MEXICO/ UK: 05 Feb UPDATE: BBC Apologizes For Ethnic Slurs After Uproar In DF.

G.POST/ IOAN GRILLO / TEXT With 1:40 Video Comments/

    A presenter's remarks about Mexicans on the BBC's popular "Top Gear" TV car show is causing an uproar not seen since Frito the Bandito and Speedy Gonzalez cartoons.
    Richard Hammond uttered some anti-Mexican stereotypes after pulling up an internet photo of a new Mexican-made sports car.
     “Why would you want a Mexican car? Because cars reflect national characteristics don’t they,” Hammond said. “Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat.”
       Moderator Jeremy Clarkson then went on to insult Mexico's ambassador:“We won’t get any complaints about this because at the Mexican embassy the ambassador’s going to be sitting there with a remote control like this,” Clarkson said, slumping in the chair, snoring.
     "Top Gear" is consistently a top BBC show because of its snarky comments.
     In 2008, hundreds complained after Clarkson joked that truck drivers were murdering prostitutes. 
    The BBC reports that just last week, "Top Gear" was named most popular factual show at the National TV Awards.
FOR BBC RESPONSE And APOLOGY:
In a letter to Mexico's ambassador, the BBC said it was sorry if it had offended some people, but said jokes based on national stereotyping were part of British national humor.
It said the comments may have been "rude" and "mischievous," but there was no "vindictiveness" behind them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12361790

VENEZUELA: Economic Conditions During The Chavez Regime.

BBC/ Robert Plummer Commentary
"The Venezuelan capital was never the prettiest in Latin America, but it had definitely taken a turn for the worse.
"...Nearly eight years on, that deterioration in Venezuela's infrastructure and economy has continued."
"While most of the country's Latin American neighbours are leaving the global recession behind, Venezuela is still bogged down in the financial mire."

ROMANIA: Remembering Its Bloody Revolution... 20 Years Ago.

BBC/
"20 years on, the BBC has gained access to a remarkable document, the Timisoara station-master's log from November and December 1989. Hand-written, it meticulously records the details of each train which arrived in Timisoara North railway station during the revolution. Placed alongside the military log-books of the army, the testimony of eye-witness, and those pages of the secret police archives which were not destroyed, the railway notes will help historians get closer to the truth about the revolution."

BRASIL: Get A Taste Of Its Music: From Samba To Bossa Nova.

BBC VIDEO Via RIO TUDO BOM/10 Min. Music Video/

Part One of "Brasil, Brasil" music documentary by the BBC.

Czech "Eurosceptic" Klaus Demands New Lisbon Treaty Footnote Before Signing.

BBC/
The Czech Republic's President Vaclav Klaus has refused to sign the Lisbon treaty until the Czech Constitutional Court rules on a new legal complaint against it, lodged by senators allied to him.
Now, the Swedes say that Klaus also wants a new footnote penned by him to be adopted by the European Council. "I told him this is the wrong message at the wrong time for the EU. I told him clearly it is his ink on the paper that counts and I don't want this to delay the treaty going through as soon as possible,"said a Swedish representative.

Images From The Juanes Concert.

BBC/9x Images/

A Detailed Look At The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

BBC.COM.

Land Grabbing In The Ukraine For Food, Water And Power.

BBC.UK

"The world is getting hungrier and the old "wheat basket" of Eastern Europe is offering new opportunity.

But it is not Ukrainian money and know-how which is driving this agricultural revolution. It is foreign governments and companies.

The Libyans are negotiating for land here, as are the Russians and others.

Many governments are looking to secure land overseas as a way to ensure the food supply to their country does not fail."