The body of Jose Saramago, Nobel prize-winning Portuguese novelist, arrived back in his homeland on Saturday from the Spanish island of Lanzarote for his funeral in Lisbon. by Bill Benfield, Morning Star, Monday June 21 Mr Saramago won the 1998 Nobel literature prize. His work was internationally admired for its clarity of its ideas despite a complex prose style. He died aged 87 on Friday after a long illness, an outspoken man who moved to the Canary Islands after a public spat in 1992 with the Portuguese government, which he accused of censorship. Read the rest of this story at:  http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/91777

Commentary on the football in this month's South African world cup has been drowned out by an ominous sound – the droning roar of the dreaded Vuvuzela! by JAMES TWEEDIE The media opinion columns and comment boards have been buzzing with debate about the “attack of the killer bees” sound of the mass-produced metre-long plastic horns with which every football fan in South Africa is now armed. There is nothing at all new about fans making noise at football matches. Wooden rattles have been replaced by compressed air horns. Entire brass bands with drums and cymbals are commonly seen at international fixtures. The origin of the Vuvuzela is uncertain. A similar instrument called a corneta has been commonplace at football grounds across South America since the 1970s. The vuvuzela appeared in South Africa in the 1990s, originally made from tin or aluminium. But, according to Wikipedia, veteran Kaizer Chiefs F.C. fan Freddie "Saddam" Maake claims to have invented the vuvuzela as...

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Tuesday June 8 2010 EXCEPTIONAL trade union unity failed to ensure a big turnout in Tenerife for Tuesday's strike against public sector pay cuts. by JAMES TWEEDIE In a rare display of non-sectarian coordination, members of more than ten trade union federations took part in the general strike across public services. They included the big national CCOO and UGT, the smaller anarchist CNT and CGT, the CSIF and ANPE, and regional federations Intersindical Canaria, FSOC, SEPCA, EA-Canarias and INSUCAN. Police and judicial unions CEP, SUP, UFP and STAJ also joined the strike, which was supported by political parties such as the United Left (IU), social movement umbrella group Assembly for Tenerife (AXT) and pro-public health service campaigners ADSPC. The dispute is over plans by the Socialist Workers Party of Spain (PSOE) government of prime minister José Luis Zapatero to cut public sector wages and pension rights in response to the economic crisis. Despite the i...

Alicia Keys, Recinto Portuario, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Sunday June 6 2010 by JAMES TWEEDIE The cultural diversity of this island is well represented here tonight. British, German and other ex-patriots from the northern and southern colonies rub shoulders with the local chicharreros and African immigrants. Unfortunately the crowd is divided into two classes – the Dons in the some at the front of the bus and us poor peones at the back. Still the view is nice, with the spectacular Mar de Nubes rolling down the craggy eastern hills in the dusk and the masts of the tall sailing craft lining the docks of this open-air venue. The beer flows and so it goes. The internet buzz from London is that Alicia Keys' Element of Freedom tour has an overtly political message. Sure enough, Warholesque images of John F Kennedy, Mohandas K Ghandi, Bob Marley and Diana Spencer (why?) flash across the big screen along with alternating slogan-words like war and peace, justice and injustice. The young...