Kenya Burns Elephant Ivory Worth $105 Million to Defy Poachers

(nytimes) 04/03/2016 NAIROBI, Kenya — What do you do when you have more than $100 million worth of ivory sitting around, just collecting dust?

You burn it, of course.

That is what Kenya did on Saturday, when President Uhuru Kenyatta lit a huge pyre of elephant tusks as a way to show the world that Kenya is serious about ending the illegal ivory trade, which is threatening to push wild elephants to extinction.

“No one, and I repeat, no one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death — the death of our elephants and the death of our natural heritage,” Mr. Kenyatta said.

In the past few years, heavily armed poachers, using military tactics, have wiped out tens of thousands of elephants across Africa. Many of the tusks enter an underground pipeline to Asia, especially China, where ivory is used to make eyeglass frames, combs, statuettes and other trinkets.

Wildlife experts say the street price of a kilogram of ivory is around $1,000. On Saturday, Kenya set alight 105 metric tons of ivory — its stockpile of confiscated and recovered tusks. It was the most ivory ever destroyed at one time, representing 6,000 to 7,000 dead elephants.

At current prices, and without including the rhino horns also burned, that is a $105 million bonfire.

Richard Leakey, one of Kenya’s leading conservationists, said he was “humbled, sad and encouraged.”

“We shouldn’t have to burn 105 tons of ivory and 1.5 tons of rhino horn,” he said. “It is a disgraceful shame this continues.”

This was not the first time that truckloads of tusks had been burned. Mr. Leakey presided over a large ivory bonfire in Kenya in 1989. Since then, many other countries have done the same to make the statement that ivory is worthless — unless it is on an elephant.

For the first time in days, a pale blue sky stretched over Nairobi. Heavy rains had soaked the city in the past week, causing deadly floods.

But the mountains of ivory, even though they had been sitting out in the rain, went up fast. Minutes after Mr. Kenyatta stuck a flaming torch inside one of the pyramids of tusks, columns of gray smoke curled out, wafting up toward the evening sky. (Source)

Are Smart Guns the Answer to America's Gun Crime?

(nbcnews) - The White House hopes it can finally launch smart gun technology — childproof weaponry aimed at stopping accidental shootings and increasing gun safety.

The administration is, for the first time, trying to put in place the requirements needed so law enforcement could eventually use smart guns. It's using findings in a new report from the Defense, Homeland Security and Justice Departments — agencies that were directed in January to look into the matter as Obama advocated gun reforms.

So-called "smart guns" utilize fingerprints or wireless signals to ensure they can only be used by their owners.

"There is no problem that America's innovators cannot solve and we are confident that by focusing the private sector's attention on smart gun technology we will unlock life-saving innovations," White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett said in a blog post on Friday.

The report establishes criteria for procuring smart guns with a due date in the fall and the Department of Defense has agreed to test the technology at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland. The White House will also ramp up grants to fund smart gun technology.

The White House also plans to boost funding for mental health services and engagement with state and local leaders to continue the push for gun safety.

"If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you've got the right fingerprint," Obama said in January as he unveiled executive actions on gun control, "why can't we do the same thing for our guns?"

Oral sex is not rape if victim is unconscious, Oklahoma court says

*contains strong language

OKLAHOMA — An appeals court in Oklahoma has set off a fierce debate after it ruled that oral sex with an individual while they’re unconscious due to alcohol intoxication is not rape.

Last month’s ruling stems from a 2014 case of a 17-year-old boy accused of assaulting a 16-year-old girl after offering her a ride to her grandmother’s house.

According to The Guardian, the two had been drinking at a Tulsa park with friends. Witnesses say the victim was intoxicated and had to be carried to the boy’s car.

The girl was unconscious when she was dropped off. She was taken to the hospital and given a test where her blood alcohol content was above .34.

The hospital staff also conducted a sex assault examination.

The test confirmed that the boy’s DNA was discovered around the girl’s mouth and on the back of her legs. The boy claims the girl consented to performing oral sex, but the girl had no recollection of that, The Guardian reports.

The boy was charged by prosecutors with forcible oral sodomy, but the trial judge dismissed the case.

“Forcible sodomy cannot occur where a victim is so intoxicated as to be completely unconscious at the time of the sexual act of oral copulation,” the decision read.

The court says it based its unanimous ruling on current state law.

Kansas backs out of refugee resettlement program amid security concerns

(washingtonpost) - For months, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) has had questions about the federal government’s refugee resettlement program. And, for months, he says he has failed to get satisfactory answers. So, this week, he announced that he’s pulling out of the program altogether.

“Because the federal government has failed to provide adequate assurances regarding refugees it is settling in Kansas, we have no option but to end our cooperation with and participation in the federal refugee resettlement program,” Brownback said in a Tuesday statement, announcing the withdrawal from a program that has placed more than 2,000 global refugees in Kansas over the past four years.

The decision is the latest development in a months-long saga that began in mid-November, when Brownback signed an executive order barring state officials from helping the federal government in its efforts to settle Syrian refugees in Kansas.

