"I first glimpsed the depth of suppressed urban anger toward the Ethiopian government a few hundred paces into the annual 10-kilometer Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa in November 2008. An immensely popular fun-run organized by Ethiopia's most famous marathoner, it is one of the very few occasions when the government still allows citizens to gather en masse. And the runners took advantage; as we surged through the city's main artery in matching red race T-shirts, anti-government slogans began to rumble across the crowd around us. The chants rose in volume and intensity whenever we passed a bastion of federal power -- the Justice Ministry, the Supreme Court, the presidential compound. One recurring refrain combined a demand for the release of a popular political prisoner with a rhythmic, insistent, 'O-bam-a!' It had been just a few weeks since Barack Obama's election, an event that had inspired many in Addis to hope that change would come not just to the White House, but to its approach toward their country and eventually to their own government. On Sunday, May 23, Ethiopians will be out politicking again -- this time heading to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections. But few will harbor any illusions about the likelihood of voting in a change. In the 18 months since that race, there has been no meaningful revision in U.S. policy toward Ethiopia, and there is today even less reason to anticipate change in the country's leadership." (ForeignPolicy)
(image via list.co.uk)
"The message being passed around among the financial sites over the weekend, as well as email, was a link to Simon Schama’s piece on the editorial page of the WEEKEND FT with the headline: The world teeters on the brink of a new age of rage. Mr. Schama is the well-known historian of the French Revolution, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, and other books, as well as a contributor to the FT, and a professor at Columbia. In the FT piece he demonstrates a variety of similarities between the situation in France in the late 18th century and the situation in the world now, more specifically the UK, Europe and the U.S. And how we behave in a crisis of such proportions. Any thoughts about such things as 'revolution' come out of a sense of un-ease in the world. The markets crashing a couple of years ago, along with Bernie Madoff and subprime mortgages, have made all of this sense of un-ease clearer to many in very basic ways. It has also had no effect on the thinking of feeling of many others who don’t even know to give it a thought. However, it is a matter that is currently insidious. From the standpoint of many of us, there is palpable concern that things aren’t 'getting better.'" (NYSocialDiary)
"David Cameron has held secret talks with Sky TV owner Rupert Murdoch at No 10, raising fears the Tories are preparing a war on the BBC. The media baron sneaked in by a back door for a private meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday but neither Downing Street nor Mr Murdoch's News Corp would say why. Labour MPs fear Mr Cameron has agreed to pay him back for his newspapers' slavish support during the election campaign. The Tories have already agreed to two his key demands: abolishing the media regulator Ofcom and the BBC Trust." (TheMirror)
"Naomi Campbell lived up to her reputation as a party girl as she celebrated her 40th birthday in some style in the South of France at the weekend. Even her boyfriend, the Russian Vladimir Doronin described her as 'a wild woman' to the assembled guests at the exclusive Hotel du Cap in Cannes. And she didn't waste much time proving him right as she necked cocktails before taking to the dance floor with friends Jennifer Lopez and Mary J Blige. The day began quietly with a lunch in St Tropez's upmarket La Voile Rouge with Dononin, J-Lo and Marc Anthony, after which she squeezed in some shopping. Then it was back to the Hotel du Cap down the coast in Antibes to organised the party, the highlight of which was a 45-minute set by Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas. Guests included Topshop boss Sir Philip Green and his daughter Chloe, Eva Herzigova, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Beatrice and Grace Jones." (DailyMail)
"Seventy-million-dollar openings don’t come much more ogre-ish than this. DreamWorks Animation’s oft-renamed fourth – and final? – 'Shrek' movie opened to $71.3 million in U.S. and Canada, significantly underperforming on even its underwhelming tracking projections. Last week, a Wall Street analyst single-handedly cratered DreamWorks stock 4 percent when he suggested that the fourth 'Shrek' would open to between $80 million-$100 million. Released in 3D at more than half of its 4,359 locations, the Paramount-distributed movie – re-christened in late-April by DreamWorks marketing department as 'Shrek: The Final Chapter' – was well-received by movie-goers, garnering an 'A' grade from word-of-mouth tracker CinemaScore. But on a weekend in which it had the family audience pretty much all to itself – Rogue Pictures’ low-budget 'Saturday Night Live' spin-off 'MacGruber' was the only other wide release – 'Shrek 4' failed to deliver the huge audience size of previous franchise installments. ('Shrek the Third,' for example, opened to $121.6 million in May 2007.)" (TheWrap)
"For the last three years Turkey has been gripped by an extraordinary series of legal proceedings revolving around an alleged conspiracy to destabilize and eventually topple the country’s conservative-Islamist government. Prosecutors, supported by leading members of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), have accused a large number of military officers and their supposed civilian accomplices with membership in a secret network, dubbed the 'Ergenekon terror organization' after an ancient Turkish myth, and charged them with crimes ranging from murder and bombings to intimidation of religious minorities and coup plots. The cases have ensnared hundreds of current and retired military officers, journalists, academics, and lawyers—as well as a chief prosecutor and even a former mayor of Istanbul. Many are being kept in jail for months pending trial. While some of the trials have started, none has been concluded and there has yet to be a single conviction." (TNR)
(Andrew Saffir, Dree Hemingway, Daniel Benedict via DailyFrontRow)
"Day 10 - Evidently the indefatigable Harvey had one hour of sleep after his 5:00 a.m. meeting before heading to a meeting at 7:00 a.m.. We know this, as we had lunch with Harvey and Georgina Chapman before Harvey helicoptered off to his next meeting. Stefano Tonchi invited us to a Style Star party on the Croisette ... Day 11 - Our last night, and what a night: Naomi Campbell's birthday party. It is beyond. Best. Birthday. Ever. I only wish she and handsome boyfriend Vladimir Doronin would do this every year (are you listening, Vlad?). Grace Jones and the Black Eyed Peas performed, and everyone hit the dance floor until the wee, wee hours. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Mary J. Blige, Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone, Andre Leon Talley, Hamish Bowles, Christy Turlington, Gerard Butler (swarmed by gorgeous females all night long, natch) and on and on." (Andrew Saffir
via TheDaily)
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