Friday, 5 December 2014

Australian parliament backs migrant reforms

Australian navy personnel transfer Afghanistan asylum seekers to  Indonesian rescue boat near West Java. 31 August 31 2012Thousands of asylum seekers have risked the perilous sea journey to Australia
The Australian parliament has approved changes to immigration laws that include reintroducing controversial temporary visas for refugees.
The bill will allow refugees to live and work in Australia for three to five years, but denies them permanent protection.
It was passed by 34 votes to 32 in the senate and later backed by MPs.
Australia currently detains all asylum seekers who arrive by boat, holding them in offshore processing camps.
It says that those found to be refugees will not be permanently resettled in Australia, under tough new policies aimed at ending the flow of boats.
It also has a backlog of cases - about 30,000 - relating to asylum seekers who arrived before the current policies were put in place. Those people live in detention camps or in the community under bridging visas that do not allow them to work.
To secure enough support in parliament to pass the bill, the government made concessions. Children will be freed from detention on Christmas Island, an offshore camp where conditions have been strongly criticised.
The number of confirmed refugees Australia will agree to accommodate will rise by 7,500, from the current level of 13,750, by 2018 (reversing an earlier cut). Asylum seekers on bridging visas will be allowed to work while their claims for refugee status are processed.
The bill was narrowly approved in the senate after intense debate in a late-night sitting. It was then passed into law by the House of Representatives, where the government has a majority.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the move as "a win for Australia".
Sign for Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre. July 2013Refugees are kept in detention centres waiting for their claims to be assessed
"We always said that three things were necessary to stop the boats - offshore processing, turning boats around and temporary protection visas, and last night the final piece of policy was put in place," he said.
Temporary visas were originally introduced under former Prime Minister John Howard but were criticised by rights groups and the UN for failing to meet Australia's obligations as a signatory to UN Refugee Conventions.
While refugees can live and work for a temporary period in Australia, the government can deport them to their country of origin after this period if it deems conditions there have improved.
Serious concern
The government won the vote in the senate - where it does not have a majority - with the support of the Palmer United Party (PUP) which had negotiated several changes, including the provision relating to children detained on Christmas Island.
Rights advocates and other experts have voiced serious concern about the effects of life in limbo in cramped detention conditions on children of all ages.
PUP leader Clive Palmer called the move the best option available.
"It's all very well for people to shake their head, but they're not locked up on Christmas Island," he told reporters.
But refugee advocates said the move was a "shattering blow for asylum seekers who face the grave risk of being returned to danger".
Unless current migration visa rules were changed, many of those identified as refugees would find themselves with "no pathway to permanent protection", said Paul Power, chief executive of the Refugee Council of Australia.
He welcomed the "long overdue" decision to release children from detention, but condemned their use by the government "as a bargaining chip for a destructive legislative package to seriously weaken refugee protection".
Opposition leaders had also accused the government of using asylum seekers as political pawns.
Speaking before the senate vote, senior Labor figure Tony Burke said Immigration Minister Scott Morrison was "effectively wanting to use people as hostages".
"He could have started processing [asylum seekers]. He chose to not do the processing, and is now saying unless we vote for his measures, then he'll continue to keep people in detention," he told ABC Radio.
more info:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30340579

