Monday, September 8, 2014
Missing Mother Kept In Cage For Two Months
A missing woman has been rescued after being kept for two months in a cage, with a belt around her neck. Joelle Lockwood, a 30-year-old mother-of-two, was reported missing on July 9 in Evansville. She was found at the weekend.
The man who rescued her, Ron Higgs, said Ms Lockwood was kept in a small wooden cage and begged him to help her escape. A couple have been arrested and face preliminary charges of rape and criminal confinement. They have been identified as Kendra Tooley, 44, Mr Higgs’ former wife, and her boyfriend, Ricky Roy House Jr, 37.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Ebola crisis: Liberia 'faces huge surge' says WHO
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29115298
Ebola is spreading exponentially in Liberia, with thousands of new cases expected in the next three weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Conventional methods to control the outbreak were "not having an adequate impact", the UN's health agency added. At least 2,100 people infected with Ebola have died so far in the West African states of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria this year.
The WHO says 79 health workers have been killed by the virus. Organisations combating the outbreak needed to scale-up efforts "three-to-four fold", the WHO said. It highlighted Liberia's Montserrado county, where 1,000 beds were needed for infected Ebola patients but only 240 were available, leading to people being turned away from treatment centres.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Russian Gas Pipeline to China Threatens Mummies, Leopards
Only twice in its history has UNESCO had to strike sites from its World Heritage List. But Russia now risks contributing a third case, thanks to plans to build a pipeline to China through protected land.President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia was ready to revive the "western route," a gas pipeline spanning the westernmost chunk of the Russian-Chinese border.
Echoing the sentiment, Gazprom head Alexei Miller said, also last week, that the state monopoly expected it would be ready to ink a deal on the matter in November. The project, first announced by Putin in 2006, envisaged a pipeline through the Golden Mountains of Altai, a World Heritage site.The plan was lambasted by environmentalists, and UNESCO threatened to move the Golden Mountains of Altai to the List of World Heritage in Danger last year, only relenting when Gazprom mothballed the "western route" until 2016. But now the "western route" is on track to revival as Russia executes an "eastward turn," strengthening ties with Beijing to offset a crisis in relations with the West.
INC News,08/09/2014
Ukraine Tries to Kill South Stream by Luring Foreign Firms Into Gas Network
Ukraine on Monday opened its gas transit infrastructure to potential Western investors, but kept the door firmly shut on its key supplier-turned-antagonist, Russia's Gazprom.
By signing into law a bill allowing foreign companies to buy equity stakes in the country's outdated gas network — a vital corridor through which Europe receives one fifth of its gas — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hopes to guarantee Ukraine's lucrative position on Russia's gas export route and see off the challenge of South Stream pipeline, which would bypass Ukraine.
But analysts doubt that foreign energy majors will rush to get involved.European and U.S. companies will be permitted to buy up to 49 percent of shares in a newly created company that will operate the system, according to a document published on the official website of Ukraine's parliament. The Ukrainian government will keep a majority stake.
The law envisages that foreign investors in the gas network will be chosen by open tender, but the Verkhovna Rada, the country's parliament, will still have the last word in the choice of participants. Russia's Gazprom will not be one of them.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Russia starts building Military Bases in the Arctic
Set on restoring the once formidable Soviet military presence in the highly contested and resource-rich Arctic, the Russian military has begun building new military bases in the region, a Defense Ministry spokesperson said Monday.
"On Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt, block-modules have been unloaded for the construction of military camps. The complex is being erected in the form of a star," Colonel Alexander Gordeyev, a spokesperson for the Eastern Military District, was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
Russia has been talking about militarizing the Arctic for years as part of its greater strategy to explore and industrialize the pristine region, which is wealthy in oil and gas and offers a strategic trade route capable of rerouting the global trade flows.The locations named by Gordeyev are deep into the Arctic circle in the Chukchi Sea, close to Alaska.
President Vladimir Putin in April stepped up his commitment to the region, calling for the creation of a unified command structure to coordinate military operations in the Arctic and create a new government entity to execute Russia's policy in the region.
