Nobel literature winner says censorship necessary

STOCKHOLM (AP) — This year's Nobel literature winner Mo Yan, who has been criticized for his cozy relationship with China's Communist Party, defended censorship Thursday as something as necessary as airport security checks.

He also suggested he has no plans to join an appeal calling for the release of the jailed 2010 Peace Prize laureate, Liu Xiaobo.

Mo has been criticized by human rights activists for not being a more outspoken defendant of freedom of speech and for being a member of the Communist Party-backed writers' association.

His comments Thursday, made in Stockholm, appear unlikely to soften his critics' views toward him.

Awarding him the prize has also brought criticism from previous Nobel winners. Herta Mueller, the 2009 literature laureate, called the jury's choice of Mo a "catastrophe" in an interview with the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter last month. She also accused Mo of protecting China's censorship laws.

Mo said he doesn't feel that censorship should stand in the way of truth but that any defamation, or rumors, "should be censored."

"But I also hope that censorship, per se, should have the highest principle," he said in comments translated by an interpreter from Chinese into English.

Mo, a Communist party member and vice president of China's official writers association, spoke at a news conference in Stockholm, where he is spending several days before receiving his prestigious prize in an awards ceremony next Monday.

Addressing an issue that is extremely sensitive for China's authoritarian Communist regime, Mo likened censorship to the thorough security procedures he was subjected to as he traveled to Stockholm.

"When I was taking my flight, going through the customs ... they also wanted to check me — even taking off my belt and shoes," he said. "But I think these checks are necessary."

Mo also dodged questions about fellow writer and compatriot Liu Xiaobo, who won the Peace Prize in 2010 but who remains in prison.

Although he has previously said he hopes Liu will be freed soon, he refused to elaborate more on the case.

"On the same evening of my winning the prize, I already expressed my opinion, and you can get online to make a search," he said, telling the crowd that he hoped they wouldn't press him on the subject of Liu.

Earlier this week, an appeal signed by 134 Nobel laureates, from peace prize winners like South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Taiwanese-American chemist Yuan T. Lee, called the detention of Liu and his wife a violation of international law and urged their immediate release.

But Mo suggested he had no plans of adding his name to that petition. "I have always been independent. I like it that way. When someone forces me to do something I don't do it," he said, adding that has been in his stance in the past decade.

Mo is to receive his Nobel prize along with the winners in medicine, physics, chemistry and economics.

The Nobel Peace Prize is handed out in a separate ceremony in Oslo on the same day.

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Chinese Nobel literature winner: censorship a must

STOCKHOLM (AP) — This year's Nobel Prize in literature winner, Mo Yan, who has been criticized for his membership in China's Communist Party  and reluctance to speak out against the country's government, defended censorship Thursday as something as necessary as airport security checks.

He also suggested he won't join an appeal calling for the release of the jailed 2010 Peace Prize laureate, Liu Xiaobo, a fellow writer and compatriot.

Mo has been criticized by human rights activists for not being a more outspoken defender of freedom of speech and for supporting the Communist Party-backed writers' association, of which he is vice president.

His comments Thursday, made during a news conference in Stockholm, appear unlikely to soften his critics' views toward him.

Awarding him the literature prize has also brought criticism from previous winners. Herta Mueller, the 2009 literature laureate, called the jury's choice of Mo a "catastrophe" in an interview with the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter last month. She also accused Mo of protecting the Asian country's censorship laws.

China's rulers forbid opposition parties and maintain strict control over all media.

Mo said he doesn't feel that censorship should stand in the way of truth but that any defamation, or rumors, "should be censored."

"But I also hope that censorship, per se, should have the highest principle," he said in comments translated by an interpreter from Chinese into English.

Mo is spending several days in Stockholm before receiving his prestigious prize in an awards ceremony next Monday.

He won the Nobel for his sprawling tales of life in rural China. In its citation, the jury said Mo "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary."

