Kunj07/openwebtext · Datasets at Hugging Face

The centre-left Czech government has so far been reluctant to offer asylum to refugees from the Middle East because of concerns that potential terrorists might be among them. It eventually agreed to take in 70 Syrian refugees under EU pressure, against thousands presenting themselves to the rest of the EU.

But that also makes the Czech government a potential ally for Mr Cameron, who is not looking quite so isolated on this issue as some might aver. Softly, softly, "Europe" is going his way. He may well confound Juncker, and bring home his treaty, sufficient for him to call upon the British to renew their wedding vows. Jean-Claude Juncker says he is prepared to examine the UK's demands on how the EU should change – or so we are told by Bloomberg . but there is a: he will not allow certain "red lines", including on immigration issues, to be crossed.But what grabs the headline is the Commission President comparing EU-UK relations to a love affair. "It's easy to fall in love and more difficult to stay together", Juncker says, also observing that, "people shouldn't stay together if the conditions aren't the same as when things started".That, of course, is horse manure: conditions always change, so the test is whether people can adapt to them. In the case of the EU though, which – at best – was a loveless, arranged marriage, there never was a situation when we should have stayed together.Nevertheless, while Juncker still feels that, "it's in the interest of both the UK and the EU to stay together", he reaffirms that he won't weaken the EU's fundamental principles."When one mentions the end of the free circulation of workers, there can be no debate, dialogue or compromise", he says. "We can fight against abuses - and national lawmakers can do that - but the EU lawmakers won't change the treaties to satisfy the will of certain politicians".So, it seems, Juncker is still playing the "bad cop" against Merkel's "good cop", although he's not saying anything very new.Interestingly, though, Mr Cameron could be acquiring another ally, in Hungary's prime minister . Yesterday, he was urging the EU to limit immigration, saying that some people were abusing the asylum rules, when they were actually seeking employment.This is Viktor Orban, who says he believes the EU's laws on asylum should be tightened, just a week after he said in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris that immigration into Europe should stop – with not an EU flag in sight (pictured)."This is a Christian country", he said on a Sunday radio talk show. "We can help those who are indeed chased out of their countries, but we have to make it clear we don’t want to be the destination for immigrants seeking to make a living here".The number seeking asylum last year in Hungary was 43,000 last year, double the figure in 2013, Mr. Orban says, a large number in relation to Hungary's total population of a little below ten million."If Europe continues to bury its head in the sand, these trends won't change. It now seems like Brussels won't shield us from this issue; we have to protect ourselves", Orban adds, then saying that the Dublin Regulation should be upheld, so that those immigrants who manage to escape farther westward within the EU can be transported back to the country where they entered the EU.Hungary is perhaps not the best of allies though. It gets asylum seekers routed through its territory from Greece and Bulgaria, most often via Serbia, where there were 19,951 illegal crossings in 2013, up 212 percent on the previous year. But in Hungary, though – as the German broadcaster Spiegel reported in September 2014, there is no functioning asylum system. Illegal detention is routine and guards use drugs to sedate migrants.The few existing facilities are overflowing, so that many refugees are housed in former military barracks or community buildings converted into prisons for migrants. In April 2014, more than 40 percent of all male asylum seekers were being housed in a prison. The reasons for arrest were arbitrary and unclear. As a rule, migrants were held for a month without having committed a crime.The UNHCR has been critical of conditions in the asylum prisons, calling them "inhumane and demeaning".Detainees remained behind bars typically for four to five months, while some for the entire length of their asylum procedure. They were locked in their cells much of the day, suffered verbal and physical abuse by the security guards, and were escorted in handcuffs and on leashes to the court hearings or even to doctors, treated like a criminal.Hungarian authorities often automatically started the aliens police procedure and ordered detention of asylum-seekers. Courts tended to review detention orders in group hearings, dealing with the case of 5-10 people in 30 minutes that was not enough time properly to consider the facts of each individual case.According to UNHCR, asylum-seekers were also routinely deported to Serbia, considered by Hungary as a safe third country. In Serbia, however, asylum-seekers faced chain deportations to Macedonia and Greece, countries with no adequate asylum systems in place, and where asylum-seekers faced the risk ofto countries where they may have fled danger or persecution.However, resistance to the flow of asylum seekers is also manifest in the Czech Republic where, on Friday, hundreds showed up for a rally in which protesters objected to allowing Muslims to settle in Central Europe (even after this Monday's Pegida rally had been cancelled.The centre-left Czech government has so far been reluctant to offer asylum to refugees from the Middle East because of concerns that potential terrorists might be among them. It eventually agreed to take in 70 Syrian refugees under EU pressure, against thousands presenting themselves to the rest of the EU.But that also makes the Czech government a potential ally for Mr Cameron, who is not looking quite so isolated on this issue as some might aver. Softly, softly, "Europe" is going his way. He may well confound Juncker, and bring home his treaty, sufficient for him to call upon the British to renew their wedding vows.

