OK, hands up who brought Scandalous by Mis-Teeq? Alright, hands down. Hands up who brought All Rise by Blue? Shame on you at the back there. Right, finally, who bought Bye, Bye by Mariah Carey, or Beautiful Liar by Beyoncé & Shakira, or recent UK No 1s Closer by Ne-Yo or Take a Bow by Rihanna? Congratulations, you all own a song produced by Scandinavian hit-makers Stargate (or as their mums call them, Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S Eriksen), a production duo currently listed in every American pop star's jewel-encrusted Blackberry.

Having plied their trade in Europe, working with such global superstars as Javine, Shola Ama and the much-missed 5ive, Hermansen and Eriksen decided to hot foot it over to New York to try and compete with big boys such as Timbaland and the Neptunes. And compete they did, immediately hitting the top spot on both sides of the Atlantic in 2006 with So Sick by Ne-Yo. Since then the duo have produced two more US No 1 singles as well as six UK bestsellers. In fact, such is their ubiquity that in January of this year they had four singles inside the US Top 20 and were nominated in six categories at this year's Grammy Awards.

But what does this all mean, I hear you cry? Well, stone me, if it doesn't symbolise a European takeover of American pop. Stargate's simple, immediately catchy productions have taken in everything from Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson (Closer by Ne-Yo) to acoustic balladry with an R&B twist (With You by Chris Brown) and they've had everyone from Lindsay Lohan to Jacko knocking on their studio door. What's been most surprising about their ascendancy is that they haven't simply been called in to write the filler for an album, oh no, these are the lead singles, or in Beyoncé's case, the single (Irreplaceable) that saves an album.

They're not alone, either. Swedish duo Bloodshy & Avant (aka Christian Karlsson and the brilliantly named Pontus Winnberg) have produced two of the best shiny American pop singles in recent years: Piece of Me and Toxic both by Britney Spears, as well as working with Madonna, Kelis and Samantha Mumba (OK, so their closet isn't skeleton-free either). In a recent New York Times article about Stargate, their success was put down to a lack of ego – you're not going to see Hermansen and Eriksen gyrating in one of their artists' videos anytime soon – and, of course, being Scandinavian must have meant they were brought up with ABBA acting as a kind of musical drip-feed.

But it's not just the Scandinavians rubbing shoulders with American pop royalty. Brighton-based remix duo, Freemasons - consisting of Russell Small (who dance aficionados will recognise as one half of Phats & Small) and James Wiltshire - were reportedly asked by Beyoncé herself to remix every song from her B'Day album following the club success of their re-rub of Déjà Vu. Their remix of single Green Light was then given radio play in the UK, eschewing the original, produced by Pharrell Williams. Williams may be right to feel a little aggrieved with the Knowles family, as sister Solange's debut UK single I Decided has just been playlisted by Radio 1, again off the back of the Freemasons remix.

So, what to make of this European invasion? Is it the ABBA factor? Do Europeans better understand what makes great pop? Or, in an American music market saturated with big egos, is it refreshing for these young pop stars to have producers that don't want their share of the limelight? Let's just hope it's not the more depressing option – we just come cheaper.

Michael Cragg, The Guardian, 30.07.08

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/30/europe.takes.over.american.pop

Habitué des collaborations prestigieuses (Mickey 3D et –M- sur le précédent album), le chanteur niçois a cette fois confié les rênes à un certain Joseph d’Anvers. Peu connu du grand public, ce collaborateur de Bashung et auteur de deux albums estimés a offert à son aîné un album d’interprète, taillé sur mesure.

Vaguement narratives, les chansons évoquent avec gravité la solitude (ce fameux "Il m’en aura fallu des gens pour être seul" dans Sur le toit du monde), le voyage (Je reviens) et le passage du temps dans une succession d’images souvent héritées du cinéma américain ("Il est le lonesome cow-boy" dans La voie des anges). Tout cela fait évidemment écho à l’amateur obsessionnel de culture américaine qu’est Hervé Fornieri. A ses doutes, sa nostalgie aussi, qu’on suppose vivaces après 47 années de carrière.

La voix de Dick, rehaussée de quelques violons ténébreux et de guitares western, a le don de rendre ces sentiments sensibles. Profonde et cahoteuse, avec ces inflexions américaines si caractéristiques, elle charrie la mélancolie et les blessures de l’âge avec une égale intensité tout au long du disque. Rarement l’ex-chanteur des Chats Sauvages n’avait atteint une telle justesse dans l’interprétation. L’album de la maturité ?

Jérôme Pichon, Radio France Internationale, 30.07.08

http://www.rfimusique.com/musiquefr/articles/103/article_17327.asp

Sí, se ha producido un impresionante desplazamiento de poder en lo que a la economía se refiere. Rusia, China, India y los países del Golfo gozan de unas economías en expansión, mientras que la de Estados Unidos ha caído en un periodo de recesión. Durante los gobiernos de Clinton y del primer Bush, Washington acostumbraba a sermonear al resto del planeta sobre cómo mantener en orden sus haciendas, pero ese tipo de sermón suena ahora un poco falso tras la crisis financiera estadounidense del pasado año. La prueba más clara del cambio al que asistimos es el endeudamiento en el que se encuentra Estados Unidos, mientras que muchos otros países están acumulando reservas.

En el futuro, las posibilidades de Estados Unidos serán mucho más limitadas. Puede que esta limitación venga dada por ciertos cambios en el equilibrio del poder militar, pero sobre todo se deberá a factores que tienen más que ver con el poder blando. Hoy, por ejemplo, los chinos y los indios exportan películas; hay estrellas de cine coreanas que son famosas en toda Asia, y los japoneses son grandes productores de cine de animación. En resumen, Hollywood ya no es la única fuente de creatividad cultural en el planeta.

Otra tendencia especialmente preocupante es la disminución de estudiantes extranjeros en las universidades estadounidenses. Disuadidos por la cantidad de obstáculos que encuentran para entrar en Estados Unidos, los estudiantes extranjeros han preferido buscar alternativas en otras partes del mundo.

Consideremos ahora un hecho desconcertante: el gasto militar de Estados Unidos es igual a la suma de los gastos militares de todo el resto del mundo. Y, sin embargo, no hemos logrado pacificar Irak en los cinco años transcurridos desde que las tropas estadounidenses invadieron y ocuparon el país. Se constata así que la fuerza militar no sirve a la hora de crear las instituciones legítimas sobre las que se asientan las naciones, de consolidar la vida política y de estabilizar esa parte del mundo.

Durante las dos últimas décadas, países tradicionalmente aliados han empezado a mostrarse opuestos a la política estadounidense. Se han formado, por ejemplo, alianzas como la del Shanghai Cooperation Council, una organización cuyo objetivo es acabar con la presencia estadounidense en Asia, incrementada después del 11 de septiembre. Y tampoco podemos recurrir con la misma seguridad que antes a nuestros aliados democráticos tradicionales.

Así sucedió en Irak, como era de esperar; pero también en Afganistán, donde, pese a que nuestros aliados aceptaban la legitimidad de la operación, arrastraron los pies a la hora de apoyar con tropas y recursos materiales. E incluso un país como Corea del Sur, que ha sido siempre un aliado, se ha visto convulsionado durante los dos últimos meses por las manifestaciones en contra de Estados Unidos desencadenadas por polémicas importaciones de carne.

En resumen, el mundo al que se enfrenta hoy Estados Unidos requiere nuevos instrumentos. Tenemos que poder desplegar y utilizar el poder duro, la fuerza militar, pero también hay otras maneras de propagar aquellos valores y aquellas instituciones que han de ser la base de nuestro liderazgo en el mundo. La labor realizada por el Gobierno de Clinton en los Balcanes, en Somalia y en Haití, en el sentido de colaborar en la construcción de naciones, fue muy criticada y tachada de "trabajo social". Pero la realidad es que la política exterior estadounidense debe interesarse por cierto tipo de trabajo social.

Quienes se oponen al dominio de Estados Unidos en el mundo -los Hermanos Musulmanes, Hamás, Hezbolá y Mahmud Ahmadineyad, en Oriente Próximo, así como ciertos líderes populistas de América Latina como Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa y Evo Morales- han llegado al poder porque ofrecen servicios sociales a los más pobres de sus países.

Estados Unidos, por el contrario, apenas ha ofrecido nada en este sentido durante la pasada generación. Ofrecemos mercado libre y democracia, dos cosas buenas e importantes que constituyen la base del crecimiento y del orden político. Pero ninguna de las dos parece atraer a las poblaciones más pobres, que son, en definitiva, los auténticos electores en esta lucha por el poder y la influencia en el mundo.

No creo que el declive americano sea inevitable. Estados Unidos tiene muchas bazas ganadoras en tecnología, en competitividad, en el mundo de la empresa; cuenta con unos mercados laborales flexibles y unas instituciones financieras, en principio, fuertes, aunque hemos de admitir que ahora atraviesan ciertas dificultades. Y una de sus grandes ventajas es su capacidad para asimilar a la gente de otros países y de otras culturas.

Prácticamente, todos los países desarrollados atraviesan un bache demográfico. Sus poblaciones disminuyen de año en año como consecuencia de la bajísima tasa de natalidad de sus pobladores nativos. Así que cualquier país desarrollado que desee seguir creciendo tendrá que acoger inmigrantes procedentes de países y culturas diferentes, y creo que Estados Unidos tiene una capacidad única en este sentido.

Pero hay tres puntos débiles sobre los que Estados Unidos ha de trabajar si quiere salir airoso. En primer lugar, la creciente pérdida de capacidad de acción del sector público; en segundo lugar, la manera, harto autocomplaciente, de entender al resto del mundo, siempre desde nuestra propia perspectiva; y, en tercer lugar, la gran polarización del sistema político, que impide buscar soluciones a estos problemas.

