Brunswick Square, in Hove, has been nominated to be the most picturesque street in Britain, according to Google’s ‘Street View’ awards.  Cameras from the multinational corporation were seen taking pictures of the square last March, but as of yet can only be seen online using the ‘Google maps’ or ‘Google Earth’ tools.
Brunswick Square is to compete against such modern architectural feats as Bath’s Royal Crescent and Oxford’s New College Lane.
The nominations were produced by a panel of experts from a variety of backgrounds. The Travel Editors of the newspapers ‘ The Mail on Sunday’ (Frank Barrett) and ‘The Sun’ (Lisa Minot) were joined by BBC One’s ‘Countryfile’ presenter Julia Bradbury and David Else, the lead author of ‘The Lonely Planet Guide to Great Britain’ in making the nominations.
Winning the award would bring international attention to the local area. Votes can be cast on the below link:

http://www.google.com/landing/beststreetsuk/voting.html

James Duffield

A student at Oxford University has denied claims that he shouted at an Israeli minister speaking at the Union, using the Arabic words, ‘Slaughter all Jews’. A statement released on Wednesday from the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon, said that the phrase was directed at him during protests at his appearance at the Oxford Union on Monday night of last week.
Conflicting articles from both Oxford Student newspapers continue to cause confusion, with ‘Cherwell’ describing the abuse as meaning, ‘Slaughter all Jews’. The ‘Oxford Student’, however, published an article on Thursday quoting student Noor Rashid, saying he was using a specific dialect of the Arabic tongue that few people there would have understood even if they had a grasp of the language.

The phrase he claims to have used, ‘Khaybar ya Yahod’, commemorates a victory by Mohammed over a Jewish community in Khaybar, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Mr Rashid insists the remark carried “absolutely no derogatory or secondary meanings. My version went: ‘Khaybar, O Jews, we will win’. As you can see, I made no reference to killing Jews.”The statement from Mr Ayalon’s office, however, maintained that “Itbah Al Yahud” had been called out, which translates as a call to slaughter Jews.
Mr Rashid claims to recognize he may have been misunderstood: “There was a great deal of confusion… I do acknowledge that people may have misheard me and assume that I uttered something else – namely to ’slaughter the Jews’… something that I do not believe.
“I express the deepest regret if my remarks were misunderstood or misheard to mean anything that even comes close to encouraging the slaughter of innocents.”The Oxford Union has launched an investigation condemning the protests and said: “One individual in particular appears to have made a directly anti-Semitic remark.”

Oxford University student denies racial slur

A student at Oxford University has denied claims that he shouted at an Israeli minister speaking at the Union, using the Arabic words, ‘Slaughter all Jews’.

A statement released on Wednesday from the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon, said that the phrase was directed at him during protests at his appearance at the Oxford Union on Monday night of last week.
Conflicting articles from both Oxford Student newspapers continue to cause confusion, with ‘Cherwell’ describing the abuse as meaning, ‘Slaughter all Jews’. The ‘Oxford Student’, however, published an article on Thursday quoting student Noor Rashid, saying he was using a specific dialect of the Arabic tongue that few people there would have understood even if they had a grasp of the language. The phrase he claims to have used, ‘Khaybar ya Yahod’, commemorates a victory by Mohammed over a Jewish community in Khaybar, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Mr Rashid insists the remark carried “absolutely no derogatory or secondary meanings. My version went: ‘Khaybar, O Jews, we will win’. As you can see, I made no reference to killing Jews.”
The statement from Mr Ayalon’s office, however, maintained that “Itbah Al Yahud” had been called out, which translates as a call to slaughter Jews.
Mr Rashid claims to recognize he may have been misunderstood: “There was a great deal of confusion… I do acknowledge that people may have misheard me and assume that I uttered something else – namely to ’slaughter the Jews’… something that I do not believe.
“I express the deepest regret if my remarks were misunderstood or misheard to mean anything that even comes close to encouraging the slaughter of innocents.”
The Oxford Union has launched an investigation condemning the protests and said: “One individual in particular appears to have made a directly anti-Semitic remark.”

Societies Festival builds community links

Last week saw the arrival of the first-ever University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) Societies Festival, a community engagement project spreading across the city, welcoming the local community to come and join in with the activities of some the societies.

