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activistpost--2019-12-19--The 10 Worst State Laws Proposed and Passed in 2019
| 2019-12-19T00:00:00 |
activistpost
|
The 10 Worst State Laws Proposed and Passed in 2019
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In April, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, proposed banning the popular video game Fortnite, saying it was irresponsible to allow kids to play it. “The game shouldn’t be allowed,” said the former bad boy prince. “It’s created to addict. An addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It’s so irresponsible.” Nobody, as far as I know, has yet proposed legislation to ban the popular game, which is played by 125 million people and reportedly generates $2 million in revenue per day. But the anecdote serves as a reminder of how cavalier humans tend to be about prohibiting things they personally object to. At different points throughout history, Americans have banned Christmas, alcohol, and bikinis. Other “threats,” like comic books, were not outright banned but ruined through regulation. If you think silly and arbitrary bans are a thing of the past, think again. If anything, the impulse to ban and regulate has only increased in a world that has gotten much faster. These laws are usually proposed to serve a greater good or to protect people. Unfortunately, they usually miss the mark and often have adverse consequences. Here are a few of the worst laws proposed and passed in 2019 in no particular order. 10. Massachusetts Lawmakers Try to Criminalize Saying “B*tch” (Proposed) Massachusetts is looking to up the ante in the war on pottymouths. State Rep. Daniel Hunt (D–Boston) proposed legislation (H.3719) that would make it a crime to say “the b-word” (as my children would say) “to accost, annoy, degrade or demean” someone. Those found guilty would face a $200 fine and up to six months in jail(!). A reported 57 million Americans work as freelancers, adding an estimated $1 trillion to the economy each year in flexible gig work. That number is about to shrink, however. California lawmakers, in an effort to save us, passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which uses a complicated ABC test that redefines many gig workers as full-time employees. Unsurprisingly, many companies cannot take on swaths of new full-time employees, who would become eligible for numerous benefits. So thousands of workers lost jobs, including 200 workers let go by Vox Media a week before Christmas. Three months earlier, Vox had called the legislation “a victory for workers everywhere.” That’s what economists call a Cobra Effect. Hazing is said to go all the way back to Ancient Greece, where Plato wrote of “practical jokes played by unruly young men” at his academy. It’s not uncommon today to see young people get carried away with this tradition, however. One such case can be found in Andrew Coffey, a Florida State University pledge who in November 2017 died after excessive drinking. In response, Florida lawmakers passed what has been described as the “most cutting edge” anti-hazing law in the US. Though no doubt well-intentioned, the law allows prosecutors to charge people who weren’t even present for a hazing but were simply involved in its discussion. It’s not difficult to see how an accidental tragedy could end up ruining even more lives. Nobody likes slow left-lane driving. I’m on the record saying it’s my worst pet peeve. But Alabama’s “anti-road rage” law, which prohibits drivers from driving in the left lane for more than a mile and a half without passing, is hardly the solution. Drivers are more than capable of policing slow drivers through the usual means—excessive horn beeping, silent cursing, and arm-waving. The stiff fines—up to $200 a pop—will likely fall on unsuspecting out-of-state drivers and be little more than a cash cow for police. Early in 2019, a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers floated one of the silliest proposals of the year: a 10 percent tax on video games rated “Mature or Adults Only.” The bill was a transparent cash grab and went nowhere in the legislature. The legislation’s poor showing was probably less attributable to the dubious link between video games and violence and more to stiff opposition from the $43.5 billion gaming industry. Either way, the episode affirmed Gideon J. Tucker’s famous axiom: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” Anyone who has traveled is familiar with the little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion hotels provide their guests. Well, you won’t find them in California much longer. In October, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will ban (starting in 2023) hotels from supplying the little bottles as part of an effort to use less plastic. Violators will be fined $500 for their first offense and up to $2,000 for additional violations. Meanwhile, as lawmakers wage war on tiny shampoo bottles, the Golden State continues to struggle with a human excrement problem that has resulted in a surge of typhus. Smoking is bad for you. Don’t take it from me; it says it right there on the pack. SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. Despite the warning, an estimated 34 million US adults smoke. That’s their choice, right? Well, Virginia lawmakers took it upon themselves to prevent young adults (18-20) from legally purchasing cigarettes. The law amounts to little more than a condescending intrusion into the lives of young people since they’ll just have friends purchase their smokes for them. But it’s still annoying, especially since many of these people are legally obligated to sign-up for selective service. Economists disagree on a lot of things, but they pretty much all agree on this: Rent control is really harmful. “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing,” observed Swedish economist (and socialist) Assar Lindbeck. Alas, new laws in Oregon and California, the first of their kind, show how little politicians understand about economics. The caps on rent are sure to further reduce housing supply and quality, and increase housing prices in the long run. California’s housing problems are well documented. Unfortunately, they’re about to get a lot worse. (As FEE has observed, the solution to high housing costs is more housing, not price controls.) California Governor Gavin Newsom has the unfortunate distinction of making the list a fourth time. Newsom’s water tax, a proposal he ultimately withdrew, was perhaps the strangest. As Carey Wedler noted on FEE earlier this year, the “Environmental Protection” section of Newsom’s budget sought to Ensuring citizens have clean water is a noble goal, to be sure. But the means are highly questionable. Utilizing markets is the best way to address water shortages, not passing new taxes. Newsom’s proposal, which sparked sharp pushback from his own party, is sort of like passing a food tax to make sure people don’t go hungry. Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has appeared in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, and Fox News.
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Activist Post
|
https://www.activistpost.com/2019/12/the-10-worst-state-laws-proposed-and-passed-in-2019.html
|
Thu, 19 Dec 2019 18:30:53 +0000
| 1,576,798,253 | 1,576,814,747 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
|
6,380 |
activistpost--2019-12-27--Congress Gives America a Special Christmas Present: Higher Taxes
| 2019-12-27T00:00:00 |
activistpost
|
Congress Gives America a Special Christmas Present: Higher Taxes
|
You’ve got to hand it to these people– Congress really knows how to bring out the holiday cheer. They have some sort of pathological need to pass the most absurd legislation at the VERY END OF THE YEAR giving people very little time to react. Two years ago, for example, they passed comprehensive tax reform in late December 2017… and the new tax code went into effect only a few days later. Taxpayers had no time to even understand the new law, let alone plan around it. That’s the funny thing about taxes– people plan their entire lives around the tax code. They set up special structures, invest in particular assets, and go through all sorts of legal and accounting work, to make sure they’re following the tax code while they take care of their families. And then, poof, Congress changes the rules overnight. Well they just did it again. A few days ago they passed a 643-page spending bill. And, buried deep within that legislation are provisions that were originally part of the SECURE Act. I told you about this a few months ago– the SECURE Act was intended to ‘help’ Americans save for retirement. And there are certain sections which are great. For example, they removed the age limit for contributing to an IRA. It used to be that you could no longer contribute to your retirement after the age of 70 ½. That limit has been lifted… which should prove useful for many people. They also increased the age for Required Minimum Distributions to age 72, up from age 70 ½. So you have an additional 18-months before you’ll be required to start taking distributions from your retirement account. On the other hand, they also passed new rules which are really bad for inherited IRAs. Under the old laws, your IRA could be bequeathed to your heirs when you pass away. And while your heirs were required to take distributions from your IRA over time, they had the option of stretching out those distributions over the course of their entire lives. This was a really great way to give your heirs a tax-efficient safety net. If they suddenly needed a lump some of money, for example, to buy a new house, pay for university, or offset a major medical expense, they could tap into the IRA that they inherited from you. But if they didn’t need the money, they only had to take a small distribution each year, and keep the tax consequences to a minimum. Those rules have now been torn up. Under the new rules, almost all inherited IRAs must be fully distributed within 10 years, whether your heirs need the money or not. And that’s going to trigger significant tax consequences for them. Again, in fairness there are plenty of provisions in this law that many people will find helpful. And other provisions that people will find terrible. But that’s not really the point. It’s not about whether the law is good or bad. The issue is that Congress doesn’t give people any time to react. Responsible people plan around their taxes… especially when it comes to retirement and estate planning. People have to plan literally DECADES in advance and think through generational impacts. So it’s a pretty nasty surprise when Congress tears up the rules at the very end of the year. They’re basically saying, “Unless you die by Tuesday at midnight, everything you’ve planned over the last several decades won’t work anymore. Merry Christmas.” This highlights a very important reminder: these people can and will change the rules at any time, with no warning whatsoever. And they couldn’t care less how their changes impact you. Now, all that said, I’m always an optimist– where there’s a will, there’s a way. And there are definitely ways to dull the negative consequences of this new law. We can explore these in more detail another time. But to give you an example, transferring your IRA to a special type of trust called a charitable remainder unitrust could still ensure that your heirs receive lifelong favorable tax treatment on an inherited IRA. This article was sourced from The Daily Bell. Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit. Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.
|
Activist Post
|
https://www.activistpost.com/2019/12/congress-gives-america-a-special-christmas-present-higher-taxes.html
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Fri, 27 Dec 2019 01:03:50 +0000
| 1,577,426,630 | 1,577,448,395 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
|
6,383 |
activistpost--2019-12-27--Germans Rush to Buy Gold as Draft Bill Threatens to Restrict Purchases
| 2019-12-27T00:00:00 |
activistpost
|
Germans Rush to Buy Gold as Draft Bill Threatens to Restrict Purchases
|
Reports have emerged depicting long lines in front of a physical gold sales location in Germany, in view of pending legislation which would once again lower the anonymous purchase limit, this time from €10,000 to €2,000. The last drop happened in 2017 when the limit was set at €15,000. A draft bill from the German finance ministry is being pointed to as the reason for the change, which is scheduled to take effect from Jan. 10, 2020. In a tweet posted Wednesday, precious metals consultant and analyst Dan Popescu shared a picture of a long line of people waiting in front of “Degussa store to buy gold in Köln.” Popescu described, “From Jan. 1, 2020, the limit to buy gold anonymously drops from €10,000 down to €2,000. Only two years ago the limit was €15,000.” One user posted his own photo and replied “This is me line at Degussa in 23rd. The employees said they haven’t seen anything like it before.” To give an idea of the relatively small amount of gold €2,000 (~$2,224) can buy, even a 50g gold bar is currently too expensive. After the new legislation takes effect, reports from German media state that purchases of the precious metal over €2,000 will now require customer identification for buyers, including criminal background checks for businesses. The news outlet details: If given final approval, the German draft bill designed to implement EU guidelines as laid out in the anti-money laundering directive AMLD5, will take effect on Jan. 10. This is the stated deadline for member states to implement legislation accommodative of the directive. Residents of the country appear to be very concerned about the impending limitation, as the European Central Bank (ECB) continues to draw fire for its controversial economic polices such as negative interest rates. Also for newly installed ECB President Christine Lagarde’s recent criticism of perceived German conservatism. Skeptical reactions were voiced on Reddit as well, with one user stating: The Far Reaching Arm of AMLD5 As news.Bitcoin.com previously reported, the 5th EU anti-money laundering directive has big implications for holders of crypto and crypto businesses. Its impending policies have already squeezed some out of the industry, at least temporarily, but crypto is far from the only area that will be affected. Per the legislation, non-transparent assets, accounts, and even private safety deposit boxes will now be subject to state information gathering by law. Gold is a bastion for private value storage, so the stricter limits come as no surprise. AMLD5 focuses on combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) and preventing money laundering (AML), but given the state of economic affairs in the EU, skeptics maintain the new laws are part of a larger bid to establish financial control and force users to remain stuck in a faltering system. The fact that the ECB is now also in development of its own digital currency system amplifies these concerns, as one of the last remaining escapes from bank-imposed negative interest rates is to hold paper cash privately. With central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), negative rates can be applied directly to the asset, effectively closing this escape route. Gold is thus seen as one of the final hedges against irresponsible government policy, and the proposed new limits on the precious metal will leave residents of Germany with even fewer options. The encroaching ECB and German policies have many on social media suggesting permissionless cryptocurrencies, which can be traded privately, as a means to hedge against the growing surveillance state. What are your thoughts on the draft bill’s limitations for anonymous gold purchases in Germany? Let us know in the comments section below. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. This article was sourced from Bitcoin.com Graham Smith is an American expat living in Japan, and the founder of Voluntary Japan—an initiative dedicated to spreading the philosophies of unschooling, individual self-ownership, and economic freedom in the land of the rising sun. Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit. Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.
|
Activist Post
|
https://www.activistpost.com/2019/12/germans-rush-to-buy-gold-as-draft-bill-threatens-to-restrict-purchases.html
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Fri, 27 Dec 2019 18:44:14 +0000
| 1,577,490,254 | 1,577,491,608 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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6,609 |
adobochronicles--2019-05-20--Malls Shopping Centers Resorts Hail Shorter Work Week Approved By Philippine Senate
| 2019-05-20T00:00:00 |
adobochronicles
|
Malls, Shopping Centers, Resorts Hail Shorter Work Week Approved By Philippine Senate
|
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Imagine working ten hours a day, but just four days a week. Imagine having a three-day weekend year-round, not including an extra day during holiday weekends! Voting 17-0, the Philippine Senate approved on Monday a bill filed by Sen. Joel Villanueva that would allow Filipino workers to enjoy more flexible work schedules. Under the proposed law, employees can opt out of rendering eight hours of work for five days a week. Instead, they can craft a “mutually agreed voluntary work arrangement” with their employer. Workers may choose to serve longer hours for a fewer number of days as long as they can meet the prescribed workweek time frame, which is usually 40 hours. Upon hearing the news, malls and shopping centers praised the Senate for the legislation. A spokesperson for SM Malls told The Adobo Chronicles that if signed by the President, the new law would mean bigger profit since consumers will have an extra day to shop or eat out at restaurants in the malls. A similar sentiment was expressed by the management of Ayala Malls. Operators of beach and other recreation resorts said they couldn’t be more happy about the proposed law. For the first time in Philippine history, a bill passed by the Senate has received overwhelming, if not unanimous support from the Filipinos. Anything that brings in more money or more time for the Filipinos’ favorite pass time — hanging out in airconditioned malls!
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Pol Pinoy
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https://adobochronicles.com/2019/05/20/malls-shopping-centers-resorts-hail-shorter-work-week-approved-by-philippine-senate/
|
2019-05-20 09:52:25+00:00
| 1,558,360,345 | 1,567,540,396 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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6,695 |
adobochronicles--2019-08-20--Preempting SOGIE Baguio City Council Passes SOGO
| 2019-08-20T00:00:00 |
adobochronicles
|
Preempting SOGIE: Baguio City Council Passes SOGO
|
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Baguip Bureau) – The Summer Capital of the Philippines has become infamous because of controversial ordinances passed by its City Councilors and signed into law by the Mayor. The ordinances include ‘no cussing’ and ‘no use of electronic gadgets while walking the streets of Baguio. At some point the local officials were also considering a Barangay proposal to ban the public hanging of underwear to dry. Now, Baguio City Hall, in a move to preempt the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Bill now being deliberated on in the Philippine Senate, has passed its own local ordinance in support of the LGBT community. The new law is called SOGO — Sexual Orientation and Gender Ordinance — which outlines comprehensive measures to prevent and outlaw discriminatory practices directed at LGBTs. While LGBT advocates praised the new ordinance, a popular budget hotel chain is suing the city government for trademark infringement. The hotel chain, of course, is SOGO.
|
Pol Pinoy
|
https://adobochronicles.com/2019/08/20/preempting-sogie-baguio-city-council-passes-sogo/
|
2019-08-20 22:25:40+00:00
| 1,566,354,340 | 1,567,533,939 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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6,869 |
ageofautism--2019-01-11--Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Used Forced Vaccination Laws to Justify Forced Steriliza
| 2019-01-11T00:00:00 |
ageofautism
|
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Used Forced Vaccination Laws to Justify Forced Sterilization Laws
|
The venerated Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the decision upholding the Virginia law that ended a woman's right to be a mother, by saying it was no different than vaccination: But even those who know about poor Carrie Buck may not know that the mandatory vaccine laws were the justification for this decision. They used our old friend Jacobson, the Massachusetts minister who refused to pay a five dollar fee imposed by the state on those rejecting the smallpox vaccine during a deadly outbreak in 1905, and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. "The concept of eugenics had been put forward in 1883 by Francis Galton, who also coined the name. The trend first became popular in the United States, and found proponents in Europe by the start of the 20th century; 42 of the 58 research papers presented at the First International Congress of Eugenics held in London in 1912, were from American scientists. Indiana passed the first eugenic sterilization statute (1907), but it was legally flawed. To remedy this situation, Harry Laughlin of the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, designed a model eugenic law that was reviewed by legal experts. In 1924 the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted a statute authorizing the compulsory sterilization of the intellectually disabled for the purpose of eugenics. This 1924 statute was closely based on Laughlin's model. Looking to determine if the new law would pass a legal challenge, on September 10, 1924 Dr. Albert Sidney Priddy, superintendent of the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded, filed a petition to his Board of Directors to sterilize Carrie Buck, an 18-year-old patient at his institution who he claimed had a mental age of 9. Priddy maintained that Buck represented a genetic threat to society ." Again with the Wikipedia (yes I know I being lazy by quoting the Wiki but I have to get back to my kids homework): The case of Buck v. Bell was the atrocious matter in which Dr. Albert Sidney Pridd (and his successor, Dr. John Hendren Bell) Superintendent of The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded , decided that one of his patients, an 18 year old rape-victim with a sixth grade education, should not be able to give birth again. Her mother was also "feebleminded" you see, and the good doctors believed society should be rid of their kind. This, many of us have heard of, as it is our children that the states would be targeting if this policy of Nazi eugenics was being carried out today as it was in the 20th century, both in Nazy Germany and the US during the "Progressive Era," which was embracing the idea of creating a superior society. Wikipedia : "Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927),is a decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the intellectually disabled, "for the protection and health of the state" did not violate the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court has never expressly overturned Buck v. Bell ." "The judgment finds the facts that have been recited and that Carrie Buck 'is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted, that she may be sexually sterilized without detriment to her general health and that her welfare and that of society will be promoted by her sterilization,' and thereupon makes the order. In view of the general declarations of the Legislature and the specific findings of the Court obviously we cannot say as matter of law that the grounds do not exist, and if they exist they justify the result. We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens for their lives. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those concerned, in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence. It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 , 25 S. Ct. 358, 3 Ann. Cas. 765. Three generations of imbeciles are enough." Thus we can see that Jacobson v. Massachusetts is used to justify all manner of horrors in the name of "societal good." Poor Carrie Buck was not even given the option of paying a five dollar fine to prevent her forced sterilization, as Jacobson was to get out of taking the smallpox vaccine. And we see in both cases, as we are living through now, these unwanted procedures that cause permanent and detrimental changes to the human body, are simply declared "safe," and "for our own good," just as this human rights atrocity inflicted on an innocent young woman was when it was declared to be, "without detriment to her general health" and that, "her welfare... will be promoted by her sterilization." Almost a hundred years later and some evil arguments never die. NYU legal scholar and member of the Supreme Court Bar, Professor Mary Holland, in her article "Compulsory Vaccination, the Constitution, and the Hepatitis B Mandate for Infants and Young Children," in Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, follows up on Buck in her discussion of the history of vaccine mandates: So if SCOTUS views forced vaccination and forced sterilization as the same, then either Holmes right, and BOTH are justified by a "compelling state interest," or NEITHER is justified by a "compelling state interest." Buck v. Bell is both a Constitutional violation, and morally evil. So is Jacobson. All medical procedures require free, prior and informed consent. So we can be clear that there are still some at the top of the medical profession that hold, and act on, this "Nazi Philosophy", I will leave you with Stanley Plotkin's testimony from just a year ago today, admitting to his own human rights abuses by experimenting on developmentally disabled children in creating the (now liability-free) rubella vaccine that we are being mandated into taking today:
|
Age of Autism
|
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ageofautism/~3/oYh7tcJV_6c/supreme-court-justice-oliver-wendell-holmes-used-forced-vaccination-laws-to-justify-forced-steriliza.html
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2019-01-11 11:00:00+00:00
| 1,547,222,400 | 1,567,552,948 |
crime, law and justice
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law
|
7,233 |
ageofautism--2019-08-07--States Sue Over Opioid Tobacco Harm Yet Deny Justice To Vaccines Victims
| 2019-08-07T00:00:00 |
ageofautism
|
States Sue Over Opioid & Tobacco Harm, Yet Deny Justice To Vaccines’ Victims
|
Moore earned recognition after his successful 1994-1998 case against Big Tobacco, taking on their 68 lawyers to win $250 billion for state governments. (Back then he’d also been interviewed by 60 Minutes, for a segment to feature tobacco company whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand – but CBS corporate lawyers shut down its broadcast initially.) As with vaccine adverse reactions, the epidemic means little until it affects one personally. In 2010, Moore’s nephew overdosed on generic fentanyl. “We have 72,000 people dying every year; let’s figure out a way to resolve this thing,” Moore said. “You guys [manufacturers] made billions of dollars off this thing. Take some of that money and apply it to the problem that you helped cause.” Meanwhile, autism is affecting up to 1 in 36 American children and the epidemic could cost the U.S. up to $1 trillion by 2025 . As for global costs of autism, WHO’s counting – not working to slow growth, but conceivably helping increase autism rates . “Ohio is losing $4 [billion] to $5 billion a year from the opioid epidemic, and they’re losing 5,000 or 6,000 people a year from overdose deaths,” said Florida attorney Mike Moore to CBS-TV’s 60 Minutes. A jury award, he said, could reach $100 billion or beyond. U.S. government law firms’ legal actions against opioid manufacturers have been embraced by news networks like CBS , ABC and more, as over 40 states, 1,500 counties and cities seek to recoup costs of drug abuse. “Opioid epidemic” versus “autism epidemic” – why does the first phrase garner a far more proactive ethical response from media and the public? Decades ago the Minnesota firm of Robins, Miller, Kaplan and Ciresi won $6.5 billion to cover state healthcare costs and fund anti-smoking initiatives. RKMC provided more than 30 million pages of tobacco industry documents: “The industry did know everything we were saying they knew, and they knew it back in the 50s and 60s," attorney Mike Ciresi said. Contrast the Big Tobacco trials and the opioid suits with the mishandling of the Omnibus Autism Proceeding and the failed Vaccine Court. Regarding vaccine-induced autism, justice is not blind – and public perception is skewed. Replace the word “opioids” with “cigarettes” or “vaccines” and consider the cognitive dissonances. All three consumer products can cause health damage and/or create toxic body burdens of non-nutritive substances. - OxyContin has never been studied in animals for carcinogenic potential, and it has mutagenic properties; some users become addicted, but not all. - Cigarettes cause cancer and cardiovascular disease in some smokers, but (arguably) not all. Cigarettes contain up to 600 ingredients, including tar. - Vaccines cause serious adverse reactions in some people, but (arguably) not all. Vaccines may contain teratogens and mutagens such as mercury and aluminum, and autoimmune-inducing peptides and nucleoproteins. Consumers’ personal choice whether to consume these products varies: - Individuals choose to ingest opioids such as Percoset or OxyContin. However the alternative to opioid consumption is feeling pain, severe enough to warrant a prescription. - Individuals choose to inhale nicotine from cigarettes or vaping, except for second-hand smoke from family members and acquaintances. - Individuals might choose to be injected with vaccines, or are coerced via social pressure and government mandates. Cigarettes, opioids and vaccines are all profit-focused products for internal use, but vaccines are psychologically entwined with government public health PR about social responsibility, and industry advertising that manipulates’ individuals’ fear of disease. Currently consumers are hesitant to believe that the same government agencies and pharmaceutical companies who mismanaged safety monitoring of drugs like the devascularizing Vioxx could also be mismanaging vaccine safety. Proving that vaccines cause autism amounts to asking the U.S. government to prosecute itself. Which is problematic and not particularly promising, because: - The Department of Justice is likely guilty of obstruction of justice regarding vaccine/autism science. - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and committee members benefit financially from vaccine sales. - CDC management committed vaccine data fraud, more than once. - U.S. government agencies share revolving doors with many industries. Autism’s myriad costs to families and society were negligible until the 1980s, when autism rates began to rise sharply. Taxpayers in every state found themselves burdened with skyrocketing budgets for autism services. In Minnesota, its Department of Human Services reported autism expenses tripled in 1995-2005, from $37,883,928 to $115,432,039. Add to that special education budgets. Educating a child with a disability costs at least twice that of a neurotypical child; Applied Behavioral Analysis can cost $60,000 a year. Overall, lifetime care for one person with autism could cost $10 million to $17 million, according to New York attorney and autism parent Robert Krakow who testified before a Senate committee hearing. At the turn of the millennium, scientific evidence began linking the mercury-based vaccine preservative Thimerosal to the budding autism epidemic. - 1999: U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff tally vaccine mercury injected into infants and children, and discover the total far exceeds guidelines of the Environmental Protection Agency. Said Dr. Neal Halsey, “My honest belief is that if the labels had had the mercury content in micrograms, this would have been uncovered years ago. But the fact is, no one did the calculation.” - June 7, 2000: Vaccine policymakers talked at the infamous Simpsonwood meeting about Thimerosal: “[T]he number of dose related relationships [between mercury and autism] are linear and statistically significant,” said Dr. William Weil of the American Academy of Pediatrics. - July 18, 2000: U.S. Rep. Dan Burton holds a hearing at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, entitled “Mercury in Medicine – Are We Taking Unnecessary Risks?”. During 2003-2004 parents from about a dozen states asked their Attorneys General to sue vaccine manufacturers, to recoup the costs of autism. The emphasis then was Thimerosal. Investigative journalist David Kirby described a few state A.G. lawsuit initiatives in his 2005 book Evidence of Harm. Progress in North Carolina and New York looked promising; so did Minnesota with its temperamental Attorney General, Mike Hatch. Kirby wrote, “In June of 2004, Hatch began interviewing law firms to represent the state for possible action against Eli Lilly and the vaccine manufacturers.” [Author’s note: In 2004 Kirby interviewed me about my efforts to convince Hatch to file a lawsuit against Thimerosal manufacturers.] Law builds on precedent – and so does trust in results. Some parents in the A.G. lawsuit group actively sought out attorneys who’d worked on the Big Tobacco settlement. A large, wealthy law firm would have the financial resources necessary to hire experts to testify, hire laboratories for testing, wait out the FOIA process to access government files, or possibly find a way to get unredacted copies. And, hopefully, obtain incriminating documents from industry. Ethical questions abounded. Not all beneficiaries of the tobacco verdict were happy with it. Some objected to the financial motivation of so-called “trial lawyers”; the Cato Institute stated that attorneys on the Big Tobacco case had earned $7,716 an hour. Some autism advocates affiliated otherwise with the ad hoc A.G. group spoke against big state lawsuits, worried that windfall settlements from pharmaceutical companies might come at the expense of people whose life depended on a steady supply of a particular medication. But ultimately money speaks a language business and government understand. In New York, connecting with Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was key. Minnesota’s Mike Hatch said he would move forward with the Thimerosal lawsuit if New York partnered with him. Psychologist and autism parent Sarah Bridges, Ph.D. detailed those and other A.G. initiatives in her SEED magazine article “Rise Against Mercury.” In North Carolina, autism parents were meeting with their governor and then-Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards, a trial lawyer, who told advocates this: “As long as I am in public life, I will work to make sure that every American has a fair day in court.” Sadly for future victims of adverse reactions, the state vaccine lawsuits did not go forward. As for these would-be white knights: - Mike Hatch left public office and until recently worked at a law firm that defended large companies against toxic torts (e.g. Thimerosal lawsuits). - In 2014 RKMC was “one step closer to shining a light on Merck's deceptive business” regarding the mumps vaccine whistleblower case. Since then Mike Ciresi left to form a new law firm. - Eliot Spitzer lost his governorship over his involvement with prostitutes (he was “Client Nine”). - John Edwards lost his Presidential bid; while his wife slowly died of cancer, he produced a child with another woman. Thus is the pathology of power. Due to government obfuscation and inaction, autism rates increased drastically: from 1 in 166 to 1 in 36, and show no sign of stopping. Worse, half of all U.S. children now suffer some kind of chronic illness. Perversely the CDC is using opioids as yet another taxpayer-funded diversion from its own history of data fraud and malfeasance in collusion with similarly corrupt agencies internationally. A January 2019 study “found that mothers who were prescribed opioids just before becoming pregnant were more likely to have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or a child with other developmental disabilities (DDs) and some autism symptoms.” (No mention whether the pain meds were to treat autoimmune disorders that would preclude vaccination.) Mass death gets people’s attention. Each day in the U.S. 130 people die of an opioid overdose (including heroin and fentanyl), according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The organization estimates economic burden at $78.5 billion a year for “costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.” As with autism, though, the intangible costs to addicts, family and community are harder to calculate or compensate. What’s important to both autism and addition? Treatment – medical and psychological – which can prove quite expensive and elusive. Said Moore: “Success for me would be that we would find funding to provide treatment for all the 2.5 million opioid-dependent people in this country.” Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia are among among states that have already settled with OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma. A 2001 personal email from former Purdue CEO Richard Sackler referred to opioid abusers as "victimizers" and "criminals," and expressed prescient but passive concern that blame would be directed at manufacturers. New York’s Attorney General has also filed fraud charges against Purdue and its owners, saying, "As the Sackler Family and the other defendants grew richer, New Yorkers' health grew poorer and our state was left to foot the bill." Meanwhile in a parallel black hat narrative, parents entrust their children’s health daily to vaccine policymakers willing to use babies and toddlers as human shields to avoid honestly researching excipient toxicities: “[T]he issue is that it is impossible, unethical to leave kids unimmunized, so you will never, ever resolve that issue [regarding the impact of mercury],” stated Dr. Robert Chen, CDC Chief of Vaccine Safety and Development. Some states are not just suing opiod manufacturers; they’re also going after companies with “deeper pockets” such as $208 billion medical giant McKesson. Attorney Moore argues that McKesson and other distributors failed to obey the Controlled Substance Act, a 1970 law requiring “manufacturers and distributors to report their controlled substances transactions to the Attorney General” via the Drug Enforcement Administration and its Arcos database. Conversely with vaccines, product tracking has deliberately been obfuscated (after the “Tennessee cluster”). The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) is either a “wonder” (pun intended) or a washout, depending on the user’s intentions for the data gathered there. The CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink is proprietary to government, except in instances when Congress ordered access be given to three independent researchers… to which staff complied, with strict limitations. Rescinding the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 could make pharmaceutical companies financially liable again for vaccine injuries, instead of relying on vaccine taxes to fund the small percentage of claimants who make it through Vaccine Court after five to ten years. Proponents of NCVIA say without it, companies would have no financial incentives to make vaccines – that giving victims real trials before judge and jury, with discovery, would bankrupt manufacturers. (And that inadvertent admission of vaccines’ fallibility supports causality assertions by injury claimants.) Has Pharma become too big to fail? Globally last year pharmaceuticals did $1.2 trillion in sales, says the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. Half was in North America, which buys two-thirds of all new medicines. Sales of drugs and biologics are forecasted to continue growing, as health care consumers maintain their reliance on them. Can taxpayers be sure that opioid settlement money will be used for its intended purpose – to help victims? No, if past history is a guide. Of Minnesota’s $6.5 billion, $469 million went to an insurance company. “Gov. [Tim] Pawlenty raided it for about a billion dollars when we had the deficit," said attorney Ciresi. "And then Gov. Dayton raided it to float the bonds.” Unexpected benefits evolved from the cigarette suit, depending on your viewpoint: tobacco company donations to politicians are down. And the tortuous legal process catalyzed further product safety research. Attorney Ciresi claimed RKMC’s win against Big Tobacco “led to over 400 peer-reviewed medical articles.” Excess has been the American way for years, to the detriment of our health. Too much food and alcohol. Too many cigarettes and pills. Yes, too many vaccines. Too much manipulation from media, shifting too much money into corporations without consciences. History has repeatedly shown that people in power will lie to protect professional and financial interests, at the expense of the public. When corporations and agencies sidestep regulatory checks and balances with evasion and fabrication, the perpetrators must be brought to justice. The challenge for participants in a democratic society is recognizing public health problems long before they reach a tipping point toward the irreparable, and inspiring enough people to speak out. The alternative is watching the nation’s health continue to decline, in inverse proportion to pharmaceutical companies’ wealth.
|
Age of Autism
|
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ageofautism/~3/gHrA1zvDOGU/states-sue-over-opioid-tobacco-harm-yet-deny-justice-to-vaccines-victims.html
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2019-08-07 10:00:00+00:00
| 1,565,186,400 | 1,567,534,671 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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7,523 |
aljazeera--2019-01-02--Chinas first e-commerce law offers consumers more protection
| 2019-01-02T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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China's first e-commerce law offers consumers more protection
|
China has introduced a new law to regulate its vast e-commerce sector. The legislation aims to protect online consumers and intellectual property and clean up the country's reputation as a major source of fake goods. Companies or individuals who break the law could be fined up to $30m. Al Jazeera's Divya Gopalan reports from Hong Kong as part of our series looking into new laws for 2019.
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/chinas-e-commerce-law-offers-consumers-protection-190102104535190.html
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2019-01-02 10:45:35+00:00
| 1,546,443,935 | 1,567,554,249 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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7,642 |
aljazeera--2019-01-05--China passes law to make Islam compatible with socialism
| 2019-01-05T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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China passes law to make Islam 'compatible with socialism'
|
China has passed a new law that seeks to "Sinicize" Islam within the next five years, the latest move by Beijing to rewrite how the religion is practised. China's main English newspaper, Global Times, reported on Saturday that after a meeting with representatives from eight Islamic associations, government officials "agreed to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to Sinicize the religion." The newspaper did not provide further details or the names of the associations that agreed to the decree. China has embarked on an aggressive "Sinification" campaign in recent years with faith groups that were largely tolerated in the past seeing their freedoms shrink under Chinese President Xi Jinping, China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. Practising Islam has been made forbidden in parts of China, with individuals caught praying, fasting, growing a beard or wearing a hijab, a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion, facing the threat of arrest. According to the UN, more than one million Uighur Muslims are estimated to be held in internment camps where they are forced to denounce the religion and pledge allegiance to the officially atheist ruling Communist Party. Rights groups have accused China of engaging in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. In August, a Washington Post editorial said the world "can't ignore" the campaign against Muslims. Islamic crescents and domes have been stripped from mosques, and according to the Associated Press news agency, religious schools and Arabic classes have been banned and children barred from participating in Muslim activities. China has rejected the criticism, saying it protects the religion and culture of its minorities. However, in the past week alone, authorities in China's Yunnan province, which borders Mynamar, have closed three mosques established by the marginalised Hui Muslim ethnic minority, the South China Morning Post has reported.
