The Bahrain Grand Prix will not go ahead. Many concerned people such as #Nicholas Kristof and Kenneth Roth tweeted this week about the upcoming Formula One Grand Prix expected to take place next October in Bahrain. In a post published on Foreign Policy we can read: ‘On Friday, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body for the world of motor sports, announced its decision to return the Bahrain Grand Prix to the island Gulf nation, which has been rocked by unrest, brutal human rights abuses, and a deepening sectarian divide since protests broke out on Feb. 14‘.
Then on CNN: ‘The Bahrain Grand Prix will not go ahead after organizers said Friday that they had abandoned plans to re-schedule the race later this year […] Bahrain were to host the opening race of the 2011 Formula One season on March 13, but it was postponed on February 21 after civil unrest in the gulf kingdom‘. And, eventually, on The Guardian: ‘When the final decision came on the fate of the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, it was certainly the right one. And although it may have been reached for all the wrong reasons, including logistical inconvenience and sheer embarrassment, it yielded an unexpected bonus: a couple of weeks in which the world could take a close look at the tangled moral universe of Formula One‘.
No need to remind you that at least 30 people have died in the unrest since February. Also, according to #Amnesty International, a military court in Bahrain has sentenced a poet to one year in prison for reading out a poem criticizing the country’s King (read article here). And last but not least, from AP: ‘A government report says the U.S. approved $200 million in military sales from American companies to Bahrain in 2010, months before the pivotal Persian Gulf ally began a harsh crackdown on protesters‘.
Understand: F1’s money and prestige, as well as military sales from American companies are welcome, poets are not and protesters are killed. This is how it works in Bahrain and in many other countries.
Other countries? Let’s talk about #Sudan, for a change. Bashir is committing new crimes in Darfur and South Sudan calls for foreign military intervention in South Kordofan. Last week, I mentioned a report from Reuters: ‘U.N. peacekeepers in Sudan stayed holed up in their barracks for two days during violent clashes between northern and southern forces that sparked the flight of tens of thousands of civilians, diplomats told Reuters‘. And a few hours ago, on the UN Website: ‘Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced alarm over escalating violence in the Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan, where thousands of people have been displaced, and urged all parties involved in the conflict to cease hostilities and work with the United Nations and humanitarian agencies to assist civilians affected by the fighting. The Secretary-General also said he remained deeply concerned about the situation in the disputed area of Abyei and the plight of those affected by the conflict there.’
Escalating violence while we are talking about crimes? Deeply concerned while people are being killed? I thought the UN had a responsibility to protect. And what about the UN Security Council? Will U.N. [peace] [keepers] in Sudan stay holed up in their barracks, again? We definitely are Dancing with a dictator in Sudan, again.
Enough with the bad news from Earth, let’s look at the #Universe! Awesome telescope sheds new light on cosmos. ‘From a mountaintop in northern Chile, the largest visible-light telescope in the world has captured stunning images of the cosmos in never-before-seen detail.’ These images are amazing, fantastic. If some of you think there is really something (or someone) out there, whatever you call it (him or her), it must look at us as insignificant small human beings, foolish and stupid. Or maybe ‘it’ is just playing (very well) with us… Your choice!
Focus on #Science. Last week @PhysicsUpdate tweeted three very interesting news (and yes, I like to credit my sources from Twitter). First: Fermilab’s ‘Bump Hunters’ See Hints of New Particle. And unfortunately, it’s not Higgs boson. Second: Researchers at CERN have held on to anti-atoms for a full quarter of an hour. It is not about #Dark matter but I’m into antimatter as well. And third: Periodic Table Gets Bigger, 2 New Elements Added. I’m sure Dmitri Mendeleev would have been interested to hear that.
Back to reality for a moment with a good news: the Los Angeles #graffiti artist, #Revok was recently released from prison. I told #da-eYe and he was happy too since he created a ‘Free Revok’ artwork to support the artist. Visit Revok’s blog for more information.
I didn’t mention the #videogames shown at the #E3 but this year nothing really caught my attention, excepted for the #Nintendo Wii U (even if in a previous Sunday Roundup I was expecting Nintendo to unveil the Wii 2). Four years ago I wrote Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) : gone with the babes… And four years later, I guess I wasn’t that wrong after all…