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In 2017, Ennis-Hill was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours list.
The 31-year-old was awarded the second highest class for her services to athletics in which she has achieved so much success.
The upcoming round of six-party talks in September will be the last chance before the U.S. elections to test whether diplomacy can roll back North Korea’s nuclear programs. Few expect them to succeed. Meanwhile, North Korea is moving steadily toward a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including long-range ballistic missiles.
The Bush administration has chosen diplomacy, but the administration dithered for so long that its partners in the talks—China, Russia, Japan and South Korea—began to take matters into their own hands. Faced with losing control, in June the administration finally started talking specifics. That didn’t break the logjam, but it was a step in the right direction.
The six-party talks shouldn’t be written off and a modest amount of hope is even justified. If the statements of the parties are taken at face value, there is some convergence on long-term goals: A Korean Peninsula that is permanently free of nuclear weapons; a peace system that replaces the 1953 armistice agreement; normal diplomatic relations between all the six parties, including the United States and North Korea; an intention not to use force in their mutual relations; elimination of all barriers to trade to facilitate the economic development of North Korea; establishment of a permanent regional security mechanism.
Several difficult obstacles will have to be overcome to begin making progress toward these goals. Negotiating an elaborate treaty would take time. Yet in this nuclear crisis, time is not on anyone’s side.
A better approach than seeking a formal treaty at the outset would be to agree at the next round of six-party talks on a statement of common goals and to adopt the model the Bush administration relied on to eliminate Libya’s nuclear programs. The administration has favorably cited this model as a basis for making diplomatic progress in North Korea.
The essence of the Libya model is to proceed through “reciprocal unilateral measures”—independent actions taken by parties to the negotiations to reach their shared objectives. A formal treaty is not a requirement. This process leaves to each participant some discretion in what it actually does. It is the model the Bush administration preferred in the case of Russia, as well as Libya.
The flexibility of this method is both its strength and its weakness. It can be a process for building confidence and, conversely, it can be a dead end. It can cut through years of enmity and suspicion that may be preventing the parties from reaching a conventional written agreement. Unless the process of taking reciprocal unilateral measures gathers momentum, however, the parties may never reach an ultimate settlement. At a time when North Korea presents a real nuclear threat and the six-party talks are faltering, this diplomatic process ought to be given a chance.
North Korea would: 1) dismantle all its nuclear facilities and place constraints on its missile programs, agreeing to monitoring measures; 2) acknowledge and end all technical programs that could be used to enrich uranium; 3) withdraw troops from the Demilitarized Zone and reduce its forces.
The United States would: 1) reduce its deployment of troops on the Korean Peninsula, as it is now doing; 2) provide security assurances; 3) eliminate remaining trade barriers; 4) normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea; 5) provide energy and economic aid.
South Korea would: 1) implement the economic assistance it has promised to North Korea for ending its nuclear programs; 2) initiate confidence-building measures to lower tensions on the peninsula.
Japan would: 1) provide North Korea with promised reparations; 2) take actions to foster economic development in North Korea.
China and Russia could undertake additional measures in response to North Korea’s decision to dismantle its nuclear facilities.
North Korea’s nuclear programs are more advanced than Libya’s and piecemeal dismantlement may be the only practical way to proceed.
If a denuclearized Korean Peninsula is truly accepted as a common strategic objective, Kim Jong Il should be able to begin the process by taking some significant action, while reciprocal unilateral actions by other participants would keep the ball rolling toward achievement of the goal. By forming a permanent oversight group at the earliest possible date, the parties would maintain pressure and help build momentum for the negotiations.
Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, the stars of last year’s beloved teenage rom-com, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, has a sweet reunion at the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
Condor and Centineo, who are currently working on the sequel to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, hung out on the Kids’ Choice Awards red carpet, where they hugged and Centineo planted a friendly and entirely platonic kiss on the top of Condor’s head.
Lest fans get any crazy ideas, although Condor and Centineo have plenty of chemistry on-screen as Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky, Condor revealed in an interview with Cosmopolitan in February that although she and Centineo can appear flirtatious because of the storyline of the film, they are just friends.
See Condor and Centineo take on the Kids’ Choice red carpet below.
(CNN) — As one of the world's most beautiful islands, Bali is known for lush beaches, historic temples and UNESCO-listed rice fields.
