| Russia has another sexy calendar cause Posted: FEMALE activists in Russia have decided to take a stand against government corruption by posing in sexy lingerie for an erotic calendar.  Youth movement Nashi published the photos and said it planned to distribute them at a protest next Saturday. The calendar shows 12 scantily clad young women in a series of poses to illustrate their "sex against corruption" message.  Nashi spokeswoman Kristina Potupchik said, "It will not go on sale. It's not a commercial project." The calendar is similar to one put together last year by journalism students, who posed in racy lingerie to wish PM Vladimir Putin a happy birthday.  
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| Families bury school gunman victims Posted: Grieving families gathered yesterday to bury 12 children gunned down in the halls of their Rio de Janeiro school, an unheard-of act of school violence which left stunned Brazilians struggling for answers. Ten girls and two boys between the ages of 12 and 15 were killed, most shot in the head at point-blank range by 23-year-old Wellington Oliveira, who shot himself dead after being confronted by police. At least 12 other students were injured in the shooting at the Tasso da Silveira school. Two are in grave condition. Neighbours wandered past the school in a shocked daze yesterday, leaving flowers along the wall of the school. Twelve crosses were left along a wall outside the school, the name of each victim written on pieces of paper above them. Officials posted the schedule for 12 funerals on the school gate. On a blackboard in the school yard, teachers left messages calling for better security in Brazil's schools. Motive?
The police say the gunman had a religious-themed suicide note in his pocket but his motive was unclear. The shooting would have been deadlier if the gunman had not been shot in the legs by a police officer before shooting himself in the head. 
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| Millions in Japan sit in darkness Posted: Nearly a million homes suffered blackouts in Japan's northeast yesterday after a new earthquake killed three people and piled more misery on a region buried under the rubble of last month's devastating tsunami.
The northeastern coast was still reeling from the destruction wrought by a jumbo 9.0-magnitude earthquake on March 11, with tens of thousands of households without power or water.
A protester holds a placard at an anti-nuclear power rally at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Tokyo yesterday
The 7.1-magnitude aftershock on Thursday threw even more areas into disarray and sent communities that had made some gains back to square one.
Gasoline was scarce again, and long lines formed at stations. Stores that had only recently restocked their shelves sold out of basics yesterday and were forced to ration purchases again.
Matsuko Ito, who has been living in a shelter in the small northeastern city of Natori since the tsunami, said there's no getting used to the terror of being awoken by shaking. She said she started screaming when the quake struck around 11:30 p.m.
"It's enough," said the 64-year-old. "Something has changed. The world feels strange now. Even the way the clouds move isn't right."
The latest tremor the strongest since the day of the tsunami cut power to more homes, though it was quickly restored to many.
About 9,50,000 households were still without electricity yesterday evening, said Souta Nozu, a spokesman for Tohoku Electric Power Co., which serves northern Japan. Six conventional plants in the area were knocked out, though three have since come back online and the others should be up again within hours, Nozu said.
Despite the new aftershock, automakers announced yesterday that they were beginning to bounce back from the March monster. Toyota will resume car production at all its plants in Japan at half capacity from April 18 to 27.
The world's No 1 automaker said it remained unclear when it would return to full production in Japan.
Nissan also said it would start up domestic production at half capacity from April 11. 9,50,000
Number of households that lost power in Japan
Debris in Hawaii
Massive floating rubbish islands of houses, cars and bodies almost 70 miles from the Japanese tsunami are causing chaos in the shipping lanes of the Pacific Ocean as it heads for the west coast of the United States. The largest 'island' of debris stretches 60 nautical miles in length and covers an expanse of more than 2.2 million square feet, according to the US Navy's 7th Fleet. 
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| 'I should smash your face in' Posted: Says French President Nicolas Sarkozy to author who called Bruni a Maneater
With an ex-supermodel for a wife, one might suggest that Nicolas Sarkozy was already punching above his weight now he appears to have taken such sentiments a little too literally.
The French president threatened to 'smash the face' of political editor Franz-Olivier Giesbert after the publication of an unflattering article about Carla Bruni in Le Point magazine.