Ejemplo de lo primero es la pésima planificación de la ocupación de Irak y de la guerra que le sucedió. Otro, el desastre absoluto de la respuesta al huracán Katrina.

El segundo punto tiene que ver con la arrogancia norteamericana respecto al resto del mundo. Cuando a finales de los años cincuenta, la Unión Soviética colocó en el espacio el Sputnik, Estados Unidos respondió al reto invirtiendo masivamente en ciencia y tecnología. El resultado fue que Estados Unidos se reafirmó como líder mundial en tecnología. Del mismo modo podríamos haber respondido al 11 de septiembre: invirtiendo en nuestra capacidad para comprender la complejidad de regiones del mundo como Oriente Medio. Por ejemplo, es un escándalo que la Embajada americana en Bagdad sólo cuente con un puñado de funcionarios que hablen árabe correctamente.

El último punto que habría que resolver es el impasse en el que se encuentra nuestro sistema político a causa de la polarización. La derecha se niega a hablar de subir los impuestos a fin de financiar unos servicios públicos muy necesitados de inyección económica. Y la izquierda se niega a hablar de cuestiones como la privatización de la Seguridad Social o el retraso de la edad de jubilación.

Y ni la izquierda ni la derecha han tenido la valentía política de sugerir una subida de los impuestos sobre el consumo energético, que es la manera más obvia de solucionar la dependencia del exterior y de impulsar fuentes alternativas.

Ningún otro lugar del mundo se beneficiará de nuestra política si seguimos siendo un país que sólo se mira el ombligo, incapaz de llevar adelante las políticas y medidas proyectadas, y demasiado dividido para tomar decisiones importantes. Todo esto no sólo es perjudicial para los estadounidenses, sino también para el resto del planeta.

Este texto es un extracto del discurso que ofreció en Santa Mónica el 21 de junio. Traducción de Pilar Vázquez. © 2008, The American Interest. Distributed by Global Viewpoint / Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Francis Fukuyama, El Pais, 31.07.08

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/fin/hegemonia/americana/elpepuopi/20080731elpepiopi_11/Tes

A few days after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 this year, thousands of Serbs rallied in the northern town of Mitrovica to register their anger and rejection of the new state. Under a clear blue sky, speaker after speaker denounced Nato and the EU. On cue everyone roared, but it struck me that something was amiss. Then I realised. Everyone was delighted to have a day off work and to chat and mill about with their friends, but when it came to the politics of the affair, they were bored rigid.

On Tuesday, 15,000 turned out in Belgrade to protest against the arrest of Radovan Karadzic for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The small size of the crowd was a crushing disappointment for Serbia's nationalists, whose main enemies are no longer Albanians, Croats and Bosnian Muslims but rather Nato, the EU and Serbia's new pro-western government. More than 20 years since the then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic rose to power, electrifying hundreds of thousands with his heady brew of nationalism and an appeal to victimhood, it was not, as promised by Aleksandar Vucic, one of their key leaders, a rally of "resistance" or a "symbol of strength of those who love freedom more than anything". It was the rally of a disappointed and an embittered remnant.

So what has happened to the Serbs and what has happened to the Serbian nationalism that many argue was the driving force behind the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s? Has it gone it away? If so, why is it that the nationalists still do so well in Serbian elections? And what about Radovan Karadzic's living legacy - the Republika Srpska, the Serbian half of Bosnia and Herzegovina? If you believed Lord Ashdown, the former high representative in Bosnia, writing in the Observer on Sunday, Karadzic's "dream [of the Bosnian Serbs seceding from Bosnia] is now more likely than at any time since he became a fugitive".

This is almost certainly not true. The problem for Lord Ashdown, who is otherwise suffering from a low media profile at the moment, and even more so for some of the grizzled old hacks who reported from Bosnia during the war of 1992 to 1995, is that much has moved on. The Bosnian and Serbian reality is now very different from a decade ago, complicated by a heady dose of workaday local politics, the dull mechanics of European integration and forthcoming local elections in Bosnia.

Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Ratko Mladic, were indicted for war crimes exactly 13 years ago. Until recently, Mladic had official protection from the Serbian security services and drew an army pension. Karadzic was believed to be hiding in a remote corner of Bosnia, Montenegro or Serbia. Maybe he did for a time, or perhaps that was a smokescreen. What is most unlikely is that he was ever off the radar of Serbia's intelligence services. And clearly those people did not answer to the country's new pro-European president, Boris Tadic - until two weeks ago.

On April 29, fearing that the nationalists would win the Serbian elections of May 11, the EU gave Serbia a major concession. It gave it a stabilisation and association agreement (SAA), which is widely considered to be the first step towards membership. Talks also began on a process that should end with visas for Serbs for most EU countries being abolished. Tadic and the pro-European forces in the country were seen as having delivered these, which were crucial in swinging enough votes for Tadic's party. Less than a week before Karadzic was arrested, Tadic's man took control of the intelligence services.

The nationalists still did well in the poll, but what is widely misunderstood in the west is the reason that most people vote for them. Is it because they want to go back to war? Is it because they believe that if the nationalist Serbian Radical party is in power, Serbian tanks will once more be rolling down the motorway to Croatia with some taking the exit for Bosnia? After all, the founder of the party, Vojislav Seselj, currently on trial for war crimes, has never indicated that he has changed his views ever since he demanded the gouging out of Croatian eyes with rusty spoons.

Of course not. The reality is far more prosaic. Slobodan Milosevic finally fell on October 5 2000. Ever since, in one form or another, Serbian governments have been made up of men and women who opposed him. Many Serbs had high hopes that, post-Milosevic, the country would shrug off its past and take its rightful place among Europe's nations. After all, Serbs (and Bosnians and other former Yugoslavs) still find it hard to stomach that people they once looked down on as poor and oppressed (Czechs and Slovaks, Romanians, Bulgarians, Hungarians) now sup at the Brussels high table and they do not.

It was not to be. The damage caused to Serbia's economy, society and international reputation by Milosevic was so great that Serbia was beginning from a point less than zero. Serbia's path to EU membership is blocked until it is deemed to be fully cooperating with the war crimes tribunal. (The same was true of Croatia.) At first, the government of the zealous reformer Zoran Djindjic decided to proceed cautiously. Too many people from the time of the Bosnian war were still too powerful. Then, Djindjic considered taking some radical steps on various fronts, including the war crimes indictees, Kosovo and organised crime. It is widely believed that these interests contributed to his assassination on March 12 2003.

Meanwhile, the old opposition to Milosevic diverged. Those now led by Boris Tadic simply wanted to wipe the slate clean - and send all of those indicted to The Hague. Those led by Vojislav Kostunica, meanwhile, who loathed the tribunal, asked people to surrender but refused to arrest anyone.

As for ordinary people: lots of money has poured into the country in terms of foreign investment and life is clearly better that at any time since the wars began. But many are not comparing their life to then, but rather to the glory years of Tito's time, when the good life was assured by a steady flow of cash from tourism and favourable western loans. The disappointment was inevitable.

Take my old Serbian friend, Mosa. "Tadic is honest," he says, "but those around him - thieves!" Whether that accusation is true or not, it is an inescapable fact that many around Tadic have done rather well in business since 2000. The problem is that Mosa has not and he resents that. In fact, he is not doing that badly. He used to have a chugging old car, which he said he could not afford to replace. Now he has a nice new one. So things are better? "No, they are worse than ever," he says. "I have to pay the bank back for the loan on the car." The result is that, furious at this indignity of having to borrow money, he votes for the nationalists. He does not care much about Kosovo or Bosnia, but he does know that the Radicals are in opposition and thinks that maybe things would be better if they were in power.

A source in government is very clear about this phenomenon, which has kept the nationalist vote high and confused western reporters who only make the occasional house call to the Serbian patient. Votes for the nationalists are, he said just before the election: "a sort of message people are sending about the arrogance of power". Everything of importance in the country is decided "among parties and not very transparently", and for many jobs, above all in any form of public service, "being a party member is more important than being competent".

There is a feeling that political parties stitch things up between themselves, however the people vote. Witness the fact that the new pro-European government of Tadic has only been formed with the votes of the rump of Slobodan Milosevic's former party, the socialists, whose leader is now minister of the interior. It can look confusing. Opinion polls in the past few years have consistently shown that most Serbs want to join the EU, which also means that many of those same people are voting for the nationalists, which would seem to be a contradiction - except it is not. It is just that Serbian politics is a dull shade of grey and not the black and white so beloved of many people who seek to explain it.

The polls have also showed something else over the past decade. While many Serbs still think that Karadzic and Mladic were not murderers or guilty of genocide as charged, that did not mean that they should not go to tribunal in The Hague. Why would that be, when most Serbs also regard the court as unashamedly biased against Serbs? But they also felt increasingly that their own futures were being held hostage to the fates of just a couple of men - and that if they were really honourable they should release their fellow Serbs from this bondage.

"What all this shows," says Marko Blagojevic, a leading Serbian pollster, is that "they see their future in the EU but at present their thoughts have been very confused by our political elite."

That is as true for the tribunal itself as it is in general. Croatia, having delivered its men indicted in The Hague, is now years ahead of Serbia in terms of European integration and, in part thanks to that, its people are also several times better off. That counts. The choice is: jobs and money v Greater Serbia. Although Serbia has signed an SAA, it was frozen until the country was deemed to be cooperating with the tribunal, but on Tuesday EU foreign ministers failed to unfreeze it - for the moment at least, thanks to the fact that Mladic and one other indictee are still at large.