Brownback cited the then-days-old Paris terrorist attacks for the move, concluding that Syrian refugees present “an unacceptable risk to the safety and security of the State of Kansas.” In doing so, he joined a growing chorus of mostly Republican governors voicing such opposition — a group that would swell in number to more 30 governors.

Chernobyl 30 Years Later: Those Who Live in Its Shadow Still Suffer

(abcnews) April 26 2016 - In the days before the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster today, workers hurriedly filled in pot holes and painted lines on the decrepit road to the destroyed nuclear station. They were getting ready for a visit by Ukraine’s president and memorial ceremonies at the site to mark the catastrophic incident on April 26, 1986.

Time has helped bury some of the most obvious effects of the catastrophe. Slowly the forest is breaking up the abandoned towns inside the exclusion zone; the famous “Red Forest,” of irradiated trees turned red by the reactor leak, has been cut down and replanted.

Radiation levels on the surface are often close to background norms, though highly contaminated patches still lurk everywhere. Next year, a giant new containment shell is due to be slid over the shattered reactor, sealing it safe for 100 years.

But as the workers spruced up the route to the world’s worst nuclear disaster zone, some affected by the accident said with the passing of time their plights were increasingly being downplayed and accused Ukraine’s government of trying to save money by cutting support to them.

The claims throw attention onto the fact that even 30 years on, the long-term health effects of Chernobyl remain intensely disputed.

The disaster, the worst nuclear accident in history, eventually affected 3 million people and forced the evacuation of over 300,000. The reactor was sealed inside an 18-mile exclusion zone, deemed too contaminated for people to live and known now just as the Zone.

Japan says China's maritime expansion making the world 'greatly worried'

(Reuters) - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking ahead of a visit to Beijing, said on Monday China was making the world "worried" with its military buildup and maritime expansion in the East and South China Seas.

Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have long been plagued by a territorial dispute, regional rivalry and the legacy of Japan's World War Two aggression.

China and Japan dispute sovereignty over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets, while in the South China Sea, Beijing is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims.

China has rattled nerves with its military and construction activities on the islands in the South China Sea, including building runways, though Beijing says most of what it is building is for civilian purposes, like lighthouses.

"Candidly speaking, a rapid and opaque increase in (China's) military spending and unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas under the aim of building a strong maritime state are having not only people in Japan, but countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the international community worried greatly," Kishida said in a speech to business leaders.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year. (Full Story)

Armenia Marks Genocide Anniversary

(azatutyun.am) April 24 2016 - President Serzh Sarkisian accused Turkey of maintaining hostile attitudes towards the Armenians as tens of thousands of people marched on Sunday to a hilltop memorial in Yerevan to mark the 101st anniversary of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

The annual day-long procession followed a prayer service led by Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, by the eternal fire of the Tsitsernakabert memorial to some 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War. Sarkisian and other senior Armenian officials also attended the ceremony.

Genocide remembrance ceremonies were also held by Armenian Diaspora communities around the world.

“More than a century has passed since the genocide,” Sarkisian said in a written address to the nation. “What has changed? First of all, we have changed. We have been reborn as a nation and as a state. We have proved to ourselves and the world that the Turkish genocidal plans failed.”

“What has not changed is Turkey’s denialist stance and hostile attitude towards everything Armenian” he went on. “This is a direct continuation of the crime going on nowadays.”

Sarkisian stressed at the same time that unlike Turkey’s government and policy-makers, “the Turkish society has partly changed” with regard to the genocide issue. “Today it knows more about Turkish history than it did yesterday,” he said. “Tomorrow it will know even more than it does today, unless, of course, they strangle free speech and media, shoot and arrest parliamentarians, public figures and editors.”

The mass killings and deportations of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian subjects began on April 24, 1915 with the arrest and subsequent execution of hundreds of Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople. More than two dozen nations, including France, Russia, Italy and Canada, as well as the European Parliament have officially recognized the massacres as genocide.

Canada: Steakhouse loses CD$12,000 human rights tribunal ruling after ignoring mysophobe’s requests

(calgaryherald.com) - In a case that raises questions about how far businesses should be obligated to accommodate customers’ needs, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has awarded $12,000 to a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder because his neighbourhood restaurant stopped fulfilling his special requests, including that his water be served without a lemon or straw.

The decision released this week found the man “suffered injury to his dignity, feelings, and self-respect” after the restaurant refused to make “very simple accommodations” and after the manager made “hurtful” comments to him.

One hospitality industry expert said the outcome did not surprise him and should serve as a warning to managers to be more attuned to their guests’ wishes.

“The door is open with respect to the risk of discriminating against people for any reason,” said Don Longchamps, a professor of hotel and restaurant management at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

“Responsibility (to accommodate) will never be lessened. It will only be increased with time.”

The complainant, identified only by his initials P.G., testified he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and germaphobia.

Cheese might be good for you, according to scientists

(Telegraph.co.uk) - Eat a cheese toastie next to your friend on a juice cleanse with pride - everyone's favourite dairy product could be good for you, according to scientists.

Take this with a pinch of salt (though not too much, an excess of salt is bad for your health) as most cheese is still high in fat and isn't usually a low-calorie option.

However, scientists have found health benefits in chowing down on cheddar.