Nasa’s Orion spaceship makes splashdown

splashing down in the Pacific OceanThe US space agency's new Orion crew capsule has completed its maiden, unmanned voyage with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico.
Drone video sighted the ship descending gently on its parachutes, shortly before it hit the water.
US Navy support vessels are on station to capture the floating capsule with the help of divers.
Orion is designed eventually to take humans beyond the space station, to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.
Its brief 4.5-hour flight was intended to test its critical technologies, like the heat shield and those parachutes.
Orion was launched on a Delta IV-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 07:05 local time (12:05 GMT).
The orange-coloured triple booster was quickly lost in cloud after clearing the pad but headed effortlessly east out over the Atlantic for a two-lap circuit of the Earth.
Astronauts watching the landingNasa astronauts and journalists watched the landing from the Kennedy Space Centre
Flight profile
It was on the second of those two orbits that the Delta's upper-stage took Orion up to an altitude of 6,000km, to set up a fast fall back to the planet.
The capsule was expected to attain speeds close to 30,000km/h as it entered the atmosphere, with pressing air likely have generated temperatures on the ship's underside of up to 2,000C.
This was one of the key aims of the mission - to see how Orion's thermal protection systems would perform.
Engineers will know more when the capsule is recovered and returned to land for inspection.
Orion is reminiscent of the Apollo command ships that took men to the Moon in the 60s and 70s, only bigger and with cutting-edge systems.
It is being developed alongside a powerful new rocket that will have its own debut in 2017 or 2018.
Together, they will form the core capabilities needed to send humans beyond the International Space Station.
view from OrionVideo cameras onboard the spacecraft captured views of the Earth and the heat of re-entry
Friday's mission is but one small step in a very long development programme.
Unable to call upon the financial resources of the Apollo era, Nasa is instead having to take a patient path.
Even if today it had a fully functioning Orion, with its dedicated rocket, the US space agency would not be able to mount a mission to another planetary body because the technologies to carry out surfaces operations have not been produced yet, and it could be the 2030s before we see them all - certainly, to do a Mars mission.
To go to the Red Planet would require transfer vehicles, habitation modules, and effective supply and communication chains. And fundamental to the outcome of the whole venture would be a descent/ascent solution that enabled people to get down safely to the surface and then get back up again to make the journey home.
Orion was launched atop a Delta IV-Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral
Nasa's chief scientist Ellen Stofan told the BBC: "We have all these technologies mapped out and we're asking, 'what is the most sustainable path we can get on?' And when I say 'we', I don't just mean the United States because it's not just Nasa that's thinking about this; it's all the space agencies around the world."
To that end, the Europe has been asked to provide the "back end" for all future Orion capsules.
This service module is principally the propulsion unit that drives Orion through space.
Nasa says it is open to similar contributions from other partners as well.
Orion in the oceanThe capsule hit the Pacific Ocean within seconds of its scheduled arrival time
Nonetheless, some commentators, like the respected historian John Logsdon, are worried that the policy as laid out cannot continue in its current guise.
"The first Orion launch with a crew aboard is 2020/21, and then nothing very firmly is defined after that, although of course Nasa has plans. That's too slow-paced to keep the launch teams sharp, to keep everyone engaged. It's driven by the lack of money, not the technical barriers," he said.
But there is no doubting the enthusiasm within Nasa for the Orion project.
Rex Waldheim flew on the very last shuttle mission in 2011, and is now assisting the design of the capsule's interior systems.
He told BBC News: "The people that are actually going to fly in Orion - I just can't imagine the thrill they're going to have when they sit here at the Kennedy Space Centre atop the rocket, ready to go to the Moon or to Mars or an asteroid - these incredible destinations. It's just going to be spectacular."
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter:@BBCAmos
Orion's parachutesFootage of the splashdown and parachute deployment was captured by a drone



for more info:http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30352472

ICC drops Uhuru Kenyatta charges for Kenya ethnic violence

Uhuru KenyattaUhuru Kenyatta, who was elected president last year, denied orchestrating violence after elections in 2007

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Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have withdrawn charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He had been indicted in connection with post-election ethnic violence in 2007-08, in which 1,200 people died.
Mr Kenyatta, who had denied the charges, said he felt "vindicated".
The prosecutor's office said the Kenyan government had refused to hand over evidence vital to the case.
Mr Kenyatta said he was "excited" and "relieved" at the dropping of charges.
"My conscience is absolutely clear," he said, adding that his case had been "rushed there without proper investigation".
Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said her government would try to have two other similar cases thrown out including one involving Deputy President William Ruto.
Uhuru Kenyatta (l) and William Ruto (r)Mr Kenyatta (l) said he would now try to have the case against his deputy, William Ruto (r), dropped
"As they say, one case down, two more to go," Mr Kenyatta said on Twitter.
On Wednesday, the ICC had given prosecutors a week to decide whether to pursue their case against Mr Kenyatta or withdraw charges.
Further delays in the case would be "contrary to the interests of justice", it had said.
On Friday, prosecutors said the evidence had "not improved to such an extent that Mr Kenyatta's alleged criminal responsibility can be proven beyond reasonable doubt".
The BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague said the announcement was a huge blow to prosecutors.
Many observers had seen the case against Mr Kenyatta as the biggest test in the court's history, she says.
'Bribed and intimidated'
Mr Kenyatta was the first head of state to appear before the court, after he was charged in 2012.
The prosecution repeatedly asked for more time to build its case, saying witnesses had been bribed and intimidated, and the Kenyan government had refused to hand over documents vital to the case.
Human Rights Watch had accused the Kenyan government of acting as a roadblock and "impairing the search for truth".
A sea of tents made out of plastic sheeting fills a camp for the displaced in the showground in Eldoret, Kenya (19 January 2008)About 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes in the post-election violence
Mr Kenyatta denied inciting ethnic violence following the disputed 2007 elections in order to secure victory for then-President Mwai Kibaki.
He has repeatedly accused the ICC of pursuing a political prosecution.
On Friday, he again criticised the legal process, saying: "The prosecutor opted to selectively pursue cases in a blatantly biased manner that served vested interests and undermined justice.
"As a result, the court has had to pay a steep reputational price, which it will continue to face unless a serious and systemic rethinking of the international justice framework is undertaken."
Mr Kenyatta won Kenya's presidential elections in 2013, with the backing of Mr Kibaki.
He used the ICC case against him to rally nationalist support by accusing the Dutch-based court of meddling in Kenya's affairs.
'Robbed'
About 1,200 people were killed in the violence in 2007-8 and 600,000 were displaced.
Fergal Gaynor, a lawyer who represents victims of the violence, told the BBC's Foucs on Africa programme that there was a "widespread feeling of disappointment" at the dropping of the case against Mr Kenyatta.
He said there had been a "well-organised and systematic effort to undermine the ICC justice process and much of the blame for that can be laid with President Kenyatta's government".
Mr Gaynor said the victims had been "robbed" of justice and there was little legal recourse left.
"Frankly, this marks the end of the road," he said.
line
Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Kenyatta
  • Born in 1961, became Kenya's youngest president
  • Son of the country's first president, Jomo Kenyatta
  • Heir to one of the largest fortunes in Kenya, according to Forbes magazine
  • Entered politics in 1990s, groomed by ex-President Daniel arap Moi
  • Lost presidential race in 2002 by a large margin to coalition led by Mwai Kibaki
  • Backed Mr Kibaki for re-election in 2007
  • Married father of three
  • Hobbies: Football and golf
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Mr Ruto is on trial at the ICC on similar charges after his legal team's efforts to have the case thrown out failed.
He and Mr Kenyatta were on opposing sides during the 2007 election, with Mr Ruto accused of fuelling violence to bolster opposition leader Raila Odinga's chances of becoming president. He denies the charges.
Mr Ruto subsequently formed an alliance with Mr Kenyatta in the 2013 election, opening the way for him to become deputy president.
Analysts say the dropping of charges against Mr Kenyatta while the case against Mr Ruto continues risks reopening a political rift and upsetting Kenya's delicate ethnic balance.
Mr Kenyatta said the deputy president faced his accusers "with a clear conscience".
Mr Ruto and another defendant, Joshua Sang, "have been steadfast in declaring their innocence", said Mr Kenyatta.
"I am confident that they will be vindicated in due course."

