Russia to boost military in 2011

Per RIA Novosti, President Dmitry Medvedev announced on Tuesday that the Russia's Armed Forces will undergo a "comprehensive rearmament" beginning in 2011.

Medvedev said that the world's current military-political state requires the modernization of the Russian military, especially "its strategic nuclear forces," according to the article.

A twitterer in Moscow downplayed the news immediately.

@redexile This is not as scary as seems - http://bit.ly/Xe0er - the bulk of the nuclear arsenal is Soviet era and their replacement planned years ago



However, not all in Europe reacted the same way.

@thinkingpot (London, U.K.): Why is Russia up for comprehensive rearmament of military and strategic nuclear forces from 2011? http://tinyurl.com/ddctta I'm threatened.


@PendragonUK (Portsmouth, U.K.): @JDogg1329 They have been flying them into our airspace (UK) for the last few years. Russia is reminding the world it's a world force.


@Coenen (Zoetermeer, Netherlands): RT @BreakingNewsOn: Reuters: Medvedev said Russia would rearm its military and boost nuclear forces <- Seems Russia is scared of NATO?


One blogger was inspired to immediately write about the news.

@alandavies (Cardiff, Wales): New blog post: Worrying News - Russia to Rearm http://davies.info/archives/349



The Russian president is active on Twitter (@d_medvedev), though he has not written about this topic recently.

Russia to boost military in 2011

Alltop launches MyAlltop

Here's something the Twitterverse is likely to be buzzing about in the coming hours. Though it has been relatively quiet about the upgrade to date, Breaking Tweets has learned that Alltop by Nononina officially launched MyAlltop moments ago.

The upgrade puts customization at the forefront of the popular online magazine rack site, allowing users to pick and choose the feeds they're most interested in, rather than bookmark individual pages or search for them on the site.

"MyAlltop enables people to create custom racks of just their favorite websites and blogs," said Guy Kawasaki, Twitter power-user (@guykawasaki) with more than 86,000 followers and co-founder of Alltop.com.

In addition to creating their own MyAlltop page, users can browse through a selection of MyAlltops already created by celebrities.

Kawasaki has been quietly promoting the site to some twitterers, such as this tweet nine days ago:

@guykawasaki: @netexaminer glad that you like it. Wait until you see MyAlltop!



Now that the new attraction has gone live, it will likely spread quickly amidst the entire Twitterverse.

Breaking Tweets editors met with Kawasaki last month in Chicago (TwitPic). Breaking Tweets also has an Alltop page, which can be found here.

Alltop launches MyAlltop

Featured TwitPic: Wooden bike in Congo

"The Congo is crazy, life is short and people are very inventive... check out this wooden bicycle, they are everywhere!" (Posted by @paulakahumbu, March 16, 2009)

Featured TwitPic: Wooden bike in Congo

Austria incest trial starts

UPDATE> Thursday 19th March Per BBC News, Josef Fritzl has been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison after changing his plea to guilty in all charges.

Per Deutsche Welle, the trial has started in Austria of Josef Fritzl. Fritzl is accused of keeping his daughter locked in a cellar beneath his home for 24 years, and fathering seven children with her. The Saarbruecker Zeitung reports that Fritzl has already made a partial confession - admitting guilt to charges of incest, imprisonment, assault and rape but denying a murder charge.

Thousands of Twitter users have written about this case today - interestingly, some of the most insightful have come from outside the German-speaking Twitterverse.

@juliareid21 Is an online journalist with Britain's Sky News. She is tweeting live from the scene outside the court house, posting photos and linking to blog entries too. Follow her updates throughout the day. One recent (gruesome) tweet & picture:

Plastic blood stained dolls litter the path outside the Fritzl court. Remains of the strangest demo we've seen http://tinyurl.com/dbrbvd

@ewantoo (Manchester, England) Think there'll be a big rise in bank robberies using a folder as a disguise? Josef Fritzl arrives at court http://bit.ly/EjJ0



@WintersNight (Bronx, USA) i had no idea who Josef Fritzl was until this morning. . . is it cause i'm dense? or because the US News sucks? i will endevour to find out



@vctrjmnz (London, England) RT @pressgazette: 3,000 reporters arrive for secret Josef Fritzl trial http://tinyurl.com/csdgy4 / Whatever happened to that G20 summit...



@clairebrown (Hull, England) Josef Fritzl's lawyer says that Fritzl is "a human being not a monster". Really? Come on now.



@ToreHolmem (Oslo, Norway) Ftitzl covered his face in a book. Fritzl is scared. Fritzl sneezed. Fritzl is in all of us, but let's not talk about that.

Austria incest trial starts

FMLN wins election in El Salvador

Per the El Paso Times, leftist candidate Mauricio Funes won El Salvador's presidential election on Sunday, effectively ending two decades of conservative rule in the nation and bringing the FMLN - a party of former guerrillas - to power.

Breaking Tweets found that most twitterers who commented on the election celebrated its results.

@ciskosv (Santa Ana, El Salvador): Well, the Salvadoran people speak! Really truly a civic celebration, so forward El Salvador!



@kingconejo (San Salvador, El Salvador): THE FMLN ACTUALLY WON THE ELECTION! Wish I was partying in Suchitoto instead of alone here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7944899.stm


@AdrianaLemus (San Salvador, El Salvador): El Salvador has a new president. The people have spoken. There was a change for democracy at last :D


@sagotmontse (Costa Rica): Ver ganar al FMLN en El Salvador es como sentir que finalmente la guerra se resolvió y que se hizo justicia #elecciones2009 (View FMLN win in El Salvador is like to feel that the war was finally resolved and that justice was done #elecciones2009)

@cafe_con_leche (Los Angeles): FMLN's expected win today has been LONG awaited!!!



One Twitter user in El Salvador provided election-related tweets throughout the day.

@Alexanndra (El Salvador): # http://twitpic.com/24htl - Hace media hora ejercí mis derechos... y me dejaron neeegro el dedo xD (http://twitpic.com/24htl - About half an hour exercising my rights ... and left me black finger xD)

@Alexanndra: #eleccion2009 Sigue tráfico paralizado en Soyapango. Hace 2 horas hay embotellamiento en el sector de Unicentro y Plaza España (#eleccion2009 still paralyzed traffic in Soyapango. 2 hours ago there are bottlenecks in the sector and Unicentro Plaza España)

@Alexanndra: #eleccion2009, nuestro amigo el Garrobo reportando en su blog, desde San Miguel: http://tinyurl.com/dcje4c (Un poco jocosa la nota) (#eleccion2009, our friend Garrobo reporting on his blog, from San Miguel: http://tinyurl.com/dcje4c (A little note in jest))

FMLN wins election in El Salvador