California is planning to close more than a quarter of its 278 state parks and slash services at the rest as part of sweeping budget cuts. Southern California’s beaches will stay open but redwood forests, coastal woodlands, and many of the state’s historic sites will be shut down in September,…
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Report showing trains in Europe cost 40% less to run will fuel attack on pay and outdated travel perks Transport secretary Philip Hammond will spark a confrontation with unions this week by demanding steep cuts in the wage bills of Britain’s railways, citing an official study suggesting that they cost 40% more to operate than equivalent systems in France, Germany and the Netherlands. The report, by former Civil Aviation Authority chief Sir Roy McNulty, will set an “aspiration” of reducing the cost of transporting passengers by 30% by 2019, with potential savings of more than £1bn annually by the end of the decade. Commissioned in the latter days of Gordon Brown’s government, the study, to be published on Thursday, is likely to be used by ministers to attack both unions and the historical perks enjoyed by rail staff. Train drivers earned an average of £41,179 last year, more than police officers, teachers, firemen and nurses, and unions have
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US and Britain condemn conviction of Andrei Sannikov, who described charges of staging riots as ‘absurd’ A Belarussian presidential candidate has been sentenced to five years in prison following a trial that he denounced as political punishment for challenging the nation’s authoritarian leader. A district court in the Belarussian capital Minsk handed out the sentence to Andrei Sannikov after convicting him on charges of staging riots following December’s presidential election. Sannikov called the charges “absurd” in a statement before the verdict, which was condemned by the US and Britain. “This is a political punishment for me as a presidential candidate who has formed a strong team of professionals and declared readiness to take charge of the country,” he said. Sannikov, a 57-year-old former deputy foreign minister, said he was tortured by Belarus’s secret police and that its chief personally threatened harsh reprisals against his wife – a journalist – and their four-year-old son. Another four opposition activists were also given prison terms in the same trial. Sannikov’s trial was the latest move in an ongoing crackdown on dissent by the government of President Alexander Lukashenko, who was declared the winner of December’s election with nearly 80% of the vote. International observers criticised the election. The exchange rate of the national currency of Belarus plunged by 30% this week after the government completed its devaluation. Hard currency reserves have plummeted to less than $4bn, and staples such as vegetable oil and sugar began vanishing from stores. “A severe economic crisis has prompted Lukashenko to tighten repression to prevent the opposition from forming the core of protests,” said Alexander Klaskovsky, an independent political analyst. The US state department issued a statement condemning Sannikov’s conviction and other trials of presidential candidates and opposition activists. “Belarus should immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and cease continuing human rights violations against critics of the government,” it said. “The results of ongoing trials will be taken into account as the United States continues to review its relations with Belarus and consider further measures.” The Europe minister David Lidington also voiced concern about Sannikov’s conviction, calling it a “new low for the rule of law in Belarus”. “Mr Sannikov is guilty of nothing more than the peaceful expression of his opinion about the results of December’s flawed elections,” he said. Belarus Alexander Lukashenko Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Louisiana—faced with the choice of flooding farmland or risking major floods in New Orleans and Baton Rouge —is preparing to open a relief valve and swamp large areas of farmland in Cajun country. The Morganza spillway is about to be opened for the first time in 38 years, releasing…
Continue reading …Mothers of twins, you rule. Genetically speaking, at least. Utah researchers have concluded that moms who give birth to twins live longer than mothers who have kids at a measly one-at-a-time rate, reports Discover . Moms of twins also generally give birth to more kids, even when not counting the twins….
Continue reading …Iran has postponed a literal eye-for-an-eye punishment it was due to carry out today. A court had ordered a man who threw a bucket of acid in the face of a woman who refused to marry him to have acid dropped in both eyes. Human rights groups including Amnesty International…
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FBI agents announced the four-count indictment against three U.S. citizens resident in Florida and three others in Pakistan Six people in Florida and Pakistan have been charged with providing financing and material support to the Pakistani Taliban, a designated foreign terrorist organization, U.S. federal officials has said. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and local FBI agents announced the four-count indictment against three U.S. citizens resident in Florida, including two imams, and three other individuals living in Pakistan. Relations between Pakistan and the US are tense following the raid that killed Osama bin Laden at the Abbottabad compound. Taliban Pakistan Global terrorism United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed some of the country’s toughest anti-illegal immigration measures into law. The Georgia law—largely modeled on Arizona’s—allows local police to question certain suspects about their immigration status, penalizes people who knowingly transport illegal immigrants, and makes using fake ID to get a job…
