All Global News on One Page

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Anika Noni Rose must have wished upon a star, because her dream really came true. Ms. Rose is the starring voice in Disney's upcoming animated flick The Princess and the Frog.
“It's the most thrilling thing,” says Rose, the Tony Award winner who you're likely to remember from her work as Lorrell opposite Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé in Dreamgirls. “It's been a dream of mine since I was a little itty-bitty person to be a Disney voice.”
It's also a history-making flick, with Disney's first African-American princess…
It must be a pretty intense feeling knowing you're the first African-American princess.
It's pretty amazing. For me, it means even so much more, because I have a nephew who is only 3 years old, and I will be the first princess he sees.
Are you hoping for a White House screening of the movie?
I'm ready! I mean, you look at those two little girls and they are the most beautiful creatures. You want to run up and hug them.
Let's talk about The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Did you read the books before getting the part of Grace Makutsi?
I had! I had read about three of the books, just randomly someone gave them to me and was like, “I think you'll like these.”
What was it like filming in Botswana?
It was fantastic. [Director Anthony Minghella] had us there a lot longer than we needed to be. I was there for two months, but I only shot for 12 days. I was living in a hotel that used to be someone's house. The fact that he allowed me to be there for that amount of time really allowed me to take in what was around me.
You've won a Tony, were part of the Oscar-winning Dreamgirls and now there's Emmy buzz for No. 1 Ladies'. Are you like a good luck charm or something?
I do have to say that I'm very honored that HBO has decided to push it forward for this, because it's such a labor of love. It's nice to have someone standing behind you saying, “Look at this, pay attention to this, we love what they did.”
Do you know yet if there's going to be a second season?
We don't know. I've gotten to the point where it doesn't worry me. About four or five years ago, I would have been like, “Ahh,” but now I really feel like things don't always work out the way you plan, but they always work out.
Your No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency costar Jill Scott just had a baby, and your Dreamgirls costar Jennifer Hudson is pregnant. Have you offered to babysit for them already?
What is that? [Laughs] Everybody is popping out little ones. I'm just ready to bite a foot and a thigh. I love a baby thigh and foot in front of me so much.
How do you think they'll be as moms?
For a baby to come into a home where they are wanted, and they are wanted before they got there, that's a wonderful thing.
I've been a Jennifer Hudson fan since before Dreamgirls.
It's been a hell of a year for her. I'm happy for her and that her life is moving forward.
________
Get more Marc on Twitter @marcmalkin
··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at www.eonline.com

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted Tuesday an extramarital affair with a woman who had worked for him.
Sen. John Ensign of Nevada is considered a rising star in the Republican Party.
Ensign would not identify the woman but said both she and her husband had been “close friends.” Her husband, he said, also worked for him. “Last year, I had an affair,” the Republican senator said outside his office in Las Vegas. “I violated the vows of marriage. It’s absolutely the worse thing I’ve done in my life. “I take full responsibility for my actions. I know I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, Darlene, my children, my family, friends, my staff and those who believed in me. And to all of them, especially my wife, I’m truly sorry.” The senator’s office also released a statement from Ensign’s wife, saying, “Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger. I love my husband.” Ensign’s spokesman, Tory Mazzola, said Ensign and a campaign staff member carried on the affair from December 2007 through August 2008. Her husband was an official Senate staff member for the senator. Neither remained in Ensign’s employ as of May 2008. Ensign is considered a rising star within the Republican party. He was elected to the Senate in 2000 and comfortably won re-election in the midterm elections of 2006, when Democrats won back Congress. He is up for re-election in 2012. This month, Ensign spoke to a conservative group in Iowa, stoking speculation that he might have interest in running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Source:CNN

