People in Brazil have taken to fashioning moustaches as a form of protest against the country's president. Known as "greve de bigode" or "moustache strike," people are submitting photos of themselves donning real or fake moustaches to the blog tiremobigode.blogspot.com. The moustache is a reference to the Brazilian president, Jose Sarney, who is accused of nepotism and embezzlement and is famous for his manly 'tache. "It's a way of moving people who think that politics is dull and who wouldn't normally get involved," says Ricardo Silveira, the art director who created the campaign.

Brazil Doesn't Want UK Rubbish: Brazil has sent back more than 1,400 tonnes of rubbish to Britain as UK authorities investigate whether the rubbish was exported from the UK illegally. Five Brazilian companies that imported the waste have already been fined, although they claim they thought they were importing recyclable plastic. The head of Brazil's environmental agency, Roberto Massias, said Brazil is "not the rubbish dump of the world."

Inquiry Shows Politicians In The Dark: The public inquiry into the death of an Iraqi civilian detained by British soldiers will learn about interrogation practices kept secret from ministers. Secret papers, which defence officials tried to withhold, describe how detainees were subjected to hooding, sleep deprivation and stress positions. The papers also describe how defence officials attempted to hide the interrogation practices from ministers. A solicitor from the firm representing the Iraqi civilian, said: "This is a revealing document because it shows how civil servants successfully hid from view - the reality is, banned interrogation techniques...might well continue or be reintroduced."

Bruno Not In Fashion In Ukraine: Ukraine's Culture and Tourism Ministry has banned Sacha Baron Cohen's new film, Bruno. Numerous news sources have quoted the Ministry labelling the film "immoral". The Guardian believes the decsion was made because "several of the scenes - among them a mock gay parade, and one in which Bruno shows off his penis - were likely to offend conservative and religious opinion." Sacha Baron Cohen's last film, Borat, or Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, was also banned in Ukraine.


Nokia Boycotted For Collaborating With Iran: Nokia is being boycotted by Iranians who are angry that the mobile phone company sold electronic surveillance systems. Wholesale vendors have reported demand for Nokia phones have fallen by as much as half, in the wake of calls for people to boycott Nokia. Reza, a mobile phone vendor in Tehran's Big Bazzar, told the Guardian: "Since the news spread that NSN had sold electronic surveillance systems to the Iranian government, people have decided to buy other company's products."

Former USA Vice President Told CIA To Hide Plans From Congress: Former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to conceal a highly secret counter terrorist programme from Congress for eight years. Cheney's action could be a breach of United States law, which stipulate that Congress be "fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities." Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh claims that Cheney oversaw an "executive assassination ring" for years.
 

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