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal made headlines in 2014 when it claimed eating cheese could lower the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

Nutritional scientist Professor Arne Astup of the University of Copenhagen has also recently suggested that it could help fight cardiovascular disease.

The Daily Mail quotes Astrup as saying: “Cheese is full of saturated fat and salt, so you’d think it would be the worst thing you could eat in terms of raising the risk of cardiovascular disease. But when you look at what happens to people who eat a lot of cheese, you see the complete opposite: it seems to protect against cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.”

Now, there's an editorial in the latest edition of the British Medical Journal which suggests animal fats may not be as bad for you as those touting vegetable-based spreads might want you to think.

They re-analysed a major cholesterol study from the 1970s, which was part of the evidence that drove consumers to vegetable oil and margarine.

The scientists found it didn't really prove everything it claimed.

They said a fresh analysis of the original data challenges the “established wisdom” about switching from saturated (animal) fats to unsaturated vegetable fats, as this “might not prolong life” after all.

This could mean eating butter and cheese may not be as bad for your heart as is so frequently claimed.

Do all these scientific arguments stack up to show you should be able to eat macaroni cheese for every meal?

Not quite. Cheese might not be the devil - and it may actually be good for your health in moderation - but it certainly shouldn't be the main component of your diet, any more than it is healthy to only subsist on kale.

The BMJ's recommendation sounds like advice your gran might have given you as a child: “We should continue to eat … more fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. We should avoid salt, sugar, industrial trans fats, and avoid over eating.” (Source)

Zambia deploys over 400 soldiers in capital over ritual killings

(news24) - Lusaka – Zambia has deployed more than 400 soldiers in the capital Lusaka to end the violence that ensued after foreigners were accused by locals of being linked to ritual killings.

According to Times of Zambia, President Edgar Lungu issued a special operational order to deploy the soldiers to patrol various townships of Lusaka following and riotous behaviour among residents.

Lungu said that harsher measures would be taken if the violence was politically instigated.

At least two people were burnt to death in Lusaka on Monday (18)

Change for a $20: Tubman to replace Jackson on new bills

(foxnews) - The Treasury Department plans to announce Wednesday that the new $20 bill will feature abolitionist Harriet Tubman, replacing former President Andrew Jackson.

A Treasury official confirmed the planned announcement to Fox Business Network. It would make Tubman the first woman on U.S. paper currency in 100 years.

Politico also reported that Alexander Hamilton will remain on the front of the $10 bill, and other design changes are also being rolled out.

The expected announcement from Treasury Secretary Jack Lew follows a heated debate ever since he said last summer the government planned to incorporate a woman on the $10 bill.

Lew's initial announcement set off a firestorm of protests from supporters of Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary. They argued that the founding father had molded the nation's financial architecture and should not be removed from his rightful place on the currency.

Hamilton fans got a boost from the interest generated by the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton." Earlier this year, Lew was personally lobbied by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the author and star of "Hamilton," during a meeting at Treasury.

Treasury all together received more than 1.5 million responses to Lew's request for suggestions on the currency redesign. That prompted him to delay an announcement, which he had originally said would be made by the end of 2015.

An online group, Women on 20s, had been campaigning for a woman on the $20 bill. Jackson's critics say he should not be on U.S. currency because of the part he played in the relocation of Native Americans.

Still, the change is likely to inflame lawmakers from Tennessee, which Jackson represented in Congress before becoming president. The state also generally claims the former president was born in an area that is now part of Tennessee.

In a poll conducted last year by Women on 20s, Tubman, an African-American abolitionist and one of the leaders' of the Underground Railroad, was the top vote getter.

Visa: Some merchants see dip in fraud thanks to chip cards

(usatoday) - The new chip-enabled cards flowing into the U.S. marketplace have already made a dent in fraud, with some of the biggest merchants seeing a dip of more than 18% in counterfeit transactions, according to Visa.

Among the 25 merchants who were suffering the most instances of counterfeit fraud at the end of 2014, five that began processing credit and debit cards equipped with the new EMV technology saw those infractions fall 18.3% as of the final quarter of 2015, says Stephanie Ericksen, vice president of risk products at Visa. Meanwhile, five of those merchants who were not yet equipped to handle chip-enabled cards saw an increase in fraudulent transactions of 11.4%.

“We’re seeing EMV is having a positive impact on counterfeit fraud,’’ Ericksen says. “Merchants who implement chip, their counterfeit fraud is going down, while those still finalizing plans, their counterfeit fraud is going up.’’

The electronic payment industry has long called for adoption of such technology, but a series of high-profile data breaches at companies such as Target have underscored the need for more consumer protections.

Microchip embedded cards, already common in Europe and Brazil are considered a more secure alternative to those bearing just a magnetic stripe because they generate a unique code for each transaction. That makes them more difficult to counterfeit, and helps to cut down on fraudulent uses.

Ethiopia: Armed group kills more than 140 near South Sudan

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — An Ethiopian official says that armed groups have killed more than 140 civilians near Ethiopia's border with South Sudan.

The attackers came from South Sudan and killed civilians, including women and children, Getachew Reda, Ethiopia's communications minister, told the Associated Press on Saturday.

