Society's Child
Independent and Evening Standard owner 'neutralises' fellow TV debate guest in reaction to the latter's 'threatening manner'
The Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev may pride himself on not interfering with the editorial policy of his UK newspapers, the Independent and Evening Standard, but there was no sign of such restraint when he took exception to the words of a fellow guest on Russian television.
Clad in very tight grey jeans, Lebedev showed a glimpse of his past as a KGB agent as he launched two blows at the former property developer Sergei Polonsky during a television debate on the financial crisis. Polonsky, once ranked Russia's 40th richest man, had said he wanted to "stick one in the mouth" of Lebedev. In the clip posted on the NTV channel's website, Polonsky was sent tumbling to the floor and Lebedev then stood over him in a crouched fighting stance.
© Ahmed Ali/AP
Zohair Garanah is the latest senior member of the former Egyptian regime to be convicted of corruption since the popular uprising toppled Mubarak in February.
Zohair Garanah is the latest senior member of the former Egyptian regime to be convicted of corruption since the popular uprising toppled Mubarak in February.
An Egyptian court has sentenced one of Hosni Mubarak's cabinet ministers to three years in prison after convicting him of corruption.
The businessman and former tourism minister Zohair Garanah is already serving a five-year jail term for allowing investors to illegally acquire state land. His first sentence was passed by a Cairo court on 10 May.
Under Egyptian law, he will serve the longer of the two sentences.
On Thursday, the steel magnate Ahmed Ezz was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of corruption. Ezz was a powerful insider in Mubarak's now-dissolved ruling party and a close aide to Mubarak's younger son and one-time heir apparent, Gamal.
The former trade minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who is at large, was also sentenced to 15 years on Thursday.
© Eric Thayer / Reuters
Protesters demonstrate Saturday near New York's Wall Street against banks and corporations.
Protesters demonstrate Saturday near New York's Wall Street against banks and corporations.
The rally, dubbed #OccupyWallStreet on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook where word was spread, spurred the New York Police Department to lock down Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall, local media reported.
Police set up checkpoints to allow only those who could prove they lived or worked on Wall Street to enter, the New York Daily News reported.
© Dean MacAdam
Thinking of checking into a hospital? Think again. You may never see home again.
Ginger Franklin, Hendersonville, Tennessee, fell down the stairs in her condo and suffered a bump on her head. She was declared "temporarily mentally incapacitated" and a guardian was appointed through the courts. < Within six weeks, the guardian had soldFranklin's home, car, furniture, and drained her bank account. Today, Franklin has her freedom back, but she is having to start all over.
Skeptic James 'The Amazing' Randi is renowned as a scourge of paranormal frauds and hoaxers, but it just may be that identity theft isn't one of his areas of expertise. Federal authorities have arrested his partner of more than two decades, 'Jose Luis Alvarez', saying that his identity was stolen from a man in New York some 24 years ago:
© The Canadian Press
Dr. Barry Kellogg, Humane Society International veterinary medical doctor, holds a breeding female at an emergency shelter that was rescued from a breeding operation in southwestern Quebec.
Dr. Barry Kellogg, Humane Society International veterinary medical doctor, holds a breeding female at an emergency shelter that was rescued from a breeding operation in southwestern Quebec.
The dogs were found Friday on a property in a rural area west of Montreal. They were living in poor conditions without sufficient food and water.
Guy Auclair, a spokesman for the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, said the scale of the seizure is without precedent in Quebec.
"We have had this kind of situation before, but (with) a lower number of animals," Auclair said in an interview Saturday.
Auclair said the dogs were different breeds and ranged in age from puppies to fully-grown.
Many were found suffering from skin and respiratory problems, he said.
They were placed under the care of Humane Society International, which had already transported several hundred dogs to a treatment centre Saturday.
© Unknown
That's when I knew partisanship had ultimately won out over reality. More Americans believe in angels than election fraud. If millions of Americans could turn a blind eye to a stolen election, simply because their side stole it, and then have that coup legitimized by not only the Supreme Court ... but by all of MainStreamMedia ... then I knew the country I lived in was not the land of my birth.
I can't emphasize this enough. Millions of Americans were ecstatic that George W. Bush won regardless of how he won. Unquestioning blind partisanship was more important than the law to these people. But more ominous was MainStreamMedia ratifying the coup. At that moment Corporate Media proved they were committed to the destruction of our democratic republic.
© N/A
Texting has overtaken handwriting in the classroom
Texting has overtaken handwriting in the classroom
Vital developmental stages are being skipped as young children learn to type on a keyboard before putting a pen to paper.
But this means some children have not mastered the basic skill by the time they start their A-levels - even though they are experts at texting and communicating online.
Examiners complain some A-level and GCSE scripts are illegible, while pupil referrals to occupational therapists are now 'widespread'.
Ian Toone, of the Voice teaching union, said:
'Some teachers, especially in the younger age bracket, argue that it is a waste of time teaching joined-up handwriting because soon "everyone will be doing everything on computers".He added:
'Other teachers believe that joined-up writing is more efficient than print and aids fluency of expression and speed of thought.
'Practising handwriting helps children learn letters and shapes, and can improve the creation and expression of ideas and help to develop fine motor skills, much more so than using a keyboard.'
'The secondary curriculum only requires children to write legibly, rather than cursively (joined-up).
© CC BY/D. Sharon Pruitt/Flickr
Little Rock - There's nothing illegal about a little foot fetish, but police in Conway, Arkansas, are looking for a toe-sucking man they said has crossed the line into assault.
Police have received two complaints in the past week about a man who seems desperate to suck women's toes - whether they want him to or not.
"This is on the police department's radar, and they are concerned," said LaTresha Woodruff, police spokeswoman in Conway, about 30 miles from Little Rock. "They are taking information and trying to figure out who is doing it ... we want him off the streets."
Last Saturday, Ruth Harris, an 83-year-old Conway woman, told police that she was sitting in a chair in front of her apartment.
A man approached her and said he liked her feet. According to a police report, the man took off one of her shoes and began sucking on her toe.
"The man then asked if he could kiss her and she had told him no and told him he was crazy," the report stated.
© Unknown
But that was then. Today, "free to choose" has become "free to die."
I'm referring, as you might guess, to what happened during Monday's G.O.P. presidential debate. CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Representative Ron Paul what we should do if a 30-year-old man who chose not to purchase health insurance suddenly found himself in need of six months of intensive care. Mr. Paul replied, "That's what freedom is all about - taking your own risks." Mr. Blitzer pressed him again, asking whether "society should just let him die."
And the crowd erupted with cheers and shouts of "Yeah!"
The incident highlighted something that I don't think most political commentators have fully absorbed: at this point, American politics is fundamentally about different moral visions.
