Vatican - Pope Benedict XVI: Marxist ideology no longer corresponds to reality

Uploaded by telegraphtv on Mar 24, 2012

The Pope has warned that communism no longer works in Cuba and said the Church stands ready to aid a peaceful transition without "trauma".

Denmark - half-hour lottery billionaires

Published on Mar 23, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ Just imagine. Your wildest dreams have come true. You have won billions on the lottery!

And then you find out...you haven't.

Denmark's state lottery sent e-mails to 300 punters, congratulating them on their astronomical winnings.

However the messages were a mistake, with far too many zeros on the end. The real amount won by each punter would not even pay for a weekend away.

"It is amateurish to send out an e-mail like this," said one disappointed Dane, Flemming Dahl Jensen. "They mess with people's emotions, sending people on a rollercoaster. For someone with a heart condition, it could have been fatal."

The Danske Spil state lottery corrected the error, by e-mail, half an hour later. It blames human error for the blunder.

"We were about to start our new Eurojackpot lottery, with some very big prizes," said Danske Spil spokesman Thomas Roersig. "So we were adding zeros for internal testing and those zeros went out by mistake."

It is not exactly a riches to rags tale but Denmark's short-lived lottery billionaires have certainly come down to earth with a bump.

Europe - euronews focus: EU Summit maps out the future for cities

Published on Mar 23, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ What is a sustainable city? What kind of pressure do our urban spaces have to face? What examples can small and medium cities set and how can their successes be reproduced around Europe? Some of the lessons are being learned at the 5th European Summit of Regions and Cities, in Copenhagen.

Approximately half of the world's total population lives in urban areas. By 2030 80% of Europeans are expected to live in cities. This is why sustainable urban development is acquiring a crucial dimension in the debate over future European policies. Often local and regional areas manage to stand out for their eco-friendly practices, becoming open laboratories of sustainability, as the title of the summit suggests, "The European urban fabric in the 21st century".

"Historically cities have always been innovation centres, but it is especially from the typical medium-sized European city that innovation starts. Now even the Chinese have discovered that small is beautiful, or better, middle-sized is beautiful. They have found that cities of 500,000 to 600,000 residents are much more sustainable, and they are building medium-sized urban areas to avoid their cities turning into megalopoli," says President of the Committee of Regions Mercedes Bresso.

Beautiful, green, smart and inclusive : Colourful cities, where people want to live, and can thrive. That is the objective..

Regional Mayors and Presidents shared and showcased their practical solutions and strategies to promote sustainable development at a local level. Among them was Vitoria, the Basque city that holds the title of European Green capital 2012. It is running a number of innovative projects, including the "inner green belt".

"Vitoria is surrounded by a green belt of parks and we are going to reproduce this experience inside the city. We are going to transform some communication axes and streets into what we're calling the 'inner green belt', introducing nature inside the city," says Vitoria's Mayor Javier Maroto Aranzabal.

Sustainable practice is often associated with rich countries. But the Summit's key players pointed out that the green economy is an opportunity for regions with weaker economies. And the United Nations say there is a wind of change blowing in the market:

"What we are already seeing in the real economy today is that there are significant new investments in the transition towards a green economy. In the year 2010 worldwide the total investment in renewable energies was over 210 billion US dollars, which is more than the combined total for oil, gas and coal in the world of electricity generation. So we are seeing those transitions happen, but they need to be accelerated. Public policy is as important as the ability of the market to actually engage in this, but financing remains a critical part of that," says the UN's Environment Programme Director Achim Steiner.

Copenhagen is a good example of how a green economy is an economically viable bet. Institutions, industry and education are working together to make Copenhagen the first carbon neutral capital by 2025. Its Co2 emissions, says the Mayor, have been cut by 20% over the past 10 years.

"That's good business for us as a city to invest in collective solutions, like district heating systems, like district cooling systems. Sustainable solutions are good business for the city, for the budget in the city, and it's good business for creating new jobs," says Copenhagen's Lord Mayor Frank Jensen.


Once the money is raised, one question remains: how to use it. How should cities be organised to be efficient and livable? Urban planners suggest that sustainable cities will be high-density and compact
to decrease pressure on resources.

"We'll have to change the way we move around and we'll have to change the way we build. I think that what we should not do anymore are large-scale free-standing buildings in the old way of the modernists, who did a block and another block and in between there is a sort of a no man's land. We'll have to build in a much more urban way around public spaces: squares, streets, and parks which invite people to walk and cycle but also to meet each other," says urban planner Jan Gehl.