"The Ethiopian defense force is currently chasing after the perpetrators," said Reda, adding that there is no relation between the attackers and the South Sudanese government or the country's rebels. "Our defense forces have so far killed 60 members of the attackers."

Ethiopian forces may cross into South Sudan to pursue them, he said.

The attack took place on Friday in Jakawa, in Ethiopia's Gambella region and the attackers were members of South Sudan's Murle tribe, said Reda. A number of children were abducted and taken into South Sudan, he said. The latest attack is much larger than past skirmishes, he said.

The Ethiopian region hosts thousands of South Sudanese refugees who fled after war broke in their country in December 2013. It is also home to Ethiopian and South Sudanese armed groups that attack government installations and soldiers.

Professional Educator: Grades, Showing Up On Time Are A Form Of White Supremacy

(blazingcatfur) - “Education is not about the mere reproduction of knowledge,” Hackman said. “Education is the practice of freedom. And as a result, we have to have [teaching] students becomes activists as well as teachers.”

Creating educators who are proper activists, Hackman continued, means training them to not only to encourage diversity but also to engage with the systemic oppression she says is pervasive in the entire educational system. In Hackman’s telling, virtually everything associated with being a good student in modern education is actually just a tool of racist white supremacy.

U.N. Human Rights Chief Condemns ‘Ugly’ Tone of U.S. Election

(Time.com) - The head of the United Nations Human Rights Office challenged the rhetoric of Republian presidential contender Donald Trump in a speech Friday, saying he and other presidential candidates had resurrected the “ugly phantom of racial and religious division.”

In a reference to Trump, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, rued that “a front-running candidate to be President of this country declared, just a few months ago, his enthusiastic support for torture,” before condemning “hateful slander” leveled at foreigners.

He continued: “To casually toss this gasoline onto the smouldering embers of fear is to risk great harm to a great nation.”

The speech, delivered at Case Western Reserve University Law School, comes just months before Republicans gather in the city to select their party’s nominee.

Zeid urged the GOP to choose wisely. “The world’s eyes will turn to Cleveland,” he said, according to prepared remarks. “It is my deepest hope that the people of this country will demonstrate their profound understanding of human dignity and human rights.”

Czech Republic aims to be called "Czechia" in English

(PragueDailyMonitor) Prague, April 12 (CTK) - The Czech Republic should also use the official name Czechia and this shortened version should be added to the United Nations Geographical Names database that contains the official names of countries and cities in six languages, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said yesterday.

Zaoralek told journalists that he believes Czech top constitutional officials would support the change at their meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Provided that the foreign minister, the defence minister, the prime minister, the president, and the heads of the two houses of parliament reach agreement on the shortened name in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, the Czech Republic will ask the United Nations to add these names to the database.

"It is not good if a country does not have clearly defined symbols or if it even does not clearly say what its name is," Zaoralek said.

He said it sometimes happened during his foreign trips that the name of his country was mangled.
Zaoralek said Czechs have been unable to tell the world that they use the shortened name Cesko for their country and that this name has only one correct translation according to them.

He said the name "Czechia" unfortunately has not become widely popular, although there seems to be no other alternative. This name got into the English language via Latin, he said.

Some people use the adjective Czech instead, while others prefer the name Czechlands.
President Milos Zeman has already been using the English translation Czechia in his speeches. During his visit to Israel in 2013, he said Czechia was shorter and had a better sound than the unfriendly official name, the Czech Republic.

In other languages, such as Slovak, Italian and Spanish, the shortened name of the country is commonly used. The German equivalent is Tschechien, not Tschechei, which is sometimes viewed as pejorative.

Zaoralek said the benefits of adding the shortened name to the United Nations list would be seen at sports and other international events, it would help the promotion of the country and the labels of Czech products.

California fast-food workers shift focus from minimum wage to unionizing

THE HORROR!

(latimes) - As fast-food and other low-wage workers rally Thursday across the country for a $15 minimum wage, the Fight for $15 campaign in California will be shifting its focus to another goal: unionizing.

Thousands of Los Angeles area workers from the service and homecare industries are expected to strike Thursday as part of Fight for $15 rallies in 320 U.S. cities and 40 countries, according to the Service Employees International Union, which has backed the campaign.

Those workers will march to a rally at a McDonald's in the Arts District around noon.

"The demand from the original strikes in 2012 was $15 and a union," said Mary Kay Henry, international president of the SEIU. "Underpaid workers in California are now on a path to $15, but we think the way we can make these jobs good jobs ... is through a union."

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill last week to gradually increase the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. That same day, New York passed similar legislation to raise its hourly minimum to $15.

Ted Cruz Once Argued That Americans Have No ‘Due Process’ Right to Masturbate

*The following contains strong language

(nymag.com) - Ted Cruz once argued that Americans have no constitutional right to bear dildos, that the government has a legitimate interest in discouraging "autonomous sex," and that allowing the sale of sex toys is the first step on the road to legal incest.