Ljiljana Smajlovic is the editor of Politika, the oldest newspaper in the Balkans and for generations regarded as the house paper of the government in Belgade, of whatever stripe that might be. She says, unequivocally: "Serbian nationalism has been defeated but the problem for us is that we are surrounded by triumphant nationalisms of others - most recently that of the Kosovo Albanians, but also that of Bosnian Muslims and Croats."

Convincing Serbs that the tribunal is not biased has always been an uphill struggle, but in recent months it has been made even harder since it has acquitted Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo Albanian military leader and Naser Oric, who commanded Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, of killing Serbs and others. "The others have received a slap on the wrists compared to us," says Smajlovic, "but we have delivered six former Serbian presidents!"

And there are some young people who do regard the likes of Karadzic as heroes. These thuggish young people who grew up during the dark period of war and sanctions, when Serb nationalism was at its height, are known as the "lost generation".

But to many Serbs, the wars are long since over; they would rather the world saw Ana Ivanovic (who was four years old when Karadzic's siege of Sarajevo began) and all the other champion tennis players Serbia is now producing as the real faces of the country. Many would prefer to be seen as the successful hosts of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest rather than harbourers of Ratko Mladic.

Braca Grubacic is one of Serbia's sharpest political commentators. On Tuesday he was in The Hague to witness and report on the arrival of Radovan Karadzic. We have often talked at length about the state of the Serbian nation and then he has sighed and let drop a line more revealing than reams of analysis and pages of polling data. "You know," he says, "the 20 years since this all began are nothing in terms of history - but for one life, they are a very long time." With that, he encapsulates the true mood of the nation.

Tim Judah, The Guardian, 31.07.08

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/31/serbia.radovankaradzic

Au-delà de ces statistiques, la Roumanie risque d'être confrontée à un désastre écologique majeur. "Une brèche s'est formée dans la digue de protection du lac Colbu 2 et l'eau, qui contient des résidus de métaux lourds et probablement du cyanure, s'est déversée dans le lac Colbu 1, représentant un danger pour toute la région, a déclaré, mardi 29 juillet, le président roumain Traian Basescu. Il faut agir rapidement pour empêcher que ce deuxième barrage ne cède aussi, sinon nous risquons d'être confrontés à un désastre écologique."

8 MILLIONS DE TONNES DE DÉCHETS

Selon le président du conseil départemental de Maramures, Mircea Man, plus de 8 millions de tonnes de déchets miniers contenant des métaux lourds sont stockées dans ces lacs de décantation, dont la fonction est de conserver des eaux polluées. "Si ces résidus s'écoulaient dans les rivières de la région, ils provoqueraient une pollution grave des eaux intérieures, mais aussi transfrontalières", a-t-il averti.

La Roumanie a déjà connu, en 2000, un scénario catastrophe comparable. A l'époque, le déversement d'un lac de décantation de Baia Mare, ville du nord-ouest du pays, avait provoqué une grave pollution au cyanure. Plusieurs rivières, dont le Danube, avaient été touchées, et des milliers de poissons avaient succombé, notamment en Hongrie.

Ce genre de situation est encore plus compliqué à résoudre aujourd'hui, en raison de la communication difficile entre la Roumanie et l'Ukraine voisine. Plusieurs des rivières à l'origine des inondations traversent les deux pays. "Les autorités ukrainiennes nous donnent peu d'informations ou pas du tout, s'est plaint Cristian David, le ministre roumain de l'intérieur. Nous ne sommes pas avertis et nous ne pouvons que constater les dégâts."

Lundi 28 juillet, plusieurs villages situés au nord de la Roumanie ont été envahis par les eaux, et leurs habitants n'ont pu être avertis à temps pour prendre les dispositions nécessaires. Kiev a rejeté la demande de Bucarest, qui souhaitait envoyer des spécialistes côté ukrainien, afin d'être informé des variations de débit des rivières.

Les relations entre les deux pays se sont envenimées à cause d'un différend portant sur le partage du plateau continental de la mer Noire. La Roumanie et l'Ukraine ont entamé un procès devant la Cour internationale de justice de La Haye, dont elles attendent la décision dans les mois à venir. La partie du plateau continental au coeur de la querelle, d'une superficie de 12 000 km², recèlerait environ 100 milliards de mètres cubes de gaz.

"La décision de la Cour de La Haye permettra à la Roumanie et à l'Ukraine de commencer à exploiter ces gisements", affirme Bodgan Aurescu, secrétaire d'Etat auprès du ministre roumain des affaires étrangères. Mais avant que les deux pays commencent à extraire le précieux gaz, il leur faudra bien trouver une solution commune pour faire face au défi des intempéries.

Mirel Bran, Le Monde, 31.07.08

http://www.lemonde.fr/sciences-et-environnement/article/2008/07/30/les-rivieres-roumaines-sont-menacees-par-un-desastre-ecologique_1078643_3244.html

Esta exposición temporal, titulada Female trouble. The camera as mirror and stage of female projection (Problemas de mujer. La cámara como espejo y escenario de la proyección femenina), viene a sumarse a la amplísima oferta de colecciones permanentes que poseen museos de la capital bávara, como la Vieja Pinacoteca, que incluye obras maestras de Durero o de Rubens. Múnich es una de las ciudades con más atractivos artísticos de Europa central.

La exposición de la Pinacoteca Moderna (www.pinakothek.de) se centra en artistas contemporáneas como Cindy Sherman, Sarah Lucas, Monica Bonvicini o Pipilotti Rist, que "han deconstruido y redefinido la imagen de las mujeres con ayuda de la fotografía o del vídeo".

Al mismo tiempo, la muestra abarca obras fotográficas de los siglos XIX y XX y exhibe trabajos de pioneras en la ruptura de los roles femeninos como la condesa Castiglione, lady Hawarden, Claude Cahun y Florence Henri.

No deja de lado la exposición la polémica con fotografías como la de una Virgen María que amamanta a Jesús con un pecho al descubierto y una actitud poco maternal.

El juego de las máscaras y los disfraces ocupa también un lugar preferente. Junto a los retratos, se incluye una serie de vídeo-instalaciones entre las que destacan las de la austriaca Pipilotti Rist, titulada Ever is over all, en la que a cámara lenta una joven se divierte rompiendo las lunas de los coches aparcados en la calle con una flor como única arma.

Los responsables de la muestra, desplegada sobre unos 1.000 metros cuadrados en la primera planta del museo, han señalado que se pretende indagar en los factores culturales que determinan la identidad femenina en cada grupo social.

M.Á.V, El Pais, 31.07.08

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/Revista/Verano/mujer/estereotipos/elpepucul/20080731elprdv_7/Tes

However, now a remarkable new X-ray technique, using a particle accelerator, has recovered her image – which Van Gogh painted over with his 1887 landscape Patch of Grass – in remarkable detail. An international group of scientists applied the process, known as "X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy", for the first time ever on a painting to recover the original portrait.

Art researchers had previously been aware of the woman's existence. However, the technological limitations of existing methods, including standard X-ray and infrared, meant that only the outlines of the head could be detected.

The new technique can differentiate between the colour pigments, revealing not only the strokes but the original colours used.

Van Gogh's need to recycle his canvases because of poverty has led scholars to believe there are other similar hidden examples of his work: experts estimate that around one third of his works were painted over.

The scientists, introducing the study in yesterday's Analytical Chemistry journal, said: "Van Gogh would often re-use the canvas of an abandoned painting and paint a new or modified composition on top... Our approach literally opens up new vistas in the non-destructive study of hidden paint layers, which applies to the oeuvre of Van Gogh in particular and to old master paintings in general."

They added: "These hidden paintings offer a unique and intimate insight into the genesis of his works. Yet current museum-based imaging tools are unable to properly visualise many of these hidden images."

In order to reveal the underlying peasant, the team – led by Professor Koen Janssens from the University of Antwerp and Dr Joris Dik from Delft University of Technology – used a particle accelerator to stimulate the atoms on the canvas. These then produced their own X-rays, with each element having its own distinctive signature, which were picked up by a florescence detector. The scan took two days, despite the small area of the canvas taken up by the portrait.

The scientists could create a 3D image of the different chemicals used in each of the layers, which were then separated and stripped away in a computer model. The analysis showed that one such layer was solely lead, which was used as a primer so that the canvas could be used again.

In order to reconstruct the colour, scientists used the distribution of antimony and mercury to "colour in" the image. Antimony, when heated with lead, makes the pigment "Naples yellow" which appears to have been used for the lighter areas.

The portrait itself resembles a series of pieces painted by Van Gogh while he lived in the Dutch town of Nuenen. The most famous of his works from the period was his 1885 painting The Potato Eaters. By the time Van Gogh painted Patch of Grass two and a half years later he had moved to Paris, and was becoming more and more influenced by the impressionist style.

The painting is owned by the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands.

Hidden works of art

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton

Art historians from Bristol University uncovered a painting of William Shakespeare's only known patron, Henry Wriothesley, right, by an unknown artist under a portrait of his wife, Elizabeth Vernon, a maid to Queen Elizabeth I.

Arthur Streeton

Last year Australian art experts found a nude female figure and the words "Florry Walker's my sweetheart" under a painting by one of the country's most famous artists, Arthur Streeton. The gallery managed to find family of the woman who confirmed that there had been a romance.

Banksy

Banksy's work may provide similar discoveries for art historians in the future. Last month a stencil in north London of two girls with a Kalashnikov was whitewashed by the local council, while his mural of an Israeli soldier checking a donkey's ID papers in Bethlehem was painted over by locals.

