FEMEN Topless Protesters Jump On Tunisian PM Ali Larayedh’s Car In Brussels

The European Commission on Tuesday urged Tunisia to reform criminal laws from its previous authoritarian regime as three topless feminist activists staged a protest in Brussels by jumping on visiting Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh’s car.

“Stop Repression!” and “Free Amina!” the activists shouted, before being led away by police. Amina Sboui, a teenage anti-Islamist feminist, is being held in a Tunisian jail over her protests in a case that has attracted widespread controversy.

WARNING: NSFW PHOTOS BELOW

“The EU calls for a reform of laws inherited from the previous regime particularly in the criminal code to ensure freedom of speech for Tunisian men and women,” European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said at a joint briefing with Larayedh.

Barroso also said Tunisia’s justice system should be overhauled “to ensure its independence and impartiality” in order for Tunisia to achieve a “full and deep democracy”.

Larayedh was visiting Brussels on the eve of an appeals hearing for three European activists from the feminist group Femen who were sentenced to four months in prison this month for baring their breasts in Tunis in a pro-Amina protest.

The case has been criticised in Europe, where it is seen by some as a test of democratic freedoms under the Islamist-led government which came to power after a 2011 revolution.

Since the 1950s, Tunisia has had the most liberal laws in the Arab world on women’s rights, and the ruling moderate Islamist party Ennahda is often forced to defend itself against the charge of wanting to roll back those rights.

The socially conservative Muslim nation has also witnessed a sharp rise in the activity of radical Islamists since the revolution, some of whom were angered by the topless protest and called for the activists to be given tougher sentences.

Also on Tuesday, Tunisian rapper Ala Yaacoub — better known by his nickname Weld El 15 — is due in court to appeal a two-year sentence for a song in which he insulted the police.

The court ruling was criticised by Tunisia’s opposition and by human rights groups as an attack on freedom of speech.


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Incredible Tilt Shift Photo May Not Actually Be Tilt Shift, Is Still Pretty Incredible (PHOTO)

We stumbled upon this stunning image and were quick to praise the miniature-looking seascape, but fellow Redditors were not as impressed.

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Anderson Cooper Hosts CNN’s George Zimmerman Special At 10 P.M.

CNN is trying something different at 10 p.m.: a nightly special about George Zimmerman’s trial, hosted by Anderson Cooper.

“Self-Defense Or Murder? The George Zimmerman Trial” examines each day of Zimmerman’s trial, which started Monday. It aired at 10 p.m. on Monday night, and will continue throughout the week. Cooper is hosting the one-hour special, and is joined by Jeffrey Toobin, Mark Geragos and Marsha Clark. Repeats of “AC 360,” which normally air at 10 p.m., have been bumped to 11 p.m.

It is CNN’s latest experiment with its 10 p.m. timeslot since Jeff Zucker took over in January. The network re-aired Jake Tapper’s “The Lead” at 10 p.m. for a week in April, and has also played around with a panel format.

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Sony Xperia Z Upgrading To Android 4.2.2 Starting Today

Sony has started to roll out the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update to its Xperia Z.

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How Facebook Explains User Data Bug That Leaked 6 Million People’s Information

When Facebook admitted Friday that a year-old glitch had erroneously exposed 6 million users’ contact information, the social network known for helping things go viral seemed to do its best to keep the news from spreading.

Though Facebook did take pains to email all 6 million people affected, the social network posted its announcement about the data leak just before 5 p.m. ET on a Friday afternoon — on a Facebook page belonging to the company’s security team, rather than its main account, and with a deceptively boring title, ”Important Message from Facebook’s White Hat Program.”

Facebook noted that describing the cause of the bug “can get pretty technical,” and proceeded with an explanation that seemed to befuddle tech writers, aficionados and users.

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How Reading Makes Us More Human – Karen Swallow Prior – The Atlantic

A battle over books has erupted recently on the pages of The New York Times and Time. The opening salvo was Gregory Currie’s essay, “Does Great Literature Make Us Better?” which asserts that the widely held belief that reading makes us more moral has little support.

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Nokia HERE Maps calls out Google on Venue Maps

Nokia is calling out Google Maps over indoor mapping, claiming that its HERE Venue Maps cover more areas and with more accuracy than any rival can muster. The software – which is available on Nokia Windows Phones and in Bing – integrates floor plans for inside stadiums, theme parks, golf clubs, and shopping malls with

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Narciso Rodriguez Married: Designer Weds Thomas Tolan In New York City Ceremony

Designer Narciso Rodriguez married Thomas Tolan over the weekend after several years together, People reports. The couple, who resides in Manhattan, held the wedding at the Gramercy Park Hotel accompanied by family and friends, one of which was actress Jessica Alba.

Alba, who is a loyal fan of Narciso’s designs, shared several photos of the reception through Instagram. Look at the happy couple!

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Hyrel 3D Printer Can Squirt Out Self-Setting Sugru And Even Play-Doh

hyrel-3d-printing-sugru-2

The Hyrel 3D printer looks like any other single-extruder additive printer. But thanks to a fairly unique nozzle called the HYREL Emulsifiable Extruder (EMO-25) you can use it to squirt out usual materials like Play-Doh, air-drying clay, and even Sugru, a self-setting rubber that dries into a solid, usable object.

The creator, Daniel Hutchison funded his project on Kickstarter and is preparing to ship the printer in the next few months. The printer actually contains a full PC and raised $150,000 on Kickstarter.

These materials are important because they can be smoothed down and, using products like Sugru, you could feasibly print rubber gaskets directly inside plastic objects using a dual-extruder system.

The extruder is also good for schools and artists who may want to produce, say, stop-motion animations using clay or reusable models. Because you can squeeze the clay back into the cartridge and squirt it out again you have a minimum of waste if the print fails. You can also shave down and move the printed clay in ways that are impossible with traditional plastics.

The printers start at $1,995 and go up to $3,000. The more expensive models include a heated build platform for ABS plastic (the ABS needs the heat to stick to the platform) as well as in-built PC that can be used to slice and print models you create.



Barnes and Noble posts $119 million loss in Q4 2013, will partner with third party on future Nook tablets

Barnes and Noble posts $119 million loss

Barnes and Noble has not had an easy go of it. The brick-and-mortar stalwart has seen its revenues and profits steeply decline as we’ve entered the age of the e-book. In fact, profits haven’t just shrunk; they’ve disappeared. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013, the company suffered a net loss of $118.6 million, down significantly from the already poor showing it posted in 2012 when it lost $56.9 million in Q4. For the year, that put Barnes and Noble’s losses at $154.8 million — more than double what it lost in 2012. Revenues have dropped both at retail outlets and its Nook digital business by $105 million and $56 million, respectively year-over-year. For its e-reader and ebook arm, that represents a 34 percent drop from Q4 2012. The bad news there is that device sales have declined dramatically and, while content sales were up for the year, in the fourth quarter they fell by 8.9 percent. Barnes and Noble attributes the year-over-year fall in sales to be attributed to the lack of blockbuster titles. In Q4 2012 revenues were boosted by juggernauts like Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games.

Going forward Barnes and Noble wants to significantly cut its losses on the struggling Nook business. To do that the company will be partnering with an as yet unnamed third party to manufacture and co-brand its tablet line. The Nook line of e-readers will continue to be designed and built in-house, but the retailer will be looking beyond its Manhattan office walls for help with the flailing Nook HD line. Existing products will be supported for the foreseeable future, however, so don’t go tossing your Robert Brunner-designed slate in the trash just yet. If you’d like more detail, check out the PR after the break.

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