This history comes courtesy of Mother Jones's David Corn, who went searching for skeletons in Cruz's closet and stumbled across a bunch of dildo baggage instead. On Wednesday, the magazine published an exposé detailing Cruz's defense of a ban on sex-toy sales while serving as the Texas solicitor general. Back in 2004, several adult-plaything providers challenged a Texas law that banned the sale and promotion of "obscene devices." At the time, only three other states had similar laws on the books. The plaintiffs founded their challenge on the Fourteenth Amendment's right to privacy, arguing, among other things, that some couples are unable to engage in intercourse without the aid of sex toys, or else require them to avoid passing along contagious diseases such as HIV. A federal judge turned the company down, it appealed, and in 2007 it fell to Cruz's legal team to keep dildos from undermining the fabric of Western civilization.

In a 76-page brief calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stand with the lower court, Cruz's office wrote that "any alleged right associated with obscene devices" is not "deeply rooted in the Nation's history and traditions." While Cruz acknowledged that, after Lawrence v. Texas overturned sodomy laws, the government could not ban the "private use of obscene devices," it could ban their sale so as to uphold "public morals." What's more, while the government can't forbid citizens from masturbating, it has a legitimate interest in "discouraging ... autonomous sex." Cruz's team went on to declare, "There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one's genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship."

The appeals court disagreed in a 2–1 decision, which held that the government has no business encroaching on Americans' most private of affairs. But Cruz and Texas attorney general Greg Abbott (who is now the state's governor) battled on, filing a brief requesting a hearing before the full court of appeals, claiming the three-judge panel had overstepped the precedent set by Lawrence. Cruz's office argued that the prior ruling would give all manner of deviants grounds to claim that "engaging in consensual adult incest or bigamy" must be legal as they have a right to "enhance their sexual experiences." They lost the motion and ultimately chose not to bring the matter to the Supreme Court.

Cruz has never discussed his views on dildo commerce during the 2016 campaign, and it's unlikely that many of his supporters know his history on such matters. It's difficult to gauge the effect this news will have on Cruz's standing with the electorate, as exit polls neglected to ask Republican primarygoers about their affinity for sexual devices. Regardless, the American people deserve to know whether Cruz still holds such an expansive view of the government's right to regulate public morality. There are undoubtedly no small number of patriots in this country who would tell President Cruz's jackbooted thugs, "I'll give you my dildo when you pry it from my cold, dead hands."

Australia releases new $5.00 note, deemed "Clown Puke" by critics

#FirstWorldProblems

The fiver has had a design update. Here’s the new look, unveiled by the RBA today (April 12):

And the other side:

Governor Glenn Stevens explains:

Innovative new security features have been incorporated to help keep Australia’s banknotes secure from counterfeiting into the future. As can be seen in the images, these include a distinctive top-to-bottom window. Each banknote in the new series will depict a different species of Australian wattle and a native bird within a number of the elements. On the $5 banknote, these are the Prickly Moses wattle and the Eastern Spinebill.

The Eastern Spinebill is a type of honeyeater that is found across eastern Australia, from Queensland through to South Australia.

The new notes will come into circulation on September 1 this year, but it is expected to take some time before they are widely in use.

The bank notes are the first to feature a new “tactile” element that will help vision-impaired people tell the difference between notes.

Electric rain? Solar panel turns raindrops into power

(FoxNews) - Scientists in China have developed an innovative solar panel technology that could turn raindrops into electric power.

The new solar cell design, which can be “triggered” by both rain and sun, is described in a paper published in the Angewandte Chemie journal.

“All-weather solar cells are promising in solving the energy crisis,” explain the scientists from Ocean University of China and Yunnan Normal University, noting that the technology combines an electron-enriched graphene electrode with a dye-sensitized solar cell. “The new solar cell can be excited by incident light on sunny days and raindrops on rainy days,” they add.

Dye-sensitized solar cells are thin-film photovoltaic cells that harness organic dye to absorb sunlight and produce electrons, thereby creating energy.

The new technology could guide the design of advanced all-weather solar cells, according to the scientists. Fox News was unable to contact Ocean University of China Professor Qunwei Tang, who is the paper’s lead author, for additional details.

The Science News Journal notes that, by using a thin layer of highly conductive graphene, the solar cell could effectively harness power from rain. “The salt contained in rain separates into ions (ammonium, calcium and sodium), making graphene and natural water a great combination for creating energy,” it reports. “The water actually clings to the graphene, forming a dual layer (AKA pseudocapacitor) with the graphene electrons. The energy difference between these layers is so strong that it generates electricity.” (FullStory)

Kerry apology for Hiroshima bombing not on table: US official

Hiroshima (Japan) (AFP) - John Kerry will not apologise for the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima during his visit to the city for weekend G7 talks, a State Department official said Sunday.

Speculation has been building that Kerry's planned visit to a Hiroshima blast memorial on Monday could see the US secretary of state issue a first-ever apology for the wartime attack.

But a State Department official said a formal apology from America's top diplomat was not on the cards.

"If you are asking whether the secretary of state came to Hiroshima to apologise, the answer is no," the official, who asked not to be named, told reporters travelling with Kerry.

"If you are asking whether the secretary and I think all Americans and all Japanese are filled with sorrow at the tragedies that befell so many of our countrymen, the answer is yes."