0999325-19e4478a1d31f6387b7836f661fefcff.txt0000644000000000000000000000471300000000000015167 0ustar 00000000000000× PHOTOS: Tornado damage in Tupelo, Mississippi

Forecasters declared a tornado emergency for three counties around Tupelo, Mississippi, on Monday afternoon as a line of severe thunderstorms swept through the area, the National Weather Service reported.

“It’s going to be wave after wave of these storms, from what the forecasters tell us,” Mississippi Emergency Management spokesman Greg Flynn said.

Another twister was reported near Yazoo City, Mississippi, north of Jackson, but there was no immediate report of damage or injuries. Monday’s storms hit four years after an April 2010 tornado that killed four people in Yazoo City and 10 across the state, said Joey Ward, the city’s emergency management director.

MORE: Storm chaser video of Tupelo tornado | Tupelo meteorologist yells for staff to take shelter on live TV during tornado

PHOTOS:

Utility pole & crushed utility truck on hwy 45 in tupelo pic.twitter.com/2UxFEUfCyz — Tish Clark (@local24tish) April 28, 2014

Tupelo apts damaged by tornadoes. pic.twitter.com/IZ00brtzt2 — Tish Clark (@local24tish) April 28, 2014

Tornado damage here in Tupelo pic.twitter.com/e2zNEIdX5c — Earl Brown (@cosine55) April 28, 2014

Some stuff hitting us in tupelo, ms #TheWeatherChannel pic.twitter.com/IywvoR8WSL — Nicholas Massey ✌ (@AThinkingMind) April 28, 2014

https://twitter.com/1ChrisForrester/status/460901413623566336

A rare before and after tornado shot from Tupelo pic.twitter.com/EB6tlnlPI9 — Jimmy Carter (@askjimmycarter) April 28, 2014

One of my best high school memories, gone. pic.twitter.com/9rPy032rGv — Kyle Holliman (@thekholly11) April 28, 2014

Another photo from what looks to be from Tupelo area. RT @jayward11: pic.twitter.com/XiZ5EniK4H — Kennan Oliphant (@TVNewsGuru) April 28, 2014

RT @WiscoWX: Car rolled by tornado in tupelo pic.twitter.com/jxLFTzs8iI — The Daily Rapid (@earththreats) April 28, 2014

Major tornado damage in Tupelo area! pic.twitter.com/OMRf1gVh7V — Rock104 (@Rock104FM) April 28, 2014

From @DanielShawAU live stream- flipped semi in Tupelo, MS after tornado pic.twitter.com/OvynGycVPh — SevereStudios (@severestudios) April 28, 2014

This is Vanellis in Tupelo where I work. Everyone is safe. Praising God for His hand of mercy over my coworkers. pic.twitter.com/2iyDneDy9O — Brandy Davis (@brandydavis01) April 28, 2014

Just arrived on scene in Mayflower AR. It's a mess out here. With @edlavaCNN pic.twitter.com/KLvQ7Bm9Sd — Josh Rubin (@jrubin) April 28, 20140999381-03c51ea7befbdb1b4f9753354317e6c3.txt0000644000000000000000000000242600000000000015210 0ustar 00000000000000At the sacred convocation of Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton (25 May), and the Call Service of Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines (27 May), the following placements were announced. More news and photos will follow later.