Toby Green, The Independent, 31.07.08

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art-and-architecture/news/the-portrait-that-van-gogh-did-not-want-the-world-to-see-881393.html

LES GAGNANTS

Les agriculteurs les plus subventionnés, comme les Européens et les Américains, ne verront pas de sitôt disparaître les aides à la production et à l'exportation dont ils bénéficient. Le riz japonais continuera à profiter d'un droit de douane de 700 %.

Les industries automobile ou pharmaceutique des pays émergents demeureront à l'abri de droits de douane élevés.

Les pays comme la Bolivie ou le Venezuela seront confortés dans leur exigence idéologique d'un traitement très dissymétrique entre les nations riches, qui doivent ouvrir leurs marchés sans condition, et les pays pauvres qui doivent protéger les leurs.

Le président de la République, Nicolas Sarkozy, fait d'une pierre deux coups : même s'il n'est pour rien dans l'échec de Genève, il peut se targuer d'avoir défendu les intérêts des agriculteurs français et européens. Il peut désormais inciter les Irlandais à organiser un deuxième référendum sur le traité de Lisbonne, le premier ayant été rejeté, selon lui, en raison des menaces pesant sur la viande et le lait irlandais.

LES PERDANTS

Le secteur des services des pays développés, qui pouvait espérer des gains importants, ne verra pas son implantation mondiale favorisée, notamment les travaux publics, les services financiers, l'assurance, la santé et le tourisme.

Les pays les plus pauvres, dont une majorité d'africains, n'avaient rien à redouter de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), puisque dispensés de toute ouverture de leurs marchés. En revanche, ils ne bénéficieront pas de la suppression totale de droits de douane dans les pays riches dont devaient bénéficier 97 % de leurs exportations.

Pascal Lamy a failli gagner son pari en forçant les membres de l'OMC à entrer dans une négociation à laquelle ils rechignaient. Bien qu'il ait déclaré après la rupture, qu'il ne "jetait pas l'éponge" et qu'il allait "essayer de remettre le train sur les rails", sera-t-il candidat à sa propre succession à la tête de l'OMC, en 2009 ?

Alain Faujas, Le Monde, 30.07.08

http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2008/07/30/les-gagnants-et-les-perdants-du-statu-quo-commercial_1078592_3234.html#ens_id=1075232

La amenaza de golpe judicial se ha convertido en simple asonada legal. El Constitucional sólo ha tardado un mes en instruir la causa, y apenas tres días en dictar una sentencia esencialmente favorable para el islamismo moderado turco. El veredicto pone fin a cuatro meses de incertidumbre política y económica que han estado a punto de arruinar definitivamente las expectativas de ingreso de Turquía en la Unión Europea y han ahuyentado de la Bolsa de Estambul a los inversores internacionales.

Circunspecto, el presidente del Constitucional, Hasim Kilic, compareció en la tarde de ayer ante la prensa en Ankara para anunciar el fallo. Sólo 6 de los 11 magistrados del alto tribunal votaron a favor de la demanda de ilegalización presentada el pasado 14 de marzo por el fiscal del Tribunal Supremo, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, uno menos de los exigidos por la ley turca, que exige una mayoría cualificada para disolver un partido político.

Uno de los jueces -el propio presidente del máximo tribunal turco- votó en contra, y los otros cuatro se negaron a aceptar que los cargos presentados contra el AKP fueran lo suficientemente consistentes como para condenarle al ostracismo. Pidieron, sin embargo, imponerle una severa sanción económica: privarle de la mitad de los fondos públicos que le corresponden, como al resto de los partidos, en función de sus resultados electorales. Una suma que, según cálculos de la agencia estatal de noticias Anatolia, asciende a unos 25 millones de euros. "La reducción de las ayudas económicas estatales al AKP y el voto de los seis jueces suponen una seria advertencia para el futuro", remachó en su intervención el presidente del Constitucional.

Acusado por el fiscal Yalcinkaya de haberse convertido en "un foco de actividades antilaicas", el AKP se ha enfrentado a la mayor amenaza de su existencia. Erdogan y Gül fundaron en 2001 este partido conservador de base islámica tras romper con el movimiento integrista de Necmettin Erbakan, el primer jefe de Gobierno islamista de la República turca, que fue forzado a dimitir ante las presiones de los generales en 1997. El Partido del Bienestar, que dirigía Erbakan, fue ilegalizado dos años después por el Tribunal Constitucional tras un largo proceso.

La disputa por el poder en Turquía enfrenta al aparato laico del Estado -encarnado fundamentalmente por jueces, altos funcionarios, profesores universitarios y Fuerzas Armadas-, y se ha plasmado en tres golpes de Estado y dos intentonas militares desde 1960. Pero con la llegada al Gobierno del partido de Erdogan, la cúpula del Ejército -que se considera a sí mismo guardián del legado de Mustafá Kemal, Atatürk, fundador de la moderna Turquía tras la derrota del Imperio Otomano en la I Guerra Mundial-, ha perdido muchas de sus atribuciones. A punto de pasar a situación de retiro, el jefe del Estado Mayor, el general Yasar Büyükanit, se limitó a declarar tras conocer el fallo: "Las convicciones laicas de las Fuerzas Armadas nunca cambiarán".

El líder del Partido Republicano del Pueblo, el principal grupo de la oposición laica, Deniz Baykal, afirmó que 6 de los 11 jueces del Constitucional habían confirmado que el AKP no acata los principios del Estado laico.

Los occidentalizados turcos de las grandes ciudades siguen recelando del partido de Erdogan, al que acusan de contar con una agenda secreta para islamizar Turquía. La autorización del uso del velo islámico en las universidades, anulada el mes pasado por el Constitucional, abrió una brecha insalvable en la sociedad turca. Después de superar una de las peores crisis políticas de la Turquía contemporánea, Erdogan llama ahora a la unidad de su pueblo.

LA PUGNA POR EL PODER

Only Mariah Carey fared better, selling 463,000 copies in her debut week. To put Miley's total in perspective, her "Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus" opened at No. 1 last year with 326,000 copies, but that album was directly tied into her Disney Channel series and tour, whereas "Breakout" is a standalone Miley affair. 

While the tween market is certainly one not to be taken lightly, Cyrus fared better than much-hyped 2008 releases from Madonna and Janet Jackson, respectively. Madonna's "Hard Candy" sold 280,000 copies when it debuted earlier this year, and Janet came in with 181,000 copies back in March.

"Breakout" has given Cyrus a top-20 single in the U.S. with  "7 Things." It comes only weeks after the Vanity Fair photo scandal, in which pop-culture pundits were questioning if Annie Liebowitz's pics of Cyrus' exposed back would hurt her Magic Kingdom-approved career. And just this week, Cyrus was in the tabloids again, this time for a YouTube video that poked fun at Disney newcomers Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, for which she has apologized.

The headlines came at what is perceived to be a crucial time for the young star. Cyrus has hinted that "Hannah Montana" may be nearing the end of its run, and "Breakout" is pegged as the album that could catapult Cyrus out of the teen-pop world. First-week sales usually bring out the die-hards, but thus far, fans don't appear to be turned off by any of Cyrus' non-music or off-screen exploits. 

Todd Martens, The Los Angeles Times, 29.07.08

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2008/07/photo-scandals.html

Les coups de feu, qui avaient débuté lundi en début d'après-midi, avaient duré seize heures. Ils s'étaient terminés à l'issue d'une rencontre entre les représentants des deux armées dans le village frontalier de Telwal. Selon New Delhi, l'armée indienne aurait riposté aux tirs d'une troupe de dix à douze soldats pakistanais qui venait de pénétrer dans la partie du Cachemire administrée par l'Inde. "Aucun soldat pakistanais n'a franchi la ligne de contrôle", affirme au contraire le porte-parole de l'armée pakistanaise. "Les soldats indiens voulaient établir un poste avancé sur la zone du côté pakistanais de la ligne de contrôle, ce à quoi se sont opposés nos soldats", a-t-il ajouté.

Deux jours auparavant, une double série d'explosions a tué 51 personnes en Inde, à Bangalore et Ahmedabad. Le groupe terroriste du Lashkar-e-Taiba, qui serait impliqué dans cet attentat, est soupçonné par l'Inde de recevoir le soutien des services de renseignements pakistanais. Ces derniers avaient déjà été accusés par le conseiller national indien à la sécurité intérieure, N. K. Narayan, d'être impliqués dans l'attentat du 7 juillet devant l'ambassade de l'Inde à Kaboul qui avait fait 58 morts.

"RÉDUIRE LES TENSIONS"

L'incident de lundi fragilise le processus de paix lancé en 2004. Ces discussions n'ont abouti, à ce jour, qu'à de maigres résultats comme le rétablissement des lignes routières et ferroviaires entre les deux pays. Mais le problème frontalier du Cachemire demeure. Lors de l'ouverture du cinquième round de négociations, le 21 juillet, le numéro deux indien des affaires étrangères, Shiv Shankar Menon, a regretté que le dialogue entre les deux pays soit "sous tension".

New Delhi accuse Islamabad de soutenir les groupes terroristes qui frappent régulièrement sur le sol indien et d'alimenter l'insurrection séparatiste au Cachemire indien. Le 24 juillet, neuf personnes ont été tuées, notamment par une attaque à la grenade attribuée à des militants islamistes. Les violences entre hindous et musulmans ont fait une vingtaine de morts depuis un mois dans la région.

Le ministre indien des affaires étrangères, Pranab Mukherjee, en visite officielle en Iran, a appelé le Pakistan à "respecter le cessez-le-feu". Le premier ministre pakistanais, Youssouf Raza Gilani, a déclaré, à l'issue d'une rencontre avec le président américain, George Bush, que le dialogue entre le Pakistan et l'Inde serait encouragé afin de "réduire les tensions, construire la confiance et résoudre les problèmes urgents".

