in his performance without losing his stellar vocal technique.

The next song cycle Four Songs on Chinese Poetry was composed by Pavel Haas to a text in Czech. In “Far is my Home, O Moon” the piano started with a dark color and mysterious sound, played gently. One can feel the glow of the moon; the ending is very quiet.In the song “I hear the cry of the wild geese”, the poet laments being so far away from home. This was sung with great care and understanding.

The program ended with “Friedenslied,” a strophic song composed by Hanns Eisler after World War II with lyrics by Bertold Brecht.This song calls for peace to the earth, to the home, to all nations and all people. The song is both simple andAdvertising Read more

Kuwait City (AFP)

A Kuwaiti activist sentenced to seven years in prison after he stormed parliament has begun a hunger strike in jail to demand a mistrial, according to his family.

Sulaiman Binjassem was one of 67 people handed prison sentences in November over a 2011 protest calling for an investigation into corruption and bribery.

A statement from Binjassem's family said he had launched an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday because the 2017 ruling failed to meet the standards of a fair trial, including allowing witnesses to testify.

Mohammed al-Hamidi, who heads the Kuwait Human Rights Society, told AFP the Kuwaiti appeals court had not yet allowed defence attorneys to appeal the sentencing. Hamidi represents six of the 67 convicted.

All of those sentenced to jail are members of, or sympathise