica de inversiones en Cuba, ha sido arrestado en La Habana, como parte de una investigación por soborno iniciada el pasado año por las autoridades cubanas, contra algunas entidades estatales y sus socios extranjeros.

“¨Puedo confirmar que hay un ciudadano británico arrestado y está bajo investigación por las autoridades cubanas”, dijo a martinoticias.com, Rhys Patrick,  Jefe de Asuntos Políticos y de Prensa, de la embajada británica en La Habana. “Estamos brindándole el apoyo consular que se acostumbra en estos casos”, agregó.

Purvis es el segundo ejecutivo de Coral Capital detenido en el marco de una campaña contra la corrupción organizada por el gobernante cubano Raúl Castro. En octubre de 2011 fue arrestado su presidente ejecutivo, Amado Fakhre, ciudadano británico de origen libanés, pero todavía se desconocen las acusaciones precisas contra Coral Capital y el hecho no ha sido publicado por la prensa estatal cubana.

Preguntado sobre la situación de Fakhre, el diplomático británico aclaró que “en efecto hay dos ciudadanos británicos detenidos, pero es todo lo que puedo añadir”.

Coral Capital Group, está registrada en las Islas Vírgenes Británicas en 1999, y desde su entrada en el mercado cubano como una firma de bienes raíces, amplió sus operaciones a la financiación comercial de empresas mixtas y estatales cubanas, a la importación de maquinaria pesada y a otras actividades que incluyen, incluso el marco cultural.

La firma inversionista británica está involucrada en la construcción de 1,220 viviendas para un resort y campo de golf en Bellomonte, con una extensión de 628 acres, ubicada en las Playas del Este de La Habana, a 15 millas del centro de la capital. En una propiedad adyacente de 20 acres Coral, planeaba la construcción de un hotel de 160 habitaciones con vista al mar y un Club de Playa para los asociados. El costo inicial de ese proyecto que debió comenzar este año es de $120 millones de dólares.

Coral se asoció también con una empresa mixta turística que maneja el hotel Saratoga de La Habana aportando 28 millones de dólares para su remodelación y participa en el complejo hotelero El Senador, que opera la firma española Iberostar, ubicado en Cayo Coco, en la provincia de Ciego de Ávila.

La compañía británica representa varias firmas extranjeras en Cuba, entre ellas Yamaha Motor Corporation y Peugeot.

Otro de sus importantes proyectos es la asociación para invertir $43 millones de dólares en los estudios de ampliación del Puerto de Mariel, al oeste de La Habana, donde trabajó con la la firma Economic Zones World, basada en Dubai.

A principios de la década del 2000, Coral registró en Curazao la firma Coral Capital Debt Fund B.V., que prestó financiamiento a corto y mediano plazo a entidades nacionales y extranjeras radicadas en Cuba, con lucrativos intereses.

La diversificación de sus actividades quedó de manifiesto con la creación de Coral Capital Entertainment Ltd, que en asociación con el Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográfica (ICAIC) produjo en 2006 la pelicula documental El Benny, sobre la vida del famoso cantante cubano, Benny Moré.

Purvis, el alto ejecutivo de Coral, es también el productor de un show de danza Havana Rakatan que ha estrenado escenarios en Canadá y Europa.

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Por Quien Merece Amor (For Those Who Deserve Love) by Antonio Guerrero.

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Poco conocido: "Akademia Kubishe en Londres"

El International Institute for the Study of Cuba fue fundado en el 2006 en la University of London’s School of Advanced Study, por  el Profesor Patrick Pietroni, un entusiasta promotor del sistema de salud cubano en el Reino Unido [AQUI] y quien es un habitual huesped del Ministerio de Salud cubano y por el Dr. Stephen Wilkinson, quien se presenta como un experto en asuntos cubanos.

Solo es necesario una rapida mirada al comite editorial  de la publicacion del instituto, el International Journal of Cuban Studies, para comenzar a encontrar anomalias incompatibles con una publicacion academica especializada en Ciencias Sociales. La Dra. Sonia Triguero, una barcelonesa con un doctorado en biologia molecular, forme parte de la junta que decide que investigacion social en la tematica cubana, reune meritos academicos para su publicacion. La Sra. Triquero presidira proximamente la comision "Cuba in the World, Foreign Relations and Challenges in the New Century", por lo que desde ahora me propongo para presidir el jurado que otorgara el Nobel de Medicina. 

Carlos Alzugaray

Vale la pena seguir leyendo. Del International Advisory Board de esta publicacion academica especializada en Cuba, solo forman parte dos kubishes, el profesor Dr. Luis Alberto Montero Cabrera, especialista en Quimica-Quimica con estudios de postgrados en la Union Sovietica y la desparecida Republica Democratica Alemana [Alemania del Este]; y Rafael Hernandez, el muy conocido agente de la inteligencia cubana, ex investigador del Centro de Estudios de America del Departamento America del Partido Comunista de Cuba y director de la revista oficialista  Temas.

Otro miembro bien conocido por su activismo y publica simpatia al regimen de los hermanos Castro es John M. Kirk  [Ver Quien es realmente el academico canadiense John M. Kirk?]. Otro notable es el salvadoreno Luis Perez con estrechos vinculos con la Casa de las Americas, quien nos regala piezas como esta: "The Spies Who Loved Me: Los Cinco, Alan Gross and Faith".

Estos senores tienen su propia agencia turistica en parnetship con OLD HAVANA Ltd y se especializa en el nicho de mercado del turismo academico, promoviendo a precios de descuentos estudios de pre y postgrado en Kubishilandia. Ya sabemos de que tratan esos paquetes turisticos: circulos de estudios con akademicos e intelectuales "organicos" entusiasmados por la confianza depositada en ellos, pero mas aun por lo que se puede "pegar" incluyendo una cartica de invitacion; paseitos por el folklore de la Habana Vieja que se puede mostrar con algun orgasmo eventual en el Santuario del Che Guevara en Santa Clara y putas adolescentes y/o pingueros en las noches y dias "libres" segun las preferencias.

Rafael Hernandez

Luego como toda institucion que se respete y esta se lo toma en serio, celebrara su evento academico anual bajo el pretencioso rotulo de CUBA IN THE 21st CENTURY -nadie puede pronosticar con una duda razonable que pasara manana en Cuba, pero ello no es obice para estos senores-, no en cualquiera de los restantes 364 dias disponibles, sino precisamente el martes 17 de abril, presumiblemente en homenaje a la "1ra Derrota del Imperialismo en America".

El Programme del evento se mueve en la misma rutina de otras decenas de organizaciones que disfrutan la vida mientras otros trabajan duramente para financiarlos. Con estos antecedentes,  no es dificil imaginar que las estrellas kubishes  de la reunion seran los agentes de la inteligencia infiltrados en la academia Carlos Alzugaray Treto  y  Rafael Hernández .

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Iran Oil Ministry: Exports cut to Britain, France

By msnbc.com staff and news services

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said Sunday, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran's crucial fuel exports.

The EU imposed tough sanctions against Iran last month, which included a freeze of the country's central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July. Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had warned earlier this month that Tehran could cut off oil exports to "hostile" European nations. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran's oil exports. 

According to the BBC, Qassemi reaffirmed his stance, claiming the suspension posed no problems for Iran.

Targeting Britain and France appeared to be a political decision by Iran to punish the two countries for supporting tougher sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

"Crude oil exports to British and French companies have been halted," Oil Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad-Rahbar said on the ministry's website. "We have our own customers and have no problem to sell and export our crude oil to new customers."

Britain's Foreign Office declined comment, and there was no immediate response from French officials. More >>