In addressing the sensitive issue of censorship in China, Mo likened it to the thorough security procedures he was subjected to as he traveled to Stockholm.

"When I was taking my flight, going through the customs ... they also wanted to check me — even taking off my belt and shoes," he said. "But I think these checks are necessary."

Mo also dodged questions about Liu Xiaobo, the jailed Peace Prize winner. Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for co-authoring a bold call for ending China's single-party rule and enacting democratic reforms.

China's reception of the two Nobel laureates has been worlds apart.

While it rejected the honor bestowed on Liu, calling it a desecration of the Nobel tradition, it welcomed Mo's win with open arms, saying it reflected "the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing influence of China."

Although Mo has previously said he hopes Liu will be freed soon, he refused to elaborate more on the case.

"On the same evening of my winning the prize, I already expressed my opinion, and you can get online to make a search," he said, telling the crowd that he hoped they wouldn't press him on the subject of Liu.

Some, however, have interpreted Mo's October comments as if he hoped the release of Liu would make the jailed activist see sense and embrace the Communist Party line.

Earlier this week, an appeal signed by 134 Nobel laureates, from Peace Prize winners such as South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Taiwanese-American chemist Yuan T. Lee, called the detention of Liu and his wife a violation of international law and urged their immediate release.

But Mo suggested he had no plans of adding his name to that petition. "I have always been independent. I like it that way. When someone forces me to do something I don't do it," he said, adding that has been in his stance in the past decade.

Mo is to receive his Nobel prize along with the winners in medicine, physics, chemistry and economics.

The Nobel Peace Prize is handed out in a separate ceremony in Oslo on the same day.

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Belgian graphic artist breaks with comic tradition

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Comic artist Brecht Evens decided to break away from the traditional comic strip images of clear lines and pencil sketches developed in Belgium more than half a century ago.

After surviving at first on government subsidies, in 2010 he produced a graphic novel featuring vibrant watercolours and smudged scenes of sexuality and riotous nightlife, with characters blurred into their surroundings.

"The Wrong Place" - a graphic novel about the angst-filled night-time escapades of Robbie, a mysterious party animal - became an international success and made Evens the darling of the new wave of experimental comic artists currently sweeping across Belgium.

Traditional comics "seemed limited in what they could do and show", 26-year old Evens told Reuters. "They couldn't suck you in and just looked like toys laid out, or puppets."

His new style "lends movement and hustle and bustle".

Evens' success comes as graphic fiction, or comics, search for a new direction.

Traditional comic strips - with speech bubbles and clear pencil lines giving shape to the characters - are seen as old-fashioned. Even though they have die-hard fans in Belgium, that market is declining and was anyway tiny.

In big comic markets, such as Japan, South Korea and the United States, fans have long since moved on to new media, starting with television and now taking in smart phones and tablets. But these new media have flopped in Belgium, as readers are attached to the book-and-picture format.

Without new styles, the industry will not survive, says Johan Stuyck, professor at the Sint-Lukas School of Arts in Brussels and publisher at Oogachtend in Leuven.

"Those who stick to the old fashioned way of making comics, they are doomed," he says. "They will disappear."

Reverence for the past is perhaps unsurprising in a country with such a glorious history in comics.

Georges Remi, who worked under the pen name Herge, created Tintin in 1929 while working at Belgian newspaper Le XXe Siecle.

"The Adventures of Tintin" series became an immediate success and remained a top seller until the 1970s. "Spirou", the eight-page weekly magazine that disseminated comics to the Belgian public and gave artists exposure, was created in 1938.

Belgian artists pioneered the use of clear black lines to outline characters precisely and make them stand out against the background in the earlier half of the 20th century. Belgian comics went through another boom with the advent of the Smurfs in 1959.

But when new electronic and animated media emerged from the 1980s - and Hollywood eventually turned Tintin into a movie - Belgian artists largely shunned the new forms, as their conservative readers at home weren't interested.