Pastoral Candidate Placements

Andrew Cottrill (CLTS): Zion Lutheran Church, Yorkton, Saskatchewan

Kirk Radford (CLTS): Christ Lutheran Church, Sarnia, Ontario

William Rose (CLS): Redeemer/Zion/Christ/St. Paul’s Lutheran Churches, Portage la Prairie/Plumas/Neepawa/McCreary, Manitoba

Paul Schulz (CLTS): Trinity Lutheran Church, Mallard, Iowa; Zion Lutheran Church, Ayrshire, Iowa

Vicarage Placements

Matthew Fenn (CLTS): Our Saviour Lutheran Church and Parish, Dryden, Ontario

Michael Mayer (CLS): Redeemer Lutheran Church, Didsbury, Alberta

Christopher McLean (CLS): Redeemer Lutheran Church, Kitimat, BC

Shiekh Lief Mauricio (CLS): Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Winkler, Manitoba

Kenneth Stadnick (CLS): Advent Lutheran Church, Evansburg, Alberta

Diaconal Intern Placements

Lenora Wallden, DPS (CUE): Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kitchener, Ontario

CLS = Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta

CLTS = Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines, Ontario

CUE = Concordia University Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta0999382-68e9206db2c903c4bd86d5ab72b6299c.txt0000644000000000000000000000325600000000000015152 0ustar 00000000000000Ed Miliband’s pledge to lower the voting age to 16 has been mostly overlooked, thanks to the furore over energy prices. Aside from the principle of the issue, what impact might it have on election results?

As I’ve covered previously (see here and here) there is mounting evidence that today’s young people are more right wing than their parents’ generation – certainly on issues of welfare, taxation, the deficit and individual responsibility. Being so doesn’t automatically make them Conservative voters, of course, but even that measure shows some increases. YouGov regularly find that 18-24-year-olds are the second most likely age group to vote Tory after the over 60s, and Wednesday’s poll produced the remarkable result among young people of both Labour and the Conservatives at level-pegging on 40 per cent.

Yet another example of this cropped up on Newsnight earlier in the week in a package exploring how 16- and 17-year-old voters might use their newfound power if Labour were to be elected (you can watch it below in full).

The programme asked a focus group of teenagers in the age bracket to choose where cuts should fall and where more spending should be allocated. Their first choice for the axe was the welfare bill, as a near-unanimous decision. They were even divided on whether to make savings from the pension bill.

Sure, it’s an unscientific exercise but it was remarkably in keeping with the polling evidence which shows the young becoming remarkable hawkish when it comes to the welfare state. It’s a BBC programme, so needless to say this went entirely unremarked – it’s something we should watch closely, all the same.

(video clip courtesy of liarpoliticians)0999397-bdeb23a63ba3c09137d6e2e8beefa93b.txt0000644000000000000000000000432100000000000015510 0ustar 00000000000000Amanda Clarke and Victoria Grayson will go one final round in the Revenge series finale. The ABC soap is ending after a sure-to-be-epic showdown in the season 4 finale, and Us Weekly has a sneak peek at the women facing off in the episode.

"For you, death is my only true revenge," Amanda (Emily VanCamp) hisses at Victoria Grayson (Madeline Stowe) while aiming a gun at her sworn enemy. The elder Hamptonite was presumed dead after framing Amanda for her murder, but is, in fact, very much alive — and unafraid of death.

PHOTOS: TV shows gone too soon

"I died long before you were born. This is just a formality," Victoria says. "Are you ready now?"

Amanda ominously responds, "More than you know. Goodbye, Victoria."

Dun dun dun! Things aren't looking good for the two rivals, and executive producer Sunil Nayar told Us Weekly ahead of the finale that nothing will be the same for either woman if they make it out alive.