But its world-renowned beauty has also caused problems for Bali as the island copes with overtourism.
According to data from the Indonesian government, Bali -- the country's most-visited island -- hosted 5.7 million international visitors in 2017. Final data for 2018 has not yet been announced, but the numbers are believed to be considerably higher.
Many of those visitors left behind trash, including single-use plastics, much of which filled landfills or washed up on pristine beaches.
While tourism brings money into the community, it can also strain local sanitation resources and contribute to erosion and environmental damage.
The way that overtourism was affecting the local community was addressed in an episode of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" that aired in October 2018.
But there is one possible solution.
The Jakarta Post reports that the Balinese regional government has drafted a bylaw imposing a $10 tax on foreign tourists to be charged upon leaving the country.
"Tourists come to enjoy our environment and culture. Why not contribute to preserving it?" says I Nyoman Adi Wiryatama, who is the head of Bali's provincial parliament.
Before making the move, Bali's Udayana University's school of hospitality and tourism organized a study where they polled international visitors on whether they'd be willing to contribute money toward the preservation of the island. Sixty percent of them said yes.
And Indonesia is not the only country experimenting with a similar fee.
Japan recently voted to impose a "departure tax" for foreign travelers. The fee is ¥1,000, or about $9, and will go toward the cost of building and maintaining tourist infrastructure. The tax went into effect in January 2019 and applies to visitors leaving by air or sea.
In December 2018, the Taj Mahal hiked its ticket prices and limited the amount of time that visitors can spend at the site as a form of "flood control" to manage the popular destination.
Visitors who spend only a day in Venice, Italy -- such as those who come via cruise ship -- are being charged about $11 for visiting the city, a tax that was imposed to make up for the loss of hotel revenue.
European cities like Dubrovnik and Barcelona have instituted similar measures. And odds are good that more will follow.
Digital music service Spotify has removed some episodes of The Alex Jones Show podcast citing violations of its “hate content policy.” Fortune reports that neither the names of the specific episodes nor a count of the canceled episodes was provided. They did issue a statement, however, that seems to indicate they examined some episodes due to feedback from listeners, saying, “We take reports of hate content seriously and review any podcast episode or song that is flagged by our community.” Dozens of episodes remain on the streaming service.
Spotify’s move is believed to be in part in reaction to a flood of tweets Monday from users demanding that they pull his show that they have been broadcasting for over a year. One Twitter user tweeted that she had contacted Spotify and had been told that if they received enough complaints, they would consider removing Jones’ show.
Alex Jones founded InfoWars, a media platform and website that has often been attacked for promoting conspiracy theories including, as reported by Reuters, one that says the Sandy Hook mass shooting a hoax and that there was a left-wing political cover-up by people wanting to use it as a way to promote gun control. He has also claimed that the U.S. government was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks.
Spotify is not the first outlet to remove content from Alex Jones from its service as a variety of platforms have scrutinized his content. Google removed four videos they deemed contained hate speech against Muslims and transgender people and banned him from using their platform for livestreaming for three months. Facebook has also issued a ban on Alex Jones for 30 days and removed four of his videos, and YouTube has pulled four of his videos.
In addition to InfoWars, Alex Jones also operates the websites NewsWars and Prison Planet. He has three children by his former wife, Kelly Jones.
Those critics who systematically caricature the Democratic Party as "soft on defense" should've headed down to the National Mall in Washington on this brisk Wednesday morning. Against the backdrop of the US Capitol, 40 of the 55 veterans running as Democrats for Congress in 2006 assembled "to take the flag out of the hands of Karl Rove and his political assasins," said Eric Massa, a 24-year Navy Officer vying for a seat in upstate New York.
These "Band of Brothers," including nine Iraq veterans, saluted their country but implored the need for a "change of course" on the war, Congressional corruption, VA health care and basic bread-and-butter issues.
Those critics who systematically caricature the Democratic Party as "soft on defense" should’ve headed down to the National Mall in Washington on this brisk Wednesday morning. Against the backdrop of the US Capitol, 40 of the 55 veterans running as Democrats for Congress in 2006 assembled "to take the flag out of the hands of Karl Rove and his political assasins," said Eric Massa, a 24-year Navy Officer vying for a seat in upstate New York.
** Bill Winter, a 10-year Marine Corps and Navy vet who’s running against the vile immigrant-basher Rep. Tom Tancredo in suburban Denver, Colorado.