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Retiree Jennifer Mills-Westley, 62, believed to have been murdered in a random attack The British woman beheaded in a supermarket on the Spanish island of Tenerife has been named as Jennifer Mills-Westley. Her family paid tribute to her and said they were devastated by her death in the town of Arona, about 10 miles from the popular beach resort of Los Cristianos, in the south of the island. Her daughter, Sarah, said: “Mum retired a number of years ago and was fully enjoying her retirement travelling between Tenerife and France, where she spent time visiting her daughter and grandchildren, and her other daughter in Norfolk. “She was full of life, generous of heart, would do anything for anyone. We now have to find a way of living without her love and light and we would ask at this difficult time for some privacy as we try to come to terms with our loss.” The Foreign Office has confirmed that consular officials are liaising with local authorities investigating the killing. Spanish police have identified the alleged killer as Deyan Valentinov D, but have not released a surname. The 28-year-old unemployed Bulgarian is said to have attacked Ms Mills-Westley, 62, with a knife and then fled into the street with the severed head in his hands, according to witnesses. Colin Kirby, a reporter for Tenerife Magazine, explained what he had seen as he walked past the shop at around 10.30am. He said he had spoken to an English couple who were in the shop when the incident happened. “They said this guy just walked in, pulled a big knife and started stabbing at her.” He added: “I didn’t see the attack, but I saw the guy. I was walking past the commercial centre and I saw a small group of people outside. There was a guy from the medical centre going down the ramp and I thought perhaps someone had fainted. “I heard people shouting and screaming and making a commotion. A Hispanic-looking guy, very scruffy, was walking behind me muttering to himself, carrying what I thought was a joke head by the hair, with blood. “It made me think of Clash of The Titans, gorgons. I thought … ‘it’s a joke’. The man was in his late 20s … He was a bit dishevelled, unwashed, he was wearing a jumper and trousers, when everyone else is wearing shorts. Even at 10.30 in the morning, it’s boiling.” Kirby said that the man ran off as security guards and others chased after him. “Security guards rushed from the shop where he’d been, chased him across the road and by this time he was pinned to the floor. By this time he was empty-handed and was on the other side of the road.” “The security and the police had to hold people off – they were queueing up – they were trying basically to kick the hell out of the guy.” Los Cristianos has a large expat British community. A witness told the radio broadcaster Cadena Ser that he saw the man drop the head on the pavement after coming out of the shop. “I parked my car and saw a man running out with something bloody in his hands and a security guard chasing him. He threw it to the ground. It almost hit me. “What he had been carrying was a woman’s head.” José Alberto González, the mayor, said the attack did not appear to be premeditated. It has been recorded on the supermarket’s security cameras. A regional interior ministry delegate, Dominica Fernández, said the suspect was believed to have entered the shop and stolen a knife, which he then used to behead his victim. The attack appeared to be random. Spain Europe Giles Tremlett Karen McVeigh David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Pro-cuts groups, including Ukip and the TaxPayers’ Alliance, look to US Tea Party movement for inspiration as anger grows over EU bailouts Hundreds of pro-cuts activists have taken part in a “rally against debt” opposite the Houses of Parliament, in the first Tea Party-style protest to challenge the anti-cuts lobby. The protest, attended by an alliance of rightwing and libertarian activists including members of the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), the anti-Europe UK Independence party and the Freedom Association, was billed as giving a voice to those who think the UK is living beyond its means. There were also calls for the government to stop bailing out other EU countries. Matthew Sinclair, director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There have been lots of chances for other groups to register their protest, and we want to give a voice to people who represent quite a heavy majority who think spending cuts are right and necessary. “But some areas aren’t being cut at all while spending is rising elsewhere, with contributions to the EU and international development spending.” The organisation’s debt clock, mounted on a lorry, was driven past the protest several times. More than 1,400 people had indicated on Facebook that they would attend , but at lunchtime only about 350 people were gathered at Old Palace Yard to be addressed by the speakers, who included Sinclair and Ukip leader Nigel Farage. They held placards bearing messages including “Drowning in debt”, “No more EU bailouts” and “Stop spending money you don’t have”. Some protesters chanted: “What do we want? Cuts! When do we want them? Now!” Farage said: “This is not a celebration of libraries closing or lowly paid people losing their jobs. “This is an acceptance that this country is in the most desperate trouble and that despite the cuts we’re increasing spending in some areas. We need to make cuts and we need to prioritise where these cuts are coming from.” Priti Patel, Conservative MP for Witham, said: “This government is all about deficit reduction. I don’t think enough people realise the extent of the debt facing this country. It is totally unsustainable. “This is a wake-up call that debt is here to stay unless we deal with it in a serious way.” Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, told the rally: “We won’t put up with this. We are the selfless movement. We’re not asking for money, we’re asking for cuts to make sure our children and grandchildren don’t have to foot the bill.” One protester, James Dighton, a 24-year-old accountant from Leeds, said: “It’s very important to get the message out there that not everyone in the country thinks the cuts are unnecessary – quite the opposite, in fact.” A handful of protesters opposed to cuts were also present, with one waving a sign mocking the rally that read: “Libraries suck.” The action comes amid growing interest among rightwing groups in learning from the US Tea Party movement, which has mobilised hundreds of thousands of activists to march against Barack Obama’s policies. Electoral commission records show that in March, Ukip activists registered the name Tea Party as a political party. It is not yet active, but they said they could field candidates in general elections, byelections and local elections. Protest Tea Party movement Public sector cuts UK Independence party (Ukip) David Batty guardian.co.uk
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