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/china-passes-law-islam-compatible-socialism-190105185031063.html
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2019-01-05 20:09:04+00:00
| 1,546,736,944 | 1,567,553,840 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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8,478 |
aljazeera--2019-01-20--Philippines Muslim region to vote on new autonomy law
| 2019-01-20T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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Philippines' Muslim region to vote on new autonomy law
|
Manila, Philippines - Nearly three million Filipinos from the country's Muslim-majority southern region are set to decide on a new law which would place them under a substantially more autonomous regional government. Monday's plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law could make or break the decades-old peace process between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (the Front), which started out as a secessionist armed movement in the southern island of Mindanao in the late 1970s. If the "yes" vote wins, the Bangsamoro, which means Moro nation, will replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which has been criticised as merely nominal, and failed to end the violent conflict that has left at least 120,000 people dead over the last five decades. On paper, the proposed new Bangsamoro is a more powerful and possibly larger political unit than the ARMM. It will have its own parliament, some exclusive powers previously held by the government in Manila, and a significantly larger share of local revenues. Above all, it will mean the end of the Front's armed struggle, with the decommissioning of its 35,000 troops and its leaders taking positions in the new civilian government. The proposed law also has the backing of President Rodrigo Duterte with his spokesperson confirming it as "a historic piece of legislation in our quest for lasting peace in Mindanao as this would correct the historical injustices committed against the Moro people". Numbering roughly six million, the Moro people are considered a minority among the Philippines' population of more than 100 million. They consist of about a dozen ethnolinguistic groups native to the southwestern Mindanao region, bound together by their practice of Islam in the predominantly Christian archipelago. A history of prejudice and neglect by the mainstream government has reduced the Moro homeland into one of the country's poorest regions. More than half of their population live below the poverty line, according to government data. The current Moro rebellion began in 1969 with the establishment of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Led by the charismatic university lecturer Nur Misuari, the group fought the government for an independent state. The fighting caused heavy losses and massive devastation in Moro communities, with the MNLF citing atrocities by government forces under the Philippine dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. When the MNLF and the government agreed on autonomy in 1976, a faction of the group broke away to form the Moro Islamic Liberation Front the following year and continued fighting for secession. In 1989, the government under President Corazon Aquino established the ARMM. However, only a fraction of the Moro territory, four provinces out of more than a dozen, voted for inclusion in the autonomous region. Dissatisfaction with the ARMM's limited authority became fodder for several other armed groups to continue the rebellion and in some cases, to engage in violent banditry. With the MNLF focused on administering the ARMM, the Front grew to become the largest rebel group in the country and became the frontrunners of the Moro cause. Misuari, the Muslim rebel leader, himself became the regional governor in 1996. Fighting between the Front and the government went on throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, when President Joseph Estrada declared "all-out war" against the group. On-and-off negotiations came to a head in 2012 with a basic agreement to establish a stronger autonomous region, which both sides firmed up with more detail in 2014. The Front hoped it would embody their people's long struggle for self-determination and outdo the ARMM, which then-President Benigno Aquino called a "failed experiment". A bungled 2015 police operation to arrest a Jemaah Islamiyah-linked fighter in a Front-held area of Maguindanao province dampened public confidence in the group, and the law to create the Bangsamoro sat out several legislative cycles under Aquino's successor, Rodrigo Duterte. The process picked up again in 2017, after the five-month siege of Marawi City by ISIL-linked fighters highlighted the need for a final peace deal. After gruelling negotiations between legislators and a Front-led Bangsamoro transition panel, Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law in July 2018. The Bangsamoro will have a parliamentary government, a justice system based on Islamic law, a 75 percent share of local revenues and a yearly grant from the national government equivalent to five percent of the entire country's revenues. In Monday's plebiscite, people from several areas excluded from the ARMM will have an option to vote for inclusion in the Bangsamoro, which could expand its territory. Around 20,000 police and military personnel will guard polling areas, even as the region remains under martial law, to fend off threats from other armed groups - secessionists that would pounce on the chance at supremacy should the Bangsamoro and the Front fail. But the Front and the government are confident they have struck a much better deal than their predecessors, and that it will have the people's support. When the law passed in July, the Front panel chairman Ghazali Jaafar said, "We are satisfied. It is not a perfect law, but it is good to start with."
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/philippines-muslim-region-vote-autonomy-law-190120141118281.html
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2019-01-20 15:20:57+00:00
| 1,548,015,657 | 1,567,551,657 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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8,890 |
aljazeera--2019-01-27--Palestinian man shot dead during settler violence in West Bank
| 2019-01-27T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
|
Palestinian man shot dead during settler violence in West Bank
|
A Palestinian man has been shot dead, and dozens others have been wounded in the occupied West Bank during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers and settlers in the village of al-Mugheir, northeast of Ramallah. The 38-year-old, identified as Hamdi Naasan, was shot in the back and succumbed to his wounds shortly after at a hospital in Ramallah, the health ministry said on Saturday. He is survived by his wife and four children. Amin Abu Alya, head of the Mugheir village council, said settlers opened fire before the Israeli army moved in. "At the beginning, it was settlers shooting, then the army came and fired tear gas," he told AFP news agency by phone. An Israeli military official confirmed to Haaretz newspaper that settlers used live fire during the confrontation. At least 30 others were also wounded during confrontations, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. It said its medics were working to evacuate several people injured from the village. At least six Palestinians were wounded by live ammunition. According to local media, confrontations broke out when Jewish settlers attempted to raid the village with the protection of Israeli soldiers. A statement by the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the settler attack. "This [attack] reaffirms that the Israeli government is continuing its policy of escalation," the statement, carried by Wafa News Agency, said. "This will lead to serious consequences, further tension and the creation of a dangerous and uncontrollable atmosphere." Between 600,000 to 750,000 Israelis live in the occupied Palestinian territories of occupied East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza. They live in hundreds of illegal Jewish-only settlements built on Palestinian land. The presence of the settlers within and around Palestinian towns and villages causes near-daily friction between the communities. Israel has continued to expand settlements in the occupied territories, angering Palestinian leadership, who view this as a theft of their land and a major obstacle in peace efforts. International law views West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlements on the land to be illegal. Meanwhile, a Palestinian teenager who was shot dead by the Israeli army on Friday was buried in his village of Silwad, near the city of Ramallah. Ayman Hamed, 18, was shot in the chest with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers stationed at a watchtower near the village, the Palestinian health ministry said. Hamed's mother Inas accused the Israeli army of executing her son in cold blood, leaving him bleeding until he died and preventing ambulances from immediately reaching him. Thousands of people attended Hamed's funeral procession on Saturday, which began from the Ramallah Government Hospital. The body was taken to his high school, where fellow students paid tribute to him, before Hamed was buried in the village cemetery.
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/palestinian-man-shot-dead-settler-violence-west-bank-190126182913449.html
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2019-01-27 06:26:10+00:00
| 1,548,588,370 | 1,567,550,675 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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9,157 |
aljazeera--2019-02-01--Mongolia speaker expelled amid ongoing battle against corruption
| 2019-02-01T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
|
Mongolia speaker expelled amid ongoing battle against corruption
|
The Mongolian parliament this week voted to expel House Speaker Miyegombyn Enkhbold in an unprecedented move capping a tumultuous two months in the country's politics involving multiple corruption scandals, protests and party infighting. At the heart of the ongoing turmoil is what has become known locally as the "SME scandal". Fourteen parliamentarians, two cabinet members and other high-ranking officials were accused in November of embezzling more than $1m in government funds, diverting resources intended to support small and medium enterprise (SME) development to their family and friends. Amid an ongoing investigation by the country's anti-corruption agency, the scandal divided the Mongolian People's Party (MPP), which holds an 85 percent majority in the 76-member parliament. Enkhbold, who was dismissed on Tuesday on the back of allegations over a separate 2016 corruption scandal, was among the MPP members who initiated a vote-of-no-confidence against their own party's Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, demanding accountability for the SME case. Khurelsukh narrowly survived the vote in late November, with 40 MPs backing him and 33 going against him. During the debate in parliament, the prime minister urged those implicated in the SME scandal to return the funds and ask for the public's forgiveness. His pleas led to a backlash on social media, where a hashtag translating to "we will not forgive SME" started making the rounds amid long-standing public frustration in a country ranked 93rd out of 180 on Transparency International's (TI) global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Luvsanvandan Bold, an MP who broke with the opposition Democratic Party (DP) in December after voting in favour of Khurelsukh, said there are about 30 funds similar to the SME one. "A very large embezzlement network has been established to milk these funds over the last 10 years," he told Al Jazeera, calling for "a full and comprehensive investigation" to "punish the culprits". On December 18, fewer than three weeks after the vote-of-no-confidence, Mongolian news agency Ikon reported that Khurelsukh's brother had received 1.3 billion Mongolian tugriks ($520,000) from the state's SME fund. The prime minister has denied any link to the reported case, while so far there hasn't been any action against his brother. Mogi Badral Bontoi, the chief executive of the Cover Mongolia newswire, told Al Jazeera that after his own near dismissal amid mounting corruption claims, Khurelsukh and his faction engaged in "sheer political mastery, cleverly turn[ing] the table around on their main political rival". In a public offensive, the prime minister accused Enkhbold of leading what he calls Mongolia's "30 families", an elite group of wealthy members of both the MPP and rival DP that he alleges is attempting to topple the government because it is interfering with their business interests. Khurelsukh and his circle began demanding Enkhbold's resignation, citing an unresolved scandal from Mongolia's 2016 parliamentary elections. Known as the "60 billion tugrik scandal", the case refers to allegations that ahead of that vote, Enkhbold sold cabinet positions in the MPP's future administration in exchange for campaign funds. Julian Dierkes, a Mongolia expert and professor at the University of British Columbia, said the fallout from the SME scandal, coupled with widespread public anger over high-level corruption, created a long-awaited opening for Khurelsukh to push Enkhbold out. "The allegations against former speaker Enkhbold have been mounting since the 2016 parliamentary election, so in some ways, it was the time for him to go," Dierkes told Al Jazeera. "He shouldn't have been there in the first place. He never, really, denied the '60 billion tugrik' allegations," added Dierkes, suggesting Enkhbold's denials were not able to successfully refute the claims against him. "So, just on corruption grounds, it was long coming." In recent weeks, as Enkhbold was trying to keep the SME scandal in the public eye, Khurelsukh's supporters organised two protests in Ulaanbaatar to back the calls for the speaker's resignation. Accounts over the size of the demonstrations on December 27 and January 10 in the capital's Sukhbaatar Square became, however, a subject of controversy - international news outlets published what appeared to be inflated turnout numbers provided by the protests' organisers, leading to criticism on social media and refutation in the Mongolian press. Aerial photography of the events and official accounts suggest that the turnout for each protest was under 5,000 people, rather than the reported 20,000 to 30,000. Enkhbold's dismissal came after the passing of new legislation on January 18 which requires a simple majority for MPs to remove the speaker - a post granted extensive powers by the Mongolian constitution. While the new law might have been politically expedient, some observers have warned it sets a dangerous precedent for future parliamentary stability. Under it, "the speaker will no longer have the sole discretion of setting the legislative agenda, putting the parliamentary role of checks and balances on the executive branch in question". Still, the turmoil of the past two months does not necessarily indicate a crisis for Mongolia's democracy, according to Mark Koenig, the Asia Foundation's country representative in Mongolia. He said his organisation's research shows that Mongolians are increasingly aware of large-scale corruption and its negative impacts on the country's citizens and economy. "The Mongolian public has increased its understanding and awareness of corruption and is showing signs of decreased tolerance," Koenig told Al Jazeera. In a 2017 poll conducted by the International Republican Institute, 67 percent of respondents said corruption is a major problem for Mongolia, naming it as one of the top three issues facing their country, alongside unemployment and poverty. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said parliament does a bad job of combatting corruption. "Mongolia needs to improve its fight against corruption, otherwise it will drop to an authoritarian regime," Batbayar Orchirbat, executive director of TI's Mongolia branch, told Al Jazeera. "The prime minister, government, parliament members - they're all involved in corruption cases. Instead of fighting corruption, they're fighting Mongolia's anti-corruption agency and Mongolia's media and Mongolian NGOs who fight corruption."
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/mongolia-speaker-ousted-ongoing-battle-corruption-190131063427925.html
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2019-02-01 00:44:56+00:00
| 1,548,999,896 | 1,567,549,992 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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9,533 |
aljazeera--2019-02-08--Supreme Court blocks Louisiana abortion clinic regulations
| 2019-02-08T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
|
Supreme Court blocks Louisiana abortion clinic regulations
|
A divided Supreme Court stopped Louisiana from enforcing new regulations on abortion clinics in a test of the conservative court's views on abortion rights. The justices said in a 5-4 decision late Thursday that they will not allow the state to put into effect a law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's four liberals in putting a hold on the law, pending a full review of the case. President Donald Trump's two Supreme Court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, were among the four conservative members of the court who would have allowed the law to take effect. Kavanaugh wrote a dissenting opinion in which he said the court's action was premature because the state had made clear it would allow abortion providers an additional 45 days to obtain admitting privileges before it started enforcing the law. If the doctors succeed, they can continue performing abortions, he said. If they fail, they could return to court, Kavanaugh said. The law is very similar to a Texas measure the justices struck down three years ago. Roberts dissented in that case. But the composition of the court has changed since then, with Kavanaugh replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted to strike down the Texas law. Louisiana abortion providers and a district judge who initially heard the case said one or maybe two of the state's three abortion clinics would have to close under the new law. There would be at most two doctors who could meet its requirements, they said. But the federal appeals court in New Orleans rejected those claims, doubting that any clinics would have to close and said the doctors had not tried hard enough to establish relationships with local hospitals. In January, the full appeals court voted 9-6 not to get involved in the case, setting up the Supreme Court appeal. The law had been scheduled to take effect Monday, but Justice Samuel Alito delayed the effective date at least through Thursday to give the justices more time. The justices could decide this spring whether to add the case, June Medical Services v Gee, to their calendar for the term that begins in October. Trump had pledged during the campaign to appoint "pro-life" justices - judges who are opposed to abortion rights - and abortion opponents are hoping the more conservative bench will be more open to upholding abortion restrictions. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump called for legislation to limit what he and anti-abortion rights activists describe as "late-term abortion". While such legislation at the federal level is unlikely, research at the Guttmacher Institute shows that about 20 states already have laws in place that restricts abortion after about 20 weeks post-fertilisation. Since Trump came to power, a number of states have also introduced measures that seek to restrict abortion access. Other states, including New York, have passed laws to ensure that abortion access would still be protected if the Supreme Court were to overturn parts or all of Roe v Wade, a 1973 decision that blocks states from prohibiting abortion.
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/supreme-court-blocks-louisiana-abortion-clinic-regulations-190208172440166.html
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2019-02-08 18:06:10+00:00
| 1,549,667,170 | 1,567,549,217 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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9,827 |
aljazeera--2019-02-14--US Senate confirms William Barr as attorney general
| 2019-02-14T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
|
US Senate confirms William Barr as attorney general
|
The US Senate on Thursday confirmed William Barr as the country's next attorney general, putting the veteran Republican lawyer in charge of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of any ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 54 to 45, largely along party lines. He could be sworn in before the end of the week. Previously attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George HW Bush, Barr has won praise from politicians in both parties for his expertise and grasp of the workings of the Justice Department, which will head. He will be the third man in barely two years to occupy the attorney general post, replacing acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who replaced Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump removed Sessions last November after criticising him repeatedly. Mueller is investigating meddling by Russia in the 2016 US presidential election and whether Moscow colluded with Trump's campaign to try to tilt the election in Trump's direction, as well as possible obstruction of justice. Trump has denied any collusion and has repeatedly called the investigation a "witch-hunt". and The Kremlin has also denied any meddling. Before being nominated, Barr wrote a 19-page legal memo, which he shared with Trump's legal team and Justice Department officials. It called Mueller's probe "fatally flawed". Barr has said he will not let himself be bullied by Trump and will protect the integrity of Mueller's investigation and make public as many of its findings as he can. Barr has not promised to release Mueller's report in its entirety. He has warned he may not be allowed to reveal the identities of people who escape prosecution. That stance troubles many Democrats, who say Barr's expansive views of executive power might lead him to suppress parts of the report. Despite Democrats' opposition, many were still anxious to have Barr installed quickly so that he can replace Whitaker, whose tenure has been fraught with controversy since Trump installed him in November. Critics have alleged Whitaker's appointment was unlawful. Democrats fear Trump installed Whitaker to undermine Mueller's probe because Whitaker had criticized it when he was a conservative pundit. Barr is widely expected to back many of Trump's tough immigration policies. He will also be under the microscope for how he implements a new law that eases prison sentences for non-violent criminals, after he advocated for the opposite, tough-on-crime approach for decades.
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/senate-confirms-william-barr-attorney-general-190214150616328.html
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2019-02-14 18:42:33+00:00
| 1,550,187,753 | 1,567,548,560 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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9,938 |
aljazeera--2019-02-17--India withdraws security for Kashmiri separatists stoking fears
| 2019-02-17T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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India withdraws security for Kashmiri separatists, stoking fears
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Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - Analysts and pro-Indian political leaders have warned of an escalation in tensions after a decision to withdraw the security detail for top Kashmiri separatist leaders. The move by India's home ministry came days after a suicide attack on Indian paramilitary forces that killed 42 Indian troops in the restive region and raised fears of a confrontation with Pakistan. On Sunday, a formal order was issued to remove government protection given to the region's four separatist leaders because of the attack. "In view of the recent terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Lethpora village in Pulwama, the government of India has emphasised the need to immediately review the wastage of police resources in providing unnecessary security to a large number of non-government persons, particularly relevant in the context of security provided to separatists and their sympathisers," the order said. The announcement could lead to further crises in the region, which has been engulfed in violence for years, analysts said. Last year was the deadliest in nearly a decade, with the highest number of casualties of rebels, security personnel and civilians. In the past, several Kashmiri separatist leaders have been assassinated under mysterious circumstances. While India has blamed Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI for its role in eliminating leaders for their alleged willingness to compromise on the disputed region, pro-separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir state have also been a thorn in the side of Indian security agencies. Ajai Sahni, a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera: "The entire orientation of this [BJP] government as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned has been directed towards their own electoral interest." "They [BJP] use polarisation as a principal weapon for whatever they have been doing in the region, and this step will feed more polarisation. This is essentially going to appeal to the constituency who have been demanding these things for a long time. It is not a considered move by the state apparatus. It is a political move. If these people are under threat, the state cannot simply remove their security," he said. Sahni said there has been a political destabilisation in Kashmir for the past five years. "That's why we are in a condition that we are in now," he said. With separatist leaders enjoying overwhelming public support in the Muslim-majority state, any attack on them carries the potential to trigger a new law-and-order crisis in the restive state. "If something happens, anyone is attacked, it will impact the local situation. It will put pressure on local police and the governor," another security analyst, Rahul Bedi, told Al Jazeera. Police officials in the region expressed the same fear of attacks on the Kashmiri leadership. "Some of these leaders have been attacked several times. It's worrying. If anything happens it will be difficult to handle," a senior police official told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. The latest attack has also escalated tension between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi warning Islamabad of reprisals. The Indian government has also accused the separatist leaders of "receiving money from Pakistan and its intelligence agencies". Separatist leaders in Kashmir demand an independent state or a merger with Pakistan. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, one of the four separatist leaders whose security was withdrawn, accused the Indian government of "diverting the attention from the Kashmir dispute". "The government provided me security. I did not ask for it. And now they have withdrawn it. Let them. They just want to divert the attention of people from the real issue, which is Kashmir's struggle for the right to self-determination," he told Al Jazeera. Umar, whose father Moulvi Mohammad Farooq was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in 1990, said he would continue to "fight against the Indian oppression in Kashmir". "This won't affect us; our struggle will continue. We won't change our stand," Farooq said. Another separatist leader, Abdul Gani Bhat - leader of the Muslim Conference - said "it is a non-issue" for them. "The government kept these guards in our offices and homes. It was their decision. We never told them to give us any security. I even requested them once to withdraw it. Even our security and the recent attack has no connection. They are deliberately connecting the two things," Bhat told Al Jazeera. "Without anybody guarding me with a gun, I will move freely." Adviser to the state governor, Vijay Kumar, told Al Jazeera the decision was made by the federal home affairs ministry and "they are looking into some more nuances of it". Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and a senior pro-India politician, called the step as "knee-jerk reaction". "Why was the security granted to them? It was because of the threat perception. And who assessed that threat perception? It was the government. Many leaders were killed and that was the basis why security was granted. That's what a country has to do for its citizens," Mufti said. The killing of dozens of Indian security forces by a 20-year-old Kashmiri suicide bomber has triggered xenophobic attacks against Kashmiris in several parts of India by right-wing groups. On Sunday, the Himalayan region observed a complete shutdown to protest the reprisal attacks.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/india-withdraws-security-kashmiri-separatists-stoking-fears-190217204347220.html
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2019-02-17 20:59:07+00:00
| 1,550,455,147 | 1,567,548,252 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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9,975 |
aljazeera--2019-02-18--Australias offshore refugee policy has failed
| 2019-02-18T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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Australia's offshore refugee policy has failed
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Conducting Amnesty International's investigation on Nauru, one of the island nations where Australia sends its unwanted refugees, I felt furious and desperate. I was furious to see hundreds of women, men and children subjected to physical and psychological harm that could only be characterised as torture: They were attacked, held in inhumane conditions, deprived of vital medical help and driven to insanity, self-harm and suicide. On Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, my colleagues witnessed a similarly shocking situation. I felt desperate because, despite overwhelming evidence of the abuse, for years Australian authorities continued to claim - with no evidence - that the policy of sending asylum seekers to remote offshore locations is the only way to save lives by deterring people from trying to reach Australia's shores. They did not seem prepared to move an inch. Yet the work of a formidable alliance of people detained on Manus and Nauru, international and Australian civil society organisations, investigative journalists, as well as Australian human rights lawyers, might finally be bearing fruit. Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government suffered an unprecedented defeat, as Parliament passed a law making it easier for refugees from offshore locations to receive medical treatment in Australia. This may not sound like a ground-breaking development, particularly since the government now intends to reopen a detention centre on the Australian territory of Christmas Island. But the law's significance is clear when you consider that for years, Australia's ministry of immigration refused to transfer even critically ill patients from Manus and Nauru to Australia - saying it would be easier for them to get legal assistance and stay in the country. On Nauru, in 2016, I spoke to an elderly man who was briefly evacuated to Australia after suffering a heart attack. He was promptly sent back to the island against the doctor's advice - and subsequently suffered another heart attack, as the doctors had feared. I interviewed other refugees suffering from cancer, diabetes, untreated fractures, gynaecological problems and many other conditions, none of which could be treated on the island - and all of them were refused a transfer for treatment. That is not to mention those, including children, who suffered from such serious mental health issues that they were repeatedly trying to kill themselves or ended up locked up in an improvised mental hospital - but again, not allowed treatment in Australia. On Manus Island, an Iranian asylum-seeker, Hamid Khazaei, died because Australian officials ignored the pleas of his doctors for his immediate transfer to receive medical care on the mainland. The new law will literally save lives. And it is another sign that Australia's long-standing "offshore detention" policy is slowly being whittled away as it is exposed, time and again, for what it is: a vicious attack on people for the simple act of having sought sanctuary. Only a few weeks ago, the government of Australia confirmed that all children would be leaving Nauru. Several hundred refugees have already settled in the United States under a deal signed between the two countries. One after the other, companies that the Australian government relied on to run its offshore detention system withdrew, and finding new ones proved to be hard as businesses worried about the reputational damage from complicity in such blatant abuse. Perhaps equally significant is the international recognition of the very people that the Australian government tried to make invisible, delegitimise, silence, and deprive of agency and hope. One is Kurdish Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani, a refugee on Manus, who earlier this month won the $25,000 non-fiction prize at the Victorian premier's literary award, as well as the $100,000 Victorian prize for literature. No Friend but the Mountains was his first book, which he wrote by text messages from the detention centre on the island. The other is Behrouz's fellow detainee from Manus Island, Sudanese human rights defender Abdul Aziz Muhamat, who last week won the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights. Aziz has worked continuously to advocate for humane living conditions and adequate medical care on Manus, including through mass peaceful protests. All of these developments indicate that the Australian government's "offshore detention" policy has utterly failed. The only way to avoid further suffering for the refugees and shame for the country is to put a decisive end to it, accept responsibility, and do everything possible to rebuild hundreds of lives affected by years of abuse. There is also an important lesson here for other countries who might be looking at Australia's policy as an example of how to stoke fear about - and among - people seeking safety. Such policies may seem like a quick win with some domestic constituencies, but they are not wins in the long run. Ultimately they are inhumane, unlawful, unsustainable, costly, and damaging to a country's reputation. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/australia-offshore-refugee-policy-failed-190217104337722.html
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2019-02-18 05:37:16+00:00
| 1,550,486,236 | 1,567,548,161 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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10,372 |
aljazeera--2019-02-26--Drug offence executions more than halve in 2018 after Iran reform
| 2019-02-26T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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Drug offence executions more than halve in 2018 after Iran reform
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Human rights experts have hailed a sharp drop in executions for drug offences in 2018, even as they expressed worries over a large number of people worldwide still facing the death penalty for non-violent drug crimes. In a new report on Tuesday, Harm Reduction International (HRI) said it documented 91 executions for drug crimes last year, compared with 288 in 2017 - a 68 percent drop largely driven by fewer deaths in Iran following drug law reforms. It is the first time the number of executions - which excludes China and Vietnam - has fallen below 100 since the London-based NGO started compiling figures in 2007. But the annual report warned that at least 7,000 people across the world are on death row for drug offences and that populist governments advocating the use of capital punishment as a key plank of drug control policy could undermine global progress towards abolition. "The fall in executions is undeniably positive but far too many people are still sentenced to death row for low-level drug offences where they suffer serious human rights violations," said Giada Girelli, the report's author and HRI's human rights analyst. "There is simply no evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterrent and this inhumane practice must be abolished immediately." The annual report said four countries carried out the death penalty for drug offences last year - Saudi Arabia, Iran, Singapore and China. HRI said Saudi Arabia was responsible for the highest number of such executions, sending at least 59 people to their deaths. Iran followed with 23 people, followed by Singapore, where nine people were executed. China continued to use capital punishment in relation to drug crimes, and HRI was able to confirm a number of specific occasions when people had been executed for drug offences. The report did not provide a specific figure because the number of confirmed executions is likely to be an underestimate in a country where death penalty statistics are a state secret. China is also not included in the headline figure for global executions for the same reason. Nor is Vietnam where executions are also shrouded in secrecy. Executions in Iran dropped by 50 percent last year following amendments to drug legislation that increased the minimum amounts of drugs for death penalty offences. The change meant executions were put on hold while cases were reviewed. Asma Jahangir, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said in March 2018 that 5,300 people were on death row or serving a life term in Iranian prisons for drug offences and could see their sentence commuted as a result of the new law. However, she noted that a mandatory death sentence remained in force for a number of drug-related crimes. In Malaysia, the government announced last year a moratorium on executions and said it would abolish the death penalty for all crimes, after earlier amending legislation that put those caught with even the smallest amounts of illicit substances facing the mandatory death penalty. Ministers acknowledged that capital punishment had not succeeded in reducing drug use or trafficking, while the punitive policy meant more than 50 percent of inmates in the country's prisons were being held for drug offences. Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman, dean of medicine at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, said the world had reached a "tipping point" on the use of the death penalty in relation to drugs amid growing recognition that capital punishment was an ineffective deterrent. Nevertheless, Malaysia's announcement triggered upset among those who support capital punishment and the necessary legislation has still to be introduced in parliament. Adeeba said policymakers needed to better articulate their case. They "have to try and change the narrative", she told Al Jazeera. "There is a combination of health and social issues that put people at risk. Getting people to understand that is important. In some ways, those of us in the medical world have abrogated our responsibilities to the justice system." Despite evidence that capital punishment is no deterrent to drugs, HRI noted that last year some countries appeared to be looking to the death penalty as a key component of drug policy. All the executions carried out in 2018 in Singapore were for drug offences, while Bangladesh expanded the application of the death penalty to more substances and Sri Lanka said it would end a 43-year moratorium on the death penalty by executing those convicted of drug trafficking. Meanwhile, legislation backed by the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to impose the death penalty for drug crimes as part of his continuing "war" on drugs has been passed by the lower house, but has not secured Senate approval. HRI's Girelli said continued progress to eliminate the death penalty, which remains a punishment for drugs in 35 countries and territories around the world, would depend on political will and public education. "When it comes to public opinion, there's a lack of information around the death penalty for drugs and the death penalty in general," she told Al Jazeera. "If people were to learn about all the due process violations associated with the death penalty and if they knew the situation of people convicted to death for drugs then they would not believe in it."
| null |
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/drug-offence-executions-halve-2018-iran-reform-190225093111142.html
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2019-02-26 05:05:28+00:00
| 1,551,175,528 | 1,567,547,287 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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10,420 |
aljazeera--2019-02-27--Cubans approve a new Constitution What does the vote mean
| 2019-02-27T00:00:00 |
aljazeera
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Cubans approve a new Constitution: What does the vote mean?
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Cuban voters ratified a new Constitution on Sunday that legalises the free market in a vote that saw a growing portion of the population express dissent compared with the island's last constitutional referendum in 1976. In Sunday's ballot, 86.85 percent voted in favour of the new Constitution while nine percent voted against it. Spoiled or blank ballots made up 4.15 percent of ballots cast. Voter turnout was recorded at 84.4 percent, down from 98 percent who turned out in 1976 when 97.7 percent of voters ratified the Constitution. "There's no longer political unanimity around government proposals," Raudiel Pena Barrios, adjunct professor of law at the University of Havana, told Al Jazeera. "We should see this as an important minority of Cubans who hope for something more in the management of the state." The new Constitution legalises private property and promotes foreign investment. The change brings the charter in line with economic reforms the Cuban government has implemented to encourage entrepreneurship and investment over the past several years. Arturo Lopez-Levy, visiting professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota who served as a political analyst for the Cuban government from 1992 to 1994, said such changes resolve a "legal limbo" around moves to liberalise the economy. This opens the door for further reform aimed at building a "comprehensive mixed economy", he said. The updated charter also creates the position of prime minister to administer day-to-day state affairs and imposes age and term limits for the president. Lopez-Levy calls these "important instrumental changes within the one-party system". For Pena Barrios, the new Constitution signals "political continuity marked by novel aspects such as notable economic pragmatism". After casting his referendum ballot, President Miguel Diaz-Canel described the new Constitution as a bearer of "continuity and unity" in Cuba. Critics argue the reforms are cosmetic. The power of the Communist Party within a one-party system remains untouched and citizens still do not have the ability to directly vote for a president, an issue thousands of voters raised in a three-month public consultation process. But Lopez-Levy argued that any demands for deep political restructuring were pipe dreams from the outset. "The process never had the intention of a transition to a liberal democracy," he said. "The opposition and the groups that are pushing for this type of agenda have proven to be very isolated and with very limited political mobilisation capability." He cautioned that "No" votes, abstentions, or null ballots should not be equated with support for the Cuban opposition. Pena Barrios doubts the dissident vote will work in the opposition's favour. "The opposition in Cuba doesn't have sufficient political capital to identify with those who didn't support the text," he said. But many are optimistic the reforms and the process of drafting the new charter will help make room for continued debate among other sectors. "The result points the way towards new political dialogue, or at least the need for it," Miguel Alejandro Hayes, editor of the blog La Trinchera and a contributor to other Cuban alternative media outlets, told Al Jazeera. He believes it is unlikely such dialogue would include the traditional opposition. Instead, the government could engage with more moderate critics, though political will could still be lacking. "There's an opposition that doesn't want dialogue, that approves of the blockade on Cuba, and that doesn't care about the cost of toppling the government," he said. "These actors - the majority live outside of Cuba - don't have any credibility, and they are out of the scene," he added. Pena Barrios argued the official response to polarisation over marriage equality in the run-up to the referendum has demonstrated the government's openness to dialogue. While an earlier draft of the Constitution legalised marriage equality, the final version left marriage to be defined in a separate referendum. "Now comes the big challenge," Pena Barrios added, "which is to fulfill the Constitution". The Cuban government is expected to implement various measures to complement the charter. Hayes stressed the need for these new laws to "be inclusive" and ensure that "political ideology is not cause for discrimination." "Everything proposed in the Constitution that is not explicit, everything that goes against the orthodox mentality, deserves attention, because it is what runs the most risk of being forgotten or excluded," he said. Beyond the island, the Constitution is unlikely to smooth over relations with the United States. Bilateral ties have deteriorated under President Donald Trump after the historic normalisation of frozen US-Cuba ties under Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro with the opening of embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015. Trump has suggested deepening the more than half century-old trade embargo on Cuba. Lopez-Levy argued the time for fruitful debate on Cuba was before the referendum, and the US missed the opportunity. "Trump doesn't have a policy towards Cuba, he has a policy towards the next election in Florida," he said. Florida is home to two thirds of the 1.2 million Cuban-American voters in the US. Although Cuban-Americans have increasingly turned towards the Democratic Party for more than a decade, according to the Pew Research Center, Cubans in Florida were twice as likely to vote for Trump compared with other Latinos. In a statement on Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the vote as a "so-called referendum" and claimed the charter blocks potential for economic reform by enshrining socialism. "No one should be fooled by this exercise, which achieves little beyond perpetuating the pretext for the regime's one-party dictatorship," Pompeo said. "The entire process has been marked by carefully managed political theater and repression of public debate." The new Constitution declares the socialist system "irrevocable" and states the state's central goal of "the construction of socialism and advance towards a communist society."
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/cubans-approve-constitution-vote-190226224600240.html
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2019-02-27 01:11:15+00:00
| 1,551,247,875 | 1,567,547,154 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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2,188 |
abcnews--2019-11-13--Bishop who investigated sex abuse accused of sex abuse
| 2019-11-13T00:00:00 |
abcnews
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Bishop who investigated sex abuse accused of sex abuse
|
A Roman Catholic bishop named by Pope Francis to investigate the church’s response to clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo, New York, has himself been accused of sexual abuse of a child, an attorney for the alleged victim notified the church this week. The attorney informed Catholic officials in New Jersey that he is preparing a lawsuit on behalf of a client who says he was molested by Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio in the mid-1970s, when DiMarzio was a parish priest in Jersey City. DiMarzio said there is no truth to the accusation. “I am just learning about this allegation,” he said in a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press. “In my nearly 50-year ministry as a priest, I have never engaged in unlawful or inappropriate behavior and I emphatically deny this allegation. I am confident I will be fully vindicated.” In a letter sent Monday to the church’s Newark, New Jersey, archdiocese, Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian said 56-year-old Mark Matzek alleges he was repeatedly abused by DiMarzio and a second priest, the late Rev. Albert Mark, when he was an altar boy at St. Nicholas Church and a student at St. Nicholas School. Last month, Pope Francis tapped DiMarzio to investigate the church’s Buffalo Diocese, where Bishop Richard Malone has come under fire for his handling of a burgeoning clergy abuse scandal that has roiled the diocese and prompted calls for his resignation. “The investigation of the diocese of Buffalo by Bishop DiMarzio is tainted because of these allegations,” Garabedian said in an interview with the AP. “There needs to be a truly neutral investigator to determine whether Bishop Malone should resign,” adding that the investigation should be led by a law enforcement agency. Adriana Rodriguez, press secretary for the Brooklyn Diocese, said DiMarzio has completed his report on the Buffalo Diocese and has submitted it to the Vatican. DiMarzio and Malone are in Rome this week for a previously scheduled visit of New York bishops to the Holy See. Garabedian said the notice he sent to the Newark Archdiocese briefly describes Matzek’s allegations and the damage he has allegedly suffered, while demanding $20 million in compensation. Maria Margiotta, the spokeswoman for the Newark Archdiocese, said it has received Garabedian’s letter and reported Matzek’s allegations to law enforcement. Garabedian told the AP he plans to file the lawsuit on Matzek’s behalf next month, after New Jersey opens a two-year “look back” period in which sex abuse victims will be permitted to file lawsuits without regard to the statute of limitations, which typically limits the amount of time in which an alleged victim may file suit. DiMarzio completed his review of the Buffalo Diocese, known as an “apostolic visitation,” last month. He said he made three trips to the diocese over seven days and interviewed nearly 80 clergymen and parishioners. This story has been corrected to reflect that the first name of the bishop of Buffalo is Richard, not Joseph.
| null |
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/bishop-investigated-sex-abuse-accused-sex-abuse-66982176
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Wed, 13 Nov 2019 17:58:27 -0500
| 1,573,685,907 | 1,573,690,083 |
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law
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22,130 |
bbc--2019-02-01--France puts up food and drink prices under new law
| 2019-02-01T00:00:00 |
bbc
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France puts up food and drink prices under new law
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Nutella, Président Camembert, Ricard Pastis and Carte Noire coffee are among the brands set to cost more in France as a law on food prices takes effect. It means big food and drink brands can no longer be sold at cost price. Shops' profit margin must be at least 10%. But many shops' own-brand products are expected to get a bit cheaper. Such goods often come from smaller firms. The government aims to help smaller producers but France has continuing yellow-vest protests over prices. There are doubts about whether the new law will actually work as hoped. The 10% margin threshold means a food or drink brand previously sold for €1 (£0.88; $1.1) now has to be priced at €1.1 minimum. But there will not be uniform price increases, French media report. The law affects supermarkets and hypermarkets more than small local shops. That is because the big outlets offer some popular brands at or near cost price, slashing their margins on those products, in order to lure customers, in a fierce price war. Their profits depend on big volume and high turnover. Small shops, however, cannot match the supermarkets' low margins. Supermarket chain Carrefour is adapting to the law by increasing discounts for loyalty card customers. Carrefour expects to raise prices by 35 euro cents on average, which is 5%. It says 1,000 food and drink brands are affected, out of 25,000 on sale. A big retailer which has already raised prices gave the daily Le Parisien a list of brands affected, while requesting anonymity. Among the price rises are: Hypermarket chain E Leclerc said it was raising prices by 3% on 1,000 brands. Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said "the aim is to sell agricultural goods for what they're worth". He stressed that meat and fish prices would be unaffected. He said that in supermarkets, in general, prices would go up on 500 out of 13,000 products, and in hypermarkets on 800 out of 20,000 on sale. The government hopes that by making shops pay more to their suppliers - the wholesalers - the latter will pay more to French food and drink producers. That is because the wholesalers' income should increase as consumers pay higher prices for certain brands. But millions of French consumers are angry about the cost of living, so there is a risk for the government. It is already struggling to contain often violent "gilets jaunes" (yellow vest) protests. The protests were sparked by a fuel price hike last year - later cancelled by President Emmanuel Macron - but soon the "gilets jaunes" movement morphed into a wider protest against economic hardship. For months there have been big weekend protests by the yellow vests across France. Another one is planned for Saturday. Mr Macron has tried to reach out to the protesters. He told journalists on Thursday: "If to be a yellow vest means you want work to pay more and parliament to work better - well then I'm a yellow vest." The French consumer rights group UFC Que Choisir voiced scepticism about the new law. One of its researchers, Mathieu Escot, said smaller shops like the Monoprix chain in Paris would not put up prices, because their margins were already above 10%. But he noted that "gilets jaunes" protesters were frequent shoppers at the big supermarkets and out-of-town stores, where prices would go up. "So it's French people on more modest incomes, with weak purchasing power, who will pay," he argued. The law "does not oblige" food and drink wholesalers to pay more to French rural producers, he said. A big agricultural union, Confédération paysanne, told the daily Libération "there is no clear incentive to ensure a return to producers and boost their income".