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more info:  http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30352472

China arrests ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang

File photo: Zhou Yongkang, 1 November 2010Mr Zhou was head of China's vast internal security apparatus until 2012Ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang, the most senior Chinese official to be investigated for corruption, has been arrested and expelled from the Communist Party, state media report.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate, China's top prosecuting body, said it had opened a formal probe against him.
Before he retired two years ago, Mr Zhou was the head of China's vast internal security apparatus.
Many of his former associates and relatives also face corruption probes.
Since coming to power, Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a high-profile campaign to weed out corruption among party and government officials.
Mr Zhou was accused of several crimes, including "serious violations of party discipline", "accepting large sums of bribes", "disclosing party and state secrets" and "committing adultery with several women" as part of corrupt transactions, Xinhua news agency reported (in Chinese).
Mr Zhou's arrest was announced in a statement by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, released late on Friday night.
'Most feared'
Mr Zhou, who is in his 70s, has not been seen in public for more than a year.
Analysts say the investigation against Mr Zhou allows Xi Jinping to consolidate his power base, remove people opposed to his reforms, and improve the image of the Communist Party
more info:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30352458

NEWS/ Peter Pan Live! Ratings: Did the Musical Sink or Soar?

Peter Pan LiveVirginia Sherwood/NBC

Not as high as
 Sound of Music, but 9.1 million viewers tuned in to see Allison Williams do battle with Christopher Walken's Captain Hook. In the coveted 18-49 demographic, the special musical event had a 2.3 rating. That's down more than 50 percent compared to The Sound of Music Live! telecast last year, but up considerably from NBC's normal Thursday average.The ratings are in! Did Peter Pan Live! take flight to new ratings heights?
"We're very pleased with the Peter Pan ratings and it was a great night for NBC," Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement. "We won every hour, which hasn't happened on Thursday with entertainment programming since a year ago.  I'm proud to be part of a company that takes chances and creates big events, and that's exactly what we're going to continue to do."
The 2013 Sound of Music musical telecast starring Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer had 18.6 million live viewers and a 4.6 rating.
"We didn't expect to reach the same rating as The Sound of Music since that was the first live movie event of its kind in over 50 years," Greenblatt said. "But the high wire act ofPeter Pan was a joy for everyone involved and I take my hat off to Allison Williams, Christopher Walken, the entire company, and our incredible directors and producers for three months of the hardest work I've ever seen. I love these live events and we're already working on putting the next one together."
Over on the other networks, CBS kicked its night off with a rerun of The Big Bang Theorythat tied Peter Pan Live! in the demo and beat it in total viewers with 10.7 million. Mom was new with 10.6 million viewers and a 2.5 rating, as was Two and a Half Men (10.4 million viewers and a 2.5 rating), The McCarthys (8.3 million viewers and a 2.0 rating) andElementary (8.6 million viewers and a 1.8 rating).  ABC aired The Taste with 3.3 million viewers and a 0.9 rating and a How to Get Away With Murder rerun. Fox had new episodes of Gracepoint (3.6 million viewers and a 0.9 rating) and Bones (6 million viewers and a 1.5 rating).
more info:http://www.eonline.com/news/603858/peter-pan-live-ratings-did-the-musical-sink-or-soar