Many of the world's cities are broken already or at breaking point; parched, hungry, polluted, congested, disfunctional, or downright dangerous. The Summit hopes to provide some of the answers.

"UN Environment chief urges more green investment":http://www.euronews.com/2012/03/23/green-gives-good-returns-copenhag

­en-mayor

USA - History of Racial Tension in Sanford, Florida

Published on Mar 23, 2012 by AssociatedPress

The furor over the failure to charge a neighborhood watch volunteer with fatally shooting an unarmed black teen is just the latest episode to inflame racial tensions in Sanford, Fla. Local residents tell AP about their encounters with police. (March 23)

Israeli - fury at UN probe into Jewish settlements

Published on Mar 23, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ There is anger in Israel at moves within the UN to investigate the effect of Jewish settlements on Palestinian human rights.

Israel is considering severing ties with the UN Human Rights Council and withdrawing its ambassador after the organisation voted to establish a fact-finding mission in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel and the residents disagree.

"The fact that Israel is repeatedly made into an scapegoat is not only infuriating, it is embarrassing to the rest of the world because once again they allow the Jews to be scapegoats for the entire world," said Semin Navon, a Jewish settler living in the West Bank.

The Council meeting in Geneva called on Israel to co-operate fully with the mission and not obstruct the process.

"We will do all that is in our power to force the Israeli government to stop settlement building, including in Jerusalem, and to accept the 1967 borders, in an attempt to preserve the option of a two state solution in the face of an Israeli government that is tactically destroying this option," said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Palestinians face restrictions in most Jewish settlement areas.

A total of 36 of the Council's 47 members voted for the mission. Ten countries abstained, including several in Europe. Only the US voted against, calling the resolution biased against Israel.

Syria - Clashes continue in many cities

Published on Mar 23, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ Violence continued in many Syrian cities on Friday following extensive clashes a day earlier which killed as many as 70 people.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three soldiers and one defector were killed in north-eastern town of Aziz. A helicopter gunship took part in attacks. The UK-based group claims those trying to flee to neighbouring Turkey were caught up in the battles.

Activists said at least two people were killed in Homs when the army fired at least 24 mortar rounds into several districts of the central city.

Other opposition activists called for demonstrations in the Syrian capital every Friday at noon after prayers from now on with the slogan "Damascus we come" on the Syrian Revolution Facebook page.

France - Toulouse pays tribute to shooting victims

Published on Mar 23, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ A minute of silence was observed at midday on Friday in Toulouse to remember those killed in the shootings that horrified France and the world.

The names of the slain soldiers of North African origin and the Rabbi and three murdered Jewish children were read out.

The gathering outside City Hall was also a public rejection of racism and anti-Semitism and a sign that people of all backgrounds can come together.

A day after the deadly climax to the siege, Mohamed Merah's neighbours are struggling to come to terms with everything that has happened.

Pascaline Mariaye, who had just moved out, says she is shocked at having lived near a man like that.

"Like many people, I would have preferred him to explain his actions and be punished like any other criminal," she said. "It was fate that it wasn't going to be that way, so there you go."

Another neighbour, Mrs Close, said: "It is hard because he is a monster but he is also a 23-year-old who got himself killed like that."

Merah's death has not lifted the sadness around the Jewish school where what should have been an ordinary Monday morning ended in a massacre.

"It won't change anything, dead or alive, it won't bring our children back," said a man, giving his name as Maurice, who goes to the school to pray.

"He wanted to die so it is too easy for him," said Justine Ribes, 16. "He got what he wanted. The little ones and the soldiers, they didn't ask for anything. They didn't want to die."

But here too, communities are supporting each other. Among the flowers left outside the school is a bouquet from Muslim parents in Toulouse.

"!http://fr.euronews.com/media/download/btn/btn_toulouse_shooting_en.jpg!"...

­//www.euronews.com/tag/toulouse-shooting/

One Direction Gives Audition Tips - THE X FACTOR USA

Uploaded by TheXFactorUSA on Mar 23, 2012

The X Factor Returns Fall 2012 to FOX!

Have you got it? For season 2 audition information visit http://www.thexfactorusa.com.

http://bit.ly/TheXFactorUSA (Official Site)
http://bit.ly/TheXFactorUSA_FB ('LIke' on Facebook)
http://bit.ly/TheXFactorUSA_Twitter (Follow on Twitter)
http://bit.ly/TheXFactor_Plus (+1 on Google+)