Recently, however, Belgian artists have innovated in their own ways. Traditional comics required solid plots, like Tintin's traditional, documentary-style. For strips appearing in newspapers, artists had to provide a daily cliffhanger.

These are now disappearing in favor of vaguer, more psychological themes.

"Artists used to think more about their audience, what will work and what won't work," says Koen Van Rompaey, general director of Strip Turnhout, a Belgian comic festival. "Artists don't do that anymore. They do whatever they want."

They no longer stick to orderly strips to arrange their stories. And they sometimes don't outline their figures. That leads some illustrations - like Evens's - to lack structure and clarity, giving them an appearance of modernist paintings.

"Some are just drawing without tracing," says Stuyck. "The text is not necessarily put in balloons. It's experimental."

The new experimental styles are commercially risky, and publishers need to be patient with new artists. Most first works flop, selling just a few hundred copies and losing money. Success often comes only with a third book.

"Without those first two, the artist wouldn't have made a third," says Stuyck. "The publisher must take risks."

Even then, the Belgian market is saturated, with comic book production at a historic high, even as overall sales decline. Around 800 professional comic artists currently live and work in Belgium, says Willem De Graeve, director of the Belgian Comic Strip Centre.

One source of support is the Flemish Literature Fund, which provides government grants for illustrators working on the national art form in the Dutch dialect spoken in the northern half of Belgium.

"Without support from the Flemish Fund, this new wave of Flemish comics would not have been possible," Van Rompaey said. "It would have been five to 10 percent of what it is now."

During his final years at art school, Evens survived with help from this fund as he struggled with early drafts of "The Wrong Place".

His new style consisted of broad swathes of color with minimal line work. He then adds details in a series of layers.

"There are no pencil sketches. It differs from traditional comics because the lines and surfaces are independent," he says. "Traditionally, artists will make a pencil sketch, then trace over it in ink and add detail, then add color."

Critics loved "The Wrong Place", which has been translated in six different languages, placing Evens in the elite group of young, experimental Belgian artists that achieve more success globally than locally.

And now Evens has found a winning formula... he's going to change it.

"I wouldn't be happy with the feeling of pedaling in place," he said.

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Russia's Hermitage Museum denounces blasphemy investigation

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The head of Russia's renowned Hermitage Museum accused Russian authorities on Monday of fostering "mob rule" in taking up complaints by Russian Orthodox Christians over a British exhibit they said injured religious feelings.

The row coincides with a surge in religious, nationalist sentiment in Russia, with President Vladimir Putin moving closer to the Orthodox Church to consolidate his support after facing the biggest protests since he rose to power nearly 13 years ago.

The display, entitled "The End of Fun" and launched in the St Petersburg museum in October, includes figurines draped with Nazi insignia and a crucified Ronald McDonald, the mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain.

It has drawn over 100 complaints and state prosecutors are checking whether it violates a law against incitement to hatred, under which two members of the Pussy Riot punk protest band opposed to President Vladimir Putin were jailed.

"This (investigation) is an attempt to dictate conditions to us by mob rule and we should not allow this," said Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of Hermitage, one of the world's oldest and biggest museums.

Prosecutors acted after receiving complaints from visitors who said the exhibition by British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman offended the feelings of Russian Orthodox Christians.

"You can't force a celebrated actor to cancel his show just because someone would come and make a noise ... about someone's feelings," Piotrovsky told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Moscow. "Art has its own language, one needs to understand it. If you don't get it, just step aside."

The Hermitage Museum is housed in buildings including the Winter Palace, a former residence of the Russian emperors, and is now owned by the state.

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The Hermitage website describes the centerpiece of the Chapman brothers' display as a "three-dimensional collage consisting of miniature plastic figures ... arranged in such a way that it resembles a (Nazi) swastika from above".

"In the display cases, a single landscape of hell unfolds in which the figures ceaselessly kill one another with diabolical cruelty ... By placing cruelty in seal museum display cases or dioramas, the artists strive to cure society of that cruelty."