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47089844
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2019-02-01 13:06:22+00:00
| 1,549,044,382 | 1,567,549,964 |
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22,706 |
bbc--2019-02-11--Hungary tries for baby boom with tax breaks and loan forgiveness
| 2019-02-11T00:00:00 |
bbc
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Hungary tries for baby boom with tax breaks and loan forgiveness
|
Hungarian women with four children or more will be exempted for life from paying income tax, the prime minister has said, unveiling plans designed to boost the number of babies being born. It was a way of defending Hungary's future without depending on immigration, Viktor Orban said. The right-wing nationalist particularly opposes immigration by Muslims. Hungary's population is falling by 32,000 a year. Women there have fewer children than the EU average. As part of the measures, young couples will be offered interest-free loans of 10m forint (£27,400; $36,000), to be cancelled once they have three children. Mr Orban said that "for the West", the answer to falling birth rates in Europe was immigration: "For every missing child, there should be one coming in and then the numbers will be fine. "Hungarian people think differently," he said. "We do not need numbers. We need Hungarian children." While Mr Orban was delivering his state of the nation address, the latest demonstrations were being held in Budapest against his government's policies. About 2,000 people gathered in front of his office, while others blocked one of the main bridges across the Danube river. Correspondents say the biggest applause during Mr Orban's speech was for his announcement of a seven-point plan to increase the birth rate. Other points in the government's plan include: Mr Orban finished his speech with: "Long live Hungary and long live the Hungarians!" The average number of children a Hungarian woman will have in her lifetime (fertility rate) is 1.45. This puts the country below the EU average of 1.58. In 2016, France had the highest fertility rate in the EU - 1.92 children per woman - and Spain and Italy had the lowest at 1.34, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reports. Niger, in West Africa, has the highest fertility rate in the world, with 7.24 children per woman. Critics of the government say its package and pro-family policy so far target well-off families and ignore the Hungarian poor, including an estimated 750,000 Roma (Gypsies). Tax relief does little to help families who pay little tax anyway. Housing subsidies of €35,000 (£30,666) were offered to families able to invest a similar sum of their own - but few Roma have such savings. The nationalist Fidesz government has cut welfare payments and reduced the number of months those made unemployed can claim for. The population has been falling steadily, from a peak of 10.7 million in 1980, to below 9.7 million today. About 600,000 Hungarians have moved to western Europe in the past decade - it is impossible to calculate how many will return. "Increasing the number of births is very difficult, because we have less and less women of child-bearing age," State Secretary for Families Katalin Novak told the BBC. That number is set to fall by 20% in the next decade. "So less and less women need to have more and more babies." The government's new package, she emphasised, is based on the number of babies couples would actually like to have, and then to encourage them with financial help. The aim is to increase the fertility rate to 2.1 by 2030. Many other countries with relatively low birth rates have introduced extra payments and other benefits for mothers. Russia's birth rate has been declining for decades: the population fell from 149m in 1991 to 140m in 2018, and the median age has risen from 33 to 39. So, to help the poorest families, in March 2018 the government announced monthly payments of 10-11,000 roubles (£118-£130; $152-$167) until their first child reached 18 months old. A poor family also gets a one-off payment of 300,000 roubles for each additional child born. Serbia, one of Hungary's neighbours, has one of the world's fastest-shrinking populations. It has seven million people and a median age of 43. Last March it announced that new mothers would get a one-off payment worth £740 ($956) for their first child, monthly payments of £74 ($96) for the second child for two years, and further payments for three or more children. The birth rate in Italy is among Europe's lowest, along with Cyprus and Spain. Italy gives mothers an allowance of €80 per month (£70; $90) for each child born. The poorest families get a monthly allowance of €160 per child. In Germany more babies were born in 2016 than in any year since 1996. But Germany has also put more incentives in place for couples to have children. Parents have a legal right to a nursery place once their child is one year old. Germany has a new law, the "Good KiTa Act", granting lower childcare fees for parents who cannot afford the full price, and a fee exemption for parents who receive a child allowance and housing benefits. Low birth rates are also worrying governments in East Asia. The marriage rate in South Korea is at its lowest since records began - 5.5 per 1,000 people, compared with 9.2 in 1970 - and very few children are born outside marriage. According to World Bank data for 2016, just a few countries, including Singapore and Moldova, have a fertility rate as low as South Korea's - 1.2 per woman. The replacement rate - the number needed for a population to remain level - is 2.1. Fertility rates are also low in China (1.6) and Japan (1.4).
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47192612
|
2019-02-11 16:07:17+00:00
| 1,549,919,237 | 1,567,548,909 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
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23,309 |
bbc--2019-02-21--Macron announces crackdown on anti-Semitism in France
| 2019-02-21T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Macron announces crackdown on anti-Semitism in France
|
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced new measures to tackle anti-Semitism, following a spate of attacks. He told Jewish leaders that France would recognise anti-Zionism - the denial of Israel's right to exist - as a form of anti-Semitism. He also said parliament would vote on a new law to tackle hatred on the internet. On Tuesday Mr Macron visited a Jewish cemetery near Strasbourg where graves were desecrated with Nazi symbols. On the same day, thousands of people joined rallies across France in support of the Jewish community. Addressing an annual meeting of Jewish organisations on Wednesday, Mr Macron said anti-Semitism in France and other Western countries had reached its worst levels since World War Two. Among a series of new measures, he said the government would act to dissolve three extreme-right groups - Bastion Social, Blood and Honour Hexagone and Combat 18 - which he said fuelled hatred and promoted discrimination. Mr Macron added: "Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism. This is why I'm confirming that France will put forward the definition of anti-Semitism as drawn by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance." In recent months, France has witnessed a series of high-profile anti-Semitic attacks. In the past week vandals defaced portraits of the late Holocaust survivor and French minister Simone Veil, scrawled the German word for "Jews" on a Parisian bakery and cut down a tree planted in memory of a Jewish youth tortured to death by an anti-Semitic gang. A prominent French philosopher, Alain Finkielkraut, was also verbally attacked for being Jewish as he walked past a recent "gilets jaunes" (yellow-vest) protest in Paris. During his visit to the Jewish cemetery in eastern France where nearly 100 graves were desecrated, President Macron said: "Whoever did this is not worthy of the French republic and will be punished." The number of anti-Semitic crimes reported in France, which is home to the largest Jewish population in Europe, increased by more than 70% - from 311 in 2017 to 541 last year. The tally is not the worst France has seen in the past two decades, and follows a two-year dip in attacks, BBC Paris correspondent Lucy Williamson reports. However, anti-Semitic violence is believed to be spreading from the old prejudices of the far-right, to radical Islamists and far-left groups, our correspondent adds.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47313725
|
2019-02-21 04:40:56+00:00
| 1,550,742,056 | 1,567,547,782 |
crime, law and justice
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law
|
23,903 |
bbc--2019-03-12--Italy bans unvaccinated children from school
| 2019-03-12T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Italy bans unvaccinated children from school
|
Italian children have been told not to turn up to school unless they can prove they have been properly vaccinated. The deadline follows months of national debate over compulsory vaccination. Parents risk being fined up to €500 (£425; $560) if they send their unvaccinated children to school. Children under six can be turned away. The new law came amid a surge in measles cases - but Italian officials say vaccination rates have improved since it was introduced. Under Italy's so-called Lorenzin law - named after the former health minister who introduced it - children must receive a range of mandatory immunisations before attending school. They include vaccinations for chickenpox, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. Children up to the age of six years will be excluded from nursery and kindergarten without proof of vaccination under the new rules. Those aged between six and 16 cannot be banned from attending school, but their parents face fines if they do not complete the mandatory course of immunisations. The deadline for certification was due to be 10 March after a previous delay - but as it fell on a weekend, it was extended to Monday. "Now everyone has had time to catch up," Health Minister Giulia Grillo told La Repubblica newspaper. She had reportedly resisted political pressure from deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini to extend the deadline even further. Ms Grillo said the rules were now simple: "No vaccine, no school". Italian media report that regional authorities are handling the situation in a number of different ways. In Bologna, the local authority has sent letters of suspension to the parents of some 300 children, and a total of 5,000 children do not have their vaccine documentation up to date. In other areas there have been no reported cases, while still others have been given a grace period of a few days beyond the deadline. The new law was passed to raise Italy's plummeting vaccination rates from below 80% to the World Health Organisation's 95% target. On Monday - the last day for parents to provide documentation proving their children had been properly vaccinated - the Italian health authority released figures claiming a national immunisation rate at or very close to 95% for children born in 2015, depending on which vaccine was being discussed. The 95% threshold is the point at which "herd immunity" kicks in - when enough of the population is vaccinated for the spread of the disease to become unlikely, thereby protecting those who cannot be vaccinated. That includes babies too young to be vaccinated themselves, or those with medical conditions such as a compromised immune system. Last month, an eight-year-old recovering from cancer was unable to attend school in Rome due to his weak immune system. The child had spent months receiving treatment for leukaemia, but was at risk of infection because a proportion of pupils in the school had not been vaccinated - including several in the same class. The Lorenzin law, drafted by the previous government, had a tumultuous birth. When the current coalition came to power, it said it would drop mandatory immunisations although it later reversed its position. The two populist parties in power had faced accusations that they were pursuing anti-vaccination policies. Writing in a Facebook post on Monday, Ms Grillo admitted it "is a law that, at the time of approval, we criticised for several reasons" - and said that the law would be changed to include only those vaccinations that were necessary based on scientific data. The anti-vaccination movement has been growing globally in recent years, sparking alarm from the World Health Organization. A long-discredited paper by Andrew Wakefield was behind much of the scare, but rumours around immunisation have continued to spread, leading to public health risks as not enough people are immune to such diseases. Mr Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register after fraudulently claiming there was a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism and bowel disease in children. He made the claim based on the experiences of just 12 children, and no other study since has been able to replicate his results.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47536981
|
2019-03-12 10:19:53+00:00
| 1,552,400,393 | 1,567,546,575 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
|
24,059 |
bbc--2019-03-14--China foreign investment How doing business will change
| 2019-03-14T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
China foreign investment: How doing business will change
|
China is rushing through a foreign investment law in an apparent attempt to placate Washington as negotiators try to dig the world's two largest economic powers out of an ongoing trade war. But will it work? The 3,000 or so delegates to China's annual National People's Congress (NPC) will endorse the new law on Friday. They don't oppose legislation. That's not how it is done here. When a vote is taken there are normally only a handful who vote against. Some of them potentially for show, because 100% "yes" votes one after another would look ridiculous. If there is pushback against a draft bill and amendments made, this happens well before the NPC sits, at a series of standing committee meetings behind closed doors. The process can take years. This time it took three months. The Chinese government appears to have rushed through the investment law as an olive branch to the US amid trade war negotiations. However, many in the business community here in China see this law as a kind of sweeping set of intentions rather than a specific, enforceable set of rules. They fear it could be open to different and changing forms of interpretation. The big-ticket items it is said to address, in terms of the concerns of foreign companies, include intellectual property theft, the requirement for international firms to partner up with a local entity, and unfair subsidies to Chinese companies. It will also address the preferential treatment in awarding contracts to Chinese companies, and forcing foreign firms to hand over their technological secrets as the price of entry to the massive Chinese market. But this law isn't going to help everyone. There is a "black list" of 48 sectors that will not be open to foreign investment or, in some cases, not open without conditions or special permission. For example, there is a complete ban on investing in fishing, gene research, religious education, news media, and television broadcasting. Partial investment is allowed in oil and gas exploitation, nuclear power, airlines, airport operation, and public health, amongst others sectors. Non-renewable energy automobile production will require partnerships for a few years but then be phased out. For industries not on the list, the principle is that foreign companies will receive the same treatment as their Chinese counterparts. But should foreign companies also be wary? One of the provisions will include a requirement for the local subsidiaries of international firms to report various details of their operation to Chinese officials. This could include performance indicators relating to labour relations, overall staffing numbers, pollution records and the like. That sounds fine except that foreign companies have asked for - and not received - legal guarantees that this data will not be passed on to their Chinese competitors. Then there is the promised complaints procedure should you seek redress following any perceived violations of the new law. If this system is run through the normal Chinese courts, which routinely guarantee results favourable to the Communist Party, then to many this would not seem like a satisfactory enforcement mechanism. One part of the law specifies that there is to be a ban on "illegal government interference" in the activities of foreign business. The further you go up the government ladder the more implausible it would be to win in such a dispute. Over the years we have reported on many cases of foreign businesspeople, especially ethnic Chinese, who have been sent to prison on highly questionable charges following a commercial dispute with a local business person who enjoys the backing of low-level Communist Party cadres. Those here with long memories know this and are approaching the new law with an understandable level of caution.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47550559
|
2019-03-14 00:15:36+00:00
| 1,552,536,936 | 1,567,546,263 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
|
24,508 |
bbc--2019-03-20--San Francisco moves to ban e-cigarettes until health effects known
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
San Francisco moves to ban e-cigarettes until health effects known
|
Officials in San Francisco have proposed a new law to ban e-cigarette sales until their health effects are evaluated by the US government. The law appears to be the first of its kind in the US and seeks to curb a rising usage by young people. Critics, however, say it will make it harder for people to kick addiction. A second city law would bar making, selling or distributing tobacco on city property and is aimed at an e-cigarette firm renting on Pier 70. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - the national regulator - released its proposed guidelines, giving companies until 2021 to apply to have their e-cigarette products evaluated. A deadline had initially been set for August 2018, but the agency later said more preparation time was needed. San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera, one of the co-authors of the bill, which is yet to be approved, said reviews should have been done before they were sold. "These companies may hide behind the veneer of harm reduction, but let's be clear, their product is addiction," said Mr Herrera. He added that San Francisco, Chicago and New York had sent a joint letter to the FDA calling on it to investigate the effects of e-cigarettes on public health. Anti-vaping activists say companies are deliberately targeting young people by offering flavoured products. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of US teenagers who admitted using tobacco products "within the last 30 days" rose 36% between 2017 and 2018 - from 3.6m to 4.9m. It attributes this to a growth in e-cigarette use. Last year San Francisco became the first US city to ban flavoured tobacco and vaping liquids, and already prevents smokeless tobacco from being used on playing fields. Juul, one of the the most popular US e-cigarette firms, rents space on Pier 70. In a statement, the firm said it supported cutting vaping among young people but only in a way that eliminated access to regular cigarettes. It asked: "This proposed legislation begs the question - why would the city be comfortable with combustible cigarettes being on shelves when we know they kill more than 480,000 Americans per year?"
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47636176
|
2019-03-20 09:37:09+00:00
| 1,553,089,029 | 1,567,545,504 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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24,874 |
bbc--2019-03-29--George Clooney calls for hotel boycott over Brunei LGBT laws
| 2019-03-29T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
George Clooney calls for hotel boycott over Brunei LGBT laws
|
Hollywood actor George Clooney is calling for a boycott of nine luxury hotels with links to Brunei, after the country said gay sex and adultery would soon be punishable by death. From 3 April, homosexuals could face being whipped or stoned in the tiny South East Asian state. In 2014, Brunei became the first East Asian country to adopt Islamic Sharia law despite widespread condemnation. Mr Clooney said the new laws amounted to "human rights violations". "In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone," the actor wrote in a column for the entertainment website Deadline. "Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws", he said. "But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?" He said Dorchester Collection hotels in the US, UK, France and Italy, which are owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, should be avoided by those who oppose the measures. Brunei, on the island of Borneo, is ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and has grown rich on oil and gas exports. The Sultan owns the Brunei Investment Agency, which counts some of the world's top hotels in its portfolio, including the Dorchester in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. "I've stayed at many of them," Mr Clooney wrote, "because I hadn't done my homework and didn't know who owned them. "Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens," he added. Other public figures have also announced they are boycotting the Dorchester Collection. Filmmaker Dustin Lance Black wrote on Twitter: "If you continue to stay at or frequent the Beverley Hills Hotel, you are guilty of financially supporting these murderers." BBC world affairs editor John Simpson also confirmed that he wouldn't be visiting hotels owned by the group. In 2014, Ellen DeGeneres and Stephen Fry vowed to boycott the group over Brunei's anti-gay laws. Brunei's ruling royals possess a huge private fortune and its largely ethnic-Malay population enjoy generous state handouts and pay no taxes. The Sultan introduced a tough Islamic penal code nearly five years ago which it said would be introduced over a period of several years. Under the new laws, theft will be punished by the amputation of a hand for a first offence and the amputation of a foot for a second offence. When he announced the move, the Sultan, 72, one of the world's wealthiest men, called the code "a part of the great history of our nation".
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47744566
|
2019-03-29 15:50:20+00:00
| 1,553,889,020 | 1,567,544,768 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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25,184 |
bbc--2019-04-03--Brunei implements stoning to death under anti-LGBT laws
| 2019-04-03T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Brunei implements stoning to death under anti-LGBT laws
|
Brunei is introducing strict new Islamic laws that make anal sex and adultery offences punishable by stoning to death. The new measures, that come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of other crimes including punishment for theft by amputation. Brunei's gay community has expressed shock and fear at the "medieval punishments". "You wake up and realise that your neighbours, your family or even that nice old lady that sells prawn fritters by the side of the road doesn't think you're human, or is okay with stoning," one Bruneian gay man, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC. The sultan of the small South-East Asian nation on Wednesday called for "stronger" Islamic teachings. "I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger," Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said in a public address, according to AFP news agency, without mentioning the strict new interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Muslims make up about two-thirds of the country's population of 420,000. Brunei has retained the death penalty but has not carried out an execution since 1957. The law mostly applies to Muslims, including children who have reached puberty, though some aspects will apply to non-Muslims. Under the new laws, individuals accused of certain acts will be convicted if they confess or if there were witnesses present. Individuals who have not reached puberty but are convicted of certain offences may be instead subjected to whipping. Sultan Hassanal heads the Brunei Investment Agency which owns the Dorchester Collection, an operator of some of the world's top hotels including the Dorchester in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Brunei's ruling royals possess a huge private fortune and its largely ethnic Malay residents enjoy generous state handouts and pay no taxes. But Hollywood actor George Clooney and other celebrities have now called for a boycott of the luxury hotels. TV host Ellen DeGeneres also called for people to "rise up", saying "we need to do something now". The hotel operator said it did "not tolerate any form of discrimination". "Dorchester Collection's code emphasises equality, respect and integrity in all areas of our operation, and strongly values people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees," it said. "Inclusion and diversity remain core beliefs." In another development, a honorary degree awarded by the UK's University of Aberdeen to Sultan Hassanal is under review. The country first introduced Sharia law in 2014 despite widespread condemnation, giving it a dual legal system with both Sharia and Common Law. The sultan had said then that the new penal code would come into full force over several years. The first phase, which covered crimes punishable by prison sentences and fines, was implemented in 2014. Brunei had delayed introducing the final two phases, which cover crimes punishable by amputation and stoning. But on Saturday, the government released a statement on its website saying the Sharia penal code would be fully implemented on Wednesday. In the days since, there has been international outrage and calls for the country to reverse course. "These abusive provisions received widespread condemnation when plans were first discussed five years ago," said Rachel Chhoa-Howard, a Brunei researcher at Amnesty International. "Brunei's penal code is a deeply flawed piece of legislation containing a range of provisions that violate human rights." The United Nations echoed the statement, calling the legislation "cruel, inhuman and degrading", and saying it marked a "serious setback" for human rights protection. According to rights group Human Rights Without Frontiers, stoning is still a punishment in countries such as Iran, Somalia and Sudan among others. There are several theories, but Matthew Woolfe, founder of human rights group The Brunei Project, said it could be linked to Brunei's weakening economy. "One theory is that it is a way for the government to strengthen its hold on power in the face of a declining economy that could potentially lead to some unrest in future," Mr Woolfe told the BBC. "Connected to this is [Brunei's] interest in attracting more investment from the Muslim world, along with more Islamic tourists… this could be seen as one way of appealing to this market." Mr Woolfe also added that the government might have hoped to get away with the latest roll-out without anyone realising. "I think that the government did want to ensure that the international uproar that followed implementation of the first phase in 2014 had well and truly died down before further [implementation], in the hope it would just quietly [do so] without anyone realising," he said. "It wasn't until increasing international attention that it finally came out and confirmed [this]." The penal code changes were posted on the attorney general's website in December but only came to public attention in late March. There was no public announcement. One 40-year-old gay Bruneian currently seeking asylum in Canada said the impact of the new penal code was already being felt in Brunei. The ex-government employee, who left Brunei last year after being charged with sedition for a Facebook post that was critical of the government, said people were "afraid". "The gay community in Brunei has never been open but when Grindr [a gay dating app] came that helped people meet in secret. But now, what I've heard is that hardly anyone is using Grindr anymore," Shahiran S Shahrani Md told the BBC. "They're afraid that they might talk to a police officer pretending to be gay. It hasn't happened yet but because of the new laws, people are afraid," he said. Another male Bruneian, who is not gay but has renounced Islam, said he felt "fearful and numb" in the face of the laws being implemented. "We ordinary citizens are powerless to stop Sharia law from being implemented," said the 23-year-old, who did not want to be identified. "Under Sharia, I would face the death penalty for apostasy." One gay man was hopeful that the laws might not be enforced widely. "Honestly, I'm not too scared as the government here often bluffs with the harsh punishments. But it can and will still happen even with it being rare." It is very unlikely to happen at all, people inside Brunei have told Bill Hayton, associate fellow with the Asia Pacific programme at Chatham House. "What I'm hearing from people in Brunei is that this is very, very unlikely to ever happen," he told BBC Radio Four. For instance, the laws stipulate that there must be four Muslim witnesses to the act of anal sex or adultery for it to be prosecuted, he said. "The way it is being explained to me is that this is a way for the sultan to look religious but make sure that none of these punishments will actually be carried out," Mr Hayton said.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47769964
|
2019-04-03 14:46:51+00:00
| 1,554,317,211 | 1,567,544,177 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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25,230 |
bbc--2019-04-03--Twitter blocks French government with its own fake news law
| 2019-04-03T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Twitter blocks French government with its own fake news law
|
A social media campaign from the French government has been blocked by Twitter - because of the government's own anti-fake-news law. Since December, France requires online political campaigns to declare who paid for them, and how much was spent. But now Twitter has rejected a government voter registration campaign. The company could not find a solution to obey the letter of the new law, officials said – and opted to avoid the potential problem altogether. The #OuiJeVote (Yes, I Vote) campaign encouraged voters to register for the European elections ahead of the deadline. It was operated by the French government information service, which had planned to pay for sponsored tweets, according to news agency AFP. Twitter's refusal to take money from the state to promote the message baffled many in France. One MP, Naïma Moutchou, tweeted: "I thought it was an April Fools!" Interior Minister Christophe Castanter also took to the platform to express frustration with the decision. "Twitter's priority should be to fight content that glorifies terrorism. Not campaigns to register on the electoral lists of a democratic republic." The new French law, which took effect in December, is designed to combat anonymous political messages and make clear who is paying for advertisements. It requires online platforms to provide "fair, clear and transparent" information about the person or company, and the amount paid, in an open and accessible database format. The government information service told AFP news agency: "Twitter does not know how to do that today, and so decided to have a completely hard-line policy, which is to cut any so-called political campaign." But it argued that the public information message, simply asking people to register to vote, should not count as a "political campaign". "It's not that the law has backfired against us, it's a platform which does not comply," it said. "In our opinion, this is a last stand on their part to put the discussion back on the table, with the aim of adjusting the measures."
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47800418
|
2019-04-03 11:15:06+00:00
| 1,554,304,506 | 1,567,544,177 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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25,236 |
bbc--2019-04-03--Which countries have the death penalty for gay sex
| 2019-04-03T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Which countries have the death penalty for gay sex?