Julien Bouissou, Le Monde, 31.07.08

http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2008/07/30/un-incident-arme-au-cachemire-fragilise-le-dialogue-indo-pakistanais_1078636_3216.html#ens_id=1078716

Caramba, el soul. Palabras mayores. El sonido del alma en plena incandescencia. Han sucedido muchas cosas, algunas bien interesantes, en este ciclo veraniego que ya languidece en el Conde Duque, pero ninguna tan impactante como la irrupción de las sagradas fuerzas de la negritud rítmica. Rompió las hostilidades Erykah Badu; alborotó al personal esa plañidera mayor del reino que responde por Macy Gray, y rematamos la faena, anoche, con el espíritu de James Brown.

Se ausentó el propio Brown, claro, por razones de fuerza mayor: hace dos Navidades, lo que parecía una rutinaria visita de El Padrino del Soul al dentista derivó en neumonía a la postre mortal (y no, no le estamos cargando el muerto al odontólogo, por mucho que todos tengamos cuentas pendientes con algún integrante del gremio). Pero en ausencia ya irreversible del titular, lo de ayer constituía el sucedáneo más legitimado para disfrutar en directo de trallazos a la boca del estómago como I got you (I feel good), Papa's got a brand new bag, I got the feeling o Pass the peas. Ni rastro en cambio, qué cosas, de Sex machine. Sí, señora: ésa que su hijo identifica en el eMule con el título de Gueropa!, porque influye más un anuncio de la tele que la enciclopedia completa de la música popular en diez volúmenes.

Al frente de las operaciones se sitúa ahora el colosal Pee Wee Ellis, el hombre que ya derretía los saxofones en ese periodo asombroso que media entre el Live at the Apollo, de 1963, y el final de aquella década de todas las maravillas. Integrante de los míticos JB Horns, una sección de metales tan flamígera que debiera llevar emparentada un retén antiincendios, de Pee Wee nos acabamos de encariñar durante sus años al servicio de otro genio iracundo, Van Morrison. Y algún que otro berrinche, desde luego.

A Ellis le costó entrar en calor, y eso que le escoltaba el trombonista original de los JB, Fred Wesley. Pero el tándem se arremangó a partir de Chicken soup y ya no hubo manera de pararlos. Nunca sabremos con certeza, porque nos falta la titulación en Psicología, si lo de Ellis y Wesley es un irrefrenable ejercicio de nostalgia a una edad ya provecta, la reivindicación de un legado pasmoso o una mera fórmula de manutención, ahora que en la América de las subprime también hay que ingeniárselas para llegar a fin de mes. Queda poca duda sobre la competencia del proyecto, en manos de un puñado de instrumentistas correosos y fulgurantes a la hora de suministrar ese latigazo colectivo de adrenalina que ha pasado a la historia con el nombre de funk. Y en ausencia eterna del Señor Dinamita, la figura del espídico Fred Ross y sus paseos a lo máiquelyason por el escenario constituyen todo un hallazgo.

De acuerdo, ni Ross ni posiblemente nadie podrá ser tan bandarra, sátiro y amigo de la vida peligrosa como el original, pero tendremos que hacernos a la idea de que James Joseph Brown fue un espécimen, para lo bueno y para lo malo, irrepetible. En tales circunstancias, que sea el senegalés Cheikh Lô el encargado de interpretar It's a man's man's world se parece bastante a lo que podemos entender por felicidad.

Con Fred y Pee Wee a sus anchas en el papel de sumos reverendos (y embutidos en unas túnicas indicadas para tal responsabilidad), el resto de este African Tribute To James Brown entendió que se reunían las condiciones óptimas para sumarse a la fiesta. Vicky Edimo disfrutó, porque nada hay más divertido que un bajo eléctrico cuando el soul está escrito en la partitura. Y el saxo alto recayó en un rubiales jovencito y bailongo que no parecía acomplejado por compartir el escenario con dos mitos de la música negra. Es más, él también optó por la vestimenta tipo pijama, en un lila poco discreto. Una de dos: o también opta a un futuro sacerdocio del soul o aquello era una invitación para que alguna/alguno le hiciera hueco en su cama.

Fernando Neira, El Pais, 31.07.08

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/ausencia/Padrino/elpepucul/20080731elpmad_14/Tes

It was a fitting symbol of Raúl’s government, which willingly operates in Fidel’s shadow at the same time it tries to forge a path of its own.

Raúl, whose functionaries hung the banner of Fidel at the entrance to the Moncada Garrison in Santiago de Cuba, has voluntarily submitted his speeches to his brother for approval, even when he plans to diverge from what his brother would have said.

Policy changes are also hand-carried to Fidel’s sick bed, even when they veer from Fidel’s longstanding dictates. And Raúl does not miss a chance to praise his brother from the lectern, using him as a symbol of revolutionary vigor, even as he argues that the Socialist experiment his brother created has drifted significantly off course.

This odd dynamic of two brothers portraying themselves as joined at the hip even as they seem to veer apart in important ways may be awkward, but it serves both men’s interests. Raúl derives much of his legitimacy from the family name and the popularity of his brother, who is known among Cubans not just by his first name but by a gesture: a touch of the chin as if stroking an imaginary beard.

And Fidel, who left the country in such economic disarray that it seems held together by its black market system, gets to save face.

The two men are clearly different in style, with Raúl far more self-effacing than Fidel. For instance Raúl, 77, recently sent a signal of his mortality when the government organized a bus tour for reporters that showed where the president would be buried alongside his recently deceased wife. The grave is already marked Raúl.

In contrast, the specifics of the intestinal ailment that led Fidel — who turns 82 in August — to yield power to his brother remain a state secret, and his burial place is a big mystery.

The former president, who could give a speech lasting hours and regularly did, has not been seen in public for two years but seems as eager as ever to air his views. His new form of venting appears to be through stream-of-consciousness reflections that he jots in a notebook and that the Communist Party newspapers dutifully print on the front page as scoops.

Some of Fidel Castro’s recent commentaries have appeared somewhat defensive, sounding a bit like a man trying to defend his legacy even as he ostensibly participates in the remaking of it.

After Raúl fired his brother’s longtime education minister, Luis Ignacio Gómez, just two months after taking over the presidency in February, Fidel took partial credit for the move, saying Mr. Gómez had lost his revolutionary zeal.

“I was consulted and completely informed,” Fidel wrote of the decision in the Communist Party newspaper Granma and other state-run media.

The commentary criticized Mr. Gómez for his frequent world travels and for taking personal credit for the overhaul of Cuba’s schools, which are ranked among the best in Latin America. The essay raised the question, however, of why Fidel did not fire such a wayward minister himself during the more than 18 years that Mr. Gómez, who was a staunch backer of Fidel, was on the job.

Later, Raúl announced new incentives to lure retired teachers back to the classroom to make up for an islandwide deficit of 8,000 teachers, most of whom have sought other, higher-paying jobs, in Cuba or have left the island. He acknowledged “shortcomings” in the education system, which some Cubans saw as a critique of the program his brother put in place nearly a decade ago to use high school graduates as makeshift teachers.

Cuban parents who have the means frequently hire retired teachers to tutor their children in the evenings because they are less than impressed with the schools, where some classes have 40 students crammed together.

“We shouldn’t have to hire someone on the side so that our children learn,” said Juan, the father of a third grader who railed against both Castro brothers but was afraid to be identified further out of concern he would run afoul of the authorities.

“Our schools have fallen into a hole,” said a 20-year teaching veteran who has left the classroom to work in a beauty salon because he said salaries were too low, less than $20 a month. “I don’t see myself returning,” he said, also requesting anonymity.

Such commentaries have been heard frequently, Cubans say, in the neighborhood meetings that Raúl has encouraged to bring deficiencies to the attention of Cuban authorities and to engage the population in refining Cuba’s socialism.

But Fidel has dismissed the idea that Cuba’s classrooms are suffering. “I don’t believe, to begin with, that we’re in such bad shape,” he said in a recent commentary.

Fidel has also warned in his writings against making “shameful concessions to imperialist ideology,” even as Raúl has allowed greater access for Cubans to cellphones, electrical appliances, tourist hotels and rental cars.

Still, Raúl has sought to reinforce the notion that there is no rift between the brothers and that the changes amount to tweaking, not an overhaul. During a recent speech to the National Assembly, he said he had cleared the remarks outlining his education plan with Fidel, referring to his brother with the ubiquitous chin stroke.

“Sometimes it’s him who gives me international news that I haven’t had time to read,” Raúl said of Fidel.

The two men, in their complicated new roles, sometimes find themselves communicating through proxies. Raúl, for instance, said that he did not hear directly from his brother about the speech to the National Assembly but got a call from an assistant, who passed along word that it was “perfect.”

Raúl, in turn, told the assistant to congratulate his brother.

“She replied, ‘Congratulate him?’ ” Raúl said. “And I said, ‘Yes, congratulate him, because he has a very intelligent brother who learned everything from him.’ ”

Marc Lacey, The New York Times, 31.07.08

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/world/americas/31cuba.html?ref=world

Dans la première pièce, ce matin, un bénévole suisse de l'Association malienne des expulsés (AME) recueille le témoignage de Babacar, blessé et expulsé la veille. Il est arrivé en France à l'âge de 10 ans, en a passé seize sur place. Il avait un appartement, un emploi, mais plus de papiers. Babacar a été arrêté un jour qu'il venait d'acheter une trottinette pour son fils.