Kerry is the first secretary of state to visit the Japanese city, which was obliterated by a US nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945 that killed 140,000 people, including those who died afterwards from severe radiation exposure.

Three days later another blast killed some 74,000 people in Nagasaki, in the closing chapters of World War II.

Kerry's landmark trip is widely seen as paving the way for Barack Obama to possibly become the first serving US president to visit the city, when he heads to Japan next month for a Group of Seven summit.

Kerry and other G7 foreign ministers are meeting this weekend to discuss a range of global hotspot issues, including the Middle East, the refugee crisis, the conflict in Ukraine and global terrorism.

Serbia Shocked with Croatia's Decision to Block EU Accession Negotiations

(totalcroatianews)- Serbian government expressed its dismay that Croatia had decided not to support the European path of Serbia after Croatia did not give consent for the opening of Chapter 23 of the accession negotiations with the European Union. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić said that Serbia would not fulfil the conditions that Croatia had put forward, reports Jutarnji List on April 9, 2016.

"The Government of the Republic of Serbia is stunned the Croatia has decided not to support the European path of Serbia. Croatia did not have a single valid reason for such decision. Serbia has taken note of such view of Croatia and Serbia will not allow anyone in Europe and the world to in any way blackmail, humiliate or belittle it", said the Serbian government in a statement. The statement also quoted a message by Prime Minister Vučić that "Serbia is a country of libertarian people and will never be a punching bag for anyone".

Earlier, Vučić said that Serbia would not beg anyone nor would it change its laws just because Croatia was demanding it.

On Friday, at a meeting of the working group for EU enlargement in Brussels, Croatia did not give its approval for the opening of Chapter 23 in negotiations between Serbia and the EU. The resumption of discussions is scheduled for next week. Croatia insists that the chapter benchmarks should include the abolishment of Serbia's jurisdiction for war crimes in the entire territory of the former Yugoslavia, enforcement of protections for the Croatian minority and the full cooperation with the ICTY.

Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miro Kovač said on Friday in Zagreb that Croatia expected the European Commission to say how it would incorporate these criteria in negotiating benchmarks.

"We will not accept any ultimatums", Vučić said again. Explaining that Serbia had all the time been protecting its own interests, and would continue to do so in the future, Vučić said that Serbia is now expected to beg. "Serbia is a country that is on its way to the EU, but has protected its freedom and independence", said the Serbian Prime Minister. (Source)

Western Media Calls to End U.S.-Egypt Alliance

(thetrumpet) - It is 2011 all over again in Egypt. A regime, though heavy-handed, is offering a glimmer of hope for United States interests in the region. Yet despite Cairo’s efforts to curtail the expansion of Washington’s enemies, it finds itself condemned by Western media. Angry over alleged human rights violations and the stifling of freedom of speech, the Western media is once again calling for revolution, risking a resurgence of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt’s Downfall

To understand how dangerous another revolution would be, we need only look at the last one.

For almost 30 years, Egypt was in the iron hands of then President Hosni Mubarak. But protests, led by supposed “pro-democratic” activists, flared up in the early days of the 2011 Arab Spring. The movement quickly gained the attention of the Western media. Headlines of the ironfisted rule and corrupt administration of Mubarak splashed across news outlets worldwide.

The Obama administration was quickly on board with the protesters, wasting little time in hanging America’s most important Arab ally out to dry.

For decades, Egypt was a sturdy foundation for the ever changing Middle East. As Iran radicalized in the late ’70s, Egypt formed a peace treaty with Israel—the first Muslim nation to do so. The foundation for the U.S.-brokered deal was laid by Anwar Sadat, at the highest personal cost. Following Sadat’s assassination, the deal was maintained by his successor, Hosni Mubarak.

Exuding a level of calm few Mideast nations dream of, Egypt went on to play a vital role in U.S.-Middle East geopolitics. But just one week into the 2011 protests, Washington applied heavy pressure on Mubarak, forcing him from office.

Despite the way he ruled, the fruits of Mubarak’s reign are hard to deny. He kept religious extremism under control, promoted U.S. interests, and maintained peace with Israel. These were promises he made 30 years prior when he first stepped into office.

When Mubarak was removed, Egypt and the West received the revolution they wanted. The innocent protesters quickly shed their sheepskin coats, revealing themselves as the radical Muslim Brotherhood. It stormed to power with Mohamed Morsi as supreme ruler. Then began the real power grab. Enemies were killed outside the presidential palace; Iranian warships were permitted access through the Suez Canal; and the U.S. embassy was overrun. The Egyptian military poured into the Sinai demilitarized zone. The Brotherhood threatened to scrap the peace deal with Israel. Morsi became Egypt’s newest pharaoh.

It was only when the economy failed that the military intervened with a coup to prevent the complete disintegration of the Egyptian state. Egypt was left in tatters. Countless women had been raped, churches burned, minorities persecuted, and terrorists empowered.

Since that time, the cleanup has been left to the new president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.(FullStory)

Should food labels include exercise 'equivalents'?