|
Brunei is introducing new laws that make sex between men an offence punishable by stoning to death. It joins Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania and parts of Nigeria and Somalia, which also impose the death penalty for same-sex relationships, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). Identifying which countries have actually carried out these punishments, though, is difficult. Amnesty International says it has had no reports of executions under anti-homosexuality laws in the past few years. However, there have previously been reports of executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Nigeria has the punishment of stoning in its Muslim-majority northern states - but it has never been carried out. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and carried a punishment of up to 10 years in prison. The new measures introduced in Brunei also criminalise sex between women, carrying a penalty of 40 strokes of the cane and/or up to 10 years in jail. There are currently 70 countries that criminalise same-sex relations, according to the ILGA. Other countries have some form of legal restriction. Russia is included - even though same-sex relationships were formally legalised in 1993. This is because "a variety of repressive legal provisions" have come into force over the past decade, according to the ILGA. In many places, breaking these laws is punishable by long prison sentences, fines or even corporal punishment. Many of the states criminalising homosexual relations are Commonwealth countries (35 in total) with legal statutes originating from British colonial times. The Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland, has urged the government of Brunei to reconsider the new punishments, which, she says, "will potentially bring into effect cruel and inhuman punishments which contravene international human rights law and standards". A ruling by the Indian Supreme Court in 2018 removed India from the list of states that explicitly outlaw gay sex. India's membership of the Commonwealth had made its ruling, striking down a colonial-era law, particularly significant, said Tea Braun of the Human Dignity Trust, a UK-based charity that supports those challenging anti-gay laws. "Its dismantling by the Indian Supreme Court, after over a century and a half of oppression against LGBT people, signals a change in tide for the world," she told BBC News. In a number countries, legal challenges could bring about change: Gay marriage is now legal in 26 countries worldwide, the ILGA says. Definitions can sometimes be tricky though - the UK is included despite gay marriage remaining illegal in Northern Ireland. Brazil and Mexico are also on the ILGA's list because "through one legal route or another, it appears to be possible to marry in most jurisdictions". Countries where gay marriage is now legal: And in August 2018, Costa Rica's top court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage and gave legislators 18 months to change the law.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-45434583
|
2019-04-03 14:21:44+00:00
| 1,554,315,704 | 1,567,544,177 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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25,963 |
bbc--2019-04-17--UK to introduce porn age-checks in July
| 2019-04-17T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
UK to introduce porn age-checks in July
|
An age-check scheme designed to stop under-18s viewing pornographic websites will come into force on 15 July. From that date, affected sites will have to verify the age of UK visitors. If they fail to comply they will face being blocked by internet service providers. But critics say teens may find it relatively easy to bypass the restriction or could simply turn to porn-hosting platforms not covered by the law. Twitter, Reddit and image-sharing community Imgur, for example, will not be required to administer the scheme because they fall under an exception where more than a third of a site or app's content must be pornographic to qualify. Likewise, any platform that hosts pornography but does not do so on a commercial basis - meaning it does not charge a fee or make money from adverts or other activity - will not be affected. Furthermore, it will remain legal to use virtual private networks (VPNs), which can make it seem like a UK-based computer is located elsewhere, to evade the age checks. The authorities have, however, acknowledged that age-verification is "not a silver bullet" solution, but rather a means to make it less likely that children stumble across unsuitable material online. "The introduction of mandatory age-verification is a world-first, and we've taken the time to balance privacy concerns with the need to protect children from inappropriate content," said the Minister for Digital Margot James. "We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online, and these new laws will help us achieve this." It had originally been proposed that pornographic services that refused to carry out age checks could be fined up to £250,000. However, this power will not be enforced because ministers believe the threat to block defiant sites will be sufficient and that trying to chase overseas-based entities for payment would have been difficult. However, the government has said that other measures could follow. "We know that pornography is available on some social media platforms and we expect those platforms to do a lot more to create a safer environment for children," a spokesman for the Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) told the BBC. "If we do not see action then we do not rule out legislating in the future to force companies to take responsibility for protecting vulnerable users from the potentially harmful content that they host." The age checks were originally proposed by the now defunct regulator Atvod in 2014 and were enacted into law as part of the the Digital Economy Act 2017. But their rollout had been repeatedly delayed. UK-hosted pornographic video services already have to verify visitors' ages, as do online gambling platforms. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) - which gives movies their UK age certificates - will be responsible for regulating the effort. It will instruct internet providers which sites and apps to block for non-compliance. In addition, it can call on payment service providers to pull support, and ask search engines and advertisers to shun an offending business. The pornographic platforms themselves will have freedom to choose how to verify UK visitors' ages. But the BBFC has said that it will award solutions that adopt "robust" data-protection standards with a certificate, allowing them to display a green AV (age verification) symbol on their marketing materials to help consumers make an informed choice. One digital rights campaign group questioned the sense of this scheme being voluntary. "Having some age verification that is good and other systems that are bad is unfair and a scammer's paradise - of the government's own making," said Jim Killock from the Open Rights Group. "Data leaks could be disastrous. And they will be the government's own fault." Mindgeek, one of the adult industry's biggest players, has developed an online system of its own called AgeID, which it hopes will be widely adopted. It involves adults having to upload scans of their passports or driving licences, which are then verified by a third-party. It has said that all the information will be encrypted and that the AgeID system will not keep track of how each users' accounts are used. High street stores and newsagents will also sell separate age-verification cards to adults after carrying out face-to-face checks, according to the government. Dubbed "porn passes" by the media, the idea is that users would type in a code imprinted on the cards into pornographic websites to gain access to their content. The BBFC has said it will also create an online form for members of the public to flag non-compliant sites once the new regulations come into effect. "We want to make sure that when these new rules are implemented they are as effective as possible," commented the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). "To accomplish this, it is crucial the rules keep pace with the different ways that children are exposed to porn online." The age checks form part of a wider effort by the UK's authorities to make the internet safer to use for young people. Most recently, DCMS proposed the creation of a new regulator to tackle apps that contain content promoting self-harm and suicide, among other problems. In addition, the Information Commissioner's Office has proposed services stop using tools that encourage under-18s to share more personal data about themselves than they would do otherwise. The idea of the government keeping a database of verified porn viewers had sounded like a privacy and ethical nightmare. Luckily it has dodged that bullet. While ministers have ordered porn sites to age-verify users, they have not told them how they must do so. That means different sites will have different systems Those "porn passes" that your friendly local newsagent may soon dish out are a theoretical solution, but there is no obligation for any porn site to accept them. So, you may potentially have to verify yourself several times for several porn sites. Despite the introduction of a new kitemark-like badge to identify cyber-security conscious systems, there's still a concern that some will suffer data breaches causing people's adult interests to be exposed.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47960775
|
2019-04-17 11:34:17+00:00
| 1,555,515,257 | 1,567,542,692 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
|
26,364 |
bbc--2019-04-24--Russia offers passports to people in eastern Ukraine territories
| 2019-04-24T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Russia offers passports to people in eastern Ukraine territories
|
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday that makes it easier for those living in eastern Ukraine's separatist territories to access a Russian passport. The move is seen as a challenge to Volodmyr Zelensky, the former comedian elected president this weekend. In a Facebook post, Zelensky's team has labelled Russia "an aggressor state which wages war against Ukraine". Mr Putin said the new law is "purely a humanitarian issue". The decree is aimed at people living in the unrecognised republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, seized by Russian-backed separatists in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Mr Putin said people living in these areas were "completely deprived of civil rights" and could not "move normally" or "realise their most elementary needs". "We have no desire to create problems for the new Ukrainian authorities," Mr Putin added. Conflict in the region has claimed about 13,000 lives since Moscow annexed Kiev's Crimea peninsula in 2014. Mr Zelensky was elected as Ukraine's next president at the weekend with no previous political experience except playing the role of president in a comedy television show. In the run up to his election, he said he wanted to "renew relations" with eastern Ukraine and start a "powerful information war to end the conflict". In response, Russia says it wants him to show "sound judgement", "honesty" and "pragmatism" so that relations can improve. In the Facebook post, Zelensky's team said through the decree Russia had "acknowledged its responsibility as an occupier state". "This decree is not bringing us closer to achieving the ultimate goal: a cease-fire," it said. The message called on the international community to provide "diplomatic pressure and the pressure of sanctions". Ukraine's foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin labelled the decision a "continuation of aggression and interference in our internal affairs" and urged the residents of eastern Ukraine not to accept the passports. In a Twitter post, he told them: "Russia has deprived you of the present, and now it is trespassing on your future." There had been a school of thought that the election of Voldymyr Zelensky might bring fresh life to efforts to solve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. During the campaign he'd made vague if slightly conciliatory noises about the important of dialogue and talks. Russia seems to have killed any prospect of that. Firstly, Moscow held off from congratulating Mr Zelensky for his landslide win. Then just three days after the vote, Vladimir Putin announced that he'll give Russian passports to people, who everyone bar Russia, regards as Ukrainians living on Ukrainian soil. In Kiev it's being seen another step towards eventual Russian annexation. Mr Zelensky has been left with no choice. He's issued a statement condemning the Russian move and calling for increased pressure through diplomacy and sanctions. It's the sort of wording we've become used to seeing in the last five years from Ukraine. The fact that this time it's come from Mr Zelensky suggests that relations are unlikely to improve. Iryna Gersaschenko, the deputy speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, noted the timing of the announcement. Mr Putin "always uses moments of uncertainty and transition periods to plunge another knife into Ukraine's back," she said. She labelled the decision a "gross violation" of peace agreements signed by Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in 2015. In a tweet, Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevicius noted how Mr Putin used "passportization" in the breakaway Georgian areas of Abkhazia in 2002 and then South Ossetia in 2008, resulting in a 20% occupation of Georgian territory. Referring to the announcement being made shortly after the election result, Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya called the move a "time-based action" and said it was a challenge "not only for Kiev but Berlin, Paris, Brussels and Washington". He called for immediate action.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48045055
|
2019-04-24 18:53:04+00:00
| 1,556,146,384 | 1,567,541,908 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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26,464 |
bbc--2019-04-30--France harassment law hands out 447 fines in first months
| 2019-04-30T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
France harassment law hands out 447 fines in first months
|
French courts have handed down 447 fines in the past eight months under new laws to tackle street harassment of women. The "outrages sexistes" law was passed in August 2018, and allows for on-the-spot fines of up to €750 (£650). The first fine was handed down a month later to a man who slapped a woman's bottom on a bus and made lewd remarks. Equality Minister Marlène Schiappa said the number of cases since had proved such measures work. In a progress report to the French parliament, she said the figures were nothing to be ashamed of. "Many of you on these benches told us it would never work, that we would not be able to define offensive sexist behaviour," she said - and promised that the deterrent would "grow in power". She did, however, point to online abuse as an area where more needed to be done - saying some platforms such as Twitter were not co-operative in identifying the individuals behind accounts and removing offending content. The new law allows for fines between €90 and and €750 to be issued on the spot - a measure chosen because of the high number of women who do not want to engage in a lengthy and difficult formal complaint process. It had been planned for well over a year, but came into effect just a month after a video of a man assaulting a woman sitting at a café shocked viewers in France and around the world. At the same time, France had been grappling with sexual equality issues as its own version of the #MeToo movement – #BalanceTonPorc ("rat on your pig") – gained traction. A study released in early 2018 by Paris-based think tank Fondation Jean Jaurès found that one in eight French women had been raped at least once in their lives, while 43% had been touched in a sexual manner without their consent.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48104247
|
2019-04-30 09:21:24+00:00
| 1,556,630,484 | 1,567,541,627 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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26,745 |
bbc--2019-05-05--Brunei says it wont enforce death penalty for gay sex
| 2019-05-05T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Brunei says it won't enforce death penalty for gay sex
|
Brunei has backtracked on laws introduced last month that would have made sex between men and adultery punishable by stoning to death. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Sunday extended a moratorium on the death penalty to cover the new legislation. The rethink follows global outcry over the laws, including boycotts and celebrity protests. While still on the statue books for some crimes, no executions have been carried out in Brunei since 1957. Last month Brunei rolled out a strict new interpretation of Islamic laws, or Sharia. In a speech, the sultan said he was aware there had been "many questions and misperceptions" regarding the implementation of the legislation, called Syariah Penal Code Order (SPCO). While saying that a moratorium on the death penalty would be applied to the SPCO he also defended the new rules, saying their "merit" would become clear. The speech marks the first time the country's ruler has spoken publicly about the legislation since their introduction. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Muslims make up about two-thirds of the country's population of 420,000. The small South-East Asian nation first introduced Sharia law in 2014, giving it a dual legal system with both Sharia and Common Law. The first phase covered crimes punishable by prison sentences and fines. The laws introduced on 3 April marked the next phase of the legislation, and covered crimes punishable by amputation and stoning. The laws sparked international outrage, throwing the tiny South-East Asian nation into the global spotlight. Ahead of their implementation, the UN warned that the laws contravened international human rights standards set out in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights - which was ratified by Brunei in 2006. Celebrities including George Clooney and Elton John called for a boycott of luxury hotels with links to Brunei over the legislation. Mr Clooney said the new laws amounted to "human rights violations". Many in Brunei's gay community expressed shock and fear at the punishments.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-48171165
|
2019-05-05 19:17:32+00:00
| 1,557,098,252 | 1,567,541,114 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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27,009 |
bbc--2019-05-15--UK PM to bring Brexit bill to MPs in early June
| 2019-05-15T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
UK PM to bring Brexit bill to MPs in early June
|
Theresa May is giving MPs another chance to vote on Brexit in early June - whether or not the government and Labour have reached a deal by then. A vote on the bill that would pave the way for Brexit was "imperative" if the UK was to leave the EU before MPs' summer recess, Downing Street said. Labour sources say they will not back the bill without a cross-party deal. If Mrs May's plan is defeated, Number 10 said the UK is set for no deal or for Article 50 to be revoked. That is because the EU will not grant a further extension beyond 31 October, says BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith. Attempts to find a cross-party compromise began after the PM's Brexit deal was previously rejected three times by MPs. But government sources have told the BBC that there would not be a further attempt if the plan is rejected. The prime minister and Mr Corbyn met on Tuesday evening to discuss the ongoing talks. Number 10 described the discussions as "both useful and constructive". A spokesman said Theresa May had made clear the government's "determination to bring the talks to a conclusion and deliver on the referendum result to leave the EU". A Labour party spokesman said Mr Corbyn had "raised doubts over the credibility of government commitments, following statements by Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers seeking to replace the prime minister". He also said the Labour leader had called for "further movement" from the government and that the prime minister's team had agreed to bring back "further proposals tomorrow". Bringing the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill forward would allow the prime minister to push ahead with her ambition of delivering Brexit before the summer - despite the lack of agreement so far in the cross-party talks, said BBC political correspondent Iain Watson. He added that the proposed timetable nevertheless would allow "more space and more time" for the talks to continue. However, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said: "It is now time for Parliament to make a decision, reflecting the manifestos of both the Conservative and Labour parties at the last general election and to deliver Brexit in the way that the public were promised." In the 2017 general election, the two main parties promised in their manifestos to respect the result of the Brexit referendum. Brexiteer and Conservative MP Steve Baker said bringing the bill forward "over the heads" of DUP MPs - on whom the government relies for a majority - would "eradicate the government's majority". "What is the government thinking?" he asked. It's not exactly the same thumbs up or thumbs down that another meaningful vote would be. That is a straightforward yes or no to the divorce deal that the prime minister negotiated with the EU. This time, it will be the Withdrawal Bill which is a whole tome of new laws that will be needed to take us out of the European Union. The draft of that bill is still being kept under wraps. Very, very few people have seen it. It's much more detailed than just a vote on the agreement would be. Of course, that gives people more things to object to. Although Theresa May might have pleaded in cabinet that people on all sides have to move away from absolutism, and move to a mood of compromise, there's not much sign of it. As and when that bill actually emerges, that may well - in the words of one cabinet minister - make things worse before they can get better. DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said: "If the prime minister brings the withdrawal bill to the Commons for a vote, the question will be, 'What has changed?'. "Unless she can demonstrate something new that addresses the problem of the backstop, then it is highly likely her deal will go down to defeat once again." The backstop is the controversial part of the withdrawal deal that aims to ensure an open border on the island of Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without securing an all-encompassing deal. If the bill is introduced in the first week of June it will come seven days after the European Parliament elections - which Education Secretary Damian Hinds has acknowledged could be "difficult" for the Conservatives. A state visit by US President Donald Trump and a by-election in Peterborough will also take place that same week. The UK needs to pass a law to implement the withdrawal agreement - the part of the PM's Brexit deal which will take the country out of the EU - in UK law. This is a requirement under the terms of previous Brexit legislation passed last year. The legislation would make the citizens' rights part of the agreement directly enforceable in UK courts, and set their relationship with the EU's Court of Justice. It will also allow ministers to make "divorce payments" to the EU foreseen under the current deal, and give effect to the so-called backstop plan for the Irish border. MPs will be able to vote on amendments to the bill, and this could allow ministers to make good on any compromise they reach with Labour in the cross-party talks. The cross-party meetings have been going on for weeks with little sign of progress, and last week Mr Corbyn said talks were "difficult" because the government was "disintegrating". Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said a compromise was not impossible but talks could not continue "indefinitely". This latest announcement came as Conservative MPs wrote to Mrs May urging her not to agree a deal with Labour that included a customs union. The letter has been signed by 13 former Tory cabinet ministers and Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee. Labour have called for a permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU after Brexit, meaning there would be no internal tariffs (taxes) on goods sold between the UK and the rest of the bloc. But it would mean the UK could not negotiate its own trade deals on goods with other countries around the world, something many Brexit-supporting Tory MPs support.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48275827
|
2019-05-15 07:17:30+00:00
| 1,557,919,050 | 1,567,540,585 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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27,327 |
bbc--2019-05-30--Disney could pull productions from Georgia over abortion law
| 2019-05-30T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Disney could pull productions from Georgia over abortion law
|
Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney says Georgia's controversial new anti-abortion law would make it "difficult" for the company to keep filming there. Blockbusters like Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame, were recently shot in the state, due to its generous tax breaks for film productions. However, Iger said "many people who work for us will not want to work there" should the law go into effect. "We will have to heed their wishes," he told Reuters. Earlier this month, Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed the so-called "heartbeat bill," which would ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It is scheduled to come into effect on 1 January, but is expected to face challenges in the courts. The legislation has caused a furious backlash in Hollywood and led to calls for a boycott. Earlier this week, Netflix said it would "rethink" its operations there with chief content officer Ted Sarandos explaining: "We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law," He said the streaming giant would "work with the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] and others to fight it in court." Meanwhile, stars including Amy Schumer, Ben Stiller, Christina Applegate, Laverne Cox and Alec Baldwin wrote to the governor saying they would "do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women". Comedy actress and writer Kristen Wiig also confirmed to CNN that her new comedy had pulled out of filming in the state while the executive producers of a new Amazon show The Power said it was no longer scouting for filming locations in Georgia because of the controversial bill. Actor Jason Bateman, who stars in the Netflix show Ozark and in HBO's The Outsider, which are both currently filming in Georgia, told The Hollywood Reporter: "I will not work in Georgia, or any other state, that is so disgracefully at odds with women's rights". "Right now we are watching it very carefully," said Disney's Bob Iger, adding he didn't "see how it's practical for us to continue to shoot there." Disney's prospective withdrawal would be a huge blow to the state. Recently, Disney's Marvel Studios filmed portions of both Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame in Georgia. Georgia - which offers up to 30% tax breaks - has become a magnet for film and TV productions, employing more than 90,000 people. Website Film LA analysed a sample of the 100 top-grossing feature films released at the US box office in 2017 and found Georgia was tied for second place, behind California, as a location with the UK, each with 15 films in the top 100 in 2017. British location manager Steve Mortimore has worked with both Disney and Netflix and scouted for films including World War Z, the forthcoming Wonder Woman sequel and Ridley Scott's All The Money in the World. He told the BBC the clash over Georgia's abortion law could have "massive ramifications". Aside from Georgia's generous tax breaks for filmmakers, he said, "they have trained so many people to work in the industry, and so many experts have moved there who will have to move away again". Speaking about Disney and Netflix's threats to pull out of Georgia entirely, he told the BBC: "I'd be surprised if they went ahead and pulled out unless they had a plan B or C. "Those big Marvel films, they need huge spaces, 100,000 to 150,000 sq ft sound stages with all the facilities and they are limited. I know that Europe is absolutely fully booked up, there isn't anywhere else". In 2014, the British-based Pinewood studios opened Pinewood Atlanta, spanning 700 acres and providing 18 sound stages. It has declined to comment on the news reports, but Mortimore said it could be be "very painful for them". He claimed that London has now displaced Hollywood as the film industry's new capital, adding "the space just isn't available, people are queuing to film [in the UK] for the next three or four years". "It's an opportunity for somewhere else," he said. "Maybe LA can step in. They have huge TV productions but its a chance to stick their flag in the sand and say they are a major hub for movies again, which they lost to London." Recent productions based in Georgia include: Godzilla: King of Monsters, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, Black Panther, Pitch Perfect 3, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Stranger Things, Ozark and The Walking Dead. It is one of several US states to pass new, stricter laws on abortion, the latest being Louisiana. The new law prevents abortions in almost all circumstances once an embryonic heartbeat can be detected. Critics have pointed at what they see as an orchestrated challenge to a decades-old US Supreme Court ruling that protected a woman's right to choose an abortion. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48457401
|
2019-05-30 10:30:47+00:00
| 1,559,226,647 | 1,567,539,704 |
crime, law and justice
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law
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34,688 |
bbcuk--2019-01-03--Farmers warned of Brexit no-deal turbulence
| 2019-01-03T00:00:00 |
bbcuk
|
Farmers warned of Brexit no-deal 'turbulence'
|
Farmers and food producers face "considerable turbulence" if the UK leaves the EU with no deal, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said. He told the Oxford Farming Conference it was a "grim and inescapable fact" there would be tariffs on exports and new sanitary and other border checks. While "not perfect", he said Theresa May's Brexit deal would protect market access and provide economic certainty. The National Farmers Union called for a new law to protect food standards. And environmental campaigners said Mr Gove should set up an independent regulator to ensure that minimum standards to protect water, soil, wildlife and animal welfare are maintained. The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March, with MPs due to vote in the Commons in mid-January on the prime minister's withdrawal bill. Urging MPs to support the PM's deal, Mr Gove said it would ensure the UK left the Common Agricultural Policy but, at the same time, provide a smooth transition period for agriculture and guarantee continuous tariff-free and quota-free access to EU markets. From 2021, he said, the UK would be able to "largely diverge from EU regulation", enabling it to pursue its land management priorities and invest in technology which the EU has "turned its back on". "All of these are real gains that our departure from the EU can bring, but these real gains risk being undermined if we leave the EU without a deal," he said. Mr Gove, a leading figure in the 2016 Leave campaign, rejected suggestions that warnings about the economic impact of a no-deal exit were being over-stated and another example of "Project Fear". "No-one can be blithe or blase about the real impact on food producers in this country of leaving without a deal," he said. It was a "grim and inescapable fact", he said, that beef and lamb exports could face export tariffs of at least 40% if the UK defaulted to World Trade Organization rules, while standard tariffs of 11% could be levied on a host of agricultural products. "The combination of significant tariffs, where none exist now, friction and checks at the border, where none exist now, and the requirements to re-route or pay more for transport when current arrangements are frictionless, will all add to costs for producers," he said. The government has guaranteed to pay subsidies to farmers at current EU levels until 2022. After that there will be a "transitional period" in England, with an increasing link between funds and maintaining "public goods", such as access to the countryside and planting meadows. Mr Gove said these commitments offered farmers greater certainty than their EU competitors. But former minister Guto Bebb, who backs another Brexit referendum, said the proposed deal would leave "all the big questions unanswered". "There is no kind of fantasy Brexit deal that can meet all the promises made to farmers or the rural economy," he said. Mr Gove has insisted maintaining environmental and animal welfare standards is a critical element in farming sustainability and the UK "must not barter them away in a short-term trade off". The National Farmers Union is calling for "more than warm words" on the issue, with specific legislation to ensure the same standards are applied to imported food as home-grown produce. "We have always said a no-deal would be catastrophic for our industry," the NFU's president Minette Batters said. "We absolutely need an orderly departure from the EU and that's primarily because a lot of our input, 90% of our animal medicines and vaccines, chemicals and fertilisers, are produced in the EU. "We don't make those kind of things in the UK any more." The Nature Friendly Farming Network is warning that long-term food security will be at risk unless "ambitious" guidelines for the industry are set out in the Agriculture Bill, which outlines the policy for the industry after Brexit. "We can only guarantee long-term food security by protecting and managing the natural assets which enable food production," said its chairman Martin Lines. "If the government does not amend the Bill to include minimum standards - and put a stop to the environmental degradation caused by intensive farming - British farmers will be in danger of losing their livelihoods."
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46743164
|
2019-01-03 11:55:31+00:00
| 1,546,534,531 | 1,567,554,147 |
crime, law and justice
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law
|
34,018 |
bbc--2019-12-16--Citizenship Amendment Act: India PM Modi appeals for calm as protests grow
| 2019-12-16T00:00:00 |
bbc
|
Citizenship Amendment Act: India PM Modi appeals for calm as protests grow
|
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for calm as violent protests against a new law on illegal migrants entered a fifth day. Large demonstrations are taking place in the capital Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Monday's protests came a day after clashes between police and protesters in Delhi left at least 50 injured. Protesters are angry at a law entitling citizenship to some non-Muslim migrants from three Muslim-majority countries. But people are divided on why they have taken to the streets. Some critics say the law is anti-Muslim, while others - especially in border regions - fear large-scale migration. The protests - which have left six people dead - began in the north-eastern state of Assam on Thursday, before spreading to other parts of northern and eastern India. But as students resumed their protests on Monday, Mr Modi attempted to calm tensions in a series of tweets. "No Indian has anything to worry regarding this act. This act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India," the prime minister wrote. "This is the time to maintain peace, unity and brotherhood." Authorities have tried to curb the protests by shutting down internet services, so it is unclear how many people in affected areas have seen his tweets. Several lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to intervene, pointing out that officers had allegedly assaulted students in bathrooms, but the chief justice said that the court would not take any action until the protests ceased. Delhi police spokesman MS Randhawa denied the allegations, saying his officers "exercised maximum restraint". The UK, US and Canada have issued travel warnings for people visiting India's north-east, telling their citizens to "exercise caution" if travelling to the region. What is happening in Delhi? Protests resumed at the city's prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia university on Monday morning, despite violent clashes on Sunday which resulted in 35 students being detained. A march on Sunday ended with at least three buses and several motorbikes being torched, roads blocked and stones being thrown at officers, who responded with tear gas. The university said police later entered the campus without permission and video footage showed police assaulting students and staff. Videos shot by students show police beating up students inside campus areas like bathrooms and the library. Police have said that they did what was "necessary" to stop the protests. The university's vice chancellor, Najma Akhtar, condemned the police action on Monday, telling reporters they would be filing a court case against the police and demanding a high-level inquiry. She also denied rumours of student deaths. Hundreds of people also protested in other parts of the city, including in Jawaharlal Nehru University and outside the city's police headquarters. India's Chief Justice Sharad Bobde said that the Supreme Court will intervene only if "the atmosphere settles down", adding that student protesters could not "take the law into their own hands". "The court can't do anything right now. Let the riots stop," he said. Meanwhile, Delhi police spokesman MS Randhawa appealed for calm and asked students to not get provoked, even as he denied allegations of excessive force. "Police exercised utmost restraint. There was no firing and we have used minimum force," he said at a press conference on Monday. The police have been heavily criticised, with many on social media alleging that officers attacked students with sticks and tear gas when they were peacefully protesting. But Mr Randhawa said students and locals threw stones at the police first, adding that 30 policemen were injured. "We will identify outside protesters and take action against them," he said. What has the reaction been in other Indian cities? Live footage from the northern city of Lucknow on Monday showed students at Nadwa university throwing stones at security forces, who retaliated by throwing the stones back at them. The students have been locked inside the campus. In Kolkata, tens of thousands of people have joined a demonstration led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her ruling Trinamool Congress party. The situation remains tense and more protests are expected. Students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in the southern city of Chennai (formerly Madras) have already announced a protest this afternoon. Why is the law so divisive? The law allows non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who entered India illegally, to become citizens. The Hindu-nationalist BJP government argues that the law aims to accommodate those who have fled religious persecution. Critics say the law is part of the government's agenda to marginalise Muslims, and that it violates secular principles enshrined in the constitution. Earlier this week, the United Nations Human Rights office voiced concern that the new law was fundamentally discriminatory in nature. The government denies any religious bias and says Muslims are not covered by the new law because they are not religious minorities, and therefore do not need India's protection. Meanwhile, people in Assam fear that they will be "overrun" by illegal non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They argue that outsiders will take over their land and jobs - eventually dominating their culture and identity.
| null |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50805092
|
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 11:12:50 GMT
| 1,576,512,770 | 1,576,498,019 |
crime, law and justice
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law
|
48,352 |
bearingarms--2019-11-11--New Zealand's Next Gun Law: "Firearms Prohibition Orders"
| 2019-11-11T00:00:00 |
bearingarms
|
New Zealand's Next Gun Law: "Firearms Prohibition Orders"
|
New Zealand’s compensated confiscation program isn’t going so well, with a compliance rate hovering around 20% with a little more than a month to go before the amnesty period expires. Now the government is considering a new way to confiscate firearms called a “Firearms Prohibition Order”. Ostensibly designed to prevent “high risk” individuals from being around a firearm, the proposed law could potentionally be used and abused to go after law abiding citizens as well. FPOs would set conditions that people must follow and allow police to monitor and create penalties for breaches. Police would be given greater powers to investigate people, search properties, confiscate illegal firearms parts and ammunition and monitor people with a history of offending. “FPOs would prevent people from being around others who have firearms, using them under supervision, or being at a location that enables access to guns,” Nash said. In practice this would mean that a person subject to an FPO could not be in a place where guns are held or stored. Supposedly, this new law would target those who’ve previously been convicted of crimes and are prohibited from owning firearms, as opposed to legal gun owners. Maybe I’m being too cynical, but I could easily imagine these FPO’s eventually being issued against individuals suspected of continuing to own the now-banned semi-automatic rifles. Even if the law is only used against those with previous convictions, it would still be an egregious abuse of power. It would allow police to enter those homes without a warrant in search of firearms, and would make a mockery out of the idea of reasonable search and seizure laws, which even Nash acknowledges. “We have been open that FPOs would come at a potential cost to human rights protections such as the right to be secure against unreasonable search.” Since March police had seized about 1600 firearms from gangs and other offenders. “It alarms me how often police are turning up to events where there is a firearm …. criminal organisations are becoming more sophisticated, more organised and a lot more willing to present or use guns. We need to ensure police have the resources to deal with this.” Nash said. New Zealand’s government believes that individual rights are subservient to the needs of the State, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made clear when discussing the proposal. Ardern misses the point of the criticism. If this law is only going to be used against those who are prohibited by law because of a previous conviction, then we’re not talking about the “privilege of coming into contact with firearms.” We’re talking about the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, freedom of association, and other basic human rights beyond the right of self-defense. Ardern doesn’t necessarily believe that people with convictions for violent offenses have fewer rights than those who without a conviction. Ultimately, I don’t think she believes anybody has any inherent right. They only have privileges granted by the State. The government may call them “rights”, but it certainly don’t treat them that way. In the name of safety, New Zealanders are being asked to give up even more personal liberty. Unfortunately for them, they’ll likely end up less safe and less free if this proposal becomes law.
| null |
https://bearingarms.com/came/2019/11/11/new-zealands-next-gun-law-firearms-prohibition-orders/
|
Mon, 11 Nov 2019 14:29:41 Z
| 1,573,500,581 | 1,573,518,058 |
crime, law and justice
|
law
|
381,466 |
newyorkpost--2019-11-22--Sleepy kitten cuddles up inside dog’s fur
| 2019-11-22T00:00:00 |
newyorkpost
|
Sleepy kitten cuddles up inside dog’s fur
|
This kitty doesn’t need a pillow — she’s got a fluffy friend instead. Watch as 1-month-old kitten Strawberry hikes up the body of a 7-year-old husky — named Polar Bear — for a comfy nap. The cat-dog duo from Vancouver, Washington, became best friends as soon as they met, and their adorable cuddling will melt any animal lover’s heart.
|
New York Post Video
|
https://nypost.com/video/sleepy-kitten-cuddles-up-inside-dogs-fur/
|
Fri, 22 Nov 2019 06:55:24 -0500
| 1,574,423,724 | 1,574,424,835 |
human interest
|
animal
|
525,233 |
sputnik--2019-02-13--Bengal Kitten Gets Greedy When it Comes to Grooming
| 2019-02-13T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Bengal Kitten Gets Greedy When it Comes to Grooming
|
Video recently uploaded by Rumble Viral features one feline who cannot get enough of a doll brush — she won't even share with her canine brother! Seeing the enjoyment the pooch gets from the brushing, the Bengal cat uses its paw to persuade the human to spread the love. Unfortunately for her, the human ends up teasing her with a few brushes before going back to the patient pooch.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201902131072397537-bengal-cat-dog-greedy-grooming/
|
2019-02-13 20:42:04+00:00
| 1,550,108,524 | 1,567,548,704 |
human interest
|
animal
|
527,120 |
sputnik--2019-02-28--Golden Retriever and Kitten Adorable Best Friends
| 2019-02-28T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Golden Retriever and Kitten Adorable Best Friends
|
Many people see cats and dogs as enemies, given that the house pets have completely different temperaments and compete for the affections of their human companions. However, it doesn't always have to be that way. In this video, the dog and the kitten play like best friends.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201902281072822316-golden-retriever-kitten/
|
2019-02-28 06:57:00+00:00
| 1,551,355,020 | 1,567,547,047 |
human interest
|
animal
|
530,676 |
sputnik--2019-04-09--Gentle Golden Retriever Warms Up to Kitten Additions
| 2019-04-09T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Gentle Golden Retriever Warms Up to Kitten Additions
|
Having a new pet in the house can sometimes make other fur babies a little jealous, but recent video from Viral Paws proves that's not always the case! Originally posted on the Chinese social media site Kuaishou, the compilation clip shows a number of scenes in which the golden retriever is gently interacting with the four kittens. Whether toting them in a basket, cuddling or delivering a few friendly licks, it would appear these pets are going to get along just fine!
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201904101073973393-gentle-golden-retriever-welcomes-kittens/
|
2019-04-09 22:30:00+00:00
| 1,554,863,400 | 1,567,543,503 |
human interest
|
animal
|
537,111 |
sputnik--2019-07-01--Copy That Hilarious Cat Mom and Her Kitten Yawn Simultaneously
| 2019-07-01T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Copy That! Hilarious Cat Mom and Her Kitten Yawn Simultaneously
|
This little kitten is just like mom – the same colour, same face… and the same manners! Well, our feline friends need a lot of sleep – sometimes over 14 hours a day, so it's no wonder they yawn so wide that people on the other side of the screen begin to yawn as well.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201907011076113426-copy-that-hilarious-cat-mom-and-her-kitten-yawn-simultaneously/
|
2019-07-01 16:00:00+00:00
| 1,562,011,200 | 1,567,537,408 |
human interest
|
animal
|
553,405 |
sputnik--2019-12-17--More Precious Than Any Gadget: Kitten Takes Nap in iPhone Box
| 2019-12-17T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
More Precious Than Any Gadget: Kitten Takes Nap in iPhone Box
|
A highly amusing and cute situation has been caught on camera in which a kitten was seen sleeping soundly in a white iPhone box. Its siblings were circling around the cutie little pie, apparently wishing to get into its improvised cradle, living up to a well-known fact about felines - there is literally no box that a cat won't try to fit into. However, the kitty is unperturbed by such insolence, until its owner started rubbing its plump little belly and chest with a finger. Only then did the sweet thing shake off its slumber, looking around in a perplexed manner, trying to figure out who dared to disturb its peaceful sleep.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201912171077598454-more-precious-than-any-gadget-kitten-takes-nap-in-iphone-box/
|
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 19:00:00 +0300
| 1,576,627,200 | 1,576,629,622 |
human interest
|
animal
|
646,917 |
thedailyrecord--2019-04-02--Watch as adorable kitten hitches a ride with Scot cycling around the world
| 2019-04-02T00:00:00 |
thedailyrecord
|
Watch as adorable kitten hitches a ride with Scot cycling around the world
|
A Scot cycling around the world has found a new travelling companion - a tiny abandoned kitten . Dean Nicholson, 31, began his journey in his hometown Dunbar, East Lothian, last September and plan to cycle across the globe. Three months and nine countries in to his journey, Dean came across a kitten while cycling through Bosnia. Realising that she was desperately hungry and had probably been dumped by her previous owner, Dean gave her some food and named her Nala. The kitten began following Dean wherever he went and the cyclist quickly fell in love with his new friend. Now the pair are travelling the globe together after Dean decided he couldn’t leave her behind. Dean said: “I turned round and I had this wee monster chasing me meowing her heart out. “She was quite scurfy looking and she was quite skinny. “My first thought was I wasn’t going to take her. I then decided well I’ve got to take her now. “And I decided to take her on this journey.” After deciding to adopt Nala, Dean took her to a vet where she was chipped, wormed and had a rabies shot. She was estimated to be about seven weeks old. Dean then cleared a space for Nala to travel with him on his bike but she wanted to be closer to him and now sits on his shoulder as he cycles. In January Dean launched a A GoFundMe to help cover vet bills and to help bring Nala safely back to Scotland. A total of more than £3,000 has already been raised. Writing on his GoFundMe page Dean wrote: “I was coming up to the Bosnia-Montenegro border when I heard a little kitten, chasing me trying to get my attention. “We were 12 miles from the nearest town and it was soon clear by her friendly nature and desperate hunger her owner had intentionally dumped her. “After a trip to the vet, her gender was confirmed and the names for her came rolling in. Pussy Galore.. Meowtenegro.. but with her feisty and loving personality Nala was clearly the best fit. “Through Montenegro we explored abandoned villas and hidden beaches, with Nala on my shoulder through the good and the bad. “Across the border into Albania Christmas soon came and we made our home in the Himara hostel brewing Raki and exploring what Albania had to offer. “Nala and I want to continue travelling the world on our bike.” Well wishers from around the world have pledged their support to Dean and Nala. Kelly from New Zealand wrote on Dean GoFundMe page: “I think what you are doing is amazing! All the best!” Whilst Allyson Smith in Vietnam wrote: “I can’t get enough of you and Nala! If you two come to Vietnam, you’ve got a couch and Nala will have a friend. Wheels down friends!”
|
Jennifer Hyland
|
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/watch-adorable-kitten-hitches-ride-14224392
|
2019-04-02 13:42:44+00:00
| 1,554,226,964 | 1,567,544,349 |
human interest
|
animal
|
653,862 |
thedailyrecord--2019-11-20--Glasgow kitten left blind after being neglected and sold online at just four weeks old
| 2019-11-20T00:00:00 |
thedailyrecord
|
Glasgow kitten left blind after being neglected and sold online at just four weeks old
|
A Glasgow kitten has been left blinded after being neglected by it's owner and sold online at just four weeks old. Little Cookie has been described as the poorest wee soul by the Cats Protection Glasgow Adoption Centre after he was brought into their care. The kitten had been bought online for £150 and handed over to a buyer who was unaware of his critical eye condition. He was rushed to a vet after his new owners saw his condition. Vets say the sight they were confronted with when he was brought to the centre last Thursday was 'truly heartbreaking' and say they are unsure if they will be able to save his sight. Staff said: "It’s utterly devastating to think that human neglect could mean he never sees the world around him but we will do absolutely everything we can for him and we are keeping everything crossed that his sight can be saved." The alarming post read: "I don’t really know where to start with this post and it’s going to be a long one but the main reason for it is to highlight the sometimes heartbreaking reality of buying a kitten online. "Last Thursday, the poorest wee soul with the worst sore eyes I’ve seen in my nearly six years at the centre was brought in to our care and at the time of writing this post, our vets don’t know whether his eyes can be saved as we need to wait until the swelling goes down." Cookie's new owner spent two weeks going back and forth to the vet, which cost around £200. After being told the kitten was still very poorly they contacted the charity. Cookie was weighing in as a two to three week old kitten but vets estimate he is probably around six weeks old now. Vets went on to say a four week old kitten is still fully dependent their mums and are generally weaned around the six week mark. They say that time period is crucial to their development. The post continued: "Kittens should be with their mum until they are at least eight weeks old but we see time and time again that they are being sold much younger online although being advertised as 8 weeks old. "What I can say about Cookie is that he is a wee fighter & he is acting like any other kitten. "With help, he is eating well, finding his way to his litter tray and using it, playing with toys we give him, grooming himself and purring like a wee machine. "We will continue to keep you all updated with his progress so please keep our wee Cookie in your thoughts and please note that we are nowhere near looking for offers of a home for him as his recovery with us will unfortunately be a long one."
|
[email protected] (Lynn Love)
|
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/glasgow-kitten-left-blind-after-20924388
|
Wed, 20 Nov 2019 19:41:13 +0000
| 1,574,296,873 | 1,574,295,999 |
human interest
|
animal
|
766,152 |
theindependent--2019-07-20--Driver filmed dropping kitten out of car window on busy road
| 2019-07-20T00:00:00 |
theindependent
|
Driver filmed dropping kitten out of car window on busy road
|
The RSPCA has appealed for witness after a six-week-old kitten was dropped out of a moving car in the middle of a busy road. Dashcam footage shows motorists stopping to rescue the animal after spotting it lying abandoned on the dual carriageway in Pontypool, Wales. The kitten was taken to a local vet for checks but did not suffer any injuries. A witness told the RSPCA they saw the cat come out a car window on the roundabout between the A4043 and A472 on 30 June at around 4.23pm. “We’re very grateful to those who managed to safely stop when this happened and help this poor kitten,” said inspector David Milborrow, who is investigating this incident. “It was remarkable that this kitten survived this shocking incident without injury. “We’re now appealing to any other drivers who may have seen this happen.” Investigators believe the kitten may have come from a grey car, which was possibly a Fiat. The footage also shows a red Mazda car that also stopped a few metres further down the road. “We’d really like to speak to them to see what they witnessed,” said Inspector Milborrow. The kitten is being looked after by a foster carer with charity Cats Protection in Gwent. Contact the appeal line with information on 0300 123 8018.
|
Peter Stubley
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/kitten-drop-car-window-road-pontypool-wales-rspca-a9013436.html
|
2019-07-20 11:24:19+00:00
| 1,563,636,259 | 1,567,536,302 |
human interest
|
animal
|
821,633 |
thepoke--2019-07-01--This kitten really wants to scare its owner and its very funny and totally adorable
| 2019-07-01T00:00:00 |
thepoke
|
This kitten really wants to scare its owner and it’s very funny and totally adorable
|
If you only watch one funny cat video this week, then make it this one. It was shared online by the owner of this 8 w/o kitten who really, really wants to scare its owner. And this is how it does it. And some of our favourite responses.
|
John Plunkett
|
https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2019/07/01/this-kitten-really-wants-to-scare-its-owner-and-its-very-funny-totally-adorable/
|
2019-07-01 11:03:23+00:00
| 1,561,993,403 | 1,567,537,346 |
human interest
|
animal
|
1,027,218 |
thetorontostar--2019-07-04--Police Man throws kitten from moving vehicle on Long Island
| 2019-07-04T00:00:00 |
thetorontostar
|
Police: Man throws kitten from moving vehicle on Long Island
|
NEW YORK - Police say a man has been arrested on Long Island after throwing a kitten from a moving vehicle, killing the animal. Hector Herrera Castillo was booked Thursday with one felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals. Sgt. Michael Joyce of the Southampton Town Police Department said the kitten was found dead on the road near Flanders, in Suffolk County. Joyce said the animal belonged to the 43-year-old Castillo. Police received a call about 8 a.m. from a motorist who reported seeing the kitten thrown from the vehicle.
|
The Associated Press
|
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/us/2019/07/04/police-man-throws-kitten-from-moving-vehicle-on-long-island.html
|
2019-07-04 22:13:26+00:00
| 1,562,292,806 | 1,567,536,961 |
human interest
|
animal
|
1,045,827 |
trueactivist--2019-07-25--Little Black Kitten Gets A Second Chance At Life And Now Nurses Other Animals Back To Health
| 2019-07-25T00:00:00 |
trueactivist
|
Little Black Kitten Gets A Second Chance At Life And Now Nurses Other Animals Back To Health
|
Nobody can get enough of reading heart-warming tales, especially when it’s about pets. This is the sweetest story about Rademenes, a little black kitten. This small warrior miraculously survived an upper-respiratory infection that almost took its life. After finding out about this serious sickness, the cat was brought to an animal shelter in Bydgoszcz, Poland to finally undergo euthanasia and put him out of his misery. Nobody thought that he would ever heal again! Luckily, he was able to beat the infection and was given a second chance at life, or a ninth chance – if you are counting in cat’s lives. Today, Rademenes is still living at the shelter, but no longer as a sick and dying patient. Today, this amazing animal is now helping other animals in the shelter. According to the staff members, Rademenes acts like their full-time nurse by taking care of the other injured animals. How does he care for them? He gives them tender loving care and comforts them when they are feeling down and weak. You’ll see him roam around the shelter cuddling the other sick animals, especially those that have undergone surgeries and are recuperating from it. The ‘cat nurse’ shows his care for them by cleaning the ears of its “patients.” Cats and dogs have this magical talent of sensing someone else’s pain or aches. Have you ever been sad, feeling sick or depressed and your pet goes near you to cuddle you and just spend time with you? Trust their animal instinct, and enjoy their cuddles and attention because they can sense these things. What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!
