Wisconsin politics continue to dazzle: Republicans there are worried about losing their majority in the state Senate in a spate of recall elections set for July 12. They’d like more time to campaign, and they’ve hit on a bizarre way to get it, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . The state…
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Man dies and several others injured as wild elephant goes on five-hour rampage through Mysore in southern India A wild elephant gored a man to death and injured several other people during a five-hour rampage through Mysore in southern India after farmers chased it from a field outside the city. Residents scattered on Wednesday as the young male charged through the city streets attacking vehicles. It turned on the victim in a doorway in an alleyway and gored him as residents looked on in horror. The elephant later charged towards people who took cover on top of a staircase, and lunged at an SUV on a main street. Several people were injured during the five hours it took to tranquilise the animal, officials said. The elephant was one of four that had earlier entered fields on the outskirts of Mysore after becoming separated from their herd, Press Trust of India news agency reported. Farmers chased the animals, sending two of them back into nearby forests. One of them was later trapped at a farm, while the remaining elephant entered the city. Hundreds of people die in India every year when wild animals wander into cities as their habitats shrink and they have to travel further in search of food. Its parks face massive encroachment from people who live and forage in the forests or graze cattle there. India Wildlife guardian.co.uk
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About 40% more surveyors reported a rise in rents than those who saw a fall in the three months to the end of April, says Rics Growing numbers of tenants are finding themselves priced out of the market as rents continue to be pushed up by strong demand and a shortage of supply, latest research shows. About 42% more surveyors reported a rise in rents than those who saw a fall during the three months to the end of April – up from 40% during the previous quarter, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Although rents increased across the whole of Great Britain, London and the south-east continued to see the most notable rises. Surveyors said rents in some areas had risen so sharply that previously affordable homes were now out of reach for many people, leaving growing numbers of tenants priced out. Estate agents Cluttons said tenants in central London should brace themselves for increases of between 8% and 10% following record increases of 19.1% in 2010. It added that existing tenants who wish to renew their contracts are facing smaller rises in the region of 4%, as landlords concerned about the general economic outlook opt to retain quality tenants rather than risk void periods. But the high cost of being a tenant was failing to deter people from renting, with many having no alternative due to the large deposits currently demanded by mortgage lenders. A balance of 35% of surveyors reported a rise in demand for rented accommodation during the three months to the end of April, the highest level for more than two years. The proportion reporting an increase in demand was also significantly higher than the 6% who said they had received a rise in new instructions from landlords during the same period, suggesting the mismatch between supply and demand would get worse. Rics said it was the first time the overall level of instructions had increased since April 2009, but this rise was doing little to help the situation as tenants were staying longer in properties than they previously would have. However, there was also a fall in the number of landlords reducing the size of their portfolios, with 2.8% selling a property during the three months, down from 4% during the previous three-month period. Rics spokesman James Scott-Lee said: “Although we are beginning to see more mortgages aimed at first-time buyers , many potential homeowners are still restricted from getting a foot on the property ladder, leading to increased demand in an already oversubscribed rental market. “There has been a small uplift in supply, but the imbalance between demand and availability can only mean rents will continue to rise.” Looking ahead, 33% more surveyors were predicting further rent rises than those who thought rents would fall, with expectations that the cost of being a tenant would increase highest in London, followed by the Midlands, the south-east and the north. Renting property Property First-time buyers Housing market Housing guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Scary lightning strike in Mississippi, though no serious injuries appear to have resulted: The bolt hit a power pole near tents where Air Force ROTC cadets were training, sending 77 cadets to the hospital for evaluation. Two went by ambulance from Camp Shelby and the rest by bus, reports AP…
Continue reading …Normally, word that a congressman’s wife is pregnant is not national news, but we remain in the Anthony Weiner worm hole. Yes, his 35-year-old wife, Huma Abedin, is in the early stages of pregnancy with their first child. The news comes not from a tabloid but from the New York…
Continue reading …Exxon announced the discovery of two oil wells and a natural gas deposit in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico that could collectively contain 700 million barrels. Two of the finds had been made in 2009 and 2010, but the company waited until today to unveil the amount…