** Jim Nelson, a self-described "military veteran, Methodist minister and moderate Democrat" who’s seeking the Georgia seat of Rep. Jack Kingston, one of Tom DeLay’s closest allies in the House.
** Joe Sulzer, a Vietnam vet and mayor of Chillicothe, Ohio, who wants to oust the soon-to-be-indicted Rep. Bob Ney.
** Mishonda Baldwin, a Desert Storm vet who’s trying to become the first African-American woman elected to the House from Maryland.
GOP attack dogs may have been able to swift boat the hapless John Kerry. Let them try and do it to over fifty vets. As Tim Dunn, an Iraq war vet from Fayetteville, North Carolina, put it: "It’s time to take the Hill."
Last week on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Democratic efforts to make it easier to vote a “power grab.” He took particular offense to the suggestion that Election Day should be a national holiday to allow more people to go to the polls.
If the United States can have holidays for dead presidents, why can’t Americans have a holiday so living voters can vote for president? But, of course, this isn’t about a holiday, it’s about who McConnell thinks should be able to vote. The irony of it all is that by suppressing the votes of people of color, politicians like McConnell are hurting the poor white folks they supposedly care about the most.
For decades, politicians have worked to make it harder for everyday people to vote because their power depends on fewer people voting, not more people voting. This isn’t about partisanship: it’s about systemic racism.
McConnell’s Wallace impersonation comes at a time when many extremist politicians are doing their best imitation of the segregationists and Dixiecrats of the past—gutting voting rights across the country—despite the fact that Americans should be making it easier, not harder, for people to vote.
In 2019, there are fewer voting rights than when the Voting Rights Act passed more than 50 years ago. Since 2010, 23 states have passed racist gerrymandering and redistricting laws. They have also implemented racist voter suppression laws that make voter registration harder; reduce early voting days and hours, purge voter rolls, and establish restrictive voter ID laws.
What are the politicians pushing these policies so afraid of?
They fear the changing picture of our country. They fear the full enfranchisement of Americans. They fear the voices of poor black, brown, and indigenous Americans because those voices are calling for access to health care, fair wages, and an end to environmental devastation.
By targeting black people, these short-sighted lawmakers strip constitutional protections from all Americans. They allow extremists to get elected through voter suppression and racial gerrymandering and who then use their power to hurt people of all races. The people who gain power by voter suppression who then turn around and use that power to implement policies that in raw numbers hurt mostly white people. They block living wages, deny Medicaid expansion and roll out a welcome mat to polluters.
These efforts to restrict the right to vote mean that American democracy is under attack. Poor people, religious leaders, and voting rights activists in 40 states have joined together to demand a full voting rights overhaul. Addressing voting rights in America must go beyond the electoral reforms proposed in HR 1. The Voting Rights Act should be restored and expanded immediately. This means the restoration of preclearance–the process by which states with a history of voter suppression are required to receive federal approval before making changes to voting processes.
Americans must also demand an end to racist gerrymandering and redistricting and work to make voting easier. States should have adequate funding for election administration, so that there are enough polling places to accommodate everyone who wants to vote. The currently and formerly incarcerated should not be denied the right to vote.
All 50 states should make provisions for early voting and same-day registration; 17-year-olds should be able to pre-register and 18-year-olds should be registered automatically. Plus, statehood for the more than 700,000 people of Washington, D.C., is long overdue.
And, yes, the enactment of Election Day must be a national holiday. Senator McConnell may call that a power grab, but Americans call it democracy.
Reverend William Barber II and Reverend Liz Theoharis are co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
This issue is in commemoration of Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General from 1953 to 1961.
On 26 May 2011, I celebrated my seventy-ninth birthday, and it seemed to me as if only two weeks had passed since I had turned sixteen years old.
But time has indeed flown by, measured by the more than eleven thousand political cartoons that I produced on a daily basis during those "two weeks."
"He went to school. That's why he died. If he wouldn't have studied so many years he'd still be alive, helping me around and raising his children," says Eudochia Motco, his mother. She is eighty-three years old and in about four hours her youngest son, Filaret, a UN staff from Romania, is going to be buried. He was killed when the UN compound in Mazar-i-Sharif was attacked on 1 April 2011.