The museum's website said the exhibit belonged to a "Disasters of War" genre and that it was not suitable for viewing by anyone younger than 18.

Traditional religious conservatism has revived markedly in public since Pussy Riot members burst into a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow in February and, dressed in short dresses and colorful ski masks, performed a protest song against Putin's close ties with the church.

The two-year prison sentences handed down to two members of the all-women collective were criticized in the West, but the protest outraged many Russian Orthodox Christians and stirred a debate over the state of society in Russia.

Since the Pussy Riot trial this summer, Russian lawmakers allied to Putin have called for the introduction of jail sentences for people found guilty of offending religious feelings.

Critics say the law would blur the line between the state and the church. They regard the move as part of what they see as a clampdown on dissent and civil liberties since Putin began a new six-year term in May. He denies launching a crackdown.

Among other prominent instances of conservative Russians trying to protect their beliefs in court, American pop singer Madonna was sued by a group of Russians for spreading gay "propaganda" when she gave a concert in St Petersburg in August. The case was eventually thrown out.

The launch of patrols in Moscow by cossacks has also been widely interpreted as a result of Putin's calls for patriotism and his promotion of Russian traditions.

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Van Gogh dazzles at Netherlands' Kroeller-Mueller

AMSTERDAM (AP) — With the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam closed for renovations until April, the world's second-largest collection of the tortured Dutch master's work is stepping into the limelight.

The Kroeller-Mueller museum in the eastern Netherlands is not as well-known but is still considered a jewel among connoisseurs. It has revamped the layout of its central rooms, giving more space and more focus to its very best works.

"Van Gogh really stands central now, both physically in the museum and in the collection as a whole," director Lisette Pelsers said in a telephone interview.

This week the museum announced "Vincent is Back," because after a time in which many of its 91 Vincent Van Gogh paintings, 180 drawings and other works have been on loan, they are set to return in style.

It has opened "Native Soil," the first of a two-part exhibition looking at the spectacular changes that Van Gogh underwent in his artistic career, which took place almost entirely in the decade from 1880 to 1890. The appropriately wintery exhibit focuses on Van Gogh's formative years in the Netherlands, with a dark palette and simple, somber subjects.

"Native Soil" culminates in what is widely regarded as Van Gogh's first great masterpiece, the 1885 "Potato Eaters." It also shows smaller works that presage the colorful brilliance to come, such as the 1885 "Head of a Woman Wearing a White Hat," which may have been part of Van Gogh's preparations for "Potato Eaters,;" and the emotive 1882 study "Sorrowful Old Man" in black chalk.

"You can really see him struggling to find his style as an artist," Pelsers said.

Beginning in April, the "Land of Light" exhibition will show off the incredible range of color and energy in Van Gogh's late works. Much of the collection from both periods will remain on display throughout the year, including later masterworks such as his 1888 "Terrace of a Cafe at Night." Also remaining on display are a series of excellent portraits, including a famous 1887 self-portrait, and others such as the 1889 "Portrait of Joseph Roulin."

Although the Kroeller-Mueller Museum has decided to more actively promote its Van Gogh works, its collection ranges well beyond that with important paintings by Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, Paul Gauguin, Giorgio de Chirico and dozens of others. It also features one of Europe's best sculpture gardens, with works by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Niki de Saint Phalle and many more.

The museum is located in Otterlo, Netherlands, not far from the German border.

For the more adventurous, one of the museum's special attractions is the option to begin a visit at one of three park entrances rather than the museum itself. It's easy to borrow one of hundreds of free bicycles and cycle several kilometers (miles) on well-marked paths through the park's gentle dunes and pine trees to the museum.

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Soccer-Australia maul Taiwan to qualify for 2013 East Asian Cup

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Australia routed Taiwan 8-0 in Hong Kong to leapfrog North Korea and qualify for the 2013 East Asian Cup on Sunday. After the Koreans had blanked hosts Hong Kong 4-0 in Sunday's other match, Australia needed to win by five goals or more. The Socceroos did much more than that to top the qualifying tournament and join Japan, China and hosts South Korea in July next year. Adam Taggart (two), Richard Garcia and Aziz Behich (two) scored their maiden international goals, while Robert Cornthwaite and Aaron Mooy were also on target. An own goal added to the rout.