|
True Activist
|
http://www.trueactivist.com/little-black-kitten-gets-a-second-chance-at-life-and-now-nurses-other-animals-back-to-health-t1/
|
2019-07-25 01:28:57+00:00
| 1,564,032,537 | 1,567,535,813 |
human interest
|
animal
|
60,114 |
birminghammail--2019-04-06--Police rescue cute puppy tied to lamppost choking on his lead in Birmingham
| 2019-04-06T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Police rescue cute puppy tied to lamppost choking on his lead in Birmingham
|
A puppy found tied to a lamppost has been rescued by West Midlands Police. When officers found the Rottweiler pup, he was choking on his lead. Having no collar, Stechford Police C Unit decided to pick him up. They contacted Willow Vets in Shirley, Solihull , where staff took him in. "The police brought him in after 10pm on Friday night," said client care manager Amber Barratt at Willows Vets. "He's fit and healthy and a really lovely dog." She added: "The police had found him tied to a lamppost in Yardley. He looks like he should be owned. Sometimes this happens with bigger dogs. "He's not microchipped so there's no way of tracking his owner. We'll be passing him onto Solihull dog wardens but they're not there until Monday so we'll be looking after him until then, taking him for walks and giving him a bath." A West Midlands Police spokesman tweeted: "Rottweiler puppy found tied to a lamppost in stechford with no collar and the lead choking him. We have picked him up thanks to Willows Vets for taking him in." Find out more about this dog at Birmingham Dogs Home from Monday April 8. The RSPCA West Midlands says it does not have enough resources to pick up healthy strays. However, if you've found a sick or injured stray, you can report them to the RSPCA or Birmingham City Council 's dog warden service. Find out more here If you've found a healthy looking dog, the RSPCA says: Report the stray dog to the council. If it's safe, check whether the dog is wearing a tag, call the number and leave a message. Ask local vets to scan them for a microchip. Create a found poster and place around the local area Check listings and add details on missing pet websites. We refer the public to Pets Located, exclusively used by our inspectors, but you can find other similar websites through search engines. If you decide to take the dog home while you wait for the warden to arrive, please be aware that lost dogs may be scared and distressed - read our dog care advice and our behaviour guide to help keep the dog and your family happy and safe. Don't forget that a lost dog could be scared. If you're unsure about their behaviour, please don't approach and wait for the dog warden to arrive. By law, you can't keep a stray dog. If you want to rehome the dog, leave your details with the warden. Why not read our pet care advice if you're considering pet adoption.
|
Zoe Chamberlain
|
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-rescue-cute-puppy-tied-16087941
|
2019-04-06 13:10:27+00:00
| 1,554,570,627 | 1,567,543,739 |
human interest
|
animal
|
69,091 |
birminghammail--2019-12-13--Dog warning after puppy mauled in unprovoked Sutton Coldfield street attack
| 2019-12-13T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Dog warning after puppy mauled in unprovoked Sutton Coldfield street attack
|
A dog on the loose allegedly attacked a puppy on a Sutton Coldfield street and now the victim’s owners are calling for more action. An Akita dog, which was said to be roaming without its owner, pounced ono a six-month-old puppy on a lead in Springfield Road in Falcon Lodge, at around 11am last Thursday (December 5), it is claimed. The puppy suffered an inch-long wound which was a quarter-of-an-inch deep – and just missed its lung. The dog’s owner, who was out walking it, said: “I was walking our six-month-old puppy along Springfield Road by Fowler Road. “I was walking in to the sun. I could see the dog on the corner of the road. I assumed the dog was on a lead. My little one was on a lead. I pulled him in a bit. “Then the dog, which we now believe to be an Akita, raced across the road and was right on to our puppy taking a chunk of skin out. “I managed to get the dog off him. A car pulled up and the driver had a Staffie on the front seat snarling and it distracted the Akita from my dog. “My main concern when I rang the police originally was if that had been a young child, what would have happened? “The police said it’s not a crime – dog on dog. I said that was a dangerous dog.” The dog walker’s husband added “Our puppy has been in surgery. The Akita was out on its own, nobody was with it and no collar on in a public place. It cost us £423. “There was a man in a car who came to the rescue and a woman also helped. "They fought with the dog to get it off the puppy for which I am very grateful. This enabled my wife to escape with the puppy. “Since then my wife was told about another attack in a local playing field where an Akita attacked a Labrador, which was on a lead with the owner. A lady was with the dog that time, which she grabbed and ran off. The Labrador owner has had to pay over £500. “Our dog is a lot better but had a rough time with the wound. He yelps when it stings.” West Midlands Police confirmed they spoke to the couple about the incident. A spokeswoman for the force said: “We are aware of an incident where it appears that a dog was attacked by another dog. From our point of view there has been no crime committed and this is a civil matter.”
|
[email protected] (Nick Horner)
|
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/dog-warning-after-puppy-mauled-17418697
|
Fri, 13 Dec 2019 17:12:24 +0000
| 1,576,275,144 | 1,576,284,370 |
human interest
|
animal
|
168,555 |
eveningstandard--2019-03-20--Dogs of Instagram Famous furry influencers to follow for your daily cute puppy fix
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Dogs of Instagram: Famous furry influencers to follow for your daily cute puppy fix
|
Some days, social media can be bleak. For those looking to lighten their Instagram feeds, we've rounded up the best pupfluencers. What sets these doggies apart? In our search we looked not only for those with large followings (over 10k - although we did make a few exceptions) but a bit of personality and a good mix of breeds too, from tiny daschunds to golden doodles. These pups are from all over the world, but if you want to go local, head here for New York City's best Instagram dogs. Loulou the mini dachshund is one of the most entertaining pups on Instagram, living a life of leisure on a farm in the Netherlands. Loulou even eats better than most humans, enjoying a mostly raw diet and fresh fruit and vegetables. Hit follow for Loulou’s adventures with hedgehogs, sugar gliders and ducklings. Norbert is only three pounds but his personality is much larger than that. He has more than 1.8 million fans who buy his merch and follow his philanthropic endeavors, including doling out high fives to friends. The registered therapy dog (and influencer) is a mix of Chihuahua, Cairn Terrier, and Lhasa Apso, making him one of a kind. Natural habitat: Norbert regularly volunteers at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. He also spends time with his little brother, golden retriever Fred. Future service dog Barclay is currently serving as the St. Louis Blues hockey team's mascot. He's even helped them out on the ice by (mostly) playing with the puck. Margo Bean the Frenchie is one chic pup, spending time in sunglasses and flower crowns - she's basically ready for Coachella, which makes sense, as she is based in California. Follow for festival season fashion inspiration. Her motto is "Treat yourself," which truly explains her entire aesthetic. Pickles only has 4,000 followers but certainly deserves more for being an extremely good girl. Natural habitat: Pickles loves nature even more than guys on Tinder who won't stop posting hiking pictures. Rufus and Scooter provide the entertainment of two pups but you only have to follow one account. The long-haired miniature dachshunds live in Canada, where they spend time in the snow and inside their tiny teepee. Natural habitat: They're more adventurous than your favorite travel blogger, hanging out in the snow (in matching Santa Claus costumes, obviously) or running through the sand on a California beach. Benson the Doodle is a certified #pupfluencer, providing his 19,000 Instagram followers with perfectly filtered photos for a carefully curated grid. The Australian Labradoodle lives in Seattle and isn't afraid of a little #sponcon. Tungsten is a noted bowtie enthusiast who definitely knows how to accessorize, whether it's tiny socks or a faux fur parka hood. Another two pups worth a single follow are Kaladin and Storm, Aussie brothers living in Colorado. When they're not frolicking in the snow, they're hanging in a hammock or posing in front of mountainous backdrops that look like screensavers. Natural habitat: Swimming, hiking, or sitting by the fire. Prepare for double trouble in the form of Lychee and Mochee, two corgis who like dressing up and always look like they’re making a meme. Natural habitat: Wearing complimentary ensembles, whether it’s wedding gear or Santa hats on the beach. This Cavalier King Charles will be the most beautiful pup on your feed by far. Natural habitat: Staging glamorous photoshoots with Starbucks cups and tutus, just like a modern-day Carrie Bradshaw - only far cuter.
|
Margaret Abrams
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/living/dogs-of-instagram-famous-furry-influencers-to-follow-for-your-daily-cute-puppy-fix-a4091111.html
|
2019-03-20 17:53:00+00:00
| 1,553,118,780 | 1,567,545,480 |
human interest
|
animal
|
285,128 |
latimes--2019-12-18--The puppy was cute and expensive. And then it died
| 2019-12-18T00:00:00 |
latimes
|
The puppy was cute and expensive. And then it died
|
The Loy family realized pretty quickly that something was wrong with their new puppy, a red-brown bundle of fluff they christened Penny. But they could not have imagined how much trouble they were in for when they drove into the parking lot of a Tijuana’s Tacos restaurant in Pomona to take possession of a 9-to 12-week-old miniature goldendoodle. They’d found Penny online and fallen in love. They’d shelled out $1,200 cash in March 2018, for what they thought was a pure-bred designer dog, healthy, happy and hypoallergenic. Half the money came from then-10-year-old Manuel, who earned it sweeping floors in his father’s barbershop. It cleaned out his entire savings. They eventually found out that the sellers belonged to a Phelan family whose matriarch had been the target of an FBI sting, pleaded guilty in 2011 to a federal fraud charge and sentenced to 41 months in prison for selling sick and abused horses over the internet. But first the Loys had their hearts broken. Penny, it turned out, wasn’t a girl. They renamed the puppy Bear and rolled with it. But he also wasn’t a goldendoodle — half golden retriever, half poodle. Instead, a veterinarian told the family, Bear was, maybe, a Maltipoo -- equal parts Maltese and toy poodle. His fur wasn’t red-brown either; the dye began to wash off during his first bath in the Loy’s La Habra home. All that was bad enough, but it got worse. Bear was only about four weeks old — way too young to have been taken from his mother. And he was very, very sick. Jessica Loy is one of nine people who filed suit against the Kenney family Monday, charging that Trina and Rick Kenney and their children Elijah and Jezriel allegedly operated what the lawsuit described as “one of the worst animal peddling operations in the country — the sale of sick and diseased puppies over the internet.” The families ended up spending thousands of dollars — on the animals, on veterinary bills, on sanitizing their homes after the dogs were diagnosed with parvovirus or distemper, on replacing furniture fouled by ailing pets who vomited or had diarrhea. Some paid to put their dying puppies down to end their suffering. Then, they covered the cost of cremation. Of the seven puppies named in the suit — Bear, Winnie, Teddy, Ruffles, Charlie, Stella and Sicily — none were healthy. They weren’t vaccinated, though the Kenneys supplied records of the dogs’ alleged immunizations, according to the lawsuit. They also weren’t goldendoodles or labradoodles as the Kenneys allegedly claimed in ads on Craigslist, Recycler.com and other internet sites. Four were not the sex promised. Ruffles was surrendered to his veterinarian by his new owner, Ramtin Mehrvijeh, because Mehrvijeh couldn’t afford to save the puppy’s life. Treatment for parvovirus would have cost $6,000, according to the lawsuit, money the West Hollywood man just didn’t have. Three of the dogs died. The Kenneys could not be reached for comment. The Times called 19 telephone numbers listed in various public records as belonging to family members. Most were disconnected, not accepting calls, or were not answered. No messages were responded to. “We want them to refund the money and get out of town,” said Gary Praglin, a Santa Monica-based attorney who is representing the families. “Don’t sell any more dogs. Stop hurting people. Yes, Bear died. But first, he suffered. As the Loys — Jessica; husband Anthony; their daughters Mariah and Isabella; his daughter Lali; and her son Manuel Aguilar — waited in the Tijuana’s Tacos parking lot, they say they saw a man they now know is Elijah Kenney drive up in a brand new white Mercedes Benz. As he got out of the car and approached them, Loy said, he was holding two red-brown puppies in his arms, a male and a female. “We agreed on a girl,” Loy said. “They were so little. He said he only accepted cash. He gave us what appeared to be some kind of shot record. We knew nothing about puppies. We trusted him. On the way back to the freeway, less than 15 minutes later, the dog had diarrhea. Right away we texted them, ‘Is the puppy OK?’” The response was comforting, Loy recounted: “Puppies, when they first leave their mothers, become homesick. It’s normal. Take her home. If there are problems, let me know.” Back home in La Habra, the puppy still known as Penny wouldn’t eat or drink and kept vomiting. The next day, she continued to throw up and have diarrhea. Loy asked Manuel and Lali if they wanted to give Penny a bath. They took the tiny animal to the kitchen sink, got some dog soap and started to scrub. “It was a reddish-bronze color all over our hands,” Manuel said. “It was kind of weird.” When they took Penny to the vet the first time, they found out she was a he. The vet gave the newly named Bear fluids and suggested the family contact the sellers and get a different dog. “They told us, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry. If you have medical bills, we’ll be happy to help’,” Loy said. “The second night was really bad. The dog wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, had diarrhea, was vomiting, wasn’t playing, was falling, walking, collapsing.” The second veterinarian visit involved tests and antibiotics and more fluids. Bear was diagnosed with parvovirus, a highly contagious disease that is often fatal if left untreated. The vet told the family they could try taking Bear to an animal hospital, but it would cost at least $3,000. Loy said the vet added: “ ‘I can’t guarantee the dog’s going to live’.” Anthony Loy texted the sellers: “Hey, the dog has parvo.” They texted back, Loy said: “ ‘You’re lying. Show us proof’.” Bear could barely breathe. He couldn’t walk in a straight line. He yelped in pain when he lay on his back. The vet recommended that the family have him euthanized. They agreed. First, though, the children said goodbye. “I didn’t really want to look at him that much,” said Manuel, who is now 11. “It made me sad. I touched his stomach. It was so hard for him to breathe. I was crying.” When the family contacted the Kenneys, they were harassed and brushed off, according to the lawsuit and texts Loy has kept. In one exchange, a woman Loy identified as Trina Kenney texted: “find me :) I’ll defend myself You never ended up buying a dog from us.” The Kenneys are not strangers to local officials. In April 2018, representatives of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the San Bernardino Valley Humane Society, Rancho Cucamonga Animal Control and San Bernardino County Animal Control inspected the Kenney’s Phelan property. They had a search warrant. According to the complaint, “Dogs at the location were over density, however animal control took all the dogs at the time of inspection, so there was no longer a violation.” News reports said officials were investigating a breeding and sales operation and had confiscated 32 dogs, including 17 puppies, that needed veterinary care. It is unclear whether anything came of the investigation. No charges have been filed. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Stanley said law enforcement agents went along and helped serve the search warrant because the Humane Society did not have sufficient manpower. “They did have some dogs there,” Stanley said. “It was a fairly nice residence. I never got into the animal cruelty part of the investigation.” Representatives of the San Bernardino Valley Humane Society and San Bernardino County Animal Control did not respond to requests for comment. On Monday, when the lawsuit was filed, Loy said the family has no plans to get another puppy, that the last year or so has been too painful. She’s glad, she said, that others have come forward, that “someone is trying to help us and we’re not alone.” Manuel, though, still has questions. If he could, he said, he’d ask the Kenneys, “Why would you do this to a person? Why would you do this to a dog? It’s pretty messed up.” That’s what he wants to know, he said. “Just why.”
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Maria L. La Ganga
|
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-18/puppy-mill-kenney-family-lawsuit
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Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:00:17 -0500
| 1,576,666,817 | 1,576,672,285 |
human interest
|
animal
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491,015 |
slate--2019-10-03--My Puppy Is a Terror Who Destroys Everything
| 2019-10-03T00:00:00 |
slate
|
My Puppy Is a Terror Who Destroys Everything
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Beast Mode is Slate’s pet advice column. Have a question? Send it to [email protected]. We love dogs and cats equally, and reserve treats for questions about your turtle, guinea pig, bird, snake, fish, or other beast. My mutt is a year old, and I am at my breaking point. I at least need reassurance that it will get better. I should preface this by saying that I have had dogs my whole life, and raised my last mutt from 3 months to 12 years old. Did I just block out how terrible the puppy years were? Is this like childbirth, and is that how I managed to convince myself to do it again? I’ve had my terror for seven months, and every day I regret it. She is good-natured, loves people, loves dogs and cats, loves children, loves me. But she needs constant attention and destroys everything. Constant attention. Everything. She still bites, although there’s no skin breakage. She whines. She only seems to sleep from midnight to 7 in the morning. She is on a steady routine with walks scheduled throughout the day. During the times she is left alone, which is not very often, she destroys everything: furniture, shoes, curtains, you name it. I tried crate training, but no amount of treats or toys will convince her to spend any time in there. She growls if you even start to lead her into the crate on a leash. I tried blocking off a special room just for her, but she refused to go in once she realized this meant I was leaving for work in the morning. Now she won’t go near the room, even though I tried putting tons of good toys and her food dish in there. She has tons of toys, puzzles, and chew-things, and I never leave her for more than a few hours, but whenever I am gone she destroys something of mine. I am so stressed I could cry: She lies down on walks if she senses we are heading home; she nips at my body and clothing if I am cooking or changing or brushing my hair; she rips books and sponges and pillows to shreds if she’s left alone. I have raised well-behaved dogs in the past. I’ve read all the books. I’m issuing positive reinforcement and ignoring bad behavior. I am losing my mind. And all my stuff. —At the End of My Leash Dear At the End of My Leash, I’ll admit this has been an unabashedly pro-dog column. I have described the animals as “infinitely pure and good” in here, which would sound like propaganda were it not true. Nonetheless, allow me to be clear: Dogs are exemplary beings dedicated to kindness and companionship, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be major pains in the ass too. Raising a puppy is tough. I’d agree that it’s exactly like childbirth were it not for two factors: 1. I have no idea what childbirth is like. 2. A long line of people is currently forming outside my front door, and they all want to beat me over the head for entertaining an ability to comment on this comparison. Different dogs present different challenges. Your current ordeal sounds miserable, but it is not an unsolvable problem. Things will get better—no postnatal hormones necessary. Given the extent of your predicament and how it’s affecting your day-to-day life, I strongly suggest finding a trainer to work with you and your dog as she transitions out of puppyhood. It sounds as if you know many of the right tactics—positive reinforcement, sprucing up her crate, etc.—but a little professional guidance can help refine and enhance these proven techniques. Teaching the dog is important, but trainers provide much-needed advice to us humans as well. Puppies are natural-born button pushers, and after seven months yours has clearly learned all your pressure points. No matter how many books or advice columns you’ve read, it’s hard to be patient when a dog is biting your ankles and devouring your shoes. Sometimes outside help is necessary, and there is no shame in bringing in a ringer. I understand that one-on-one training sessions might not be an option financially, but it’s definitely worth researching and interviewing licensed trainers near you. You may be pleasantly surprised by their fees. Group classes are a great, cheaper alternative, and they will also provide reassuring evidence that other people are battling similar issues (or worse!) to yours and your pup’s. Jot this down for future reference, but people should always factor in training costs when budgeting for a new dog. It doesn’t matter who you are—there’s no substitute for expert, hands-on help. Puppies will often grow out of their more annoying habits, but you can’t count on them to fix themselves. Heck, my own adult dog has regressed when it comes to on-leash behavior, and she now oscillates between petulant immobility and Iditarod-level lunging while on walks. She was never a Yohann Diniz by any stretch of the imagination (that’s a race-walking joke, FYI), but it’s gotten bad enough that we’re enrolling her in some training classes for a tuneup. Despite what you may have read in this very column, no dog is perfect. Still, all dogs want to learn. You will manage to get through this, even if your shoes don’t.
|
Nick Greene
|
https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/10/puppy-training-dog-destroys-everything-pet-advice.html?via=rss
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2019-10-03 22:43:30+00:00
| 1,570,157,010 | 1,570,221,693 |
human interest
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animal
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539,859 |
sputnik--2019-08-03--Clean and Relaxed Golden Retriever Puppy Plays in Bathtub
| 2019-08-03T00:00:00 |
sputnik
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Clean and Relaxed Golden Retriever Puppy Plays in Bathtub
|
This Golden Retriever loves the water and the bubbles. Just look at that happy face and wagging tail! The puppy swims back and forth, and now the owner has to stop it from eating the soap foam.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201908031076442264-clean-and-relaxed-golden-retriever-puppy-plays-in-bathtub/
|
2019-08-03 04:30:00+00:00
| 1,564,821,000 | 1,567,534,962 |
human interest
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animal
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553,721 |
sputnik--2019-12-20--Cute Puppy Pretends to be Bunny
| 2019-12-20T00:00:00 |
sputnik
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Cute Puppy Pretends to be Bunny
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Today, retrievers are the true love of housewives, young children and advertising producers. Golden retriever puppies grow up very quickly, but in their short puppyhood you should not only have time to enjoy your pet’s constantly changing games and fun, but also instil in it all the desired behavioural skills. In this video a golden retriever puppy seems to be pretending that it is a bunny.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/201912201077669326-cute-puppy-pretends-to-be-bunny/
|
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 14:00:00 +0300
| 1,576,868,400 | 1,576,845,422 |
human interest
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animal
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640,685 |
thedailymirror--2019-12-06--Narwhal the 'unicorn' rescue puppy has found a human and a forever home
| 2019-12-06T00:00:00 |
thedailymirror
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Narwhal the 'unicorn' rescue puppy has found a human and a forever home
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When a puppy with a tail growing in the middle of his forehead was abandoned and taken in by a rescue centre, fans predicted 'the longest adoption line in history'. Narwhal the 'unicorn puppy' stole the hearts of thousands of people across the globe after rescue organisation Mac’s Mission found him on a freezing cold street being looked after by an older dog. The Missouri-based centre which 'specialises in special' took Narwhal to the vet, who found the tail was not connected to anything and wasn't causing the adorable doggo any harm - he had simply been given 'extra parts during assembly'. The story became big news, and the exposure led to his rescuers being inundated with hundreds of applications for adoption. Among the outpouring of love there were also some unsettling signs for the centre, which became worried that he could be exploited as prospective owners made 'giant' offers of cash to take the puppy. Some turned up to the rescue centre unannounced and sick death threats have even been made against Narwhal, resulting in him being kept in sight of trusted volunteers at all times, as reported by Southeast Missourian . The centre began fearing for the beagle-mix's safety, knowing it would have no control over his fate once he had been adopted, and decided the only way it could ensure he would be given the happy life he deserves was to keep him right where he is. Narwhal the Little Magical Furry Unicorn has found his forever home with Mac's Mission founder Rochelle Steffen and will help the centre's work to care for dogs which have been abused, injured or have birth defects. "I had no intention initially of keeping him,” said Rochelle. "I didn’t want a puppy. "But Narwhal is absolutely, exactly what we needed. "It’s not just a decision from me. The whole rescue cannot fathom him leaving. We all fell in love with him." Narwhal fans also played a big part in the decision, with 17,836 messages sent to the centre asking them to keep him so they can watch him grow. Mac's Mission was founded after the adoption of Mac the Pitbull, who's now nine years old, and there's plans for Narwhal to step into his shoes as the centre's spokedog, spreading the message that 'different is awesome'. Rochelle explained that the long-term plan is to train him as a therapy pup, so he can sprinkle his magic and help people in places like schools and nursing homes. The decision proved to be welcome news for fans of Narwhal and Mac's Mission, with one saying: "My prayers have been answered. I was worried he wouldn't get the best home in the world. Mac's house is the best one!" Another replied: "This absolutely made my day. I was worried what might happen to little Narwhal if he were adopted. "He will have a wonderful life with Mac and everyone. He is loved by so many that now we can continue to share his adventures through you and the rest of the team." You're in the best hands, Narwhal. Click here to donate to Mac's Mission.
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[email protected] (Luke Matthews)
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/narwhal-unicorn-rescue-puppy-found-21037339
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Fri, 6 Dec 2019 11:17:53 +0000
| 1,575,649,073 | 1,575,635,154 |
human interest
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animal
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641,905 |
thedailyrecord--2019-01-03--Five-week-old puppy dies after being abandoned on Christmas Day
| 2019-01-03T00:00:00 |
thedailyrecord
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Five-week-old puppy dies after being abandoned on Christmas Day
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A five-week-old puppy who was abandoned by his heartless owners on Christmas Day has died. The tiny merle-coloured animal was in a "terrible state" when a member of the public found him in an alley in a cardbox box in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He was unable to use his back legs and vets thought he may have been paralysed. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to save him and the adorable creature has now died. The RSPCA has launched an investigation as they are seriously concerned about the puppy's mum. Inspector Dave Holgate, who collected the dog and took him to a nearby vet, said: "Unfortunately, the little crossbreed puppy was in a terrible state. "He was collapsed at the rear and was dragging his back legs. "It seems as though his back end was paralysed and he was unable to use his legs. "Goodness knows how long the poor pup had been in this state - he may have been born like this or could have deteriorated as he grew. "I suspect he was abandoned by the breeder when they realised he would need expensive veterinary treatment or would fail to sell." Vets decided he was unlikely to recover and he was put to sleep on welfare grounds. Inspector Holgate said: "It's so sad that we weren't able to save this little puppy but I'm just glad he's no longer sat inside a cardboard box cold, frightened and in pain. "At least he felt love and compassion in his final hours. "To abandon this poor puppy - who was too young to be away from his mum and siblings - is disgraceful, but to do so on Christmas Day with him in dire need of veterinary attention is despicable. "I'm now seriously concerned about his mother and I'm appealing for anyone who recognises this pup or may know where she's come from to get in touch by calling our inspectorate appeal line on 0300 123 8018."
|
Zoe Forsey
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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/five-week-old-puppy-dies-13808757
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2019-01-03 16:58:02+00:00
| 1,546,552,682 | 1,567,554,118 |
human interest
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animal
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650,746 |
thedailyrecord--2019-07-19--Pictures reveal horror of Scots puppy farm where helpless dogs kept in horrific conditions
| 2019-07-19T00:00:00 |
thedailyrecord
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Pictures reveal horror of Scots puppy farm where helpless dogs kept in horrific conditions
|
These pictures show the horrific conditions inside a vile Aberdeenshire puppy farm after the Scottish SPCA found two people guilty of major animal cruelty offences. Frank James and Michelle Wood insensitively bred hundreds of puppies and housed them in squalid, damp conditions with the floors covered in faeces. James, 53, of Duncan Street, Banff, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs, ferrets and rabbits under Section 19 of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. He was also found guilty under Section 24 for failing to ensure the welfare of the same animals at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday. Wood, 29, of Berrymuir Road, Macduff, was also found guilty of the same charges. It comes after the Scottish SPCA’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and Police Scotland raided East Mains of Ardlogie Farm near Fyvie in Aberdeenshire in November 2017. They removed 105 animals in total, including 87 dogs, the youngest of which was just a few days old. The animals were taken to Scottish SPCA animal rescue and re-homing centres for treatment and rehabilitation. An undercover investigator for the Scottish SPCA said: “We believe this was the largest scale puppy farming operation in Scotland. "The conditions these dogs were being kept in were absolutely disgraceful. "It fell far below the minimum standard in terms of animal welfare and, given the environment and sheer volume of puppies, it was immediately evident these were not being kept as pets and the premises was effectively a battery farm for pups. “Our investigation revealed dogs on site were being intensively bred with little to no regard for their welfare. On site, we found a burnt out van which had dog carcasses within, suggesting this was a means of disposing dead pups.” James first came to the attention of the Scottish SPCA in March 2013, when an investigation led to more than 70 dogs being seized from the same address. Inspectors found cattle sheds packed with breeding bitches and dogs suffering with lice, skin sores, matted hair and cysts on their paws due to the floor being covered in faeces. Following the investigation, James’ and two of his relatives plead guilty to welfare offences in October 2014. Frank James and his brother were banned from keeping more than two dogs for the next three years. Based on reports to the charity’s animal helpline, the Scottish SPCA believe James’ flouted this ban to continue selling puppies. The undercover investigator said: “We acted swiftly and reopened our investigation in to James’ when we received numerous reports of puppies who were either becoming unwell or dying within days of being purchased by unsuspecting members of the public. "Much like the previous investigation, the squalid conditions we found these pups being housed in showed a total disregard for their wellbeing. “Sadly, when dogs are bred in appalling conditions, it is very common for them to develop serious illnesses, medical conditions or even to die within weeks of being born.” For the Scottish SPCA, providing refuge for animals whilst court cases are ongoing is a massive welfare and resource issue. To allow the animals to find homes more quickly, the animal welfare charity decided to pursue a civil action to rehome the seized dogs before the court case concluded. This landmark case was successful and resulted in all of the surviving animals being rehomed. Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “Whilst every animal in our care receives all the love and attention in the world, it is not beneficial welfare-wise to spend months or even years in a rescue and rehoming centre until criminal proceedings conclude.” “In our centres, care costs an average of £15 per dog a day so picking up the pieces from breeders who prioritise profit over welfare puts a massive strain on our resources. Another case saw us rack up costs of £440,000 as we cared for 45 dogs seized from an illegal breeder. Thankfully, the decision to pursue a civil action in this instance means many of these animals found their forever homes long ago.” The SIU team at the Scottish SPCA spearhead Operation Delphin, a multi-agency taskforce designed to bring illegal puppy traders to justice. It is supported by Dumfries & Galloway Council, ISPCA, RSPCA, USPCA, DSPCA, Stena Line, Police Scotland and others. Disrupting the multi-million pound industry is one of the Society’s main priorities, and its #SayNoToPuppyDealers campaign has received widespread public and cross-party political support. Mike added: “The quickest way to halt the supply of illegally bred pups is for public demand to fall.” People can sign the #SayNoToPuppyDealers’ pledge here
|
[email protected] (Stuart Hodge)
|
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/see-inside-vile-aberdeenshire-puppy-18366499
|
2019-07-19 17:13:03+00:00
| 1,563,570,783 | 1,567,536,412 |
human interest
|
animal
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663,333 |
thedenverpost--2019-06-26--Berthoud first in Colorado to ban sale of puppy mill dogs
| 2019-06-26T00:00:00 |
thedenverpost
|
Berthoud first in Colorado to ban sale of puppy mill dogs
|
Berthoud does not have any pet stores in town, but on Tuesday, it became the only municipality in the state to ban the sale of puppy mill dogs from such stores. Town board members and animal rescue advocates said they hope this small town will send a big message across the state and the country. “Berthoud doesn’t have a wait list for pet shops,” Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Hindman said after a 6-0 vote to approve the ordinance banning the sale of pups from inhumane breeding facilities. “We can be up front and take a stand and hope this will spread to other towns and other pet shops across the state.” Residents from across Northern Colorado gathered in the Berthoud Town Hall on Tuesday night for the vote on the ordinance, several holding rescued dogs in their laps. They applauded when the vote was made, placing Berthoud on the forefront of what they hope will be a national trend. “I’m hoping it spreads to Loveland, Fort Collins, Omaha, Oklahoma, everywhere,” Loveland resident Lauren Kujawa said outside the meeting room after the board of trustees approved Ordinance 1267. Rudi Taylor, who founded Harley’s Dream — a Berthoud-based organization dedicated to educating about and fighting against puppy mills and named after a rescue dog who became known worldwide — proposed the new law to the Berthoud Town Board. Though Berthoud does not have any pet stores, it is growing and such businesses might someday move into town, Taylor explained. This ensures that, if and when they do, they will not be able to sell animals bred in inhumane circumstances, she said. Right now, 99% of the dogs and cats sold in pet stores come from what have been described as puppy mills, Taylor told the town board. “Pet stores don’t need to sell puppies and kittens,” Taylor said at the meeting. “They can sell pet supplies. The good breeders, and we have some good breeders here in Berthoud, don’t sell to pet stores.” The ordinance, she said, not only allows responsible breeders, it promotes adoption of rescue pets. She pointed out how some larger pet stores have adoption events with humane societies and animal rescues and market pet supplies instead of selling puppies and kittens. The vote on Tuesday was made routinely without public comment or much discussion by the board, passing wording that had been approved by the Humane Society of the United States. It was met with smiles, applause and hopes for continued momentum. One other small town in Colorado, Fountain, previously approved a similar ordinance, though that board exempted the only pet store in town and has since removed it from the books, Taylor explained. Berthoud’s vote and ordinance, she clarified, is different. “We’re unique,” Taylor said after the meeting. “This is the first ordinance of its type in the state. Berthoud leads the way. … It ensures Berthoud will remain humane. Our hope is we can have a domino effect and have more cities and towns adopt similar ordinances, and we hope for a statewide ban.”
|
Pamela Johnson
|
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/06/25/berthoud-puppy-mill-dogs-ban/
|
2019-06-26 05:02:36+00:00
| 1,561,539,756 | 1,567,537,961 |
human interest
|
animal
|
766,206 |
theindependent--2019-07-20--Owners of aposlargest puppy farm in Scotlandapos who burnt dog corpses in van convicted of anima
| 2019-07-20T00:00:00 |
theindependent
|
Owners of 'largest puppy farm in Scotland' who burnt dog corpses in van convicted of animal cruelty
|
Canine breeders who owned the “largest puppy farm in Scotland” and are thought to have burnt the corpses of dead dogs have been convicted of animal cruelty offences. Frank James, 53, and Michelle Wood, 29, kept over 100 animals in “disgraceful” conditions at farm in Aberdeenshire in what investigators described as a “battery farm for pups”. When a raid was carried out at East Mains of Ardlogie Farm, near Fyvie in 2017, investigators discovered 87 dogs, including one just a few days old. The Scottish SPCA had been tipped off after pet owners complained that their puppies, bought from the couple, were ill or dying. Some years before James had been found to be keeping 70 dogs in filthy cattle barns, covered in lice, skin sores and cysts. Following the investigation, James and two of his relatives pleaded guilty to welfare offences in October 2014. James and his brother were banned from keeping more than two dogs for the next three years. An undercover investigator for the Scottish SPCA said: “We believe this was the largest scale puppy farming operation in Scotland. “The conditions these dogs were being kept in were absolutely disgraceful. “It fell far below the minimum standard in terms of animal welfare and, given the environment and sheer volume of puppies, it was immediately evident these were not being kept as pets and the premises was effectively a battery farm for pups. “Our investigation revealed dogs on site were being intensively bred with little to no regard for their welfare. “On site, we found a burnt-out van which had dog carcasses within, suggesting this was a means of disposing dead pups. “We acted swiftly and reopened our investigation into James when we received numerous reports of puppies who were either becoming unwell or dying within days of being purchased by unsuspecting members of the public. “Much like the previous investigation, the squalid conditions we found these pups being housed in showed a total disregard for their wellbeing. “Sadly, when dogs are bred in appalling conditions, it is very common for them to develop serious illnesses, medical conditions or even to die within weeks of being born.” After the raid, all 87 dogs as well as rabbits and ferrets which were found at the farm were re-homed after the charity took civil action. On Friday, James was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs, ferrets and rabbits under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. He was also found guilty of failing to ensure the welfare of the same animals at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on 19 July. Michelle Wood was found guilty of the same charges. Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “Whilst every animal in our care receives all the love and attention in the world, it is not beneficial welfare-wise to spend months or even years in a rescue and re-homing centre until criminal proceedings conclude.” “In our centres, care costs an average of £15 per dog a day so picking up the pieces from dog breeders who prioritise profit over welfare puts a massive strain on our resources. “Thankfully, the decision to pursue a civil action in this instance means many of these animals found their forever homes long ago.”