Putin sees control of the Arctic as a matter of serious strategic concern for Moscow. Below the Arctic lies vast stockpiles of largely untapped natural resource reserves; estimates vary, but the more optimistic ones put the undiscovered reserves of oil and gas in the Arctic at 13 and 30 percent of the world's total, respectively.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Police ignores men armed with 'Kalashnikovs' at Moscow train station
Ordinary Russians do not enjoy the right to bear arms, but Moscow police appears to be dismissive of those who do it anyway, a pro-Kremlin activist group claims. Several members of the StopKham ("Stop the Lout") movement marched through downtown Moscow's Paveletsky metro and train stations last week touting fake Kalashnikov machine guns, the group said. Many police officers and private security guards initially refrained from intervening in the group-members' activities. Those who eventually did get involved relented almost immediately after being told the firearms were fake, Mskagency.ru city news site said.
A video posted online shows a cadre of men in military fatigues with what appeared to be authentic Kalashnikovs marching down the metro platform and into the adjacent train station. Most passers-by ignored them, though at least one filmed them on a cellphone. "They're fu--ed up," a voice is heard saying at one point. The group members carried on unimpeded, according to the video footage, until they stopped for coffee, at which point a pudgy police officer approached to see what they were up to.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Sanctions take to the sky as Russia plans plane production with China
Russia has announced it is to go into partnership with China in the joint-production of a long haul aircraft as a result of sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.Moscow now looks set to double production of the Sukhoi Superjet passenger plane.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that his country must increase its domestic aircraft production and aircraft part manufacture. He also said the country could close its airspace in response to new Western sanctions against Moscow in the energy or finance sector.
INC News, 08/09/2014
EU adopts yet more sanctions against Russia
The EU has adopted new sanctions against Russia. They will take effect on Tuesday despite a warning of retaliation from Moscow. Top Russian state-owned oil firms will be affected, but gas companies will be spared. The measures will restrict their access to financial markets inside the EU.
It means the likes of Gasprom Neft Rosneft and Transneft will not be able to sell bonds or borrow money. The idea is that they’ll be forced to turn to the Russian state for help, further straining Moscow’s public finances. Three military companies will also be barred from borrowing money in Europe for longer than 30 days.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Blaze devastates Sao Paulo’s Campo Belo district
At least 2000 people have been made homeless by a large fire in a poor suburb of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The mostly wooden homes of the favela offered little resistance to the flames, which destroyed or damaged 80% of the homes in the Campo Belo area. Firefighters were hampered in their efforts by a lack of available piped water.
INC News, 08/09/2014-Euronews
Rogue trader who lost billions walks free 110 days into 5-year term
French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, who racked up record losses for his bank Société Générale in 2008 and was jailed for five years for illegal deals, has left prison. A press pack awaited him as he walked free after an unexpectedly short time behind bars.“I’m really happy to be out today, it’ll be a lot easier for me now, obviously, and those close to me, to work on my case and carry on my fight for justice,” he said.Kerviel’s lawyer insisted the whole truth of the affair was overdue.
“It’s high time today for the so-called Kerviel Affair sofware to be rebooted, so we can see it for what it is, no ‘Kerviel affair’, but a Société Générale affair. As you know, we have filed several complaints against the bank,” said David Koubbi.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Buone notizie per il rientro di Latorre
Si apre uno spiraglio per il rientro in Italia per Massimiliano Latorre dopo
che la difesa del fuciliere ne ha chiesto il rimpatrio per tre o quattro mesi per motivi di salute dopo l'attacco ischemico subito.
Il ministro degli Esteri indiano, Sushma Swaraj, ha assicurato che non ci sarà opposizione a una eventuale decisione in tal senso della Corte.
Il tribunale stamani ha esaminato l'istanza ed ha chiesto al governo un parere aggiornando l'udienza al 12 settembre. Nel caso di una concessione del permesso, la Corte porrebbe delle condizioni a garanzia che, si è appreso, l'Italia è pronta ad accettare.
La Corte suprema indiana ha esentato Massimiliano Latorre su richiesta della difesa dall'obbligo di firma presso il commissariato di polizia per due settimane per le sue condizioni di salute.