Au centre de rétention de Roissy, il épuise tous les recours. Le dernier consiste à faire parvenir 600 euros au consul du Mali pour qu'il ne délivre pas le fameux laissez-passer dont les Français ont besoin pour procéder à l'expulsion. Malgré cela, on vient le chercher pour le conduire dans l'avion. Il exige de voir le laissez-passer, les policiers s'énervent, le frappent et l'insultent. Une hôtesse de l'air filme la scène avec son téléphone portable. L'expulsion est remise à plus tard.

Babacar pleure en racontant la suite. "Ils m'ont dit "merci de nous permettre de rentrer plus tôt chez nous, on pourra baiser notre femme. Toi, c'est la douleur qui va te baiser"." L'hôpital constatera une entorse à la cheville et une autre au poignet. Il dépose plainte mais sera mis dans l'avion cinq jours plus tard, menotté, bâillonné, les jambes attachées avec de l'adhésif.

Babacar a parlé plus d'une heure. Clément, le bénévole, et Inna Touré, la secrétaire, sont ébranlés, même si l'histoire se répète presque chaque jour. En 2007, l'AME a recensé 576 expulsions de France. Avant de transcrire ce témoignage dans l'unique ordinateur que possède l'association, Inna Touré va proposer à Babacar une carte de membre de l'association, qui en compte plus de 200, lui expliquer comment récupérer l'argent laissé sur son compte bancaire en France et tenter d'encadrer son arrivée brutale à Bamako. "Les expulsés ne sont pas forcément bienvenus dans leur famille, qu'ils faisaient vivre de l'étranger, explique Clément. Et ils ne sont plus adaptés aux conditions de survie économique de Bamako, sans parler de celles du reste du pays. Ils perdent toute valeur à leurs propres yeux. Les dépressions sont fréquentes."

Assis dans la minuscule pièce d'à côté, qui sert aussi de chambre de passage pour les expulsés les premières nuits, Ousmane Diarra, le président de l'AME, se souvient de la création de l'association en octobre 1996. "L'AME est un bébé qui a vu le jour dans le feu, dit-il. Il y avait tant d'expulsés à Bamako. Et nous étions là comme des déchets. En France, c'était l'époque des charters et de l'église Saint-Bernard. Le même mois, 2 000 Maliens ont été expulsés d'Angola, dont moi." Une des premières actions significatives de l'AME fut d'organiser, en 1997, une marche de soutien dans Bamako pour faire libérer 77 Maliens expulsés de France par le "36e charter Debré" et emprisonnés par le gouvernement malien de l'époque.

Après ce premier succès (les expulsés ont été libérés deux semaines plus tard), l'association sombre lentement dans la léthargie, faute de moyens. Elle ne peut même plus payer le transport pour aller attendre chaque soir à l'aéroport : il faut parfois plusieurs taxis pour coller aux horaires d'Air France, de Royal Air Maroc et d'Air Sénégal. Surtout, elle n'a rien à leur proposer. C'est la tenue du Forum social à Bamako, en janvier 2006, qui va la remettre d'aplomb grâce au soutien d'ONG "du Nord" comme la Cimade, le Réseau éducations sans frontières, Droits devant !!, No vox ou Migreurop.

Or, à mesure que l'AME s'organise (quelques permanents, un véhicule), la tâche devient plus lourde. Elle doit se concentrer sur les cas les plus dramatiques. "On craint une vague d'expulsions massives de France si le Mali cède et signe l'accord sur la gestion concertée des flux migratoires", s'inquiète Ousmane Diarra. Le 17 juin, peu après cet entretien, l'association a manifesté devant l'Assemblée nationale pendant que le gouvernement négociait avec Patrick Stefanini, adjoint de Brice Hortefeux, au "ministère des expulsions", comme on dit à Bamako. Quelque 200 policiers ont chargé les manifestants : plusieurs membres de l'AME ont été blessés ou arrêtés.

"Tout serait tellement plus simple si la France régularisait d'un côté les sans-papiers et investissait vraiment de l'autre, pour créer des emplois au Mali", soupire Ousmane Diarra. Tant que ce n'est pas le cas, il se refuse à "jouer au gendarme" : "A ceux qui veulent recommencer, on peut leur dire que le désert tue, et que la mer tue aussi. Mais comment leur dire de ne pas partir ; vous avez vu les conditions de vie ici ?"

Serge Michel, Le Monde, 31.07.08

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2008/07/30/a-bamako-on-reve-d-une-maison-pour-les-expulses-venus-de-france_1078659_3224.html

Michelle Obama, de 44 años, tiene la agenda apretada respecto a sus hijas. Malia, de 10 años, juega al fútbol y estudia danza y teatro. Sasha, de 7, hace gimnasia y baila claqué. Cuando sus padres están de campaña, es su abuela materna la que cuida de ellas y cada día se acuestan a las 20.30. El senador les da una paga semanal de un dólar (0,64 céntimos de euro) a cada una. Ninguna de las dos recibe regalos de cumpleaños o navidad de sus padres, porque éstos ya se gastan "cientos de dólares" organizando fiestas.

Los Obama no vienen de familias ricas. Al candidato le abandonó su padre cuando tenía dos años. Se pasó la infancia viajando con su madre, de Hawai a Indonesia y, luego, regresó a EE UU.

Michelle creció en Chicago, en el difícil distrito del South Side y dormía en el salón de su casa con su hermano a falta de dormitorios.

Hasta hace tres años, el matrimonio no pudo pagar los préstamos que había pedido para financiar su propia educación y la hipoteca de la casa. Con la publicación de los dos libros de memorias del candidato pudieron liquidar sus deudas. De todos modos, los Obama siguen con un estilo de vida espartano. Hasta enero de este año no contrataron a una niñera.

David Alandete, El Pais, 31.07.08

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/Revista/Verano/vida/espartana/Obama/elpepugen/20080731elprdv_19/Tes

Today Ms. Sousa, a mother of three who started out working in a jeans factory making minimum wage, employs 25 people in a modest two-room factory that produces 55,000 pairs of cotton underwear a month. She bought and renovated a house for her family and is now thinking of buying a second car. Her daughter, who is studying to be a pharmacist, could be the first family member to finish college.

“You can’t imagine the happiness I am feeling,” Ms. Sousa, 43, said from the floor of her business, Big Mateus, named after a son. “I am someone who came from the countryside to the city. I battled and battled, and today my children are studying, with one in college and two others in school. It’s a gift from God.”

Today her country is lifting itself up in much the same way. Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is finally poised to realize its long-anticipated potential as a global player, economists say, as the country rides its biggest economic expansion in three decades.

That growth is being felt in nearly all parts of the economy, creating a new class of super rich even as people like Ms. Sousa lift themselves into an expanding middle class.

It has also given Brazil new swagger, providing it, for instance, with greater leverage to push for a tougher bargain with the United States and Europe in global trade talks. After seven years, those negotiations finally broke down this week over demands by India and China for safeguards for their farmers, a clear sign of the rising clout of these emerging economies.

Despite investor fears about the leftist bent of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva when he was elected to lead Brazil in 2002, he has demonstrated a light touch when it comes to economic stewardship, avoiding the populist impulses of leaders in Venezuela and Bolivia.

Instead, he has fueled Brazil’s growth through a deft combination of respect for financial markets and targeted social programs, which are lifting millions out of poverty, said David Fleischer, a political analyst and emeritus professor at the University of Brasília. Ms. Sousa is one such beneficiary.

Long famous for its unequal distribution of wealth, Brazil has shrunk its income gap by six percentage points since 2001, more than any other country in South America this decade, said Francisco Ferreira, a lead economist at the World Bank.

While the top 10 percent of Brazil’s earners saw their cumulative income rise by 7 percent from 2001 to 2006, the bottom 10 percent shot up by 58 percent, according to Marcelo Côrtes Neri, the director of the Center for Social Policies at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.

But Brazil is also outspending most of its neighbors on social programs, and overall public spending continues to be nearly four times as high as what Mexico spends as a percentage of its gross national product, Mr. Ferreira said.

The momentum of its economic expansion is expected to last. As the United States and parts of Europe struggle with recession and the fallout from housing crises, Brazil’s economy shows few of the vulnerabilities of other emerging powers.

It has greatly diversified its industrial base, has huge potential to expand a booming agricultural sector into virgin fields and holds a tremendous pool of untapped natural resources. New oil discoveries will thrust Brazil into the ranks of the global oil powers within the next decade.

Yet while exports of commodities like oil and agricultural goods have driven much of its recent growth, Brazil is less and less dependent on them, economists say, having the advantage of a huge domestic market — 185 million people — that has grown wealthier with the success of people like Ms. Sousa.

In fact, with a stronger currency and inflation mostly in check, Brazilians are on a spending spree that has become a prime motor for the economy, which grew 5.4 percent last year.

They are buying both Brazilian goods and a rising flood of imported products. Many businesses have relaxed credit terms to allow Brazilians to pay for refrigerators, cars and even plastic surgery over years instead of months, despite some of the highest interest rates in the world. In June the country reached 100 million credit cards issued, a 17 percent jump over last year.

At Casas Bahia, a modestly priced Brazilian furniture-store chain, the number of customers buying items on installment nearly tripled to 29.3 million from 2002 to 2007, said Sônia Mitaini, a company spokeswoman.

Other signs of new wealth abound. In Macaé, an oil boomtown near Rio de Janeiro, contractors are racing to finish new shopping malls and luxury housing to keep up with demand from oil-service firms. At a port in Angra dos Reis, a town known for its spectacular islands, some 25,000 workers have found jobs building oil platforms.

Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, shocked the oil world in November when it announced that its Tupi deepwater field offshore of Rio de Janeiro could hold five billion to eight billion barrels of oil. Analysts think there could be billions of barrels more in surrounding areas.

While the oil will be expensive and complicated to extract, Petrobras has said it expects to be producing up to 100,000 barrels a day from Tupi by 2010, and hopes to produce up to a million barrels a day in about a decade.

The new oil plays are setting off an investment boom in Rio de Janeiro, with an estimated $67.6 billion expected to flow into the state by 2010, according to the Rio de Janeiro State Federation of Industries, an industry group. Petrobras alone expects to invest $40.5 billion by 2012.

Some economists say a slowdown in the rest of the world’s economy, especially in Asia, which is soaking up much of Brazil’s exports of soybeans and iron ore, could crimp growth here. “But that probability is small,” said Alfredo Coutiño, the senior economist for Latin America for Moody’s Economy.com.

In fact, because Brazil’s economy has become so diversified in recent years, the country is less susceptible to a hangover from the struggling United States economy.

Brazil’s exports to the United States represent just 2.5 percent of Brazil’s gross national product, compared with 25 percent of G.N.P. for Mexican exports, according to Moody’s.

“What makes Brazil more resilient is that the rest of the world matters less,” said Don Hanna, the head of emerging market economics at Citibank.

The rest of the world certainly has helped. Soaring prices for minerals and other commodities have created a new class of super rich. The number of Brazilians with liquid fortunes exceeding $1 million grew by 19 percent last year, third behind China and India, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

At the same time, President da Silva has deepened many of the social programs begun 10 years ago under Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who as president ushered in many of the structural reforms that laid the foundations of Brazil’s stable growth today.

In Ms. Sousa’s case, for instance, she owes much of the success of her underwear business to loans she has received from the Bank of the Northeast, a government-financed bank that has awarded microloans to 330,000 people to develop businesses in this fast-growing region.

Other programs, like Bolsa Familia, give small subsidies to millions of poor Brazilians to buy food and other essentials. Bolsa Familia, which benefits 45 million people nationwide in distributing an annual budget of about $5.6 billion, has been far more effective at raising per-capita incomes than recent increases in the minimum wage, which has risen 36 percent since 2003.

The bottom-up nature of such social programs has helped expand formal and informal employment as well as the Brazilian middle class. The number of people under the poverty line — defined as those earning less than $80 a month — fell by 32 percent from 2004 to 2006, Mr. Neri said.

The programs have been particularly effective here in Brazil’s northeast, historically one of poorest parts of the country. Residents here have received more than half the $15.6 billion doled out in social programs from 2003 to 2006, according to Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica, an arm of the Energy Ministry.

People here are using that new wealth to buy items like televisions and refrigerators at a faster rate than the rest of the country. The northeast, in fact, passed the country’s south in electricity use this year for the first time, the energy agency said.

Many families have bridged the gap to the middle class by using Bolsa Familia to meet basic needs, and then applying for small loans to start businesses and escape the informal economy. That is what Maria Auxiliadora Sampaio and her husband did in Fortaleza, a coastal city of 2.4 million people. They were receiving Bolsa Familia payments of about $30 a month, which they used to support their three children. Then, two years ago, Ms. Sampaio used a microloan of about $190 to buy nail polish and kick-start her manicure business, which she runs from home.

Today she is making around $70 a day — about four minimum salaries per month, she said. With her next loan she plans to put about $140 toward a stove to sterilize nail clippers, which today she does with hot water.

The fruits of her new business have allowed the couple to retile their house and buy a television and a cellphone. This month her husband, who works at a Cachaça factory, was able to realize a dream: to buy a drum set.

He plans to use it in a band that plays forró, a traditional music in the northeast. “We always ate and paid bills, but he waited and waited,” and finally bought the set for about $780, she said.

“I feel like we are part of this group of people that are coming up in the world,” said Ms. Sampaio, 28. “When you don’t have anything, when you don’t have a profession, don’t have the means to live, you are no one, you are a mosquito. I was nothing. Today, I am in heaven.”

Alexei Barrionuevo, The New York Times, 31.07.08

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/world/americas/31brazil.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Après Rouen en mai, ce n'est que le deuxième concert français du musicien malien, déjà venu en France avec son père pour l'assister. Mort en 2006, Farka père s'était imposé dans les années 1990, en plein essor de la world music, comme l'un des chefs de file de la musique africaine, notamment avec l'album Talking Timbuktu, réalisé en duo avec Ry Cooder et récompensé d'un Grammy Award en 1995.

Voyant le jeune Vieux développer une passion pour la musique, son père lui interdit de jouer et le destine à une carrière de soldat afin, explique-t-il, de le protéger d'une éventuelle déception. Brahima, forte tête, répète en cachette, puis s'inscrit à l'Institut national des arts de Bamako. Chanteur et guitariste, il s'impose peu à peu comme l'héritier de la musique paternelle. La consécration viendra avec son premier album enregistré en 2005, avec la participation de son père.

Parmi ses sources d'inspiration africaines, Vieux Farka Touré cite d'abord le joueur de g'nomi, ami de feu son père, Bassékou Kouyaté, et le joueur de kora Toumani Diabaté, avec qui Ali Farka Touré avait conquis un second Grammy Award en 2006 pour l'album In the Hearth of the Moon. Influencé par la musique d'Ali, Vieux s'efforce de créer son propre style. "Je suis ma voie, mais je respecte ma tradition. Chacun pense et agit à sa manière", explique cet homme détendu et disponible pour le public venu l'acclamer.

AMBIANCE DÉTENDUE

Vieux Farka Touré se détache de la figure paternelle en exploitant sa voix, ce que son père fit tardivement, et en s'ouvrant au rock, au reggae et à d'autres types de musiques plus modernes, y compris le rap ou le reggaeton cubain. "Toutes les musiques se valent. Le tout est de ne pas forcer la musique. Je ne fais pas de répétition avant mes concerts. J'arrive directement sur scène et j'improvise", dit-il à la sortie d'un concert à l'ambiance détendue.

Vieux Farka Touré a enregistré son premier album avec la maison de disques américaine World Village. Cela explique peut-être son succès dans le monde anglo-saxon et son absence de la scène française jusqu'alors.

Au kiosque à musique du Luxembourg, les Maliens de Paris qui tenaient Ali Farka pour un héros sont venus saluer l'enfant du pays, quittant très vite les chaises de fer pour danser avec les amateurs de musiques du monde. "Je ne pensais pas que le public français connaissait ma musique. C'est une très bonne surprise", se réjouit le musicien. Les paroles, en langues peul, bambara, sonhrai ou bozo, évoquent selon lui "les problèmes sociaux plus que personnels". "Je veux expliquer comment la société fonctionne", dit-il, même si, à l'inverse de son père, élu maire de sa ville natale, Niafunké, en 2004, Vieux Farka Touré ne veut pas suivre un chemin de politicien. Toujours guidé par son père, il devrait enregistrer en 2009 son deuxième album.

Mélanie Bulan, Le Monde, 31.07.08

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2008/07/30/le-jeune-vieux-farka-toure-fait-entendre-sa-voix-a-paris_1078689_3246.html#ens_id=1078755

Paso a paso, el Barça avanza hacia el equipo imaginado por Guardiola. En Florencia emitió señales muy positivas, una prolongación de lo que ofreció en sus dos primeros partidos ante rivales de escaso cartel, el Hibernian (0-6) y el Dundee (1-5).

Empeñado en ser un equipo irreprochable en defensa, el Barcelona procura desplegarse en ataque como en sus mejores días. La posesión de la pelota y la velocidad en la circulación encabezan el decálogo de Guardiola, que sigue apostando por la incorporación ofensiva de los laterales y sobre todo, por un rondo continuo, una obsesión por el toque que remite al más puro estilo 'Dream Team'.

En sólo diez minutos, el Barça se hizo con el dominio de su tercer amistoso estival. El Fiorentina, un equipo saneado para comparecer en Europa, apenas le inquietó en todo el partido, víctima de un cierto complejo de inferioridad ante el buen color que presenta el Barcelona.

Obtuvo el Barça su primera recompensa a la media hora de juego. A partir de un córner, el equipo azulgrana descolocó a la Fiorentina en apenas tres toques; de Messi, en el pico del área, a Piqué, encargado de controlar en el segundo palo y servir a Puyol. El capitán sólo tuvo que empujar el balón a la red.

Con Messi como referencia en ataque, ocupando la posición de 'nuevè, el Barcelona avanzó por ambas bandas con enorme facilidad. Xavi, en su primera aparición de pretemporada, asumió el timón del equipo y el argentino, el brillo y la imaginación. No hay manera de frenarle cuando conduce la pelota. Su capacidad para el desborde y la conducción parece multiplicarse cada día.

Junto a Messi, una revelación; Pedro, fugaz debutante en el primer equipo la pasada temporada, cuando aún se hacía llamar Pedrito. De la baraja de canteranos que maneja Guardiola, el canario ofrece frescura y atrevimiento, una apuesta alegre como extremo por la banda derecha.

Frente a los recursos del Barça, el equipo de Cesare Prandelli apenas ofreció argumentos. Sobre el maltrecho césped del Artemio Franchi, el equipo italiano no conectó con sus dos guías de ataque, Mutu y Gilardino.

En la reanudación, y pese al carrusel de cambios, el Barcelona dejó casi sentenciado el partido. Lo hizo Jeffren, otra de las apariciones juveniles del equipo, aprovechándose de un rechace tras una jugada personal.

El gol de Pazzini, a falta de media hora, fue casi anecdótico, pero retrató una de las carencias del nuevo Barcelona, una ligera descoordinación entre los dos centrales, una brecha en las coberturas que Guardiola deberá corregir.