|
Sarah Ward
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/puppy-farming-dog-corpses-burned-jailed-scotland-frank-james-michelle-wood-a9013741.html
|
2019-07-20 17:17:02+00:00
| 1,563,657,422 | 1,567,536,304 |
human interest
|
animal
|
767,897 |
theindependent--2019-08-02--Once only Ethel off EastEnders had a pug Now theyaposre a fashion item and puppy farmers are mak
| 2019-08-02T00:00:00 |
theindependent
|
Once, only Ethel off EastEnders had a pug. Now they're a fashion item and puppy farmers are making a killing
|
Where I live, dogs are so popular that, if I see someone out of the house without one, I wonder what they’re up to. I mean, this is Bulldog Britain – home of everything from beagles to lurchers, and from Greyfriars Bobby to Petra, Goldie, and Shep. But if you thought that man’s best friend had long-since maxed out its popularity, you might be surprised to learn that “celebrity dogs” have triggered a recent surge in demand. As ever, demand brings the opportunity for someone to make a few quid, and opportunity draws in opportunists – however unscrupulous. The sad but completely unsurprising fallout is that, in the last ten years, there have been five times more reports of illegal puppy farms. More awareness around the issue might have played a part in the increase in reporting, but so too does the newfound modishness of certain breeds as celebrity accessories. Look at pugs. Time was when the only pug that anyone knew was Little Willy. He was the surrogate husband of EastEnders’ resident widow Ethel Skinner, who would shuffle about Albert Square clutching the perpetually bewildered Willy. And so nobody bought a pug, because Ethel had a pug. Fast forward several decades, and we have the likes of DanTDM – a sweet young YouTuber who plays video games all day for the entertainment of the kids who love watching him do it. We love DanTDM in our house, and DanTDM loves pugs, so of course his young fans do too. For a while, it was my full-time job to gently explain to my little boy that he couldn’t have a pug just because DanTDM did. Along with pugs, French bulldogs and dachshunds have had a serious moment in recent years. A friend of mine, who loves dogs, paid £3,500 for her French bulldog. She bought hers from a reputable breeder, but with so many people looking for a “bargain”, can you imagine how much an unregistered puppy farmer can make? Vast stacks of cash change hands, while these most intelligent of animals spend their lives locked away in crates to be bred and bred again, until eventually the broken and exhausted mother is simply disposed of. If you have ever owned or known a dog, you will know that they are creatures of love: highly social pack animals that need to be cuddled, praised, exercised, played with, and addressed in the stupidest voice you can muster at least seven times an hour. They are not machines, and while some registered puppy farms are not illegal, frankly that means little to me. The dogs are still monetised to within an inch of their lives, their happiness a distant second to the profit motive. I can already predict that some of you will be irked by my lack of outright condemnation for buying pedigree puppies. “Adopt don’t shop!” I hear you howl, and I do get it, but I don’t think it’s quite that simple. It’s very hard, for instance, to find a suitable rescue dog if you have children under 12. Of course, in an ideal world, every rescue dog would be found a loving home before commercial breeders even got a look-in, but the reality is that knowing your pet’s breed and lineage can lend a degree of predictability to their temperament, which is a huge factor for a dog that’s going to be living with little children. The fight against animal cruelty took a leap this year thanks to the efforts of Redcar MP Anna Turley, who was driven by the horrific abuse of a bulldog called Baby to propose a new law that could see animal abusers jailed for five years, where previously they might have got off with a slap on the wrist. It’s progress, but there is so much more that we could do. Banning puppy farming, and giving the authorities the resources to enforce the laws that do exist, are essential steps forward. In the meantime, we need to address some of the narrative around dogs. I’ll freely admit that, before I got my own dog, I didn’t understand just how needy they are – as much as people, if not more so. When she was a puppy, I tried to train her to sleep in the kitchen. She cried, so on the first night, I slept on the kitchen floor with her. And on the second night, and the third. For three weeks I slept with her in the kitchen, until eventually I learned it was a lot easier just to take her to bed with me and let her practise jumping on my head there instead. Now, older and more secure, she sleeps happily on her own, but believe me: it is genuinely difficult to cling onto feelings of love for a puppy, no matter how cute or fluffy, when they leave you so exhausted that you can’t feel your own face. People warned me that “they are as hard as having a child”, but they aren’t. They’re harder. Children do not find a dirty nappy in the park and then run away from you to hide in a bush eating the contents – or if they do, they are far easier to catch. If you have to go out briefly during the day, children don’t sit slumped against the front door, aching for you to walk back through it. They don’t whimsically rearrange your laundry or eat your socks, and they generally don’t unleash farts so downright meaty that you have to stop the car to air it out. And yet, we love her more than I can possibly say. All I am saying is that, if you are not prepared to embrace the idea of a dog as a full family member – with constant, challenging needs that you simply cannot ignore – please, don’t get one. And if you’re sure you can handle it, never ever resort to a puppy farm.
|
Shappi Khorsandi
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/puppy-farms-pug-fashion-dogs-farming-french-bulldog-a9037261.html
|
2019-08-02 15:03:00+00:00
| 1,564,772,580 | 1,567,535,007 |
human interest
|
animal
|
795,223 |
themanchestereveningnews--2019-02-11--This tiny puppy had to be put down after being crushed by another dog at a park - its owners are a
| 2019-02-11T00:00:00 |
themanchestereveningnews
|
This tiny puppy had to be put down after being 'crushed' by another dog at a park - its owners are absolutely devastated
|
This tiny puppy had to be put down after it was 'crushed' by another dog at a park. Cavapoo Buffy - a cross between a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and a poodle - was left with horrific injuries after being attacked by the animal at Cale Green park in Stockport on Saturday afternoon. Vets fought to save the six-month-old pup, even giving it methadone for the pain, but its devastated owner was told it would be 'kinder to let her go'. Just three hours earlier, adorable Buffy had been running around the park, playing happily. Owner Sophia Siddiqui said she has been left heartbroken by what happened. She said she has tried repeatedly to contact owner of the other dog - understood to be a Dalmatian-type breed - but has yet to hear back. A spokesman for GMP said enquiries were ongoing. Sophia, a 22-year-old account manager, is appealing for anyone who saw what happened to come forward. "It was just like any other normal day," she said. "We were having fun, Buffy was running around playing. "We were walking back towards the car when it happened." Sophia says the dog was off its lead before it attacked Buffy. "It grabbed hold of Buffy; no warning, no nothing," she added. "It had Buffy in its mouth, I couldn't get it to let her go. I was just screaming, 'get your dog off my puppy'. "Buffy was screaming and wailing. Eventually I managed to get her, she was shaking. "I ran a bit further away before the woman managed to get the dog on a lead, but she was having to use her strength to hold it back, it was still trying to get at us." Another dog walker rushed to Sophia's aid and drove her and Buffy to an emergency vet. "She had horrific spinal injuries, it was in bits," Sophia added. "There was nothing they could do, and they told me it would be kinder to let her go. "Buffy weighed just 2.5kg, it took seconds to crush her. I don't want this happening to anyone else." Sophia also posted her appeal on Facebook. She wrote: "Trying to understand and come to terms with the loss of our beautiful, amazing six-month-old puppy Buffy. "What started out as the best day ever - eggs for her breakfast, playtime, a trip to the park - was brought to a brutal end. "I fought as hard as I could to save her, but her injuries were too severe. My family and I are all absolutely shell-shocked and completely broken and devastated. She was so young and had so much left to do. "She never got the chance to grow up, to have a first, second, third birthday, to eat the doggy Easter egg we bought her only yesterday, to go swimming in a paddling pool in summer, to go to a beach and run along the sandy shore. "She was such a beautiful, sweet soul, a friend to everyone who ever met her. She was a gorgeous, funny, mischievous, silly, but most of all, happy, little noodle head! "To anyone who has a dog, please be careful and treasure every moment with your little furbaby, as we’ve been robbed of so many moments. "If anyone has any information, please could you contact me." "We love you Buffy, sleep tight and run over the Rainbow Bridge." A spokesman for GMP said: "Police called to a report of a dog attacking another dog on Heath Road, Stockport, on Saturday. Enquiries are ongoing." Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
|
Sam Yarwood
|
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/dog-savaged-park-stockport-police-15813886
|
2019-02-11 15:42:18+00:00
| 1,549,917,738 | 1,567,548,927 |
human interest
|
animal
|
922,703 |
thesun--2019-01-05--Science teacher who fed live puppy to snapping turtle in front of horrified students is cleared of a
| 2019-01-05T00:00:00 |
thesun
|
Science teacher who fed live puppy to snapping turtle in front of horrified students is cleared of animal cruelty
|
A TEACHER who fed a live puppy to a snapping turtle in front of horrified students has been cleared of animal cruelty. Robert Crosland threw the baby pooch into the predator’s tank at Preston Junior High School in Idaho in March. He was later charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty back in June but a jury cleared him after his lawyer argued that "we don't believe a crime was committed". The puppy was sick and was said to have been close to death when it met its grisly end. Horrified witnesses told the court how it swam around frantically before being dragged to the bottom of the tank by the turtle. But Crosland insisted he was simply "putting the puppy out of its misery" in evidence to jurors. He said: "I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. That's what's been so hard in seeing all this because that's what I've been taught my whole life - not to let the animal suffer." Crosland faced a $5,000 (£3,750) fine if convicted and six months in jail. Snapping turtles are omnivores in the wild, meaning they eat both plants and animals. They have razor sharp beak-like mouths and prey on nearly anything they can get their powerful jaws around. The reptiles eat insects, fish, frogs, snakes, birds, small mammals and even other turtles. They are known to kill by dragging their prey beneath the water to drown it, or by simply biting its head off. The charge came after nearly 200,000 people signed a petition calling for the educator to be sacked. The petition read: “This is an extreme example of extremely poor judgment. “Even if the puppy was so sick it was eventually going to die, Crosland should not have fed it to a snapping turtle – especially while still alive. “There are humane ways to deal with dying animals.” Animal lovers were even more incensed when the turtle was later put down by authorities because Crosland didn’t have a proper permit for it. The school is in rural Preston, where the 2004 teen cult classic film "Napoleon Dynamite" was set. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
|
hchristdoloulou
|
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8128551/teacher-fed-puppy-turtle-science-lesson-idaho/
|
2019-01-05 20:47:44+00:00
| 1,546,739,264 | 1,567,553,829 |
human interest
|
animal
|
920,617 |
thespoof--2019-07-12--New York Woman Ostracized for Not Liking Puppy Videos
| 2019-07-12T00:00:00 |
thespoof
|
New York Woman Ostracized for Not Liking Puppy Videos
|
"I'm really more of a cat person," said Lisa Hayes, ineffectually attempting to justify her lack of appreciation for the latest adorable YouTube puppy video being circulated around the office. "Besides, doesn't anyone else have any work to do?" Hayes's flimsy excuses held no truck with her coworkers, however. "To each his own, I guess," said Hayes's longtime colleague, Ken Thornton. "But it's pretty weird." Office manager Charlie Foxwell, the one to initiate the most recent round of video-watching after discovering a riveting three-minute clip of a month-old golden retriever wrestling with a stick, agreed. "The one thing psychopaths all have in common is torturing animals as a young kid," he said. "I'm not saying Lisa is doing that, of course, but her lack of interest in this freaking adorable puppy video is a little alarming." He added that he plans to keep his distance from Hayes for the time being. "Why take chances?" Hayes herself says that she is comfortable with the ostracism, claiming that she's used to it. "I'm a vegan. It confuses people that I'm not interested in sitting around all day watching silly puppy videos, but I'm not into eating dead tortured animal flesh," she said. "It's a mind-fuck for them, which I get. Honestly, they're just not that smart. It's not their fault."
| null |
https://www.thespoof.com/spoof-news/us/144901/new-york-woman-ostracized-for-not-liking-puppy-videos
|
2019-07-12 12:48:37+00:00
| 1,562,950,117 | 1,567,536,521 |
human interest
|
animal
|
151,699 |
drudgereport--2019-09-29--Brave puppy dies protecting owners kids from deadly snake that bit it 4 times
| 2019-09-29T00:00:00 |
drudgereport
|
Brave puppy dies protecting owner's kids from deadly snake that bit it 4 times...
|
Little Zeus, the eight-month-old pit bull, was devoted to his owners. And he paid for that devotion with his life when he fought a deadly coral snake that was lurking near two of the family’s young sons in their garden. Brothers Oriley and Orion Richardson were washing out Zeus’s water bowl outside the family home in Sumter County, Florida when they spotted the puppy apparently playing with a piece of rope. Their mum Georgina takes up the story: “Orion goes outside and begins cleaning the bucket and Zeus is now laying next to the water bucket he is cleaning. “Orion noticed Zeus’ eyes looked ‘bugged out’. He ran indoors to my husband to let him know Zeus was acting weird. My husband Gary, tells Orion to call Zeus inside" Guessing that maybe Zeus had been stung by a bee or a wasp, Georgina asked husband Gary to bring some Benadryl to take the swelling down. But then she made a shocking discovery: “When I came back my husband lifts his head to assist me with giving him the Benadryl as he does Zeus’ body slightly comes up high enough for me to see a red, yellow and black snake under him.” Georgina made some calls, and found a vet that had some anti-venom on hand. She loaded the by now very poorly Zeus into the back of he car and set off. “All I could do was tell him what a great boy he was and that I owe my sons life to him,” she said. For a brief moment at the vets, despite having been bitten 4 times it looked as if Zeus might be OK: “After the first vial of anti-venom was administered they allowed me to go back to see him,” said Georgina. “He looked up at me and wagged his tail as he lay there. I instantly got on my phone on FaceTime with my husband and the kids so they could say their ‘hellos’ and make Zeus feel happy. " “At that moment I just knew he was going to be OK." she said. "After a few minutes the nurses explained that I had to go back to the waiting room because they had to administer more anti-venom.” After some more treatment, Georgina felt as if the pup might be out of danger and drove home. The next morning, she decided to check in with the vet: "I woke up sometime between six and 6:20 in the morning and as I’m laying there I told my husband I’m just gonna go ahead and call and see how he’s doing, even though they told me they were going to call me at eight in the morning. “My heart was hurting and I just needed to hear a good update. “The nurse that gets on the line puts me on hold for what seemed like forever. She comes back on the line with sorrow in her voice she informs me that as I had called he was passing on.” Heartbroken, the family set off to say their final goodbyes, with Zeus’s mother Sega in the back of the car. "We got to the animal hospital at about 7:40” said Georgina, “and they take us to the back where they had his body draped with a soft beautiful dog blanket. “We were all an emotional wreck. “Sega goes over to Zeus’ head and puts her paws up on the table and takes a sniff. Her ears came back [and] she got down. "She instantly jumped on the sofa next to me and put her head on my thigh in sorrow." As the devastated family left, the staff of the veterinary hospital gave them a cast of Zeus’s paw-print to remember him by. Georgina says that Zeus’s sisters also seem to realise that he is gone:“After we got home, it almost seems that Sega told [them] his story. “What made this whole situation even worse for me is the child of mine that he saved, Oriley, turned 10 years old on the day Zeus died.” Georgina told the tragic tale on a GoFundme page , because the family are seeking donations to help with Zeus’s $1,000 care bill. She concludes: “I can only hope that Zeus lives on as an ambassador for the pit bull breed and the wonderful family members that they are. “They do not deserve the bad publicity they get because they would give their lives to save others.”
| null |
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/atLO1_LbV08/brave-puppy-dies-protecting-owners-20321366
|
2019-09-29 17:37:39+00:00
| 1,569,793,059 | 1,570,221,979 |
human interest
|
animal
|
182,424 |
eveningstandard--2019-08-19--Adorable puppy guide dogs go on trip to theatre to watch Billy Elliot
| 2019-08-19T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Adorable puppy guide dogs go on trip to theatre to watch Billy Elliot
|
A group of puppy guide dogs have gone viral after they were spotted relaxing at a theatre. The adorable dogs were seen peeking over the aisles of seats as they patiently sat and enjoyed a stage showing of Billy Elliot. It was part of an effort to nurture the puppies to better adapt to the theatre setting when accompanying their future handlers. The theatre, in Ontario, Canada, often encourages animals and children to watch its productions. The "relaxed performances" at the Stratford Festival theatre company see lighting, sound and effects adjusted to welcome the less conventional visitors, with no restrictions on noise or wriggling about during the show. But festival organisers were still surprised when the pups trotted into the auditorium. "They were all extremely well-behaved," Stratford Festival spokeswoman Ann Swerdfager told CBC radio. "I was in the lobby when they came in, then they took their seats, then got out of their seats at intermission and went back. "All of the things we learn as humans when we start going to the theatre." Laura McKenzie, the owner of K-9 Country Inn Working Service Dogs, stressed the benefits of the outing for her puppies. "It's important to prepare the dogs for any activity the handler may like to attend," she said. It's not the first time dogs have been seen having a good time in weird and wonderful places. In May, a cinema in Planto, Texas, became the first in the world to allow dog-lovers to attend the movies along with their pets.
|
Ewan Somerville
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/adorable-puppy-guide-dogs-go-on-trip-to-theatre-to-watch-billy-elliot-a4216621.html
|
2019-08-19 14:21:20+00:00
| 1,566,238,880 | 1,567,534,011 |
human interest
|
animal
|
77,716 |
breitbart--2019-12-20--10-Year-Old Walks Graduation Stage for Father with Leukemia
| 2019-12-20T00:00:00 |
breitbart
|
10-Year-Old Walks Graduation Stage for Father with Leukemia
|
Nathaniel Beale’s ten-year-old son, Noah, took his place at his University of Oklahoma graduation on Saturday. Nathaniel Beale was diagnosed with leukemia in July but completed his degree during treatment. Unfortunately, he was physically unable to attend the graduation celebration of his hard-won academic victory due to an upcoming surgery. In his place, ten-year-old Noah Beale stepped up to support his father by taking his place at the graduation ceremony. Beale watched a livestream of his son accepting the diploma. Leukemia affects roughly 1.6 percent of men and women, with 414,773 suffering from the deadly blood cancer in the United States. 61,780 new cases have been reported, and 22,840 have died in 2019 alone. As described by the National Cancer Institute: Leukemia is cancer that starts in the tissue that forms blood. Most blood cells develop from cells in the bone marrow called stem cells. In a person with leukemia, the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood cells. The abnormal cells are leukemia cells. Unlike normal blood cells, leukemia cells don’t die when they should. They may crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This makes it hard for normal blood cells to do their work. While there is no cure, over 62 percent of patients survive five or more years after diagnosis. With the support of his son and family, Beale’s fight for life continues.
|
Nate Church
|
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/_J4Ao0VISuI/
|
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 01:43:16 +0000
| 1,576,824,196 | 1,576,886,857 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
126,945 |
dailyheraldchicago--2019-05-21--Images Fremd High School Graduation
| 2019-05-21T00:00:00 |
dailyheraldchicago
|
Images: Fremd High School Graduation
|
Fremd High School student Anthony Garner, right, is all smiles as schoolmate Brandon Nutall, left, checks out his tie before the start of Monday's graduation ceremony at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
| null |
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190520/images-fremd-high-school-graduation
|
2019-05-21 01:12:34+00:00
| 1,558,415,554 | 1,567,540,363 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
148,575 |
drudgereport--2019-05-31--Principal accused of plagiarizing graduation speech from Ashton Kutcher
| 2019-05-31T00:00:00 |
drudgereport
|
Principal accused of plagiarizing graduation speech from Ashton Kutcher...
|
PARKERSBURG — A Parkersburg principal accused of plagiarizing a graduation speech issued a statement on Facebook Wednesday, saying his mistake was in not citing his sources and it was not his intent to copy someone else’s work. Critics say the speech given by Principal Kenny DeMoss at Parkersburg High School’s May 23 graduation ceremony was largely the same as a speech given by actor Ashton Kutcher in 2013 at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. Parkersburg High School graduate Abby Smith posted a video to YouTube splicing DeMoss’ graduation speech with Kutcher’s speech. The two speeches use similar phrases and wording throughout, as well as the same format, and while parts of the principal’s speech do differ, other phrases are word-for-word the same. The video has been shared through social media hundreds of times and viewed thousands of times online. In an online interview Thursday, Smith said the similarity of the two speeches was brought to her attention by classmates at an after-graduation party. When she viewed the videos, she was “shocked” and decided to splice them together and share it online. “Many people agree that what he did was dishonest,” she said. DeMoss sent an audio message to parents Wednesday evening and posted the statement on the Parkersburg High School Facebook page. “As a proud father and a man of faith, I want to sincerely apologize to those I have obviously offended,” DeMoss said in the message. “It was never my intent to take credit for what I said or give specific credit because of how I prefaced my speech.” DeMoss said the opening of his speech, which referenced “many great ideas and thoughts that have helped me be who I am today,” was intended as a disclaimer to “preface that these ideas and thoughts that I am about to share, I have heard before, from others, and along with my personal beliefs, have shaped me into who I am as a man, a father, and leader. In hindsight, I wish I would have cited more.” DeMoss said he was upset the focus from last week’s graduation had shifted from the accomplishments of his students to his words during the ceremony. “When I began my closing remarks at graduation, I didn’t think that my speech would be the center of attention. The graduates should be,” he said in his statement. “It is really sad to think that the focus has fallen more on about my closing remarks and I am deeply sorry for that.” “I didn’t see it as an apology, but as a deflection, which is all too common in our public discourse,” said the 18-year-old Smith, who plans to attend West Virginia University this fall to study organizational leadership and political science. “I think that Mr. DeMoss holds a position of authority and leadership in Parkersburg High. If I am held to a high standard, I believe that my administrators and faculty should also be held to the same standard. DeMoss said while he had seen Kutcher’s speech, he has “heard and seen many similar speeches at coaching and leadership clinics and at professional development that many of you have not. The format of Ashton’s speech I liked the most, because it had the most impact on me. I did not get all my ideas from Ashton. Format yes, (but the) thoughts and ideas were from my heart.” Though DeMoss said he takes the blame for not citing his sources, he believes there would have been too many citations to fit within the format of the graduation ceremony and his closing address. “Saying something in which I receive no money for, or academic credit, or a transcribed grade is what led me to not be as specific as I should have been, instead of prefacing with a blanketed statement,” he said. “And unfortunately when I don’t cite everyone, I’m personally taking a hit. Lesson learned for me.” “In the future, anything that is spoken by me or any other administrator to the public, if it has been said by anyone else, it will be cited.” Smith said reaction to her post has been largely supportive, though she has received some pushback “from adults (who) don’t view what he did as dishonest or wrong. “I just wanted people to know the truth. The way (DeMoss) and others reacts to it is up to them.” Wood County Schools Superintendent Will Hosaflook declined to comment, saying it was a personnel matter and was being investigated.
| null |
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/mM95y-fi9zo/
|
2019-05-31 22:19:39+00:00
| 1,559,355,579 | 1,567,539,621 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
237,005 |
hitandrun--2019-11-19--Barred from Participating in Public High School Graduation for Using "Nigger" in a Tweet?
| 2019-11-19T00:00:00 |
hitandrun
|
Barred from Participating in Public High School Graduation for Using "Nigger" in a Tweet?
|
From Castro v. City of Clovis, decided Friday by Judge Dale A. Drozd (E.D. Cal.): … On June 13, 2019, plaintiff filed this action, alleging violations of his rights to free speech and due process. According to the complaint, plaintiff is a former Clovis High School student who recently turned 18 and finished high school. Plaintiff was scheduled to attend his graduation ceremony on May 30, 2019, when his school "revok[ed] his VIP sitting privilege in the graduation ceremony, remov[ed] him off the school premises, and enjoin[ed] him from participating in his long-awaited graduation ceremony that was by then only 3 hours away," allegedly as punishment for a tweet that he had posted on Twitter. In that tweet, sent to a Nigerian friend on an unidentified date before his graduation, plaintiff used the words "nigga" and "nigger," apparently with his friend's consent and as a form of "intercultural communication." Another Twitter user saw the tweet and reported it to the school, which, in addition to barring plaintiff from attending his graduation, "order[ed] him to delete the alleged offensive message from his [T]witter account[.]" … Castro sued on various theories, but the one that survived the motion to dismiss (and the one I'm interested in here) was the claim that the school's actions violated his free speech rights; and, surprisingly, the defendants' entire argument as to free speech was, In his first cause of action, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated Plaintiff's right to Freedom of Speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because Defendants disciplined plaintiff for using language that is almost universally considered to be profane in nature. Although the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees broad speech liberties to persons residing within the United States, it is not without limit. Of note, certain speech activities of pupils at public schools may be limited. The California Education Code § 48907(a) states that "Pupils of the public schools, including charter schools, shall have the right to exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other insignia, and the right of expression in official publications, whether or not the publications or other means of expression are supported financially by the school or by use of school facilities, except that expression shall be prohibited which is obscene, libelous, or slanderous." (Emphasis added.) In this case, Plaintiff used the word "nigga" and "nigger" which was seen by someone who took offense to the use of Plaintiff s choice of words. So much so, that this (unidentified) person reported Plaintiff s speech activities to Defendants. As noted in California Education Code § 48907(a), pupils of California schools do not have the right to expression which is obscene, libelous, or slanderous. As the words "nigga" and "nigger" are universally considered obscene, Plaintiff does not have Constitutional protection for this expression. Because Plaintiff does not have any First Amendment protection for said obscene language, his First Amendment Right related to this particular expression cannot be violated. But, as the court points out, this reflects a misunderstanding of what "obscene" means in First Amendment law. Defendants argue that plaintiff's free speech claims must fail because the terms "nigga" and "nigger" are obscene and therefore not protected speech. It is true that courts "have long held that obscene speech—sexually explicit material that violates fundamental notions of decency—is not protected by the First Amendment." However, as plaintiff points out, the terms "nigga" and "nigger," while offensive to many, are facially not sexually explicit and, thus, cannot be considered obscene under the framework set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thus, defendants' motion to dismiss on the basis that plaintiff's tweets are obscene speech not protected by the First Amendment will be denied. I think that the school's actions (if plaintiff's factual account is correct) did violate the First Amendment, and couldn't be upheld on any theory. It's true that Castro wasn't expelled from school, or otherwise shortchanged as to his academic activities; but being denied the right to participate in an important public school ceremony—a right that all your classmates have—because of the exercise of one's free speech rights would itself violate the First Amendment. (The logic of Lee v. Weisman, the graduation prayer case, strongly supports that conclusion, though I think the result would be the same even had the dissent prevailed there.) But in any event, the "obscenity" theory is a nonstarter.
|
Eugene Volokh
|
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/HitandRun/~3/7GuXcM7RxXU/
|
2019-11-19T13:02:02Z
| 1,574,186,522 | 1,574,209,283 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
364,805 |
newyorker--2019-05-27--NYUs Graduation Marathon Man
| 2019-05-27T00:00:00 |
newyorker
|
N.Y.U.’s Graduation Marathon Man
|
Billy Joel has played Madison Square Garden a hundred and six times and delivered eight commencement speeches, but he’s never given a commencement speech at the Garden. Last week, Andrew Hamilton, the president of New York University, did it three times. He spoke at a total of twenty commencements. N.Y.U.’s graduation is like its campus—all over the city—so Hamilton ping-ponged from Lincoln Center to Yankee Stadium to Barclays Center to Radio City Music Hall. He rounded out the season by flying to Abu Dhabi, and then to Shanghai, for the ceremonies at N.Y.U.’s international campuses. No one asked Hamilton to do this. It’s not an N.Y.U. tradition, nor is it the standard for other university presidents. “I made the decision to do it,” he said last week, between stops. “The character of each ceremony is very different. You’ve got the scholarly ones who’ve done a thesis, and then the fully undergraduate ones, and then Tisch School of the Arts, where there’s dancing—those are the students who end up on Broadway. The energy in the room is infectious. That’s what keeps me going.” Last Monday, just before 9:30 A.M., Hamilton arrived at City Center, in midtown, for the first of five commencements. This one was for the nursing school. He used the stage entrance, where purple, silver, and white balloons had been tied to the handrails. (“There’s a helium shortage, you know,” a security guard pointed out.) He was accompanied by his wife, Jennie, who was dressed to match the balloons, and by Gina Guadagnino, his special assistant. That day, “special” meant robing—each time Hamilton entered a venue, Guadagnino helped him into his regalia: a black robe with three gold embroidered chevrons on each sleeve, a purple stole with gold lining, and a black cap and tassel. “Pomp and Circumstance” began to play. Parents took photos from the balcony, as the grads marched across the stage. Many had decorated their mortarboards—one read “ABCD: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Degree,” and another simply said “NURSE,” in gold glitter. One grad had a bedazzled stethoscope. The school’s dean gave the opening remarks. (“Nurses are always in the room where it happens,” she told the crowd.) Then she introduced Hamilton, who adjusted his tassel while she ran through his résumé—provost of Yale, vice-chancellor of Oxford, accomplished chemist. Then Hamilton addressed the room. “I am thrilled to join you all this morning,” he said. “I have a very busy day ahead of me. The Rory Meyers College of Nursing, as always, is first and first in all things, and you are first today in a marathon of graduation ceremonies.” He couldn’t stay for the actual commencing. It was ten-seventeen, and he had to be uptown by ten-forty-five. He scuttled offstage, where Guadagnino whisked away his gown and stuck it in a garment bag. (“It has a tendency to get wrinkles in the car,” she said.) Hamilton’s ride, a white hybrid S.U.V., was waiting outside. Nineteen blocks north, the driver stopped at the Beacon Theatre. This ceremony, a doctoral convocation for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, opened with bagpipes. There were fewer parents, more spouses, and lots of kids—a Ph.D. crowd. Hamilton took the stage, flanked by thirty-foot-tall statues of Greek goddesses. “I’m a little out of breath,” he said, explaining his day’s trajectory. “We began with nurses, and then we’re going on to dentists. It seemed perfect that we would come and spend a little time with a newly minted group of doctors.” Next up was the class speaker. Hamilton flinched as the student went off script, calling Trump a “fascist” and praising the student boycott of Israel. While the crowd was still applauding, Hamilton slipped through a side exit. The College of Dentistry’s ceremony would start in twenty minutes, down at Madison Square Garden. The driver got him most of the way there, but traffic was heavy, so the president jumped out and walked the last few blocks. He was late. He had planned to deliver his speech and leave, but after his remarks (“I bet Beyoncé would be envious of me. She’s never played Madison Square Garden and the Beacon Theatre twice in one day!”), he stuck around. Two hours later, he emerged from backstage, shaking water off his hands. “I’ve washed my hands of the dentists,” he said, “though one would hope they have clean hands.” Hamilton attends only one departmental graduation: the ceremony for the chemistry department, where he’s on the faculty and maintains a research lab. After the Garden, seeing Hamilton at the chem commencement—in N.Y.U.’s Hemmerdinger Hall—felt like watching Michael Jackson play an Elks Lodge in Gary, Indiana, after concluding a world tour and winning a Grammy. At two-forty-five, after a quick lunch, Hamilton headed to the ceremony. At Hemmerdinger Hall (about as glamorous as its name), a lone purple balloon floated above the podium. Hamilton explained that he’d just come from M.S.G. “Despite standing on that stage, in front of five thousand people, there’s nowhere I’d rather be than here,” he said. But he couldn’t stay. He was expected back at the Beacon to address the graduate students. ♦
|
Tyler Foggatt
|
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/06/03/nyus-graduation-marathon-man
|
2019-05-27 09:00:00+00:00
| 1,558,962,000 | 1,567,540,145 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
410,167 |
pinknewsuk--2019-07-02--Bisexual student gets standing ovation for coming out at graduation
| 2019-07-02T00:00:00 |
pinknewsuk
|
Bisexual student gets standing ovation for coming out at graduation
|
The video of Mason Bleu coming out as bisexual during his graduation speech went viral. (Mason Bleu/ Twitter) A high school student received a standing ovation when he came out as bisexual while giving the valedictorian speech at his graduation ceremony in Saturday (June 29). Mason Bleu, an aspiring actor, gave a speech to his graduating class on the theme of pride during Pride month. He said: “Be proud of what you’ve accomplished, be proud of who you are, continue to seek knowledge and most importantly find ways educate yourself. “I’ve struggled to be proud of something all my life. But since I’m preaching about being proud today, it’d be hypocritical of me to continue hiding. “I’m not someone who likes getting emotional so saying this is extremely personal and hard. “For a long time, I’ve struggled with my sexuality. I’ve dodged it and ignored it because I wasn’t proud of who I am. “But today I’m changing that. I’m proud to be a bisexual man.” The crowd can be seen cheering and giving a standing ovation in the video Bleu posted on Twitter, which has gone viral with almost a million views. He ended his speech by saying: “The important thing about being proud is that you should always be proud of yourself before you want anyone to be proud of you. “On that note, I want to thank everyone for coming out today, because I just came out, so thank you for coming out. “I want to remind you that the one thing no one can take from you is in here [points to his head]. Your futures are all so bright. “Thank you so much and happy Pride!” Bleu later posted on Twitter that coming out in his speech was the scariest thing he’d ever done, but that he didn’t just do it for himself. He wrote: “I did this not only for me but for anyone else who has struggled being closeted… I know what it feels like to be closeted and think that no one else is like you but, trust me, you’re not alone.” Bleu appeared on CBS This Morning after the video went viral, and said that he didn’t know if he would go through with it even as he got up on stage, but he felt comfortable and “knew it was right.”
|
Lily Wakefield
|
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/07/02/bisexual-student-standing-ovation-coming-out-graduation-speech/
|
2019-07-02 16:35:33+00:00
| 1,562,099,733 | 1,567,537,178 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
705,956 |
theguardianuk--2019-07-24--Is it grossly sexist to propose to your girlfriend at her graduation ceremony
| 2019-07-24T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Is it grossly sexist to propose to your girlfriend at her graduation ceremony?
|
Remember when people simply got engaged to one another, and didn’t feel the compulsion to record and disseminate the news How I long for those days. The public proposal video has been an online mainstay for years now, but its relative merits and faults continue to be a talking point on social media, especially when it comes to the male tendency to make it all about him. The latest man to annoy the internet is 27-year-old Edgaras Averbuchas, who chose his girlfriend Agne Banuskeviciute’s graduation ceremony to get down on one knee. She was in the process of receiving her English master’s from the University of Essex when Averbuchas sauntered on stage – rather stealing the spotlight, some might argue. The university posted the clip on Twitter before deciding it to remove it when it proved unpopular. One user said it was “bad form”: “Years of hard work and now we’re all supposed to be pleased for her. Not because of her achievement, but because she got her man.” Banuskeviciute has told the media that she was delighted by the proposal, and no doubt the negative reaction will be framed as bitter, man-hating feminists failing to rejoice in a couple’s happiness. But if you put your private (public) moment out into the world, it is reasonable to expect that not everyone will see it in the same way you do. At a time when women have more agency and independence than ever before, the surprise spotlight proposal can look dated – not to mention fake. “It was such a surprise!” has to be the biggest lie told by newly engaged women, reframing months of sometimes fraught discussions as a grand gesture worthy of, er, Hugh Grant turning up at your press conference and making it all about him. When a proposal is sprung on a woman during a celebration of her individual achievement – as in the case of the man who asked his diver girlfriend to marry him during her Olympic medal ceremony in 2016 – it can smack of egotistical insecurity. Why deny women their moment? Some may think it sweet, but for many it sounds alarm bells more than wedding bells.