More than a decade has passed since Nelson Mandela, in his capacity as President of the Republic of South Africa, addressed the Heads of State and Government of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU). In his speech, he focused on one of the biggest dilemmas the world had been facing since the end of the Cold War: should outside forces intervene in the internal affairs of a state when the civilian population is suffering massive violations of human rights and the state is unable or unwilling to fulfil its responsibility to protect its own people? Although his message was conveyed to those present in Ouagadougou, its essence can be extended to the entire international community.
The pursuit of peace has been omnipresent throughout history, and given the omnifarious nature of the concept, the ideas and means for its realization have been as diverse as can be. Some fancied simply subjugating by force; others emphasized the effectiveness of international arbitration or adjudication; some found it useful to establish international organizations, possibly with a collective security system; some even thought of creating a regional integration body so that state sovereignty could be tamed; still others held that guaranteeing human security in order to eradicate abject poverty and other everyday menaces should be the way. Today, some assert that the contemporary imperative is to win the war against transnational terrorism.
Preventing wars and massive human rights violations, and rebuilding societies in their aftermath, requires an approach that incorporates the perspectives of both human rights advocates and conflict resolution practitioners. This is easier to assert than to achieve. These two groups make different assumptions, apply different methodologies, and have different institutional constraints. As a result, they tend to be wary of one another.
Terrorism did not begin on 11 September 2001, but that terrible day did change the world. The attacks on the United States that claimed the lives of nearly three thousand innocent people showed us that terrorism had morphed into a global phenomenon that could cause massive pain and destruction anywhere. The magnitude of the attacks meant that no one could stand on the sidelines anymore. The fight had become global because the impact of terrorism was being felt everywhere.
In November 2008, former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, searching for ways to ease a catastrophic crisis in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), came under intense criticism for calling the Congolese general, Laurent Nkunda, "my brother." Nkunda was accused by the DRC Government of war crimes and was under investigation by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. At the time, I led the Great Lakes Team in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York and was responsible for oversight of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), and the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB). Nkunda occupied much of my thoughts.
The idea of preventive diplomacy has captivated the United Nations ever since it was first articulated by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld nearly half a century ago. Preventive diplomacy was presaged by Article 99 of the United Nations Charter, which allowed the Secretary-General to bring to the Security Council's attention threats to international peace and security. From the outset of the United Nations, Secretary-General Trygve Lie used the competence under this Article to gather information about situations, to establish contacts with those concerned, to send emissaries to look closely at situations, and to do whatever he could to head off or contain crises of international concern.
When Dag Hammarskjöld was appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations on 7 April 1953, there was a full-scale war on the Korean peninsula, the Organization was deeply divided between East and West, and the Soviet Union was boycotting the Security Council over the refusal of the United Nations to give the now communist Chinese regime a seat on the Council. It was by no means a safe bet that the United Nations was going to be more successful than its predecessor, the League of Nations, in preventing an outbreak of a new world war.
The broad manifestations of our epic global interdependence are increasingly better appreciated. Financial engineering in the United States can determine economic growth in every part of the world; carbon dioxide emissions from China can affect crop yields and livelihoods in the Maldives, Bangladesh, Viet Nam, and beyond; an epidemic in Viet Nam or Mexico can constrain public life in the United States; and a nuclear leak in Japan can have a bearing on public health all around the world. The inherent difficulties of devising and implementing solutions to global problems through nation-states have become increasingly apparent.
VANCOUVER (CP) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs had to give up a netminder to shore up their goaltending situation.
General manager John Ferguson dealt the rights to Finnish prospect Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins in exchange for goaltender Andrew Raycroft during the NHL entry draft Saturday.
Ferguson said it was tough to give up a top prospect like Rask, but Raycroft can help the team now.
The Leafs have an option on veteran goalie Ed Belfour and will likely choose to buy him out for $1.5 million US rather than pay him $4.5 million to play. Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Mikael Tellqvist are under contract and will battle for the backup role.
Raycroft, 26, from Belleville, Ont., won the Calder Trophy in 2004 when he went 29-18-9 with a goals-against average of 2.05. He dropped down the Bruins' depth chart behind Hannu Toivonen and Tim Thomas last season when he posted a 8-19-2 record and a 3.71 GAA.
The Leafs selected Rask with the 21st pick last year and he was named the best goaltender at this year's world junior hockey championship. The Leafs already have a blue-chip prospect in Justin Pogge of the Calgary Hitmen, who was named the WHL's MVP and top goaltender last season.