INC News, 08/09/2014 - (via ANSA AP)
BREAKING NEWS - BREAKING NEWS - Gb: evacuato aeroporto Luton
(via ANSA AP)
Un soprano "storico" ci ha lasciati- E' morta Magda Oliviero
E' morta all'istituto Auxologico di Milano il soprano Magda Olivero. Classe 1910, aveva debuttato negli anni Trenta. Alla fine degli anni Cinquanta aveva anche partecipato alla trasmissione televisiva Il Musichiere, una delle tappe di una lunghissima carriera che la portò a debuttare al Metropolitan con Tosca nel 1975, a sessantacinque anni. Nel 2008 fu premiata dal presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano.
INC News, 08/09/2014- (via ANSA AP)
Rotherham Abuse: Chief Executive To Step Down
Martin Kimber is to step down as chief executive of Rotherham Council following a damning report detailing child abuse in the town. Mr Kimber's decision to go follows the resignation of council leader Roger Stone over a report published last month which revealed more than 1,400 children had been abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. The abuse of youngsters, some just 11 years old, was described as "horrific" and "not confined to the past but continues to this day".
After the report was released Mr Kimber said no council employee would face disciplinary action because staff in senior positions during "critical periods" were now working elsewhere. Mr Kimber insisted he would also not be leaving his post as he was "part of the solution" to improving children's services in Rotherham, not part of the problem.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia could close its airspace to Western carriers if new European sanctions target Russia's oil and gas companies or impose additional financing restrictions.
"I hoped that our partners would be smarter," Medvedev told business daily Vedomosti in an interview published Monday. "If there are sanctions related to the energy sector, or further restrictions on Russia's financial sector, we will have to respond asymmetrically."
An expansion to European Union sanctions, expected to be implemented Tuesday, would ban three of Russia's main oil companies — Gazprom Neft, Transneft and Rosneft — from raising money on European capital markets for longer than 30 days, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing documents detailing the measures.
The expansion to EU sanctions introduced in July would also limit the time of fund-raising to 30 days, down from the previous 90 days, for five state-run banks, including Sberbank and VTB, the report said.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Pound falls on fears of Scottish independence
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29103445
The currency fell 1% against the dollar in early trading to $1.6159, and also fell almost 1% against the euro to 1.2480 euros. It came after a YouGov poll suggested supporters of an independent Scotland had taken a narrow lead in the referendum debate for the first time. Just a week ago sterling was trading at $1.66 against the US dollar.Shares in Scottish-based firms dominated the top fallers on the stock market. Edinburgh-based Standard Life fell 3%, Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 2.4% and Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows, dropped 2.7%. Perth-based energy supplier SSE, Glasgow pumps specialist Weir Group and fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management also all fell between 1.5% and 1.9%.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Volkswagen Announces 10-Day Shutdown as Russian Car Market Flounders
Volkswagen is slashing car production at its plant in Kaluga, Russia, in face of a weakening ruble and declining real wages, a German industry magazine reported on Sunday.
Volkswagen is set to lower production at Kaluga to 120,000 vehicles this year, compared with the 150,000 originally planned, Automobilwoche reported, without citing sources. The Kaluga plant manufactures the Volkswagen Polo and Tiguan models as well as the Skoda Fabia and Octavia.
A Volkswagen spokesman declined to comment on figures the magazine's report but said the company was temporarily reducing production volumes at Kaluga due to the economic situation in Russia, with a 10-day shutdown due to start on Sept. 8.
"Nevertheless Volkswagen Group is fully committed to the Russian market and is consecutively fulfilling its investment program in Russia," the spokesman added, pointing out that a new body shop opened at Kaluga this year and that engine production in Kaluga and a new depot in near Moscow will start operating in 2015.
Automobilwoche also cited Opel's board member responsible for sales, Peter Christian Kuespert, as expressing worries about Russia, one of Opel's biggest markets in Europe, compounded by Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Japan's economy shrinks 1.8% in the three months to June Japan retail lady
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29105542
Japan's economy shrank 1.8% in the April-to-June period, worse than forecast and raising more questions about the government's economic policy. The official data confirmed that the world's third largest economy suffered its sharpest quarterly contraction since the 2011 earthquake disaster. On an annualised basis it would mean gross domestic product (GDP) fell 7.1%.