Sin tiempo para poner en apuros el marcador, Bojan rescató una pelota en el área rival para colocar el tercer y definitivo gol. Fue un gol de mérito porque el canterano se revolvió y, con un golpe de cintura, anuló a dos defensas; epílogo de un partido más que satisfactorio para un equipo en formación y que mañana emprenderá una gira de una semana por Estados Unidos.

La Vanguardia, 30.07.08

http://www.lavanguardia.es/lv24h/20080730/53509990633.html

The Indian legislator has triggered outrage among animal activists after sacrificing hundreds of goats and buffaloes in a series of bloody temple rituals to thank the gods for the government's recent victory in parliament.

As of last night, Mr Samrite had reportedly overseen the sacrifice of at least 317 animals in a famous temple located in India's north-eastern state of Assam. The Kamakya temple near the city of Guwahati is a well-known centre for Hindu Saktism, or worship of the female goddess, and animal sacrifices are commonplace there.

Mr Samrite is a state assembly member for the Samajwadi Party (SP), whose recent decision to side with the coalition government headed by Prime Mnister Manmohan Singh was crucial to it winning a vote of confidence in parliament on 22 July. Reports say Mr Samrite rented a room close to the temple even before the vote was held, claiming he was acting on the orders of senior party members.

Activists say that over the last three days, Mr Samrite has overseen the sacrifice of more than a dozen buffalo and three hundred goats at the 10th Century temple. They have filed a criminal complaint against the politician, written to the leaders of the SP demanding they act and organised demonstrations in Guwahati.

"It's about him thinking that the gods will be pleased and that they will help and that all his wishes will be fulfilled," said Sangeeta Goswami, head of the Assam branch of the campaign group People for Animals. "They are not letting us enter the temple, or the media. If they are on the right side, why will they not let us in? It's very cruel of him."

Anuradha Sawhney, head of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, said they had written to the SP's chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and its general secretary, Amar Singh, saying they had been flooded with phone-calls from people outraged by Mr Samrite's behaviour. The letter added: "We hope that you will consider the enormous influence you have over masses and, in the future, refrain from cruel acts that your followers might be inspired to imitate."

Ms Sawhney said last night that her group had long campaigned against sacrifices being carried out at the temple. "It's absolutely crazy. It has been happening in this temple for some time," she said. "They are just crazy. There is no other explanation for it."

Mr Samrite, who serves as a legislator not in Assam but in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, was last night unavailable for comment. However, in comments to the Indian media he has defended his decision to proceed with the sacrifices. He also confirmed that at least 200 animals had been killed. "The puja (prayer) was offered for the victory of the [coalition] government, the progress of the Samajwadi Party and to see Mulayam Singh Yadav become Prime Minister after the next general election," he told the Calcutta (CRRCT) Telegraph. He added: "[Animal sacrifice is] an age-old practice ? How can anyone interfere with a religious practice inside a temple complex?"

This may not be the first time that Mr Samrite, who was once expelled from his party, has been involved in animal sacrifices. One report suggests that when he was first elected as a legislator he held a big feast in his home town of Balaghat at which 108 goats were sacrificed. It is said that the SP's leader's son, Akhilesh, was present at the party.

The Kamakya temple, located on Nilachal Hill on the outskirts of Guwahati, was rebuilt in 1665 after it was destroyed by a former high caste Hindu who had converted to Islam. The temple priest, Ranjeet Sharma, said that Mr Samrite had been performing the Dasamahavidya puja, an offering to ten goddesses of wisdom.

Andrew Buncombe, The Independent, 31.07.08

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/politician-angers-activists-with-bloody-rituals-881211.html

Champion de l'innovation sur Internet, Radiohead a beaucoup fait parler de lui lors de sa venue en France. Sous couvert de "sensibiliser les médias à la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre", les invitations destinées à la presse pour les concerts parisiens au Palais omnisports de Bercy les 9 et 10 juin ont été attribuées aux cinquante premiers journalistes qui se présentaient à bicyclette, jeudi 5 juin à midi, devant leur maison de disques, Beggars, rue Condorcet, à Paris.

Cette opération de communication n'était que la partie visible de l'iceberg. Le groupe de Thom Yorke est allé plus loin. Il a commandé à l'agence britannique Best Foot Forward une étude visant à calculer l'empreinte écologique de sa tournée. Au vu des résultats, ces pollueurs patentés ont adopté des mesures drastiques. Les centaines d'ampoules classiques nécessaires aux lumières des concerts ont été remplacées par des diodes à basse consommation. Les bus hybrides ont été préférés aux camions à essence et, pour éviter que les fans viennent en voiture, le groupe se produit dans des centres-villes plutôt que dans des endroits non accessibles en transports en commun. Dans sa démarche, Radiohead s'est rapproché de l'association Les Amis de la Terre, dont il appuie la campagne The Big Ask, censée amener les gouvernements européens à voter et à faire respecter une loi fixant avec précision des taux annuels de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre.

Radiohead n'est pas seul à mener ce combat. L'Américain Jack Johnson, ancien surfeur né à Hawaï, s'est reconverti dans la musique. Il a vendu plus de 1 million d'exemplaires de son album Brushfire Fairytales en 2000. Proche du guitariste Ben Harper, un défenseur actif des séquoias de la forêt californienne, il a monté un studio fonctionnant à l'énergie solaire dans le bâtiment qui abrite son label, Brushfire Records, entièrement conçu selon des normes écologiques les plus avancées. Père d'une fondation qui protège l'environnement, Jack Johnson est évidemment adhérent au "1 % pour la planète", un organisme qui redistribue une petite partie des recettes aux associations de protection de l'environnement.

Comme Radiohead, le chanteur hawaïen incite ses fans à ne se rendre aux concerts qu'en covoiturage, et met à leur disposition des poubelles de tri sélectif et des points d'eau pour éviter d'acheter des bouteilles en plastique écologiquement non correctes. Les plus généreux d'entre eux sont mêmes priés de payer leur billet quelques cents plus cher afin de contribuer à des projets consacrés aux énergies renouvelables et à la lutte contre la déforestation.

Greenpeace est aujourd'hui lié au groupe français Tryo, des amateurs de reggae et d'herbes naturelles, auteurs du tube L'Hymne de nos campagnes ("C'est l'hymne de nos campagnes/De nos rivières, de nos montagnes/De la vie man, du monde animal/Crie-le bien fort, use tes cordes vocales !"). Tryo franchit un nouveau cap avec son prochain album, Ce que l'on sème, dont la sortie est prévue le 1^er septembre : du concert au CD, tout est pensé pour être écolo-compatible.

Un bulletin d'adhésion à Greenpeace sera déposé dans la pochette, faite de papier certifié par le Conseil de soutien de la forêt (Forest Stewardship Council, FSC), un écolabel qui garantit un mode de gestion durable des forêts exploitées. Pendant la tournée qui suivra, les concerts seront de véritables vitrines vertes : transports non polluants, parcs à vélos, ampoules basse consommation. Le merchandising est fabriqué à partir de produits recyclés, les tee-shirts sont en coton bio.

C'est bien le moins : Tryo présente son engagement comme "naturel". Leurs chansons le prouvent ("Je tombe, ça fait mal/Tu creuses ma tombe, c'est du banal/Un stade par seconde en moyenne dans le monde/La déforestation n'intéresse pas l'opinion !"), chante Cyril Célestin, alias Guizmo. Dans la vie, les Tryo ne sont pas des enragés de l'écologie : "Protection de l'environnement ne signifie pas retour à la bougie", plaide Daniel Bravo, le percussionniste, qui refuse de protéger la nature au détriment de l'humain. Guizmo, le plus engagé, est en train de faire construire une ferme aux normes écologiques, tandis que Daniel Bravo installe avec ses copropriétaires des panneaux solaires sur le toit de sa maison.

La démarche de Tryo se veut davantage affective que militante : "Cela nous touche, et donc on a envie d'en faire un morceau, mais au même titre que d'autres sujets. L'album est un équilibre, comme la vie", explique Daniel Bravo. La rencontre avec Pascal Husting, le directeur de Greenpeace France, est importante. Ce dernier qualifie son projet avec Tryo d'"amitié" et non de partenariat. Pour le groupe, chanter et s'engager ne marchent pas forcément ensemble. "Même si l'album ne comportait que des chansons d'amour, nous nous serions tout de même rapprochés de Greenpeace."Autre vedette planétaire, la chanteuse islandaise Björk a fait alliance avec le mensuel américain National Geographic, et a donné le 28 juin à Reykjavik, avec ses compatriotes de Sigur Ros, le concert Nattura. Un événement gratuit, dans le jardin botanique du centre-ville, et destiné à sensibiliser le public à la destruction du paysage islandais. La chanteuse dénonçait notamment les projets de construction d'un barrage par la fonderie d'aluminium américaine Alcoa. Le sujet est une cause familiale. La mère de Björk avait même fait une grève de la faim de trois semaines, en 2004, pour protester contre cet investissement qui, selon le gouvernement islandais, devait "redonner vie" à l'est de l'Islande.

Outre le concert - éclairé comme il se doit uniquement à la lumière du jour -, un livre était le héros de la soirée : Dreamland : a Self Help Manual to a Frightened Nation (Le Pays des rêves : Guide de survie pour une nation effrayée), un best-seller écrit par Andri Snær Magnason, parfois présenté comme le "Naomi Klein islandais".

Aude Lorriaux, Le Monde, 31.07.08

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2008/07/30/fini-les-bad-boys-le-rock-se-met-au-vert_1078631_3246.html#ens_id=1073746