Raycroft signed a $1.35-million qualifying offer from the Bruins but Ferguson will try to get his signature on a long-term contract.
"We don't anticipate any hurdles getting him done for the right number and whatever the right term is,'' Ferguson said.
This polygon shapefile contains ice observations in the Arctic region for April 4,, 1969. This layer is part of the Arctic Climate System (ACSYS) Historical Ice Chart Archive. The earliest chart in the data set comes from 1553, when Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor, commanders of two expeditions sent out by the Company of Merchant Adventurers, recorded their observations of the ice edge. Early charts are irregular and infrequent, reflecting the remoteness and hostility of the region. The frequency of observations generally increases over time, as the economic and strategic importance of the Arctic grew, along with the ability to access, observe and record information on sea ice. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Tromsø used a combination of satellite imagery and in situ observations to produce daily digital charts each working day. These show not only the ice edge, but also detailed information on the range of sea ice concentrations and ice types. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute is continuing this series, and more recent charts may be obtained from this source.The ACSYS Historical Ice Chart Archive presents historical sea-ice observations in the Arctic region between 30ºW and 70ºE. The earliest chart dates from 1553, and the most recent from December 2002.
DANIELLE HAZELL recorded her best-ever bowling figures as England claimed a series-levelling eight-wicket win over India in the second One-Day International at Nagpur.
Hazell, who is from Durham, claimed the prize scalp of Indian star Mithali Raj as she posted figures of four for 32 to help England claim a comfortable success.
India opted to bat first, but were skittled in less than 38 overs, making just 133 as Hazell and Sophie Ecclestone, who also recorded career-best figures of four for 14, as well as adding a run-out, ran riot.
Smriti Mandhana's 42 and an unbeaten 26 from Deepti Sharma were the only batting contributions which reached double figures.
England openers Dani Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont put on 73 for the opening wicket, ensuring the chase would be nerve-free.
Wyatt fell three short of her half-century, stumped on the charge against Ekta Bisht, who also picked off Amy Jones for a duck.
Captain Heather Knight (26no) then joined Beaumont (39no) to finish the job with 21 overs remaining.
The Church of England’s first female diocesan bishop, the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, is discussing her problem with Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, the female leads in the animated film Frozen.
Be that as it may, it rather misses a more startling point: that Disney has created souped-up versions of Barbie-on-ice.
“They still are beautiful,” she says. “They are slim, petite, thin-waisted, big-eyed princesses. They are not good role models, because it says if you are going to be successful like this, you still have to look a certain way.
Bishop Rachel, 53, is on a crusade. This week, she launches a social media campaign that hopes to redefine how young boys and girls view themselves and challenge negative body image, which she fears is creating a new generation with low self-esteem and leading to mental health problems.
The scheme comes with a social-media hashtag, #liedentity – a wordplay on the fake and unrealistic representations of young people’s bodies and lives that can be found online – and photos of schoolchildren with the part of their body that they don’t like airbrushed out. The aim is to start a better dialogue about self-worth and appearance.
Her move follows a Children’s Society report earlier this year that found a third of girls are unhappy with their appearance, attributed to the pressure to be perfect exerted by advertising and social media. This month, the Girlguiding Girls’ Attitude Survey found more than a third of girls aged seven to 10 believed they are rated more on looks than ability, and that in the last five years, body confidence levels of those aged seven to 21 has plummeted.
And all this after last week’s news that Cardwell & Simons, a photography firm that works in 700 schools across the UK, has introduced a photoshopping service to airbrush away pupils’ imperfections.
From now until Christmas, Bishop Rachel will visit secondary schools to hear for herself the impact that social media can wreak on young minds. Already she has been to some near Gloucester, as well as Eastwood Park women’s prison, where she was struck by their “poor self-worth” of inmates for “all sorts of reasons”, including their appearance.
For the Church, this is uncharted territory, and another strident move by the most senior Anglican clergywoman, as she marks a little over a year since becoming the Bishop of Gloucester – the first woman in history to take on such a role, and the first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords.
We meet in an office overlooking Gloucester Cathedral as the bells peal to conclude a graduation service, and the students – young women in sky-scraping heels – come flooding out.
She also has a personal reason for taking up the cause, as she remembers life as a 5ft 10in 14-year-old schoolgirl with “really bad acne” growing up in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.

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