Japan's economy shrank 1.8% in the April-to-June period, worse than forecast and raising more questions about the government's economic policy. The official data confirmed that the world's third largest economy suffered its sharpest quarterly contraction since the 2011 earthquake disaster. On an annualised basis it would mean gross domestic product (GDP) fell 7.1%.
The fall was blamed in part on a consumer sales tax introduced in April, with another rise planned for 2015. The release of Monday's revised official data follows publication of initial GDP estimates that put the second quarter contraction at 1.7%, with the annualised rate at 6.8%. In the first quarter of 2014, the economy grew by 1.5%.The single biggest factor behind the contraction in the second quarter is thought to be a rise in the nation's sales tax in April, to 8% from 5%. There are now calls for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay a further rise planned for next year, while the central bank has faced fresh demands to expand its stimulus programme.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Iran's Ayatollah Khameini has prostate surgery
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is recovering from prostate surgery, reports from Iran say. The operation, which took place on Monday at a government hospital in the capital Tehran, was said to be "routine". However, no details were given about what had prompted it or about the underlying medical condition. The 75-year-old cleric has led Iran since 1989 and is the country's top religious and political authority. Earlier on Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei was seen on Iranian state television asking people to pray for him, but said there was "no room for concern". Ayatollah Khamenei's health has always been a secret topic in Iran, like other aspects of his personal life, says BBC Persian editor Bozorgmehr Sharafedin.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Meteorite leaves crater in Nicaraguan capital Managua
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29106843
A small meteorite landed near the international airport in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, on Saturday night, government officials say. Residents reported hearing a loud bang and feeling the impact, which left a crater 12m (40ft) wide and 5m deep.Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said the meteorite seemed to have broken off an asteroid which was passing close to Earth. She said international experts had been called in to investigate further. No-one was hurt when it hit the wooded area near the international airport and an air force base.
A small meteorite landed near the international airport in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, on Saturday night, government officials say. Residents reported hearing a loud bang and feeling the impact, which left a crater 12m (40ft) wide and 5m deep.Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said the meteorite seemed to have broken off an asteroid which was passing close to Earth. She said international experts had been called in to investigate further. No-one was hurt when it hit the wooded area near the international airport and an air force base.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Africa Union troops 'raped' girls in Mogadishu, Somalia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29108400
African Union (AU) troops raped women and girls seeking medical aid or water from their base in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, a rights group says. The troops had "misused" their power over women fleeing violence and poverty, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. One Muslim girl, aged 15, reportedly had her headscarf ripped off before being raped. The AU, which has some 22,000 troops fighting militant Islamists in Somalia, has not yet commented on the report. Last year, it faced protests by women activists following claims that AU and government soldiers had gang-raped a woman.
African Union (AU) troops raped women and girls seeking medical aid or water from their base in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, a rights group says. The troops had "misused" their power over women fleeing violence and poverty, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. One Muslim girl, aged 15, reportedly had her headscarf ripped off before being raped. The AU, which has some 22,000 troops fighting militant Islamists in Somalia, has not yet commented on the report. Last year, it faced protests by women activists following claims that AU and government soldiers had gang-raped a woman.
INC News, 08/09/2014
Burundi, sono tre le suore missionarie italiane uccise
Tre missionarie saveriane italiane - e non due come inizialmente appreso - sono state uccise nelle scorse ore nel loro convento, nella località di Kamenge, in quello che appare essere stato un tentativo di rapina, forse di un balordo, finito nel sangue. Sono suor Luci Pulici, suor Olga Raschietti e suor Bernardetta Boggian. A riferirlo alla agenzia missionaria Misna - come si legge sul suo sito Internet - è padre Mario Pulcini, superiore dei missionari saveriani in Burundi che definisce la morte delle tre religiose "un episodio del tutto inaspettato, un enorme dolore...". Le prime due suore Olga Raschietti e Lucia Pulici - si legge ancora - sono state ritrovate ieri nel pomeriggio, la terza, la scorsa notte.
INC News, 08/09/2014 (via ANSA AP)
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