Sarkozy threatened Giesbert for writing foul comments about his wife Bruni
According to Giesbert's new book, M Le President, there was a 40-minute, heated phone call between Sarkozy and the editor about the article '24 tips to the President ahead of his marriage to Mademoiselle Bruni'.
It included the advice, "Do not introduce your new wife to your sons, Barack Obama or any handsome men."
The biography contains lurid details of the president's outburst in January 2008.
Sarkozy told Giesbert, "This article is filth and I should smash your face in."
Sarkozy said, "You deserve it. I don't know what's holding me back", to which the writer answered, "There is no reason for you and Carla to feel insulted."
The president then told the journalist, "I'm sure you'd blow your top if I wrote that your wife was a whore that everyone had slept with and even wanted to have sex with your children."
However Geisbert refuted claims saying, "Never did our magazine suggest Carla was a whore."
During the call to Giesbert, the president demanded that the magazine make a written apology a request which was denied.
"You'll see what I'm going to do to you," Sarkozy added.
Giesbert said that Sarkozy then put pressure on Francois Pinault, the billionaire who owns Le Point, to fire him but to no avail.
Tensions were finally eased by Bruni-Sarkozy herself who put in a call to Giesbert to tell him "Nicolas is so in love, you understand. He cannot bear that people write this kind of thing about me".
Giesbert, who is a highly respected political biographer in France, lambasts Sarkozy as a 'child king who is drunk on himself, immature and tyrannical when it comes to his friends'.
Bruni's colourful past
Before marrying Sarkozy in 2008, she had several romantic relations. She once declared she was "easily bored by monogamy" and has had relationships with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Donald Trump.
She also went out with the well-known philosopher Jean-Paul Enthoven, before leaving him for his son Raphael with whom she has a son. 
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| Kate's virginity doesn't matter Posted: In 1981, Princess Diana's uncle made a public statement before her royal wedding to clear up the question: Yes, she was a virgin. What a difference a generation makes. Today, few people seem the least bit concerned that Prince William and Kate Middleton, set to wed this month, have been living together off and on since their university days.  Unlike Princess Diana who had to announce she was a virgin, people are not bothered about Kate's sex life"We live in a modern age and people do all sorts of things before they settle down,'' said Keith Morley, 34, an engineer from Birmingham. "It's probably best that they lived together before making a commitment.'' Some historians say it's about time the royals shed the prudishness they exhibited at the time of Diana's marriage, which came years after the pill and the summer of love made casual sex more socially acceptable even in traditionally uptight Britain. The modern-day tolerance of William and Middleton's living arrangements, many say, just brings the House of Windsor in line with the times. Part of the change may have to do with the very public infidelities that played out in the disastrous marriage of Charles and Diana, which rocked the royal family to its core. "After two decades of scandal, I think it's the royal family recognising that to be normal is to their advantage,'' said Deborah Cohen, a historian who specialises in modern Britain. 
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| I own bunga bunga rights: Berlusconi Posted: PM jokes during trial in which he is accused of paying for sex with an under age prostitute Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has laughed off the start of the trial in which he is accused of paying for sex with an under age prostitute by joking that he has patented the phrase bunga bunga.
Berlusconi says he has patented the term so that he can use it in all of Italy
The Italian prime minister, who did not turn up for the opening and almost immediate adjournment of the trial in Milan this week, dealt with one of the most serious threats to his political survival in good humour.
"I've registered bunga bunga as a brand so that I can use it in all of Italy's regions," he told a conference on Italy's immigration crisis, in front of the presidents of the country's 20 regions.
Bunga bunga is the nickname that Berlusconi reportedly gave to the sex sessions allegedly performed by young starlets at his mansion.
They are the focus of the trial in which he is accused of abuse of office and paying for sex with a nightclub dancer. He denies any wrongdoing.
The quip earned him a stiff rebuke from opposition MPs, who said it was inappropriate to crack jokes in a forum discussing the exodus of immigrants from North Africa and the recent drowning of up to 250 refugees who were trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa.
"His words are shameful and dishonourable at a time when we are confronting such a tragedy," said Livia Turco, of the Democratic Party. Bunga Bunga Song
Three showgirls who attended bunga bunga parties hosted by Berlusconi say they are to release a song about their experiences. one of the songs being recorded is called Vamonos al bunga bunga (Let's go to bunga bunga) 
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