|
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
|
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/jul/24/is-it-grossly-sexist-to-propose-at-girlfriends-graduation
|
2019-07-24 15:00:40+00:00
| 1,563,994,840 | 1,567,535,977 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
766,696 |
theindependent--2019-07-24--Man criticised for aposhijackingapos girlfriendaposs graduation with marriage proposal
| 2019-07-24T00:00:00 |
theindependent
|
Man criticised for 'hijacking' girlfriend's graduation with marriage proposal
|
Feminists have accused a man who proposed to his girlfriend during her graduation ceremony of “hijacking” her big day. Last weekend, Agne Banuskeviciute, a 25-year-old English language and applied linguistics masters student from the University of Essex, went up to accept her degree during her graduation ceremony. In that moment, Edgaras Averbuchas – Banuskeviciute's boyfriend of nine years – interrupted her big moment by dropping down on one knee to propose. While Banuskeviciute appeared to be shocked at the gesture, she soon broke into a smile as the audience cheered and applauded the couple. The proposal was filmed and posted online by the university but has since been removed from its social media platforms after it sparked criticism from feminists who accused Averbuchas of “egotism" for the gesture. One user wrote on Twitter: “Imagine being a man and feeling so threatened by a woman's intellectual success that you *have* to force her to frame her identity/agency in relation to *you* on the very day she is being celebrated for her intellect [sic]. “Oh wait, that's, like, 99.9 per cent [of] men.” Aisha Ali-Khan, an organiser of the Women's March in London, said the proposal “smacked of egotism”. "This does not bode well for the relationship,” Ali-Khan wrote in her blog Women United. "When someone craves such public attention and adulation all the time, there can only be space for one person and their ego in that relationship." Meanwhile, writer Rebecca Reid wrote about the gesture in an article for Grazia magazine, stating that she believed the couple to be in love and that Banuskeviciute appeared to be “delighted” with the proposal. However, Reid added: “Hijacking a big moment with something sweet or well intentioned doesn't make it okay. Just because something is sweet or well intended doesn't mean that it is appropriate." “And what if they get divorced or the proposal is called off, her graduation will forever be marked by his actions, and it will turn that memory bitter,” added another user. Averbuchas, who shared a video of the proposal on his Facebook account, described the proposal as “the greatest moment of my life” and said of his new fiancée: “She is my everything.” In response to the criticism, Banuskeviciute said that she found it “strange that Edgaras was getting a lot of criticism from people”. The graduate added: “I remember myself standing on the stage. I was a little bit nervous but extremely happy." The couple, who are both Lithuanian, met as teenagers at secondary school in their home town of Vilnius.
|
Katie O'Malley
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dating/proposal-graduation-essex-university-video-man-engagement-girlfriend-a9019676.html
|
2019-07-24 18:14:00+00:00
| 1,564,006,440 | 1,567,535,949 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
1,051,492 |
truepundit--2019-05-23--WATCH NYU Graduation Speaker Smears Trump Israel
| 2019-05-23T00:00:00 |
truepundit
|
WATCH: NYU Graduation Speaker Smears Trump, Israel
|
A graduation speaker at New York University called President Donald Trump a “fascist,” described Israel as an “apartheid” state, endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and praised Occupy Wall Street in a two-minute excerpt from his Monday speech. Speaking at the convocation ceremony for NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Steven William Thrasher praised his fellow doctoral graduates for their fight against the various perceived evils. “Many of us have been together at Occupy Wall Street, and at Black Lives Matter protests, and against that fascist in the White House,” Thrasher said to cheers. When the applause quieted, Thrasher took aim at Israel, which hosts the largest pro-gay “Pride Parade” in the Middle East. – READ MORE
|
admin
|
https://truepundit.com/watch-nyu-graduation-speaker-smears-trump-israel/
|
2019-05-23 18:29:38+00:00
| 1,558,650,578 | 1,567,540,211 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
1,062,394 |
unian--2019-05-29--First Ukrainian cadets graduation ceremony held in Kyiv on May 29
| 2019-05-29T00:00:00 |
unian
|
First Ukrainian cadets' graduation ceremony held in Kyiv on May 29
|
The first Ukrainian cadets' graduation ceremony was held in Kyiv on May 29. In 2019, Kyiv's school leavers will celebrate the "Day of Farewell Bell" on May 31.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/kiev/10568250-first-ukrainian-cadets-graduation-ceremony-held-in-kyiv-on-may-29-photo.html
|
2019-05-29 20:50:00+00:00
| 1,559,177,400 | 1,567,539,916 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
60,075 |
birminghammail--2019-04-06--Danielle Lloyd and Michael ONeill MARRY in secret Dubai beach wedding ceremony
| 2019-04-06T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Danielle Lloyd and Michael O'Neill MARRY 'in secret Dubai beach wedding ceremony'
|
Danielle Lloyd and Brummie electrician Michael O'Neill have tied the knot, according to reports. The Sutton Coldfield-based former WAG wed Michael in a top secret ceremony in Dubai. The sneaky pair exchanged vows today (Saturday, April 6) in the UAE, reports say. The 35-year-old and Michael said "I do" with little fanfare - with pals vowing to keep the exciting news off social media. Danielle's reps confirmed that the ceremony went ahead today. An insider told The Sun that the wedding was "small" but incredibly romantic. Everyone "was in tears" as the couple swapped vows, according to reports. Danielle's four children - who are all boys - were involved in the ceremony. She shares sons Archie, Harry and George with ex-husband Jamie O'Hara, a former Wolves star. Danielle also has a son with Michael, named Ronnie. The pair got married on the beach in front of the Burj Al Arab hotel, an insider revealed. Danielle and Michael exchanged vows in a romantic moment as the sun went down. Danielle met Michael in a Birmingham gym when he told her how she could do squat exercises better. Their relationship got serious pretty quickly, as he proposed to her after just six months. Danielle loves how he’s just a normal guy who isn’t interested in her fame – and she particularly loves the fact he’s a down-to-earth Brummie. The former Miss GB who lives in Sutton Coldfield says: “I just love Birmingham and the people are so friendly and nice. "Everyone is always so welcoming.” Danielle added about Michael: “He’s not into the glitz and the glam, he doesn’t want to go to premieres or anything like that. "He’s just a nice, down to earth person. "He didn’t want to go out with me because of the fame. "We like going for meals and playing with the kids, we love doing family stuff. I think that’s what I really need to concentrate on.” Michael proposed to Danielle on Valentine’s Day 2016 at posh London hotel Claridge’s. He had the diamond engagement ring specially made after designing it himself.
|
James Rodger
|
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/danielle-lloyd-michael-oneill-marry-16090803
|
2019-04-06 18:34:25+00:00
| 1,554,590,065 | 1,567,543,738 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
62,631 |
birminghammail--2019-05-31--Celebrate your dream wedding at these special venues in the West Midlands
| 2019-05-31T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Celebrate your dream wedding at these special venues in the West Midlands
|
Planning a wedding is no easy task, but finding your dream venue is one huge task to tick off your list. From elegant venues in the heart of the city to unique spots surrounded by rolling countryside hills, you're sure to find the dream place to celebrate your special day. If you want to keep your wedding day close to home, then The Regency Hotel could be just what you're looking for. This beautiful venue situated in the leafy suburb of Solihull has everything you need to be able to celebrate your wedding all in one place. Licenced for civil ceremonies, The Regency Hotel is close to both major motorway networks and Birmingham Airport, and has two excellent banqueting rooms which can hold up to 120 guests during the day and 150 guests for the evening reception. It also boasts a beautiful Bridal Suite and 111 rooms, so there's plenty of all of your guests to enjoy your special day without the hassle of driving. The hotel hosts a number of wedding fayres throughout the year, so why not head along to see everything that it has to offer, including bridal accommodation options and special wedding packages and rates. There will also be the chance for you to meet with local suppliers and gain plenty of inspiration to begin planning your dream wedding. If you would like to attend one of The Regency Hotel's wedding fayres, simply call 0121 745 0404, or click here to find out more. From the moment that you arrive along the sweeping driveway, to the very last dance of the biggest party of your life, The Lake at Barston could be the dream venue that you've been searching for. Located in Solihull, this beautiful venue really is a sight to behold with its stunning gardens that make the perfect backdrop for your photos. The Lake at Barston specialises in making your wedding day one to remember. As well as having a dedicated wedding coordinator to make sure you day runs smoothly, the venues talented chefs will cook up a delicious meal that all of your guests are sure to enjoy. To find out more about prices for your big day, or if you'd like to explore the venue, simply call The Lake on 01675 444890, or click here to visit the venue's website. The luxurious Hyatt Regency Birmingham provides a tranquil setting for your big day in the heart of Birmingham's bustling city centre. The dedicated team, including an experienced wedding planner, will help you create your dream day with the aim to offer as much flexibility and guidance as you'd like. Whether you're planning a civil ceremony with your nearest and dearest, or you want to celebrate in style with a large party, Hyatt Regency can cater from 10 to 300 guests through the diverse choice of rooms available. The hotel's talented chefs will also work with you to put together a personalised menu created from a selection of the season's freshest ingredients for you and your guests to enjoy. To find out more about weddings at Hyatt Regency Birmingham, email [email protected], call 0121 6431234 or click here to visit the website . Set within 1000 acres of breathtaking Staffordshire countryside, this beautiful, privately-owned steam railway is a dream setting for those thinking of planning a vintage style wedding. Home to the one of the largest private collections of locomotives, Statfold Round House and Statfold Barn Railway will provide a truly unique backdrop to your day. The Round House's ceremony room has space for 100, while the main room can seat 300 guests for a formal meal. And if you're looking for something completely different, the venue even has its own purpose built marquee. Whether you're hosting a wedding for 60 or 300, you'll have a dedicated and experienced wedding and events manager who will help you plan every step of your dream day. Find out more about weddings at Statfold National Gauge Trust here. Could the picturesque Rodbaston Hall be your dream venue? This beautifully restored 19th century hall is home to elegant banqueting suites and tranquil gardens that provide gorgeous surroundings for a civil ceremony, civil partnership or wedding reception. On Sunday, June 23, the Staffordshire venue is hosting a summer wedding faye, which is a wonderful opportunity for you to go along, meet some of the team, explore a host of exhibitors and begin planning your big day. To find out more about attending the wedding fayre at Rodbaston Hall, click here or email [email protected].
|
[email protected] (Becky Weaver)
|
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/special-features/dream-wedding-venues-west-midlands-16349793
|
2019-05-31 10:49:42+00:00
| 1,559,314,182 | 1,567,539,513 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
66,121 |
birminghammail--2019-09-05--Bride stages spectacular fake wedding ceremony so she can propose to unsuspecting best man
| 2019-09-05T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Bride stages spectacular fake wedding ceremony so she can propose to unsuspecting best man
|
A lovestruck bride staged a fake wedding so she could propose to the best man. Mechanic Paul Schoproni, 40, had been asking his partner Aleasha Pilawa to marry him for years but she’d never given him an answer. So to make up for it the 36-year-old businesswoman Aleasha, from Bargoed, south Wales, decided to stage a fake wedding for two friends – at which Paul was to be best man – before turning up in front of everyone in a wedding dress and popping the question to him. Dancing down the makeshift aisle at the town’s Capel Hotel on August 31 while dressed all in white, Aleasha belted out her rendition of the 1978 Motown hit It Should’ve Been Me – while all her unsuspecting other half could do was look on in shock. Then, in a video shot by a member if the congregation, you can see how the penny finally drops with Paul punching the air with joy, WalesOnline reports. Finally Aleasha gets down on one knee and asks: “Will you marry me?” But, unable to resist getting his own back for the stunt, Paul replies “No” and pretends to run away. All’s well that ends well, though, as he quickly returns to plant a big kiss on her lips and accepts. “For the last two years he’s proposed to me about 30 times a day,” said Aleasha, explaining the elaborate deception. "He used to do things like stand outside there in the morning as I drove past holding a billboard saying ‘Will you marry me?’ – proper embarrassing. “So I thought I’d finally put him out of his misery,” mum-of-three Aleasha said. But while everyone else knew what was going on Paul believed he was attending a humanist vow renewal ceremony for his friends Kevin and Heidi. “He did get suspicious once or twice so I’d have to create an argument just so I could be alone to plan our wedding,” explained Aleasha. Mechanic Paul said he still can’t believe Aleasha managed to organise the whole thing without him knowing. “My mate Kev’s a goth and the minister was there in all this dark clothing so I never suspected for one minute the day wasn’t for him,” he said, adding the couple were now planning a honeymoon abroad. “Then in she came singing our song – I thought it was a joke at first. And even now, despite the fact I’ve probably watched the video a hundred times, I still can’t quite believe it. “Fair play – I have to say I’m pretty impressed she managed to do all that.”
|
[email protected] (Brett Gibbons)
|
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/bride-stages-spectacular-fake-wedding-16868066
|
2019-09-05 11:03:23+00:00
| 1,567,695,803 | 1,569,331,175 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
66,982 |
birminghammail--2019-10-10--Create the wedding of your dreams starting here - the to do's before the I do's
| 2019-10-10T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Create the wedding of your dreams starting here - the to do's before the I do's
|
• TC Cars pride themselves on being more than just a taxi company. As you sit in the luxurious surroundings of one of their immaculate vehicles, you’ll be in the perfect frame of mind for what comes next – the moment that will change your life forever. They offer an incredible choice of vehicles, from a Bentley Flying Spur to the modern luxury of the Jaguar XF and Mercedes S Class. With TC Cars, there is only one question - Why Trust Anyone Else? Their team of experienced operators will ensure your transport arrives without a hitch, monitoring live traffic and any events near by that could affect the service. When you book with TC Cars, you can rest assured that they’ve got you covered - giving you the time to focus on the little things. Established since 1984 they have gained a wealth of experience and professionalism in the wedding industry. They are recommended by multiple wedding venues across the city with their legendary service recognised by many, including Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel, Strawberry Bank Hotel and many more. Did you know, TC Cars are not just exclusive to the bride and groom? They’re experts in all things transport and can provide minibuses for up to 16 passengers and wheelchair accessible vehicles where necessary. That means TC Cars can get you and your wedding party to and from a destination of your choice, hassle free. So what are you waiting for, tick wedding cars off your list today! Give them a call to find out more 0121 770 2000, the dedicated team will be happy to help. • Set against the backdrop of 550 acres of rolling North Warwickshire countryside, The Belfry Hotel & Resort offers the perfect luxury setting for a wedding day to remember. Your journey starts from the moment you enquire. Your personal wedding co-ordinator is on hand to ensure every detail of your special day is exactly as you want it. The abundance of world class facilities at The Belfry make for a totally unique event. From an elegant extravaganza to a beautifully simple ceremony, The Belfry is the perfect place to create your dream day. The Belfry has a choice of spaces for your special day. The Warwick Suite, at the heart of the hotel, has glittering chandeliers and high ceilings. The exclusively contained Woodland Suite is perfect for larger weddings and The Wishaw, with its private entrance and terrace, offers stunning views across the manicured grounds. For a smaller, more intimate reception there’s the impressive Ryder Room with stunning 360 views and The Lichfield Suite, each boasting their own charm and uniqueness. Add to this a choice of restaurants and bars, a luxury Spa and Leisure Club, and three iconic golf courses and The Belfry cannot fail to impress. You can also arrive in style by landing on the heli-pad and end your stay in one of our luxury suites, with beautiful views, room service and more. With stunning photo opportunities, outstanding quality of facilities and exceptional hospitality and service, the stage is set for whatever your heart desires. To find out more information about Wedding’s at The Belfry, call 01675 238 600 or email [email protected] • None Prepare for that special day with Ava May Bridal Ava May Bridal is the exciting new name of Lisa Rose Bridal. Located in the beautiful Old Chapel, Olton, Ava May offers a bespoke experience in all aspects of bridal wear. The aim is to make every bride feel as unique and special as she deserves, regardless of budget, age, size or sexuality. Ava May wants everyone to feel welcome and believes that with its host of amazing consultants and designers, it can cater for any bride's needs in preparing for her special day. Designers include Blue by Enzoani, Sophia Tolli, Enchanting by Mon Cheri, Phil Collins Bridal, Mia Mia, San Patrick, Studio by San Patrick, Dessy, Linzi Jay and Twilight, (more coming soon.) Ava May also offers monthly ‘Showcase Evenings’ where you're invited to go along and speak to a range of wedding suppliers from make-up artists, cake makers, florists, photographers, bands, djs and even nail technicians. The in-house seamstress can alter any dress to make it even more perfect for you too. The team truly wants you to have the most memorable day ever. Please go along and let them show you just how much of a magical experience, buying your gown can be. Call: 0121 706 6060. • None Entertain in style at The Lake at Barston From the very first moment you arrive along the sweeping driveway to the very last dance of the best party ever, this is your special day. The Lake at Barston is an impressive place, this fine building with its stunning location, beautiful fountain, tall stone pillars, gardens and superb lake views is the perfect place to entertain in style. With a dedicated wedding coordinator your big day is guaranteed to be exactly how you dreamed it, down to the last detail. The team specialises in making your wedding one to remember, whether it's an intimate affair or an extravagant party, The Lake at Barston can make it happen. The chefs will tailor your catering to exactly suit your requirements, whether you prefer a formal wedding breakfast or a barbeque, the team are on hand to make your day perfect. The stunning backdrop of the still water will help to create memories for years to come, perfect for capturing your special day in photographs. As well as offering a beautiful setting for your wedding day, you can also take full advantage of having the restaurant for just you and your guests. The Lake at Barston offers very reasonable prices for your big day, if you would like to take a look around, or for more details on menus and costings please feel free to call on 01675 444 890. • Lyli Paroi have the passion, drive and time to be able to communicate effectively with their clients by understanding their individual needs by working and listening to them closely from start to the finished jewellery product. Alongside the traditional methods of jewellery making they are proud to offer 3D design service using powerful CAD software to create a truly beautiful piece, unique to you. Lyli Paroi's expertise in diamonds and gemstones will leave you with peace of mind and assurance that has been built over many years being in the jewellery trade. All designs are skilfully made by an in-house manufacturing team at the jeweller's workshop. They work passionately to offer a bespoke and individual service. All products are backed up with a British Hallmark guarantee which ensures quality and transparency in Lyli Paroi's service and commitment to you. Every diamond that they supply is certified by world-renowned gemological institutions. Visit the design studio at Victoria Square Birmingham and let Lyli Paroi be part of • Nailcote Hall Hotel sits among 13 acres of picturesque Warwickshire countryside, boasting beautiful views over the award-winning golf course and offers the perfect backdrop to your dream wedding day. Situated near the village of Berkswell, the hotel is a stone's throw away from Solihull, Coventry and Warwick. Choose from four wedding suites all offering something unique and licensed for civil ceremonies, making Nailcote Hall an ideal location to host your entire wedding day under one roof and with wedding packages starting from £2,900, Nailcote Hall has the perfect package for your dream wedding. The largest venue, our glass marquee with its floor to ceiling glass windows offers the perfect backdrop to your celebration. The marquee can be arranged to your specific needs, making it ideal for larger weddings of up to 320, civil ceremonies and Asian weddings alike. The Bistro with its stunning stone built stair case offers an entrance like no other. This suite offers a glass ceiling, private bar and outside area, perfect for weddings of up to 140. Our third venue The Pavilion boasts views over our lake and golf course and offers a space ideal for intimate weddings of up to 50 guests. • None Sonny's understands the importance of the perfect piece They understand the importance of finding, or creating your perfect engagement ring, wedding bands and other wedding jewellery. These pieces hold memories and will be with you for life, making it essential to get right! Sonny's talented team are on hand to listen to your vision and advise accordingly. Sonny's hold a wide stock of amazing wedding jewellery that is just waiting to be found by the destined wearer. Visit the store to browse existing pieces and find inspiration to create your vision. Alternatively, you could make choosing your jewellery a little more personal and be part of the designing process. At Sonny’s they create bespoke designs that encapsulate your ideas to make dreams come true. They have some incredibly creative and knowledgeable people on hand, ensuring you get the best designs that are suited to you. Sonny's go the extra mile to make sure your forever jewellery is sentimental and personal, meaning you’ll love and cherish it forever. Talk to Sonny's about your special day and they’ll be on hand to find or curate your dream wedding jewellery. 105 Vyse St, Birmingham, B18 6LP. Call: 0121 236 2426.
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[email protected] (Russ Taylerson)
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/special-features/create-wedding-your-dreams-starting-17047635
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Thu, 10 Oct 2019 12:29:36 +0000
| 1,570,724,976 | 1,570,715,212 |
human interest
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ceremony
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67,464 |
birminghammail--2019-11-01--Couple's Cyprus wedding saved as local businesses raise £7,000 for free package after Thomas Cook co
| 2019-11-01T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
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Couple's Cyprus wedding saved as local businesses raise £7,000 for free package after Thomas Cook collapse
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A couple whose dream wedding in Cyprus was cancelled after Thomas Cook collapsed have tied the knot - after local businesses rallied to give them a free £7,000 package. Craig Williams and Kirsty Ward had saved up for two years for their luxury £10,000 ceremony, which was due to take place on October 23 in front of 25 guests. But after the tour operator went bust and left their plans in tatters generous businesses offered their services for free. The couple swapped their vows a week later than they had planned. The pair who have been together for 15 years, had spent two years planning their special day at the luxury King Evelthon Beach Resort and Hotel on the sun-kissed island of Cyprus. However, their dream wedding turned into a living nightmare just three weeks before they were due to fly when they heard the devastating news that Thomas Cook had ceased trading. Despair turned to delight when the White Hart Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorks., offered them a free package worth over £3,000 including a three-course wedding breakfast and drinks, room hire, accommodation and a DJ. Hotel owner Simon Cotton then rallied other firms and the couple were offered catering, hair and make-up, flowers and entertainment for their big day worth £7,000 - all free of charge. Despite the ceremony taking place almost 3,000 miles away from the five star resort they had previously booked, the made-up newlyweds said their wedding was even "bigger and better" than their original plans . Customer service adviser Kirsty, 41, said: “I felt sick when I heard the news about Thomas Cook. It was such a sinking feeling. We were just gutted. “Simon contacted us the next day and offered to put the wedding on for us and I was taken aback. “It has been completely manic, it has all happened so fast. “It was an amazing day. It was probably a lot better than what we had planned." While the couple will eventually be refunded for their flight and hotel, they are still out of pocket having lost deposits paid for hair, make up, catering and entertainment. Kirsty added: “I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity shown by so many people and we can’t thank the people of Harrogate enough for wanting to do this for us. “We just didn’t expect anything like this at all!" The couple met through a mutual friend 15 years ago and hit it off straight away. They live in Sheffield, South Yorks., with their three children - Ruby, 12, Grace, eight, and Alexander, three. Craig, a car valeter, popped the question in Whitby in May 2017 and they immediately set about planning their dream day in the sun. They picked out the King Evelthon Beach Hotel and Resort in Cyprus and had booked hair and makeup packages and a bouncy castle for the children to play on after the service. Kirsty said: “We wanted to get married abroad. As soon as I saw the King Evelthon hotel in the brochure I fell in love with it. “We did a full two years' planning and had paid deposits to businesses for things like hair and make up. “The package for the wedding was £5,500 but we paid at least £10,000 for everything." The pair tied the knot at the Grade II listed hotel in the picturesque spa town on Wednesday, October 30, in front of 25 close friends and family. Craig and Kirsty were welcomed by the Mayor and Mayoress of Harrogate, councillor Stuart Martin and his wife April, who presented the couple with a magnum of Champagne to help kick off their party in style. Blushing bride Kirsty also had her hair and makeup done for free and arrived at the venue in a 1930's style vintage Beauford Tourer. Kirsty added: “One minute we’re counting the cost of losing our wedding day and the next thing, we’re in the middle of organising something bigger and better than it was originally going to be. “It’s just amazing and Craig and I can’t believe how lucky we are. “We will be forever grateful to all the people who’ve been so thoughtful and kind-hearted.” Craig, 36, said: “I guess sometimes things happen for a reason but we had no idea upon hearing the bad news that we’d end up a few weeks later with more than we had originally planned .” Simon Cotton, managing director for HRH Group, which owns the White Hart, said: "I’m also in the middle of planning my own wedding for next year and I really felt for this couple who’d spent all this time planning and saving up to then have it all taken away at the last minute and I couldn’t help but think we must try to do something . “What started as an offer to provide the wedding venue and wedding breakfast and drinks turned into a wedding far bigger and with so much more than the couple had originally planned or could afford.”
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[email protected] (James Rodger)
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/couples-cyprus-wedding-saved-local-17184198
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Fri, 1 Nov 2019 12:00:02 +0000
| 1,572,611,538 | 1,572,611,538 |
human interest
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ceremony
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67,974 |
birminghammail--2019-11-14--Couple get married with pony invited to wedding as guest of honour
| 2019-11-14T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
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Couple get married with pony invited to wedding as guest of honour
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A happy couple have tied the knot at a special wedding ceremony where their PONY was the guest of honour. Courtney and Ben Small have been together for years and decided they wanted to become man and wife. They planned their perfect day, in the stunning grounds of St Elizabeth's House, in Plymouth, Devon, and wrote up a long guest list - with one special invitee. And they made sure that their pet pony named Joker was able to attend to celebrate with them. Majestic white-haired Joker took centre stage at the equestrian-friendly marriage ceremony, and even featured in the wedding pictures. The pair were joined by family and friend for their memorable day, and volunteers from Hoofbeats Equine Rehabilitation Sanctuary including Sharon Vieira. Sharon said: "We were so pleased to be able to help bring an extra special touch to the wedding. "It was only right that Joker was able to be a part of the big day and we wanted to also repay all the hard work Courtney and Ben have done for us over the years."
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[email protected] (James Rodger)
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/couple-married-pony-invited-wedding-17255799
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Thu, 14 Nov 2019 12:15:07 +0000
| 1,573,751,707 | 1,573,734,809 |
human interest
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ceremony
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157,428 |
eveningstandard--2019-01-03--Best wedding guest dresses The stunning wedding guest dresses and outfits to shop now
| 2019-01-03T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
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Best wedding guest dresses: The stunning wedding guest dresses and outfits to shop now
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Wedding guest dressing is no exact science, and often we receive invites in the post with joy shortly followed by a mini sartorial panic. How to choose the right ensemble that feels elegant yet comfortable, stylish while not try-hard, and special enough to face old friends you haven’t seen in years, while not upstaging the bride? What about all the various dress-codes, locations and even themes we often have to adhere to? And wait: is it ever ok to wear white? To lend a helping hand we’ve scoured the best wedding guest dresses for any kind of nuptials you might encounter in 2019. For black-tie weddings, don’t shy away from floor-grazing designs like Cushnie’s draped, open-back gown, stick to luxe fabrics and be prepared to splash out on a dress that you’ll keep forever. Or perhaps your look is more boho? Look to fun yet polished prints (read: everything Rixo London makes), and consider styles in lace and crochet to achieve that free spirit aesthetic. We’ve also considered the best dresses if your bride is taking her nuptials to the beach: lightweight, easy-breezy and sand-repelling designs will be your best friend, we adore Arket’s light beige satin halter-neck, and mini dresses should not be shied away from when chosen wisely just check out a beautiful option from Self Portrait. In contrast, perhaps your next wedding is taking place in the colder months? If so, avoid shivery church situations in warm fabrics (note Ghost’s velvet dress and Elizabeth and James’ merino wool number) and stick to long sleeves. We’ve also catered to the classic wedding guest dress: flattering silhouettes, fashion-forward details and florals in no short supply. Browse below for 50 wedding guest dresses to banish your RSVP woes… There truly is no better print for a wedding guest attire than florals: when carefully considered, they make for a cheerful choice while not upstaging the bride. Consider this flowing A-line option by Zara, our go-to for chic but affordable dresses. The high neck and long sleeves keep it wedding appropriate but entirely chic. Who said pink and red should never be seen? This Roksanda Ilinčić creation throws all sartorial rules out of the window, featuring a dusty pink skirt with draping detail in contrasting red snaking up the bodice. Trust us, the wow-factor is worth the price-tag. It’s like the genius duo at Rixo London stepped inside our minds and plucked out our perfect wedding guest dress. The open back will show off your tan while the delicately draping silk and front slit will give you a sexy edge as you swan into the venue. And that’s all before we get to the Italian riviera-worthy print. Divine. Now here’s a dress that is going to win you style points with your mates pre-ceremony. Uterque’s impeccable selection of elegant gowns is evidenced in this floral beauty: from the round-neck, to the gathered detail on the skirt and the graphic yet vintage-style print, what’s not to adore? We generally look to Scandi brand Arket for our quality cashmere jumpers and crewnecks, but its occasionwear selection is not to be overlooked. Just take a look at this caramel-hued, satin-look sleeveless dress. The lace detail at the V-neck gives a subtle after-dark vibe, making it the perfect dress to take from ceremony to reception. Pistachio hues are our go-to for understated yet chic wedding guest attire. Look to & Other Stories for this subtle, long-sleeved maxi dress with belt detail that will cinch you in at the waist. Not forgetting those cuffed balloon sleeves. Dreamy. Be the golden girl at any wedding in Nanushka’s Saffron cut-out midi dress. The modest cowl-neck balances out the liquid gold metallic hue, while one thing’s for sure: the satin will feel all sorts of luxurious against your skin, from day to night. Just pair with structured black mules and a matching mini bag. You really can’t go wrong with Ghost’s Martha dress: the flattering shape (including gentle frills around the neckline, gathered details on the side, extending into a long skirt and cuffs), satin crêpe fabric and electric blue colour make this a wedding guest winner. We’re all for an elegant dress boasting a pleasing price-tag. Enter Topshop’s chartreuse-coloured slip dress, featuring a double thigh split and criss-cross back. Perhaps wear with an elegant jacket, which you can remove just prior to hitting the dance floor. Take your hemline shorter and your colour bolder in this gorgeous Ted Baker creation. The pleated panels and crochet lace trim keep the dress on the classy side of mini, while the stand-out fuschia is a winner any time of the year. Pair with some barely-there strappy heels for the perfect wedding guest look. It-brand Rixo are the sartorial leaders of fun yet chic prints which they lovingly apply to their lust-worthy selection of dresses. For a boho edge at your next nuptials, look to the brand’s sell-out Moonlight print, featuring moons, stars and others celestial ongoings. Add to that a flattering midi length, V-neck and chic button-down design and your dress will be the most talked-about of the day. (After the bride’s, of course. Maybe.) There’s something about this contrast print dress that would inspire us to pull out our crystal ball and tell fortunes. The mix-and-match floral prints make for the ideal boho wedding guest look while not looking over complicated. Ashew wedding guest dressing traditions and wear with polished-to-perfection heeled leather boots. Part gothic, part boho, Zimmerman’s asymmetric maxi dress is undeniably gorgeous. Featuring a low-V bodice that flares into a lace skirt, crochet inserts (that reveal just the right amount of skin), and trimmed with subtle pompoms, this dress is going to see you through multiple wedding seasons. P.S as you can tell, we’re of the opinion that black is totally acceptable for weddings when the dress in question is this good. If you think you’ve fallen out of love with paisley print, hold that thought. Arket’s sleeveless, satin dress is totally wearable, and guess what? It’s covered in the stuff. Let us draw your attention to the keyhole opening at the front with a twist detail and the oh-so flattering fit-and-flare shape. Pair with dark accessories if you want to let the print do the talking, or otherwise, select a key colour from the print and match accordingly. We’re thinking the canary yellow. The brilliant thing about cult brand Realisation Par’s Iggy dress – a low-back slip with an oversized, graphic poppy print – is that it’s made for all occasions. Once you’ve worn it as wedding guest attire with heels (and been complimented aplenty), dress down for a stroll round the shops in a pair of your best kicks. There’s nothing like a bit of animal print to let your boho side shine through. Look to 2018’s favourite print in this A-line silhouette Zara dress featuring a buttoned front and long sleeves. Just pair with some barely there sandals and your favourite mini bag for a failsafe look. Pretty as a picture, this lace applique dress by high street favourite, H&M, features a V-neck and spaghetti straps. In our opinion, the prom-style silhouette would look excellent for a spring or summer wedding when worn with choice accessories. Printed with pretty blooms, brand of the moment Ganni’s Lindale dress has exceedingly good cost-per-wear potential thanks to its transseasonal print and flattering shape. Note: wrap styles have the ability to look good on all shapes and ages. This one’s going straight in our shopping basket. We’re majorly into the Baroque-worthy print on this Whistles mini dress. The shorter option stays wedding-appropriate with a high neckline and hem that falls at just the right length above the knee. Plus, it makes the perfect party dress for when the heels are kicked off at the end of the night. If leopard’s not your vibe, then zebra makes for the ideal (and still on-trend) boho alternative. We love this ASOS option with its high neck, tie cuffs and peekaboo keyhole back for a subtle but sexy edge. But perhaps more than all of that, we love the pricetag. For more formal weddings, get Carly Cushnie’s designs (of her namesake brand) on your immediate radar. In particular, this floor-length fuchsia gown has won our affections. Featuring a cowl neckline, the silk-crepe fabric hugs the waist while the train pools on the ground. Turn it around, and the straps are secured by gold hardware. Truly a keepsake dress. Do your best flamenco dancer impression at your next black-tie wedding in this excellent Zara number. The tight knit bodice, which scoops into a low-V, only sees to compliment the star of the dress: the tiered ruffle layers that fall all the way down the skirt. Mango’s occasionwear has been known to fool even the most savvy fashion eye for designer - and this draping satin dress is no exception. Complete with a flared design, side slit and bow detail on the waist, we’ll be channelling a Bond girl in this for our next wedding RSVP. Fashion just got smart with this blush pink satin dress by Orseund Iris, the brand of Instagram fame. Why? The length can be adjusted by pulling on drawstrings at either side, transforming it from a midi to a mini when its time to hit the open bar. Clever, huh? Every girl needs a classic cocktail dress in their wedding guest arsenal, but why not add a playful edge with statement tassels? Swish your way into the reception in this Kitri dress that is sure to win you favour with your fellow fashionable guests. £57 | Kitri | *On sale now, was £115 There are many things to love about this satin, champagne-hued Topshop number, but right now we’re resting on the sophisticated Grecian silhouette. Just pair with shoulder-grazing earrings and stand-out heels for the ultimate wedding guest look. For a black-tie appropriate choice, look to ASOS’s in-house atelier for a satin maxi dress that packs a punch. The single draped shoulder, fishtail bottom and perfect shade of blue make this a winner for more formal nuptials. Pair your look with silver strappy heels and your most sparkly jewels. We all know the cardinal rules about wearing white to a wedding, but this dress by Rasario - a brand that’s proved a favourite with the likes of Lily Collins and Tracee Ellis Ross - might just keep you on the right side of etiquette. The midi-length dress features a polka-dot, tulle skirt contrasted against a structured black bust. Besides, with a dress this good, the bride might just forgive you. There’s no doubt this scarlet Uterque gown wreaks of glamour, but its overly simple silhouette is saved by a single draped sleeve, adding an element of interest. We can see this dress just as much suited to a glitzy red carpet as to the church benches. This navy, floor-length bandeau gown works just as well as a wedding guest dress or purchased in multiples for the bridal party. With its draping skirt, supported bodice and adjustable straps, its a flattering shape on anyone. H&M scores again. Uterque’s elegant, flowing slip with ruffle trims on the skirt is perfect for those barefoot beach wedding settings. The subtle V-neckline, thin straps and delicate blue shade feels special without drawing too much attention away from the lady of the day. We adore this flowing halter-neck Zara dress featuring an A-line silhouette. The loose-fitting shape allows you to channel your best beach babe self, while the vibrant red makes sure you won’t shrink into the background. Wear with chunky-heeled mules that won’t disappear into the sand. If you’re jetting off to warmer climes for said wedding, then a mini dress makes for a perfectly suitable choice: not only will you look chic but you’ll be banishing any uncomfortable clamming situations as you swelter through the day. The trick is to choose a mini that feels luxe. Look to Self-Portrait’s one-shoulder dress, featuring a draped sleeve and ditzy black-and-white print. What’s more is that it includes a built-in bra so you’ll feel supported throughout the day. Bonus. Realisation’s Amelia dress, made from the brand’s signature silk, promises to be weightless - perfect for any warm weather, beach wedding setting. Plus its simple silhouette and cute daisy print is just the right amount of flirty. You’ll be winning telephone numbers at the reception in Ghost’s Miller dress: guaranteed. The classic cut, complete with a V-neck at the front and back, and gathered detail at the bust will have you feeling all kinds of confident. And can we talk about that royal purple? Faithfull the Brand have answered all of our beachside wedding guest woes with this one. Elegant yet easy, the brand’s Nina dress features a floral print and is made from a lightweight crepe. We’re imagining this with espadrilles and a chic straw clutch as you watch your nearest and dearest say ‘I Do’. The star of this Jacquemas number is the skirt that curves and tucks to create a stunning drape. Add to that a low-scooped back and thin spaghetti straps to show off your tan, you’re guaranteed to be one of the best dressed on the beach. Arket’s minimalist designs go hand-in-hand with beach wedding guest attire. Cut in a satin fabric (that promises not to wrinkle easily for those extended ceremony sittings), this ivory-hued dress is the perfect choice for your next oceanside nuptials. Full disclosure: this one’s not dissimilar to Zara’s halter-neck dress (as shown above) which costs a fraction of the price, but you’ll be sacrificing the luxe satin. Midi lengths are perfect for beachside vows, purely because they’re short enough to avoid sandy hems and long enough to maintain that easy breezy vibe, which, let’s face it: we’re all aiming for when we hit the beach. That’s why we are particularly enamoured by this mixed print beauty by & Other Stories which features a gorgeous sweetheart neckline and tie-up detail at the waist. Embrace the joyous occasion and beachside sunshine in the happiest colour of all: yellow. This vibrant Cos dress ticks all the boxes with its lightweight material and asymmetrical hem that gives a softly gathered look for that fashionable edge. If there ever was a fabric to marry perfectly with a winter wedding, it’s velvet. It’s glamorous, luxurious, and not to mention warm (which is SO important as you wait patiently for the bride to arrive). All considered, look to Ghost’s gorgeous Sierra Dress made which features a dropped cowl collar, a keyhole back and gathered sleeves. Keep jewellery minimal and pair with some toe-enclosing heels. If you’re the statement-making kind, then let’s not forget that winter is the season of sequins. Kitri’s Alyssa dress - embellished with violet and red sequins and featuring a satin belt and flared cuffs - will have you shining at the wedding reception. No disco ball necessary. When the mercury drops, there’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortably cold in your wedding guest outfit - this is why we’re all for Zara’s long ribbed knit dress. Sure, when we think of knits they tend to veer on the side of casual, but the backless detail on this dress, when paired with some heavy-duty jewellery and your best heels will have you a stylish yet comfortable look. Long sleeves are your best friend when it comes to weddings in the colder months. We simply love Warehouse’s colour block wrap dress featuring long sleeves, and an asymmetric hem. This is the kind of dress you can also recycle again and again, for work to dinners and more. Thanks for this one, Warehouse. Florals have the ability to cheer up even the coldest days, which is why we’re adding Glamorous’s long-sleeved black-and-white floral maxi to our shopping basket immediately. We envisioning this dress with some chunky gold jewellery and black patent boots (totally allowed in winter, FYI). Plus, would you look at that price-tag? Merge two cold-weather favourites - tartan and sequins - by choosing this Zara number for your next nuptials. The dress could quite easily be Asish, featuring a long A-line silhouette, a round neckline and long sleeves. But be warned, it’s limited edition - so get in there quick! The beauty of & Other Stories’ zebra print mesh midi dress is that it’s layerable - a necessary criteria when hunting for a winter wedding guest outfit. Wear with a carefully selected jacket for the wedding, and then take it to work the following week by adding a funnel neck and tights. Often simple is best, and LA hit brand Reformation know this all too well. For weddings between December and March, consider the brand’s Lou dress: a fit-and-flare dress with a scoop neckline and three-quarter sleeves. We adore the Fifties silhouette, while the forest green shade is one of the most sought-after colours of the season. Made from merino wool, Elizabeth and James’ turtleneck maxi dress will see you the snuggest (and smuggest) person in the church, from neck-to-ankles. Again, ribbed knits don’t scream wedding dress attire, but this particularly option stays luxe thanks to the gorgeous marigold hue, while the fluted sleeves give it a high-fashion edge. Crimson is one of the cleverest colours on the palette: not only is red a natural stand-out by nature, but crimson maintains an air of sophistication and luxe. This is why we’ve fallen for Ghost’s Rosaleen dress which comes in the shade. Featuring a cut-in detailing on the front bodice, a deep keyhole opening at the back and long sleeves, it’s no wonder it’s one of the brand’s most popular cuts. ES Best product reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products, but we never allow this to bias our coverage. The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testing. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter
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Ciara Sheppard
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https://www.standard.co.uk/shopping/esbest/fashion/wedding/best-wedding-guest-dresses-a4019721.html
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2019-01-03 12:52:00+00:00
| 1,546,537,920 | 1,567,554,069 |
human interest
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ceremony
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160,871 |
eveningstandard--2019-01-23--Anna Wintour on Meghan Markleaposs wedding dress The Vogue editor explains why it worked
| 2019-01-23T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
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Anna Wintour on Meghan Markle's wedding dress: The Vogue editor explains why it worked
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With decades of experience at the top of the fashion food chain, Vogue editor Anna Wintour's seal of approval carries a lot of weight. Recently she revisited her British roots to weigh in on the most talked-about dress of 2018: Meghan Markle’s Givenchy wedding gown. In a Vogue video called Anna Wintour Answers Questions From Total Strangers, Wintour was asked about the Duchess of Sussex. “I think [Meghan’s] choice was brilliant. It was sophisticated, it was chic, it was grown up. It was an English designer - albeit one that was working for a French house - which in a way was a message to the world. ‘Yes, I’m from somewhere else, but I belong.’” Traditionally, royal brides have chosen a British fashion house for their big day. But, as Wintour pointed out, there were still ties to the U.K thanks to Givenchy creative director Clare Waight Keller's British roots. Keller was awarded UK Womenswear Designer of the Year at last year's Fashion Awards. The Duchess surprised Keller at the ceremony, making a speech and giving her a hug. Keller appears to have become one of Meghan Markle's friends as the designer revealed that she "got to know Meghan on such a personal level." Since her wedding, Givenchy has become a regular fixture in Meghan Markle's wardrobe. The Vogue editor-in-chief also spoke of her admiration for Markle's work ethic. She said, “I read somewhere that there were members of the royal household that were confused and upset that she woke up so early at 5 a.m... She’s a normal California girl who gets up early and does yoga and meditates, and also sends a lot of text messages. I mean, what did they expect? That she was going to send messages via pigeon? So, I think she’s amazing.” Wintour also said she admired the fact that Meghan initially walked down the aisle alone, with Prince Charles meeting her halfway. She said, “The fact that she chose to walk down the aisle by herself, I also thought spoke for an independent woman.” Meghan Markle wasn’t the only royal who has won over Wintour, as she also spoke warmly of Kate Middleton - heralding the two newcomers to the royal family as a welcome shift for Britain’s most famous family. “I think the two duchesses, the young duchesses that they have in Britain: the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex, are going to keep the royal family afloat quite frankly.”