‘Major Tim will get into space’
By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News, Le Bourget
The UK astronaut candidate Tim Peake will definitely get into orbit, says space agency boss Jean-Jacques Dordain.”Major Tim” was selected last month to join Europe’s astronaut corp, but launch places will soon reduce with the retirement of the space shuttle. Concern has been expressed that Europe’s six new recruits may struggle to find a ride into orbit. However, Mr Dordain told the Paris air show that there was no prospect of anyone being left on the ground. “They will all fly; and this is a commitment we have to them,” he told the BBC. “Your British astronaut will fly.” Tim Peake was accepted into the corp in May along with Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, Italians Samantha Cristoforetti and Luca Parmitano, Germany’s Alexander Gerst, Denmark’s Andreas Mogensen. Deals to be madeThe group are the first intake at the European Space Agency since 1992. But they come into the organisation just as the spacefaring nations of the world face a bottleneck in launch opportunities. With the seven-seat shuttle due to be taken out of service next year, it will leave just the three-seat Soyuz available to transfer astronauts to the International Space Station. The lion’s share of those places will go to the big partners on the project – the US and Russia.
It suggests a frustrating future lies ahead for the Esa rookies, even if the serviceability of the ISS is extended to 2025 as is now being discussed. However, Mr Dordain stressed that six new candidates were selected because six new astronauts would be needed. Europe’s membership of the space station “club” entitles it to one six-month residency on the platform every two years. The Esa director general said he was in discussion with the station partners to increase the opportunities. This included purchasing seats from the Russians that would normally go to their nationals. “We are working on several tracks,” he explained. “Japan and Canada are like us; they are missing some flight opportunities and maybe we can combine our efforts, for example, to buy an additional Soyuz.” Flight orderAs for Major Tim himself, he is revelling in the prospect of his new role, which will take him away from the test pilot job he has with the Anglo-Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland. “I’ve had to hand in my notice, of course; I can’t go on working for Westland and do Esa,” he told BBC News. “It’s all slowly starting to sink in. It’s quite funny because after the announcement and a rush of PR, the last few weeks have been work as normal. But then I come here to Le Bourget and I’m hit by the shock of it all again, and I realise there is an exciting adventure ahead.” Major Tim will head to the astronaut training centre in Cologne, Germany, where he starts in September. He says he wants to continue his links with the Army Air Corp with whom he flew for many years. When he joins Esa full time, Tim hopes to be allowed to link up with the Territorial Army. It will be three-and-a-half-years at least before the six candidates are considered ready for a mission. Esa’s human spaceflight director Simonetta Di Pippo said the order in which the new recruits got to fly would depend on their performance in training and their particular skill-sets. “There are many factors,” she said. “For one thing, you have to consider the overall crew and they must be compatible with the mission. Some are better than others at robotics; some are very good on spacewalks. The full crew has to have all the capabilities.” Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET

Source:BBC

Mia Farrow’s brother found dead
The brother of actor Mia Farrow has been found dead in his art gallery in Castleton, Vermont, in what US police say were suspicious circumstances.Sculptor Patrick Farrow, 66, was found by police responding to an emergency call, the Associated Press reported. In a statement, Vermont State Police Lt Timothy Oliver said the death was suspicious but gave no further details. Police have said they will not release further information until an autopsy has been carried out. Mr Farrow was a noted sculptor and had received several national awards for his art. He owned and operated the Farrow Gallery, close to the state border with New York, with his wife and fellow artist, Susan.

Source:BBC

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Here's something Harry Potter's people would like to make disappear.
Bloomsbury Publishing is rejecting plagiarism charges against cash cow J.K. Rowling. The estate of little-known fantasy writer Adrian Jacobs claims Rowling ripped off the plot of his 1987 book, The Adventures of Willy the Wizard No. 1 Livid Land, for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth entry in her phenomenally successful series.
“Bloomsbury would like to state that this claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously. The allegations of plagiarism made by the estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue,” the company said in a statement.
So what prompted the legal case?
According to the complaint, filed in 2004 and which is now making its way through London's High Court, the two books both feature wizards traveling on trains and a magical competition featuring a challenge involving a hostage situation (Goblet of Fire climaxes with the Triwizard Tournament, in which Harry saves bestie Ron and another student from the clutches of an underwater creature called a Grindylow).
Jacobs' lawyers also claimed he engaged the services of literary agent Christopher Little, who subsequently went on to represent Rowling.
Bloomsbury argues it has “never heard of Adrian Jacobs,” nor was it aware of his work until the suit was filed by his son, four years after Goblet's release and seven years after Jacobs died penniless in a London hospice.
“Willy the Wizard is a very insubstantial booklet running to 36 pages which had very limited distribution. The central character of Willy the Wizard is not a young wizard, and the book does not revolve around a wizard school,” stated the publisher. “The claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard.”
··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at www.eonline.com