(CNN) - Imagine you're choosing between two different boxes of cookies at the grocery store. One has a label informing you that you could burn off the calories in a serving by jogging for 10 minutes, while the label on the other box says you would have to jog for 20 minutes. Would that help you decide which cookie to buy?

Although the idea of these types of food labels has not really picked up steam in the United States, the Royal Society for Public Health, an organization of health care professionals in the United Kingdom, is advocating these "activity equivalent" labels. They would tell consumers how many minutes they would have to engage in several types of exercise, such as walking and jogging, to expend the calories in specific food items.

"The aim is to prompt people to be more mindful of the energy they consume and how these calories relate to activities in their everyday lives, to encourage them to be more physically active," wrote Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, in an opinion article published on Wednesday in The BMJ.

It is an intriguing idea, according to experts in the United States, but there isn't enough information about whether these labels do any good to recommend them, much less require them by law, they said. Some even worry the activity labels could have unintended effects.
"I think it's a good idea, but I'm a believer in evidence-based policy, so we need a fair bit more evidence before we would have a good justification for moving to a law" requiring food makers to include this label on products, said James F. Sallis, professor of family and preventive medicine at University of California-San Diego. (FullStory)

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Young people proving to be North Dakota's fastest-growing demographic

(GrandForksHerald) - North Dakota is growing, and those changes are most obvious for one group: young people.

Kevin Iverson, manager of the U.S. Census office with the North Dakota Department of Commerce, said the state's growing population has grown the most among 20 to 34 year olds, followed by those 4 year olds and younger—in part because of an inflow of new residents generated by a strong economy.

Iverson said data from the U.S. Census Bureau tracked the state's data from April 2010 through July 2014, though 2015 numbers will be available in coming months. Still, he said, the data has important ramifications for the state.

"Ten years ago, a lot of discussions in the state of North Dakota centered around school consolidation—how are we going to keep the football team operating?" he said, ticking off rising school construction and day care issues as well as a higher labor participation rate. "I believe very strongly that the reason we're gaining younger individuals is that we're gaining workforce opportunities."

Iverson provided a trove of data to illustrate the trend. The number of 20 to 34 year olds has increased around the state from about 150,000 to nearly 179,000 between 2010 and 2014—an increase of about 17.1 percent. In Grand Forks County, that change was 11.9 percent; in Cass County, it was 11.2 percent; in Burleigh County it was 11.5 percent.

According to data provided by Iverson, some of the most drastic relative changes in young populations have happened in smaller, western counties. For example, McKenzie County saw a 116.8 percent growth among the same cohort, and Dunn County saw a 73.4 percent increase.

Statewide, groups of older residents—especially those who are age 65 and older—have grown, albeit more slowly than expected. Iverson said part of the issue has been a relatively national housing market—giving retirees more freedom to move around the country—coupled with issues like the 2011 Minot flood, which he said likely affected the elderly more than the young. (Full Story)

Global warming making U.S. sick, federal report says

(cbsnews) WASHINGTON -- Man-made global warming is making America sicker, and it's only going to get worse, according to a new federal government report.

The 332-page report issued Monday by the Obama administration said global warming will make the air dirtier, water more contaminated and food more tainted. It warned of diseases, such as those spread by ticks and mosquitoes, longer allergy seasons, and thousands of heat wave deaths.

Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy said if that's not enough, climate change affects people's mental health, too.

"It's not just about polar bears and melting ice caps. It's about our families. It's about our future," McCarthy said at a White House event unveiling the report.

Climate change affects more people in more ways than anything doctors have seen in the past, said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He said the report allows doctors to better quantify "the sheer number of pathways through which climate affects health."

That includes air pollution worsened from power plants, pollen and even wildfires, he said.

"Not being able to breathe is one of the most frightening experience" for people, Murthy said. "We're talking about scary moments for parents and children."

Asthma is already the No. 1 cause of children going to the hospital and "now we're seeing it worsening because of the heat, the allergens," and air pollution, said Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University's public health school.

White House science adviser John Holdren highlighted heat waves, saying that even with some reduction in emissions of heat-trapping gases globally, "we can see thousands to tens of thousands of heat-related deaths in the United States each summer."

Centers of Disease Control and Prevention computer simulations of 209 cities show that extra summer heat deaths will outweigh fewer winter cold deaths from climate change, said CDC's Shubhayu Saha, a study lead author.

Holdren said the report is based on more than 1,800 published scientific studies and new federal research, and was reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences.

"The report clearly establishes that climate change is a major threat to public health in the United States," said Howard Frumkin, dean of the University of Washington's public health school, who wasn't part of the report. He said the government isn't doing enough. "There is a vast disconnect between the magnitude of the problem, as outlined by this report, and the response of government health agencies." (Full Story)

UK: Historian says monarchy could be on its way out by 2030

(Telegraph.co.uk) - The British monarchy could be on its last legs by 2030, a historian has suggested.

As the Queen prepares to mark her 90th birthday, Dr Anna Whitelock, a reader in early modern history at Royal Holloway, University of London, and director of The London Centre for Public History, said support for the monarchy was linked to the Queen, not the institution itself.

Important questions about the relevance of the monarchy in modern society have been constrained out of respect for Elizabeth II's long reign, she said.