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British police contact Australian police over radio station's hoax call impersonating queen

LONDON - British police say they have contacted Australian authorities about a possible investigation into an Australian radio station's hoax call to a U.K. hospital. The callers impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and received confidential details about the former Kate Middleton's medical information. The call was recorded and broadcast. The prank took an ugly twist Friday with the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, three days after she took the hoax call. Police have not yet determined Saldanha's cause of death, but people from London to Sydney have been making the assumption that she died because of stress from the call. The disk jockeys involved have been suspended indefinitely.

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New Zealand coach Hesson's advice 'laughable' - Taylor

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Disgruntled former captain Ross Taylor has slammed New Zealand's team management, dismissing head coach Mike Hesson's advice as "laughable" and claiming he was not given enough support in his 18-month stint as skipper. Taylor was stripped of the Twenty20 and one-day captaincy last week on Hesson's recommendation, and rejected an offer to stay on as test skipper in the wake of New Zealand's drawn test series away to Sri Lanka. Opener Brendon McCullum will take on all three roles and faces a baptism of fire as he leads New Zealand on tour to South Africa later this month. "I knew it'd be tough from the outset (with Hesson)," Taylor said in comments published on the New Zealand Herald's website (www.nzherald.co.nz) on Sunday. "I gave him as much support as I could but it wasn't reciprocated. "We liaised during the Champions League," added the 28-year-old, who played with the Delhi Daredevils at the T20 tournament in South Africa in October. "He wrote down a few things for me to improve on, which were laughable, frankly." Hesson, a career coach with no experience as a player at senior level, was appointed in July. A former coach of New Zealand A sides and provincial side Otago, he also had a short stint as assistant coach to John Bracewell at English county side Gloucester and was head coach of Kenya last year. Taylor, New Zealand's top test batsman, has opted out of the tour to South Africa in a blow for the tourists' hopes of upsetting the number one-ranked test nation in their two-match series. He has flagged a return to the team in time for their three-test home series against England in March, but said he still felt "raw" after his demotion. "I knew I had areas to work on, like in communication, but I didn't get much support," he said of his captaincy, during which New Zealand struggled in all three formats of the game. "Instead, I organised a number of things myself, like chatting to (psychologist) Gilbert Enoka. I thought that indicated I was trying to be a better captain. "I'm more disappointed in the process to be told four days before the test series began (in Sri Lanka) that they didn't want me as captain. "I also wasn't consulted in the tour review process by (New Zealand Cricket chairman Chris) Moller or (NZC chief executive David) White. No one got hold of me." New Zealand play three T20 matches against the Proteas before the first test at Newlands in Cape Town from January 2, 2013.

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Senior masters Sydney gale to win Australian Open

