Tuesday, August 3, 2010

N.Korea warns of retaliation for S.Korea exercise

North Korea's military Tuesday threatened "strong physical retaliation"
against a South Korean naval exercise set to start this week in the Yellow Sea.

The South is staging the anti-submarine drill from August
5-9, involving the army, navy, air force and marines,
in response to what it says was a deadly North Korean
torpedo attack on a warship.

It follows a major US-South Korean naval and air exercise
held last week in the Sea of Japan (East Sea)
as a warning to the North.

Pyongyang threatened nuclear retaliation for last week's
drill but it passed without incident.
The military's western command, in a notice quoted by
the official news agency Tuesday, described this week's
South Korean exercise as a "direct military invasion".

"In view of the prevailing situation, the (western command)
made a decisive resolution to counter the reckless naval firing
projected by the group of traitors with strong physical
retaliation," it said in a reference to South Korea.

The disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea has been
the scene of several naval clashes. In March, a South Korean
corvette sank in the area with the loss of 46 lives.

South Korea, the United States and other countries,
citing findings of a multinational investigation, said a North Korean
submarine had fired a heavy torpedo in an attack
which broke the warship in two.

The North vehemently denies responsibility, calling
the allegations a "smear campaign" to provide a pretext for aggression.
It refuses to recognise the sea border drawn by
United Nations forces after the 1950-53 war, insisting it should
run further to the south, and repeated this stance Tuesday.

The North's military warned civilian ships including fishing boats not to
enter the area of naval firing fixed by the South, which it said
would be close to five islands near the border.
"It is the unshakable will and steadfast resolution of the
army and people of the DPRK to return fire for fire," it said.

The South's Joint Chief of Staff said marines stationed on islands near the
border would stage live-fire exercises but naval ships would stay
far south of the line. The North routinely denounces joint military
exercises south of the border as a rehearsal for war, while the
United States and South Korea say they are purely defensive.
Some 28,500 US troops are based in the South.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Devil may wear Prada, but Virgin Mary dons Louis Vuitton

The devil may well wear Prada, but at a biennial exhibition of sacred art in Italy,
a statue of the Virgin Mary is donning Louis Vuitton,
local newspaper Il Centro reported on Thursday.

The veil traditionally covering the Virgin's head bears the French luxury
brand's trademark "LV" logo in golden letters decorating bags
-- many of them counterfeit -- around the world.
Francesco De Molfetta, 31, said he created the work to
"denounce a society based on the cult of appearance
through the use of a brand that represents the
search for ephemeral happiness."
"This new way of interpreting sacred art is along the lines of the
famous work presented (in 1999 in Venice by Maurizio)
Cattelan that showed a wax icon depicting Pope John Paul
II being crushed by a meteor," the curator of the biennial
Giuseppe Bacci told Il Centro.
"It is a way to hit the visitors' unconscious," he added.
The biennial is held at Isola del Gran Sasso in the
central region of Abruzzo.
Milan native De Molfetta's works have been on show in Tokyo,
at the T20 contemporary art gallery of Murcia Spain and at the
museum of Besancon in France.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

N.Korea warns of retaliation for S.Korea exercise

North Korea's military Tuesday threatened "strong physical retaliation"
against a South Korean naval exercise set to start this week in the Yellow Sea.

The South is staging the anti-submarine drill from August
5-9, involving the army, navy, air force and marines,
in response to what it says was a deadly North Korean
torpedo attack on a warship.

It follows a major US-South Korean naval and air exercise
held last week in the Sea of Japan (East Sea)
as a warning to the North.

Pyongyang threatened nuclear retaliation for last week's
drill but it passed without incident.
The military's western command, in a notice quoted by
the official news agency Tuesday, described this week's
South Korean exercise as a "direct military invasion".

"In view of the prevailing situation, the (western command)
made a decisive resolution to counter the reckless naval firing
projected by the group of traitors with strong physical
retaliation," it said in a reference to South Korea.

The disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea has been
the scene of several naval clashes. In March, a South Korean
corvette sank in the area with the loss of 46 lives.

South Korea, the United States and other countries,
citing findings of a multinational investigation, said a North Korean
submarine had fired a heavy torpedo in an attack
which broke the warship in two.

The North vehemently denies responsibility, calling
the allegations a "smear campaign" to provide a pretext for aggression.
It refuses to recognise the sea border drawn by
United Nations forces after the 1950-53 war, insisting it should
run further to the south, and repeated this stance Tuesday.

The North's military warned civilian ships including fishing boats not to
enter the area of naval firing fixed by the South, which it said
would be close to five islands near the border.
"It is the unshakable will and steadfast resolution of the
army and people of the DPRK to return fire for fire," it said.

The South's Joint Chief of Staff said marines stationed on islands near the
border would stage live-fire exercises but naval ships would stay
far south of the line. The North routinely denounces joint military
exercises south of the border as a rehearsal for war, while the
United States and South Korea say they are purely defensive.
Some 28,500 US troops are based in the South.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Devil may wear Prada, but Virgin Mary dons Louis Vuitton

The devil may well wear Prada, but at a biennial exhibition of sacred art in Italy,
a statue of the Virgin Mary is donning Louis Vuitton,
local newspaper Il Centro reported on Thursday.

The veil traditionally covering the Virgin's head bears the French luxury
brand's trademark "LV" logo in golden letters decorating bags
-- many of them counterfeit -- around the world.
Francesco De Molfetta, 31, said he created the work to
"denounce a society based on the cult of appearance
through the use of a brand that represents the
search for ephemeral happiness."
"This new way of interpreting sacred art is along the lines of the
famous work presented (in 1999 in Venice by Maurizio)
Cattelan that showed a wax icon depicting Pope John Paul
II being crushed by a meteor," the curator of the biennial
Giuseppe Bacci told Il Centro.
"It is a way to hit the visitors' unconscious," he added.
The biennial is held at Isola del Gran Sasso in the
central region of Abruzzo.
Milan native De Molfetta's works have been on show in Tokyo,
at the T20 contemporary art gallery of Murcia Spain and at the
museum of Besancon in France.