The author told the Press Association: "All of those questions about 'What the hell do we want this kind of unelected family (for)? What does that represent in Britain today?', all these profound questions have been held in check because of the Queen."

Dr Whitelock suggested that within two decades, the British monarchy could be challenged in a way that it never has been before when the Queen is likely to be no longer on the throne.

"I think there'll be a discussion and a debate in a way that there hasn't before.

"As the older generation who are generally more wedded to the monarchy die out, the question of the future of the monarchy will become even more pressing, and then potentially more critical voices will come to the fore," she said.

"I would say by 2030 there will be definite louder clamours for the eradication of the monarchy. I can't say that there won't be a monarchy. I would definitely say that the monarchy - its purpose, what it's about, will be questioned and challenged in a way that it hasn't been before.

"I don't think it's out of the question that the monarchy would be potentially be on its last legs."

Support for the monarchy during the last quarter of a century of the Queen's reign peaked during the Diamond Jubilee year of 2012 with 80 per cent being in favour of Britain remaining a monarchy.

Vanuatu shows off 'best toilet in the South Pacific'

(BBC) - A village in the island nation of Vanuatu has opened what it calls "the best public toilet in the South Pacific" in the hope of attracting tourists to help fund local projects.

Located on the opposite side of the country's main island to the capital Port Vila, the village of Paunangisu hopes that the newly-opened block will be a convenient stopping point for visitors taking round-the-island road trips, Radio New Zealand reports. Frustrated that tourist buses don't stop for their market stalls, backers - which include a church in Melbourne - instead turned to an idea that would make drivers hit the brakes.

"There's nothing like a sign on the road saying 'best public toilet in the South Pacific' to trigger something in the brain," supporter Robert Latimer told the radio, explaining that once the visitors have stopped, it's easier to sell other services and offer tours of the area.

Spending a penny in Paunangisu doesn't come cheap, however. Visitors are charged 200 vatu ($1.83; £1.30) to use the toilet, but get a 75% discount if they are part of a large group. Even locals have to pay 50 vatu, but as Mr Latimer told Radio New Zealand: "If you've used the public toilets in Port Vila you would gladly pay 50 vatu to use this one in the village."

Locals are so proud of their facility that it now has its own website, which explains that the lavatory is not just about tapping into the tourist dollar. Cash raised from visitors will pay for much-needed village projects such as water storage, education and job training. The toilet's backers have even adopted a slogan: "It's the place to go when you need to go". (FullStory)

Vikings' possible second North America settlement discovered in Canada

(abc.net.au) - Archaeologists have discovered what is believed to be a second Viking settlement in North America on the south-west tip of Canada's Newfoundland province.

Experts, using satellite imagery, tracked down the site on the island's Point Rosee peninsula and began excavating it last June.

A documentary about their findings, Vikings Unearthed, is to be aired next week on Britain's BBC and the United States' PBS public broadcasters.

Norse oral histories that described lost Viking settlements inspired the search, archaeologists involved in the project said in a statement.

The researchers, including space archaeologist Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama, archaeologist Douglas Bolender of the University of Massachusetts and a team of Canadian experts, began by identifying hundreds of possible sites on the Canadian and US eastern seaboard using satellite imagery.

That was eventually narrowed down to one promising location in Newfoundland, where imagery showed an outline of remnants of turf walls and other structures buried in the soil, based on vegetation growth.

The subsequent dig unearthed a stone hearth used for iron work, as well as traces of charcoal, slag and roasted bog iron.

Vikings used bog iron to make nails that held their wooden ships together.

(abc.net.au) A lack of any artefacts at the site is also telling, because Viking tools were mostly made of wood and iron.

Over the centuries, wood would have decayed and iron likely would have been melted down to make something else.

"Typically in archaeology, you only ever get to write a footnote in the history books, but what we seem to have at Point Rosee may be the beginning of an entirely new chapter," Ms Parcak said in the documentary.

To date, the only confirmed Viking site in the Americas is a 1,000-year-old temporary settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, about 700 kilometres away on the northern tip of Newfoundland.

The settlement, which had been abandoned after just a few years, was discovered in 1960.

Since then, archaeologists have been searching for evidence of other Viking expeditions.

Current thinking suggests a brief but failed colonisation attempt by the Vikings.

If confirmed, the new site could point to an earlier, longer and deeper foray into the New World by Europeans — at least 500 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

The excavation is scheduled to resume this summer.

Obese People Outnumber Underweight People for First Time in Human History, Study Says

(abcnews) - Obesity has been a growing problem in the U.S. for decades and increasingly its effect is being felt globally. A new study published by the Lancet Medical Journal finds that for the first time in human history, there are more obese people than underweight people in the world.

The data -- which was pooled from studies, surveys and reports -- looked at 19.2 million men and women from 186 countries, and shows stunning changes in less than 40 years, with an increasing average body mass index in multiple countries from 1975 to 2014.

The study estimates that 10.8 percent of men and 14.9 percent of women worldwide are obese, defined by a BMI of over 30, while just 8.8 percent of men and 9.7 percent of women are underweight, defined by a BMI of under 18.5.(FullStory)