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Peter Senior drew on all his experience from 34 years as a professional golfer to master galeforce winds and win the Australian Open by a shot on Sunday, 23 years after he first held aloft the Stonehaven Cup. Gusting winds of up to 80 kilometers an hour whipped across The Lakes Golf Club all day, knocking over a TV tower on the 18th green and forcing the suspension of play for three hours. The 53-year-old ground out a final round of par 72 in fading light to finish four-under for the tournament and become the oldest man to win the title in the event's 108-year history. Brendan Jones finished second after a 71, while his fellow Australian Cameron Percy was third, a shot further back on two under, after carding a 73. Britain's world number four Justin Rose dropped a shot at the last to finish with a 76 for a share of fourth. "It was probably one of the toughest days I've ever seen on a golf course," Senior, who first won the title in 1989 and won the last of his four European Tour titles two decades ago. "I really thought these days were over but golf is a funny game. The key to today's round was that I never put any pressure on myself. "If the conditions had been better, the better players would have won. But these are conditions I thrive in, where I just battle it out." On a day when the conditions meant only six players would finish under par, Senior started three shots off the pace and dropped two shots on the front nine. The Singapore-born Australian won them back, however, with two birdies in three shots after the turn, curling a 20-foot putt into the hole at the 12th to move two shots clear of the field. It was a lead he would never relinquish and, with his son and caddie Mitch watching on, he drained a three-foot putt at the 18th before waiting for the final group of Rose and John Senden to finish. Rose had started the day in second, two shots off the pace, but three-putted at the third for the first of two dropped shots on the front nine. The Englishman went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie just after the turn and looked to be building up for a charging finish but two bogeys in the last three holes put paid to his chances. Overnight leader Senden suffered a meltdown in the trying conditions, losing his overnight lead with a double bogey after an errant drive at the first and ending up with an 82. World number seven Adam Scott started the day five shots off the pace but never looked like making a charge and a chip-in for an eagle at the 17th was too little, too late and he finished with a 76 for a share of 14th. Eight-times major champion Tom Watson continued his Jekyll and Hyde week, turning in three birdies in a flawless round in the relative calm of the morning to end up with a card reading 78-68-78-69 in joint 28th. Senior is 10 years younger and has enjoyed nowhere near as much success as the American, but he was just as popular with those who braved the weather to populate the galleries. "It was a really nasty day and I had a lot of support," Senior said.

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UPDATE 1-Golf-Senior masters Sydney gale to win Australian Open

* Senior oldest winner of his national Open * Wind dominates final round * Rose fades to share of fourth (Adds detail, quotes) SYDNEY, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Peter Senior drew on all his experience from 34 years as a professional golfer to master galeforce winds and win the Australian Open by a shot on Sunday, 23 years after he first held aloft the Stonehaven Cup. Gusting winds of up to 80 kilometres an hour whipped across The Lakes Golf Club all day, knocking over a TV tower on the 18th green and forcing the suspension of play for three hours. The 53-year-old ground out a final round of par 72 in fading light to finish four-under for the tournament and become the oldest man to win the title in the event's 108-year history. Brendan Jones finished second after a 71, while his fellow Australian Cameron Percy was third, a shot further back on two under, after carding a 73. Britain's world number four Justin Rose dropped a shot at the last to finish with a 76 for a share of fourth. "It was probably one of the toughest days I've ever seen on a golf course," Senior, who first won the title in 1989 and won the last of his four European Tour titles two decades ago. "I really thought these days were over but golf is a funny game. The key to today's round was that I never put any pressure on myself. "If the conditions had been better, the better players would have won. But these are conditions I thrive in, where I just battle it out." On a day when the conditions meant only six players would finish under par, Senior started three shots off the pace and dropped two shots on the front nine. The Singapore-born Australian won them back, however, with two birdies in three shots after the turn, curling a 20-foot putt into the hole at the 12th to move two shots clear of the field. It was a lead he would never relinquish and, with his son and caddie Mitch watching on, he drained a three-foot putt at the 18th before waiting for the final group of Rose and John Senden to finish. Rose had started the day in second, two shots off the pace, but three-putted at the third for the first of two dropped shots on the front nine. The Englishman went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie just after the turn and looked to be building up for a charging finish but two bogeys in the last three holes put paid to his chances. Overnight leader Senden suffered a meltdown in the trying conditions, losing his overnight lead with a double bogey after an errant drive at the first and ending up with an 82. World number seven Adam Scott started the day five shots off the pace but never looked like making a charge and a chip-in for an eagle at the 17th was too little, too late and he finished with a 76 for a share of 14th. Eight-times major champion Tom Watson continued his Jekyll and Hyde week, turning in three birdies in a flawless round in the relative calm of the morning to end up with a card reading 78-68-78-69 in joint 28th. Senior is 10 years younger and has enjoyed nowhere near as much success as the American, but he was just as popular with those who braved the weather to populate the galleries.

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