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Have mobile phones turned us into a nation of clingy lovers? One in six Brits are so needy they expect to hear from their partner every HOUR


  • Technology means 41 per cent now expect their loved ones to be in touch several times a day
  • Study also suggests we would rather have fewer but closer friends


  • One in six Brits are so needy they expect to hear from their partner every hour
    They say a healthy couple is one where both partners are independent and happy being separated. 
    But modern technology has made near- constant contact the norm, and a staggering one in six Brits are so needy they expect to hear from their partner every hour of the waking day, according to a new study.
    Mobile phones and social networking means 41 per cent now expect their loved ones to be in touch several times a day.
    The research looked at our relationships with loved ones and businesses - and found Brits choose quality over quantity.
    The study suggests we would rather have fewer but closer friends, than a load of pals that aren't close to us.
    Two thirds said they have no more than five close friends.
    And one in eight (13 per cent) say having fewer friends makes them feel healthier.
    The study of 2,000 British adults found we value the same traits in personal relationships as we do with businesses.
    Six in ten - 60 per cent - believe trust is the most important aspect to business relationships while 71 per cent say it's the most important for personal ones.
    Trust, honesty and loyalty are key components to a strong business relationship whereas trust, loyalty and humour make for a strong personal relationship.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2854962/Have-mobile-phones-turned-nation-clingy-lovers-One-six-Brits-needy-expect-hear-partner-HOUR.html#ixzz3KaFswyuN
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  • Set a web spy on your partner - for just £200: Is new website a positive step in the war on domestic violence or a boon for nosy neighbours?


  • New website Are They Safe checks criminal records of people's partners 
  • Laura Lyons set up site after finding her husband had history of violence
  • Concerned people can pay up to £350 for 'enhanced background checks' 
  • But there are concerns the site could be used by snooping neighbours 


  • Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854416/Set-web-spy-partner-just-200-new-website-positive-step-war-domestic-violence-boon-nosy-neighbours.html#ixzz3KaFJplZU
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    Laura Lyons, 29, created website Are They Safe, which runs comprehensive searches on people, after she found out her husband had a history of violence against previous partners
    Laura Lyons, 29, created website Are They Safe, which runs comprehensive searches on people, after she found out her husband had a history of violence against previous par


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854416/Set-web-spy-partner-just-200-new-website-positive-step-war-domestic-violence-boon-nosy-neighbours.html#ixzz3KaFTzij6
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    A woman who was unaware her new husband had a history of violence against previous partners has set up a website offering £200 background checks to try to stop others suffering a similar fate.
    The website, called ‘Are They Safe’, is thought to be the first of its kind, with its founders offering to undertake comprehensive searches of public records to verify someone’s identity, marital history, finances, and uncover any criminal convictions.
    Anyone worried about a prospective or current partner, a potential son or daughter-in-law or a business partner, can pay a fee and be supplied with a report of the kind usually compiled by private detectives at much greater cost.
    But there have been warnings that the new site goes much further than the ‘Clare’s Law’ checks for domestic violence currently available to police, and could be used by people embarking on anonymous ‘fishing expeditions’ to uncover information that could be used maliciously. 
    AreTheySafe.co.uk has been created by Devon businesswoman Laura Lyons, 29, together with experienced investigators and private security specialists.
    Ms Lyons had been the victim of violent domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, Farouk Ali, before she left him last year. When she married Ali, Ms Lyons was unaware he had abused previous partners and had two assault convictions.
    And in September, he pleaded guilty to bigamy, saying he had another wife in Bangladesh.
    ‘If something like this service had been available to me, I would have avoided years of violence and misery,’ Ms Lyons said.
    But Professor Liz Kelly of London Metropolitan University, an expert in the field of domestic violence, said the numbers of women who would be helped might be limited.
    She said: ‘If you’ve fallen for someone, you may not want to check them out at an early stage. I’m not convinced enough people will use it for it to be truly preventative.’


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854416/Set-web-spy-partner-just-200-new-website-positive-step-war-domestic-violence-boon-nosy-neighbours.html#ixzz3KaFRZbmV
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