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Luis Moreno-Ocampo orders investigation after witnesses confirm government buying containers of Viagra-type drugs The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is likely to add rape to the war crimes charges against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya on the back of mounting evidence that sexual attacks on women are being used as a weapon in the conflict. Luis Moreno-Ocampo told reporters at the UN building in New York that there were strong indications that hundreds of Libyan women had been raped in the Libyan government’s clampdown on the popular uprising, and that Gaddafi himself had ordered the violations as a form of punishment. The prosecutor said there was even evidence that the government had been handing out doses of Viagra to soldiers to encourage sexual attacks. Moreno-Ocampo said that rape was a new tactic for the Libyan regime. “That’s why we had doubts at the beginning, but now we are more convinced. Apparently, [Gaddafi] decided to punish, using rape.” The actions of the Libyan regime in brutally repressing the populist revolt were referred by the UN security council to the ICC in February. Moreno-Ocampo has asked the court’s judges to issue arrest warrants for three top leaders – Gaddafi himself, his son Saif al-Islam and the regime’s head of intelligence Abdullah al-Sanoussi. Procedurally, an extra charge of rape is likely to be added to the existing accusations after the arrest warrants have been issued. Currently, the three men stand accused of murder and persecution relating to the killings of demonstrators at the beginning of the conflict as well as the mistreatment and disappearance of prisoners. Some of the charges relate to the actions of mercenaries employed by the regime and unleashed on areas under rebel control. The ICC prosecutors have been collecting evidence relating to Saif’s orders to the mercenary groups. The issue of rape in the Libyan conflict was put into stark relief when a woman called Iman al-Obeidi burst into the Rixos hotel in Tripoli on 26 March and declared to press reporters gathered there that she had been gang raped. She was dragged away by Libyan guards and held for three days, but then released and managed to flee the country. She has now arrived in Romania where she is being cared for at a UN refugee camp. The ICC prosecutor said that evidence of the use of Viagra as a government policy was mounting. “They were buying containers with products to enhance the possibility to rape, and we are getting information in detail confirming the policy. We are trying to see who was involved,” he said. Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest War crimes International criminal court International criminal justice Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Luis Moreno-Ocampo orders investigation after witnesses confirm government buying containers of Viagra-type drugs The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is likely to add rape to the war crimes charges against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya on the back of mounting evidence that sexual attacks on women are being used as a weapon in the conflict. Luis Moreno-Ocampo told reporters at the UN building in New York that there were strong indications that hundreds of Libyan women had been raped in the Libyan government’s clampdown on the popular uprising, and that Gaddafi himself had ordered the violations as a form of punishment. The prosecutor said there was even evidence that the government had been handing out doses of Viagra to soldiers to encourage sexual attacks. Moreno-Ocampo said that rape was a new tactic for the Libyan regime. “That’s why we had doubts at the beginning, but now we are more convinced. Apparently, [Gaddafi] decided to punish, using rape.” The actions of the Libyan regime in brutally repressing the populist revolt were referred by the UN security council to the ICC in February. Moreno-Ocampo has asked the court’s judges to issue arrest warrants for three top leaders – Gaddafi himself, his son Saif al-Islam and the regime’s head of intelligence Abdullah al-Sanoussi. Procedurally, an extra charge of rape is likely to be added to the existing accusations after the arrest warrants have been issued. Currently, the three men stand accused of murder and persecution relating to the killings of demonstrators at the beginning of the conflict as well as the mistreatment and disappearance of prisoners. Some of the charges relate to the actions of mercenaries employed by the regime and unleashed on areas under rebel control. The ICC prosecutors have been collecting evidence relating to Saif’s orders to the mercenary groups. The issue of rape in the Libyan conflict was put into stark relief when a woman called Iman al-Obeidi burst into the Rixos hotel in Tripoli on 26 March and declared to press reporters gathered there that she had been gang raped. She was dragged away by Libyan guards and held for three days, but then released and managed to flee the country. She has now arrived in Romania where she is being cared for at a UN refugee camp. The ICC prosecutor said that evidence of the use of Viagra as a government policy was mounting. “They were buying containers with products to enhance the possibility to rape, and we are getting information in detail confirming the policy. We are trying to see who was involved,” he said. Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest War crimes International criminal court International criminal justice Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …You can’t go home again—especially if it was never really your house. An 18-year-old man, his 15-year-old girlfriend, and her family were found in a stranger’s multi-million dollar lake house in upstate New York. Todd Blauvelt Jr. apparently convinced everyone that he inherited the house from his late grandfather,…
Continue reading …Researchers have discovered the highest rate of autism ever found in a general population within a suburb of Seoul, South Korea. About 2.6% of the children in Ilsan have some form of the disease, reports the Los Angeles Times . That contrasts with the 1% figure found in the US…
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