The event, supported by Brighton and Hove Council’s Adult Learning Festival, saw a programme of 13 events entertaining Brightonians of all ages.
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Discover Islam comes to Sussex

Sussex Islamic society is hosting Discover Islam week on campus, starting Monday 22nd to Friday 26th February. The society hopes the line-up of different events will allow students the opportunity to learn more about the religion that the media love to discuss. The Islamic society at Sussex (ISOC) will be presenting a wide variety of talks and fairs as well as a variety of food throughout the week.
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The Sunshine Underground: Leeds’ finest exports raise the alarm in Brighton

If my stint in student journalism has taught me anything, it is to always expect the unexpected.  The PR guy promises you half an hour with the band?  You’ll get ten minutes at best.  The interview is scheduled for five o’clock?  Don’t count on asking anyone anything before half past.  And when you finally sit down with the band in question, whether they’ll be extraordinarily polite, discernably unimpressed or remarkably tolerable is anyone’s guess (I’ve experienced all three).

Thankfully, my interview with The Sunshine Underground is free of such surprises.  Well, almost.  “We’ve driven down to Brighton from Leeds today,” the tour manager informs me as we pace through the venue last Wednesday afternoon, “and experienced every weather condition going: ice in Leeds, fog as we left the city, snow between Nottingham and Northampton, and now sunshine in Brighton.  We’ve got a touch of cabin fever.”
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Brighton bards

Brighton now boasts an array of Poetry and Spoken Word events on a regular basis. The Badger sent writer Helen Grace to check out the latest offerings

It has to be said that ‘E.G. Poetry’ is the straightest poetry reading I’ve been to for a while, in the sense they were literally reading the words off the page. But, don’t get me wrong, it was no less exciting for this. Although slam poetry in its improvised spontaneity is all the rage in some circles, the night proved that the written word still packs a punch.

The event showcased the work of four poets; Alex Brockhurst, Vidran Ravinthiran, Sonya Smith and Ken Champion from ‘tall-lighthouse’, one of the country’s leading poetry presses. And four strikingly different acts they were, but with one thing in common – a complete lack of pretentiousness. This couldn’t have been further exemplified by one of the highlights of the evening for me, Ken Champion’s poem ‘Anthropomorthingy’, poetry without pretense if ever I heard any. ‘E.G. Poetry’ didn’t pretend to be anything else but as the title suggests, examples of poetry. And it was brilliant.
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“Are you allergic to me?!”

Questions are raised in SUDS’ new production

Last week I was invited to watch a twenty-minute snippet of SUDS’ (Sussex University Drama Society) week seven production of Blackbird, followed by a short interview with the cast and director of the play.

As I watched in the cold rehearsal room in Falmer House, I was already impressed by the level of commitment these students were giving – a good sign of quality. The extract I saw was very intense, but not exhausting (I wish I was able to see the whole thing!).

My first question after the performance, and perhaps the most obvious, was why this play? The director, Stefan Adegbola, informs me that he saw this play performed a few years ago and was instantly impressed. “It was my first experience at the theatre with a ‘taboo’ subject being treated so subtly. It wasn’t ironic, there was no jokes, and no happy ending. A fascinating play.”
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Popular Poetry

A poetry collection called ‘The Scattering’ by Christopher Reid has become the surprise winner of one of Britain’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Costa Book of the Year Award. Reid is the sixth poet to win this accolade and marks a poignant moment in poetry’s history.

Not only has he won an award that is normally received by novelists, but has also undermined those critics who say poetry is only for the educated and sophistocrats of our society. This award undeniably signifies how in recent years poetry has become a significant part of our popular culture.
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Pappy’s Sketches

Pappy’s are hard to define. They effortlessly blend the surreal and the sublime with visual, musical and physical comedy. There is a striking moment when you first realise that there is no ‘edgy’ humour of that tired brand involving racism, paedophilia or crudeness. There is no swearing and there is no attempt to shock; the most shocking joke of the night was announced as ‘Anne Frank’s boyfriend,’ a perfectly constructed and simple piece in which ‘Karl’ was summoned downstairs, ‘not because they didn’t like him’ but because he just ‘had’ to leave. Queue appearance of ‘Karl’ trudging dejectedly through the attic door complete with One-Man-Band drum kit, cymbals et al.
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