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Megan C. Hills
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https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/royalssociety/anna-wintour-meghan-markle-wedding-dress-a4046631.html
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2019-01-23 12:35:00+00:00
| 1,548,264,900 | 1,567,551,164 |
human interest
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ceremony
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161,577 |
eveningstandard--2019-01-26--The best summer wedding destinations and venues in Europe
| 2019-01-26T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
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The best summer wedding destinations and venues in Europe
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So you’ve just got engaged to the love of your life, you’ve told you’re friends and family but now comes the even bigger decision: where to get married. The UK is filled with quintessentially British venues, both charming and elegant, but with the average wedding in the UK setting newlyweds back £30,355, it’s no wonder many couples are looking towards our neighbours in Europe for venue options. A destination wedding is an easy way to keep costs down. You can invite less people, get more for your pound and you spend less money on decorations when the location is your stunning backdrop. Europe sparkles the most during summer, so below we’ve curated a list of our top destinations and venues to consider for your summer European wedding. If a 130-acre estate in the Italian countryside sounds like you’re ideal wedding venue, then you’re in for a treat. The white-washed 16th century farmhouse-turned-luxury hotel combines minimalism with rustic touches to make a dream venue. Surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and rolling green hills stretching towards the Ionian Sea, expect a day filled with romance and Italian sunshine. For an extra-special weekend, book out the hotel for just you and your guests to enjoy and spend the day after your wedding relaxing by the pool with your nearest and dearest. Santorini, with its dramatic cliffs and iconic sunsets, is already one of the most romantic places in the world – so why not step it up a notch by hosting your wedding there too? Caldera’s Dolphin Suites is home to a 500 metre squared cliff-top space that offers majestic views over the caldera. With space for 120 people (and technology to let you live-stream your wedding to guests who couldn't make it), you’ll be able to bask in the Greek sun during your big day, taking those all-important golden hour photos before watching the sunset with your loved ones. A venue that caters to any budget, Gatezur is a spellbinding French mansion that dates back to 1401 and is located in the charming village of Arcangues. Surrounded by the green pastures and mountains of the Basque countryside, you can work with the venue to create a wedding tailored to your needs. With three reception venues to choose from, our pick is to have dinner in the Orangerie which seats up to 130 guests. The glass-roofed room will create a magical feel and let you dine under the stars come nightfall. A boutique hideaway on the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, overlooking the picturesque Positano, a wedding here will be one to remember. The five-star luxury hotel offers an intimate wedding setting on a private balcony where you can embrace the fresh sea air. Besides taking post card-worthy wedding photos on the terrace, you can also wander through the myriad of garden pathways nestled among vine-laded pergolas, bougainvillea, pine trees and tropical plants located at the base of the hotel. With a secret garden and awe-inspiring interiors, Boyne Hill House in County Meath, just north of Dublin, is a quintessentially Irish bolthole for your big day. Watch your guests arrive along the sweeping tree-lined driveway, pulling up to the elegant manor house before settling in to the Victorian walled ‘secret’ garden – complete with a waterfall, bridge and orchard - to watch you say ‘I do’. Bougainvilleas are aplenty here at this hotel located on the north side of the trendy Bodrum peninsula. The ideal place for an understated wedding, that lets the backdrop of the glistening Aegean Sea do all the hard work. Macakizi is where you will find blissful bohemia at its peak and with the weather still hovering around 20 degrees come October, a later summer wedding should be in the cards. Book out the beach club for your reception and dance the night away under the stars and to the sound of the soothing waves. Vis is one of the best-kept secrets in the Adriatic, with azure waters, natural beauty and a world away from the hustle and bustle of regular European summer tourist destinations. Sitting pretty on a high perch of the island is Fort George – a 200-year-old restored fort. With a balmy garden, shaded by pine trees and spectacular sea views, watch one of the most magical island sunsets with your family and friends while glowing in the fact that you just married the person you love. Another property draped in bougainvillea, this stunning villa just 15 minutes from the centre of Spain’s Seville is perfect for an intimate garden wedding with sunlight filtering through the tree branches above. The venue will cater to your needs, so hold your outdoor reception under a plethora of fairy lights to create a magical setting. If ‘idyllic’ is your only criteria when searching for a wedding venue, then this historic castle in the Tuscan hills should do the trick. Tuscany has long been a place for romance, and this 11th century castle embodies the charm and splendour Italy is known for. The garden and terrace look over the Chianti hills during the ceremony and you can choose to dine inside the castle or al fresco under the moon and strings of fairy lights come nightfall. Simply magical. Perched atop a steep cliff and looking over Slovenia’s most iconic landmark – the Lake Bled church – celebrate your nuptials at the fairytale Bled Castle. You can decide to hold your nuptials at the church on the lake or at the castle, before holding an outdoor reception on the castle’s terrace overlooking the lake for a very Instagram-worthy party. With crashing waves and rugged cliffs as your backdrop, this is a beachside wedding at its finest. Opt for the solarium or the upper balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and hold your ceremony at sunset for stunning photos. An indoor or outdoor reception are available and whatever you choose will allow you for a relaxed wedding with a bougie vibe.
|
Laura Hampson
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/best-summer-wedding-destinations-venues-europe-a4049591.html
|
2019-01-26 16:56:00+00:00
| 1,548,539,760 | 1,567,550,734 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
161,954 |
eveningstandard--2019-01-29--Groom walks for miles in heavy snow to attend wedding ceremony in India
| 2019-01-29T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Groom walks for miles in heavy snow to attend wedding ceremony in India
|
A groom in India has trekked nearly four miles in heavy snow to attend his wedding ceremony. Around 80 people were due to attend the wedding on Friday, but as they left from Triyuginarayan village, they became stranded in traffic after roads were closed by the snow. The family decided to send only the guests who were needed for the traditional wedding rituals including the groom’s uncle, sisters and elderly relatives, the Hindustan Times reported. Dressed in their wedding attire, the family began the six kilometre (3.7 mile) long procession to the ceremony on foot. But, asked if it was a difficult journey, the groom’s brother, Ashish Gairola, told the paper: “If you see the pictures then you would question whether they were even feeling cold, forget difficulty. My eight-year-old son played with snow throughout the way.” Bijay Lal, head of Triyuginarayan village, said despite the unusually long procession, the wedding went off without a hitch. “Even I had to go to the wedding but (we) were all stuck due to the snow,” he told the paper. “But those who went enjoyed the whole journey and the wedding took place without any problem.” The snow has caused major disruption to the village, which has been without power for seven days.
|
Bonnie Christian
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/groom-walks-miles-in-heavy-snow-to-attend-wedding-ceremony-in-india-a4051811.html
|
2019-01-29 13:30:39+00:00
| 1,548,786,639 | 1,567,550,359 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
166,246 |
eveningstandard--2019-02-26--40 wedding photos that perfectly capture the emotion and hilarity of the big day
| 2019-02-26T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
40 wedding photos that perfectly capture the emotion and hilarity of the big day
|
There is nothing quite like a wedding, and what makes them so special are all the individual moments spread throughout the day. From the bride sharing a whisper with her father before going down the aisle, or the shy flower girl kidnapping some canapes, we want to make sure these special moments, and the incredible wedding photographers that capture them, are celebrated. This year, once again, Bridebook challenged hundreds of Bridebook’s best wedding photographers to send us their most unique, funny, tender and outrageous wedding photos from their 2018 weddings, so we could share those magical moments for all to enjoy. So without further ado, here are our favourite wedding photos of 2018. How many times do you get an opportunity to take a picture of the bride on a roller coaster? This was one of the most exciting moments in this photographer’s career (we just wonder how he did it…). This bride and groom snuck into a telephone box at the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, where they tied the knot. The photographer caught these lads having a laugh and a beer in the bathtub! They got ready in a jiffy and had plenty of time to relax before the wedding. Pit stop! That’s what bridesmaids are for, no? This photo was taken just as this little girl’s mother (the bride), stepped out of the room in her wedding dress. Her expression says it all. The best man had just told a rather risqué story about the groom and the range of reactions at his punchline are incredible. Yawns and bubbles. This baby’s nap-time wasn’t going to stop her dad from toasting the bride and groom. The couple’s gorgeous dog was brought along to the wedding and had some big kisses for dad. These kids were trying to wind their grandmother up as she kept telling them to behave. A very heavy downpour catches wedding guests as they head to the village church in Leicestershire. A classic British wedding. Dad witnessing all the chaos as the girls get prepared. A 7-foot dinosaur on the dance floor? Looks like this Bridezilla found her match. Happy tears begin to flow with the bride’s brother cradling his daughter while watching his sister, the bride, dancing with their father. Grandma seeing her grandaughter in her wedding dress for the very first time – a very emotional moment for all. Veil stuck on a hedge, new husband comes to the rescue. You might look stunning but no one said putting the dress on was easy. Which is why every bride needs their squad of bridesmaids. Hindu weddings are packed with symbolism. Here Pooja’s parents come together to place the final pieces of jewellery before her ceremony. This groom couldn’t hold in the tears alongside his best man, as his bride walked into their wedding. This mum couldn’t hide her excitement as she watched the ceremony. The in-between moments, where guests come to greet each other before the party, are often the most beautiful and filled with love. This dad was very emotional upon seeing his beautiful daughter in her wedding dress. These groomsmen waited patiently as the bride and groom signed their names. The moment was captured beautifully. Who doesn’t love smoke bombs in front of a beautiful stately home? Woodhall Manor looks amazing in this shot. Double trouble. One of 2018’s biggest trends was llamas at weddings. Let’s just hope the trend continues. This was a shot taken at Tower Hill Barns in North Wales. These little pageboys were having great fun in the camper van and their playfulness makes for a great photo. This newborn baby was just a couple of weeks old, and when the mum brought her to show the bride, everyone in the room wanted to take turns holding her. We love the blissed out expression on her face. This photographer got the wedding guests involved with their phones during the reception to make this original photo. This bride wanted their dog in the picture as they signed the papers. The photographer got the perfect angle. Photographers often crack jokes to keep family photos fun and energetic. This granny said she had something to make everyone laugh, and with a serious face, flashed the photographer. A lovely moment is captured as the bride and groom dance. If only everyone could look that majestic during their first dance. The bride and groom didn’t want to do a traditional first dance, so they taught themselves to dance to ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ by Daft Punk. These ushers got creative when asked to move the floral arrangements from the church up to the marquee. During the cake cutting, the groom noticed a bottle of Champagne on the table and immediately grabbed it. His wife said no… but it was far too late. A tender moment between the groom and his bride during his speech. One of the most beautiful photos on the list. We love how the photographer capture this fairytale moment. These lovely brides having a moment to themselves, overlooking the Cornish coast before their wedding takes place. These grooms had their reception at a golf course but it rained, but that didn’t stop them from having lots of fun outside in the rain.
|
Hamish Shephard
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https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/best-wedding-photos-2018-a4076946.html
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2019-02-26 17:46:00+00:00
| 1,551,221,160 | 1,567,547,240 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
168,581 |
eveningstandard--2019-03-20--Greg Shepherd shares new snaps of luxurious Maldives wedding to Billie Faiers
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Greg Shepherd shares new snaps of luxurious Maldives wedding to Billie Faiers
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Greg Shepherd has shared fun snaps from his Maldives wedding to Billie Faiers, which took place earlier this month. The reality star pair tied the knot at the beginning on March, saying "I do" in an intimate ceremony in the island of Kuramathi. Shepherd and Faiers shared the first pictures of the wedding with OK! magazine but have since treated fans to a selection of snaps on their social media pages. On Tuesday night, Shepherd posted an array of pictures from their special day, including shots of the bride and groom with friends and family. “Finally the day we became 4 sheps #billieisashep,” wrote Shepherd beside a beautiful family snap. Other shots showed him with his groomsman and other male mates at the ceremony, allowing him a moment to pay tribute to his best men and ushers. He wrote: “Thank to my best men and ushers could not have done the 4 stags and a wedding without you. Lot of love for you boys #billieisashep #bestmen #ushers.” The couple, who got together in 2011, share four-year-old daughter Nelly and two-year-old son Arthur. Both children played a key role in the wedding ceremony. Faiers, who rose to fame on The Only Way Is Essex, recently opened up about plans for a third child in the future. “As for baby number three, it’s not a priority at the moment but never say never,” Faiers told OK!. “We obviously missed the kids so much but we had such a whirlwind of a week. It was nice to take some time for Greg and I to reflect on everything.” While in the Maldives, reports claimed that the “rowdy” guests had been the source of some disruption at the luxury resort, with allegations of Shepherd “swearing” at fellow residents. But the claims were soon shut down by Faiers, who told OK! that the hotel manager “never received any complaints” and insisted them and their party were “very respectful” of other residents.
|
Natasha Sporn
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https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/greg-shepherd-shares-new-snaps-of-luxury-maldives-wedding-to-billie-faiers-a4096631.html
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2019-03-20 12:29:36+00:00
| 1,553,099,376 | 1,567,545,475 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
175,550 |
eveningstandard--2019-05-28--The average cost of attending a UK wedding in 2019 revealed
| 2019-05-28T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
The average cost of attending a UK wedding in 2019, revealed
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The average cost of attending a wedding in 2019 has been revealed – and it's rather a lot. American Express has released its annual wedding study which estimates how much guests are likely to spend attending ceremonies in the UK. According to the report, which surveyed 2,000 adults, 2019 guests are set to fork out an average of £391 each to celebrate a big day, which is almost a third more than in 2018. The Amex research also found that the number of weddings that Brits are expected to attend in 2019 has fallen, with the average Brit expected to attend just one ceremony this year, down from an average of three in 2018. The biggest expenses were for hotels, outfits, followed by a wedding gift – on which guests are expected to spend an average of £66, up from £57 last year.
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Rosie Fitzmaurice
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https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/average-cost-of-attending-uk-wedding-and-gift-2019-a4152591.html
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2019-05-28 09:52:49+00:00
| 1,559,051,569 | 1,567,539,959 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
57,629 |
birminghammail--2019-02-27--Hundreds attend funeral of well mannered teenage murder victim Abdullah Muhammad
| 2019-02-27T00:00:00 |
birminghammail
|
Hundreds attend funeral of 'well mannered' teenage murder victim Abdullah Muhammad
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Up to 800 mourners attended the funeral of Abdullah Muhammad who was murdered in a Small Heath Park. The 16-year-old described as a “well mannered” student with “potential” was laid to rest exactly a week after he was fatally stabbed in Sara Park, Herbert Road. Hundreds of Abdullah’s friends, family and the community attended the solemn ceremony at Green Lane Mosque, in Small Heath, just before 1pm. Worshippers listened to funeral prayers and a speech given by the Imam before the tragic student was laid to rest in Handsworth Cemetery. Abdullah is one of the three similar aged boys who have been murdered within miles of each other in the past fortnight as a stabbing epidemic rips through the cit y and devastates families. Kamran Hussain from the mosque- which has been supporting his family- said around 700 - 800 mourners had attended his funeral. Three teenager murders, 97 stabbings and 269 knife crimes in Birmingham in EIGHT WEEKS Earlier, he said: “Abdullah Muhammad was a student at Green Lane Mosque and Community Centre (GLMCC) where he had registered in January 2019 with his younger brother and father to attend evening classes in Green Lane's educational Institute. “He had only recently started attending classes for the new term where he was studying the memorisation of the Holy Qur’an (Hifz). “GLMCC has been truly saddened by the news and the needless loss of yet another young life on the streets of Birmingham. “Members from the mosque and community centre including the Head of Education visited the family to pay their condolences on Saturday morning. “The teachers commented on Abdullah being a very well-mannered young man with ambition and potential. “This is an immense loss for the family and we pray that Allah (God) grants them patience.” A 15-year-old boy, who was assaulted, suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said: “We’ll be leaving no stone unturned to find those responsible and bring them to justice. “You’ll see a very robust policing response that‘s sensitive to the fears and concerns of our local communities. “Our thoughts remain with Abdullah’s family, friends and the local community in Small Heath."
|
birminghammail.co.uk
|
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/hundreds-attend-funeral-well-mannered-15897380
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2019-02-27 18:18:26+00:00
| 1,551,309,506 | 1,567,547,081 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
144,957 |
drudgereport--2019-03-16--Town holds funeral for crocodile
| 2019-03-16T00:00:00 |
drudgereport
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Town holds funeral for crocodile...
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The family of late conservationist Steve Irwin praised the town's positive attitude towards the crocodile With Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" playing in the background and a tribute from Steve Irwin's family, a small seaside town in north Queensland bade farewell to a beloved community member Saturday, a saltwater crocodile. Affectionately known as Bismarck, Fluffy or Gary, depending on who you speak to, Cardwell residents held a ceremony to say goodbye to the town's 4.5 metre (15 feet) croc. More than 50 people attended the service, held at the Cardwell Jetty and organised by local Thea Ormonde. Bismarck made international headlines earlier this month, when fisherman Ryan Moody posted a video to social media about finding the crocodile -- rumoured to be as old as 80 -- dead in a creek with what's believed to be a gunshot wound. The family of late bushman Steve Irwin sent a representative and recorded a thank you to the small town that played at the service, praising their positive attitude towards the reptiles. They said their late husband and father -- a zookeeper and conservationist -- would have been the proudest of Cardwell residents for accepting the croc as a part of their town. "He was so, so passionate about protecting crocodiles and making sure we had these modern-day dinosaurs for the future generations," Irwin's daughter Bindi and son Rob said. Ormonde told AFP she couldn't believe the interest the crocodile's death attracted from across the world. "Bismarck delighted locals and tourists as he was always happy to show himself at a safe distance," she said. "I believe he lived by the belief, 'you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.'" Not everyone had the same feeling about honouring Bismarck though. Local Member of Parliament Nick Dametto said "there's no proof the animal has been shot, it's still very much under investigation." "I grew up hunting and I was always taught if you're going to hunt something, you should do it for two reasons -- pest management or to use or eat parts of the animal" he said. A spokesperson from Cardwell Police confirmed they are currently investigating the death of the crocodile to see if it's been killed illegally. In Queensland, the illegal taking of a crocodile has a maximum fine of Aus$28,383 (US$20,000).
| null |
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/37rqRNN3Uz8/australian-town-holds-funeral-crocodile-104801379.html
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2019-03-16 19:31:38+00:00
| 1,552,779,098 | 1,567,546,044 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
176,494 |
eveningstandard--2019-06-03--Jose Antonio Reyesapos funeral held in hometown of Utrera as hundreds of mourners pay their respec
| 2019-06-03T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
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Jose Antonio Reyes' funeral held in hometown of Utrera as hundreds of mourners pay their respects
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Hundreds of people paid their respects on Monday morning at the funeral of former Sevilla player Jose Antonio Reyes, who died in a car accident on Saturday morning. Reyes crashed his Mercedes at high speed on the A376 between Seville and Utrera and was killed as the vehicle caught fire after colliding with the barrier on the left side of the road. One of his cousins also died, while the other is stable although still in a critical condition with severe injuries in hospital. More than 11,000 people were present at Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on Sunday to say their goodbyes to the popular player and the coffin was taken to the player’s place of birth, Utrera, for the funeral on Monday. Family members, former team-mates and friends were present, along with Sevilla president Jose Castro and Utrera mayor Francisco Jimenez. Two flags, one representing Sevilla and the other the town of Utrera, were draped over the coffin and the ceremony ended with an ovation for the former footballer, who also represented Real Madrid, Arsenal, Atletico, Espanyol, Benfica and most recently, Extremadura. Reyes has two young daughters with his second wife and a son from a previous marriage. His remains were cremated later on Monday.
|
Ben Hayward
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https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/jose-antonio-reyes-funeral-hometown-utrera-hundreds-of-mourners-pay-respects-a4158251.html
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2019-06-03 13:03:00+00:00
| 1,559,581,380 | 1,567,539,209 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
503,260 |
sottnet--2019-07-04--Indian man 20 wakes up at his own funeral after being pronounced dead by doctors
| 2019-07-04T00:00:00 |
sottnet
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Indian man, 20, wakes up at his own funeral after being pronounced dead by doctors
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An Indian man who had been declared dead woke up just before he was set to be buried during a funeral ceremony, according to reports.Mourners at Mohammad Furqan, 20, was declared dead by Indian medical professionals, but his surprise awakening at the funeral in the Northern Indian city of Lucknow shocked mourners.He was immediately brought to the hospital and put on a ventilator to support him, according to the Independent Furqan had been unconscious since June 21 when he got into an accident. Doctors declared him dead on Monday but coincidentally only after the man's family told the hospital that looked after him they no longer had the funds to pay for his care.The family told the Hindustan Times that the situation left them traumatized because they not only had to come to terms with Furqan's passing, but then see him move during the funeral."Devastated, we were preparing for the burial when some of us saw movement in his limbs. We immediately took Furqan to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where the doctors said he was alive and have put him on ventilator support," older brother Mohammad Irfan told the outlet.The city's chief medical officer also told the outlet that an investigation is underway into the country's medical practices."We have taken cognizance of the incident and the matter will be thoroughly probed," Narendra Agarwal told the outlet."The patient is in critical condition but definitely not brain dead. He has pulse, blood pressure and his reflexes are working. He has been put on ventilator support."
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/416182-Indian-man-20-wakes-up-at-his-own-funeral-after-being-pronounced-dead-by-doctors
|
2019-07-04 15:16:50+00:00
| 1,562,267,810 | 1,567,536,981 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
541,570 |
sputnik--2019-08-22--Guns Fail to Fire Salute at Funeral of Ex-Chief Minister of Indian State
| 2019-08-22T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Guns Fail to Fire Salute at Funeral of Ex-Chief Minister of Indian State
|
The humiliating episode at the funeral of former chief minister Jagannath Mishra on Wednesday 21 August took place in the presence of Bihar’s incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other dignitaries. It went viral on video, Indian daily the Times of India and news agency ANI reported. In the video, an embarrassed police officer is seen approaching the 22 police personnel deployed for funeral duties to examine and test their guns, and defective bullets picked up from the ground at the cremation venue. He then walks away, resigning himself to an event, not in his control. Netizens lampooned the state administration and the police over this shocking lapse in established protocol. Some said the former chief minister had gotten what he deserved because of his alleged acts of corruption. Eventually, though, Mishra's mortal remains were cremated with full state honours at his ancestral village in Bihar’s Supaul district. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the lapse as serious. He said the concerned department and their officers should have ensured that all guns used at the funeral ceremony were functional and cartridges usable. “We have sought an explanation from the district police of Supaul…” the media report quoted the official as saying.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/viral/201908221076605884-guns-fail-to-fire-salute-at-funeral-of-ex-chief-minister-of-indian-state/
|
2019-08-22 07:12:00+00:00
| 1,566,472,320 | 1,567,533,759 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
545,228 |
sputnik--2019-09-28--About 30 Leaders to Attend Funeral Ceremony of Former French President Chirac Reports
| 2019-09-28T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
About 30 Leaders to Attend Funeral Ceremony of Former French President Chirac – Reports
|
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Paris to take part in the ceremony. Along with Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Charles Michel of Belgium, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will be among those who will join the memorial service. Chirac passed away on 26 September at age 87, surrounded by his family. He will reportedly be buried near his daughter, who died in 2016, at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. According to the French presidential office, national memorial service will be held at the Invalides monument in Paris on Sunday. Born in Paris on 29 November 1932, into a banking family, Chirac graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1954 and went on to become one of France's most prominent politicians. After assuming the presidency in 1995, Chirac immediately initiated sweeping social reforms. In 2002, he won reelection against then-head of the National Front party Jean-Marie Le Pen. Upon his departure from office, Chirac supported the presidential bid of his interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201909281076912880-about-30-leaders-to-attend-funeral-ceremony-of-former-french-president-chirac/
|
2019-09-28 15:51:35+00:00
| 1,569,700,295 | 1,570,222,038 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
545,291 |
sputnik--2019-09-28--Putin Will Visit France to Attend Chiracs Funeral Ceremony - Kremlin
| 2019-09-28T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Putin Will Visit France to Attend Chirac's Funeral Ceremony - Kremlin
|
Peskov confirmed that the Russian president would visit Paris for Chirac's memorial service. According to an earlier statement from the French presidential press service, Paris expects Putin to take part in the ceremony, scheduled for Monday. About 30 heads of states and governments will attend the service, Europe 1 reported, citing the Élysée Palace. Chirac, who served as long-time mayor of Paris, became the president in 1995 and left the seat in 2007. He passed away on Thursday at age 87, surrounded by his family. The ex-president will be laid to rest at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, near his daughter, who died in 2016. According to the office of the French president, a national memorial service will be held at Les Invalides in Paris on Sunday.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201909281076912162-putin-will-visit-france-to-attend-chiracs-funeral-ceremony---kremlin/
|
2019-09-28 13:22:54+00:00
| 1,569,691,374 | 1,570,222,036 |
human interest
|
ceremony
|
624,228 |
thedailymirror--2019-01-27--Heartbroken family mourn at funeral of boy 2 who fell down a well in Malaga
| 2019-01-27T00:00:00 |
thedailymirror
|
Heartbroken family mourn at funeral of boy, 2, who fell down a well in Malaga
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A devastated family gathered at the funeral of a little boy who fell down a well in Malaga. The body of Julen Rosello, two, who plunged 250ft down the hole was discovered after two weeks of searching . Julen's tiny body was found yesterday morning at around 1.25am local time after rescue teams had dug out a 13ft tunnel by hand. Parents Jose and Vicky, both 29, slept on mattresses in a tent by the well in Malaga as specialist teams fought to save their boy. His funeral took place today, where hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects. The ceremony was at the beachfront district of El Palo in Malaga, where the little boy's body was taken by hearse last night. Devastated parents Vicky and Jose, were seen comforting each other in the square outside the cemetery. His dad was also seen clutching a football as he sat down for the service. Julen was buried alongside his brother, Oliver, who died aged three in 2017 due to cardiac problems. Crowds of people at the entrance to the cemetery applauded as Julen's family arrived for the burial. A minute's silence was also held for the little boy at 11am yesterday. Officials have not commented on the autopsy, which was carried out at the Institute of Forensic Institute of Medicine, insisting that the results would be sent to an investigating court and would not be made public. But Malaga-based paper Sur said the medical examination had indicated his death occurred on January 13 - the same day he plunged 232ft down a well on family-owned land in Totalan a half-hour drive from the Costa del Sol. A central government spokesman for the country’s Andalucia region said ahead of the post-mortem it was a “free fall” before his “rapid” drop was stopped by a blockage of earth and sand part of the way down the 350ft well. Other Spanish papers including El Mundo said Julen had suffered multiple injuries compatible with a fall from height including a blow to his head. Julen’s parents Jose and Vicky were being comforted yesterday at a funeral parlour in El Palo, the Malaga neighbourhood where they live and have spent most of the day. Before his body was recovered, his grandmother Reme Garcia posted an emotional message alongside a hand-drawn picture of a heart sketched inside an imaginary hole at the bottom of the borehole. She said: “My little boy is here. “I’m waiting for you and I don’t know how to live without you. Hold on my little warrior. Don’t give up. "You are a champion and your brother is with you. I love you.” A Swedish firm which helped locate the 33 Chilean miners rescued in 2010 after 69 days underground joined the massive operation to try to locate Julen ahead of his hoped-for rescue alive. Dad Jose said in a press conference: “We’re dead inside but with the hope we have an angel watching over us who is going to help him to come out alive as soon as possible.” He spoke after telling Spanish media how his son fell down the borehole at around 2pm on Sunday as he was getting more firewood for a paella he was preparing. He told Malaga-based paper Sur: “My wife went to phone into work to let them know she wasn’t going. “She was with Julen and asked me to keep an eye on him as she made the call. He was only a few feet away. “I went to get a couple of logs for the fire for the paella and he began to run. “We saw how he fell down the hole, my cousin more than me because she was closer.” Julen’s parents were comforted by the father of a Spanish five-year-old girl killed by a paedophile in January 2008. Juan Jose Cortes, who received a message of support from Gerry and Kate McCann after his daughter Mari Luz’s body was found, travelled to the meet Jose and fast food restaurant worker Vicky.
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Laura Forsyth
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/heartbroken-family-mourn-funeral-boy-13914842
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2019-01-27 18:02:52+00:00
| 1,548,630,172 | 1,567,550,672 |
human interest
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ceremony
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633,535 |
thedailymirror--2019-05-30--Melissa Ede Colourful dress code for transgender Lottery millionaires funeral
| 2019-05-30T00:00:00 |
thedailymirror
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Melissa Ede: 'Colourful' dress code for transgender Lottery millionaire's funeral
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The funeral of transgender lottery millionaire Melissa Ede will take place today - with guests being urged to dress "as colourful as possible". Transgender LGBT campaigner Miss Ede, 58, died from a heart attack earlier this month, her fiancee Rachel Nason has said. The former Hull taxi driver was already known for her off-the-wall online videos and appearances on daytime TV shows when she scooped £4 million on a scratchcard 18 months ago. Ms Ede's funeral will take place at Hull's Chanterlands Crematorium, followed by a private ceremony and then a wake in the city. The funeral notice said the day will "celebrate her extraordinary life" and advised that the dress code is "as colourful as possible - Preferably LGBT style". Ms Nason explained how Ms Ede had gone to hospital on May 5, but came back to her Hull home five hours later "with the all clear". She described how, a week later, she heard her car engine revving and went out to find her slumped at the wheel. Ms Nason said that a post-mortem examination had revealed Ms Ede had ischemic heart disease, which led to a sudden heart attack. She said on Facebook : "It's completely devastated so many of us, and to be taken so suddenly and unexpectedly is heartbreaking." She added: "If there was more people in the world like Mel then it would be such a better place. "There's no words to describe how we feel at this moment in time but Mel is going to be missed so, so much."
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David Higgins, Andrew Gilpin
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/melissa-ede-colourful-dress-code-16223282
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2019-05-30 03:04:00+00:00
| 1,559,199,840 | 1,567,539,728 |
human interest
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ceremony
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