WICHITA, Kan. – A judge took possible threats made by the man accused of killing abortion provider George Tiller seriously enough that he raised his bond to 20 million from 5 million, according to a transcript released Tuesday.
During the June 10 telephone call, Judge Warren Wilbert cited comments made by 51-year-old Scott Roeder of Kansas City, Mo. to the media days earlier, saying those remarks cast “a different light” on the suspect.
Roeder told The Associated Press on June 7, “I know there are many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal.”
In raising the bond, Wilbert expressed concern about whether Roeder would “perpetuate, participate or enact any more violence on his own or in concert with others.” He also found that Roeder was a flight risk.
“He continues to make statements that cause heightened concern by the Court, and I do have a responsibility for public safety,” Wilbert said.
Tiller, whose clinic was one of only a few facilities in the country that performed third-trimester abortions, was shot May 31 while serving as an usher at his church. Roeder has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault. His preliminary hearing has been set for June 30.
The transcript of the call was released by the court. Prosecutors did not return calls for comment about it Tuesday.
During the call, Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston told the judge that prosecutors were concerned about the safety of the community because Roeder can “reach out” to several people and blogs. She said a reasonable person would believe the suspect has engaged in “alleged acts of American terrorism.”
Defense attorney Mark Rudy argued “we are taking as gospel” the quotes attributed to Roeder. He said Roeder had been very cooperative with the judge during his first appearance and with his attorneys. He urged bond be kept at 5 million, with additional considerations such as an ankle bracelet to monitor his whereabouts.
“There hasn’t been a hint of any of this alleged anti-government ranting and raving that we have heard so much about, so I don’t believe that should be a consideration,” he said.
The judge also said his decision was influenced by Roeder’s conviction in 1996 of criminal possession of explosives, even though an appeals court later overturned the conviction because the search and seizure were illegal. Deputy District Attorney Ann Swegle said Roeder was found with a massive amount of firearms and weaponry and said Roeder said at the time that he planned to use it against an abortion clinic.
Rudy said Tuesday he couldn’t comment about any facts or evidence, saying the transcript pretty much speaks for itself. Both the state and judge quoted past media reports, he said.
“It is a tough atmosphere to try to defend anyone in when he is being vilified like this,” Rudy said.

LAS VEGAS – Nevada Republican John Ensign apologized for having an affair with a member of his campaign staff more than a year ago and says he remains “deeply committed” to his service in the U.S. Senate.
In Las Vegas on Tuesday, Ensign called the affair “absolutely the worst thing that I have ever done in my life,” and said he and his wife sought counseling and reconciled.
He didn’t name the staffer or her husband, and took no questions after issuing his statement.
He called the woman and her husband “close friends,” and said that close relationship at a difficult time in his marriage “led me to my inappropriate behavior.”
Ensign was first elected to the Senate in 2000.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, a leading Republican mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, admitted Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a former member of his campaign staff.
“I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions,” the conservative lawmaker said a statement to The Associated Press.
An aide in Ensign’s office said the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008 with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign’s Senate office. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the developments.
The aide declined to comment on whether Ensign would resign. Ensign scheduled a news conference in Las Vegas for later Tuesday. Ensign did not participate earlier Tuesday in a vote concerning the ailing travel industry, an unusual absence considering the topic’s relevance in his home state.
“I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my staff and the people of Nevada who believed in me not just as a legislator but as a person,” Ensign said.
Ensign’s wife, Darlene, also released a statement about the affair.
“Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger,” Mrs. Ensign said.
The Ensigns have three children.
Ensign was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and has been an influential conservative voice within that chamber. Last year, his GOP colleagues picked him to serve as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, moving him to the No. 4 position in leadership. The committee coordinates the GOP’s legislative efforts in the Senate. Previously, Ensign ran the Republican Senate campaign operations.
Last month, Ensign traveled to Iowa for a speech organized by a conservative advocacy group, sparking speculation that he had an interest in possibly running for president. Aides said the visit was about staking out a leadership position within the GOP.
Ensign has been a rising star among conservatives, speaking out against President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, statehood for the District of Columbia and union-organizing legislation and in favor of gun owners’ rights.

Cancer boost from whole carrots
By Sharon Barbour
BBC News
The anti-cancer properties of carrots are more potent if the vegetable is not cut up before cooking, research shows.Scientists found “boiled before cut” carrots contained 25% more of the anti-cancer compound falcarinol than those chopped up first. Experiments on rats fed falcarinol have shown they develop fewer tumours. The Newcastle University study will be presented at NutrEvent, a conference on nutrition and health, to be held in France.
Lead researcher Dr Kirsten Brandt, from Newcastle University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said: “Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are cooked. “By keeping them whole and chopping them up afterwards you are locking in nutrients and the taste, so the carrot is better for you all round.” The Newcastle scientist, along with colleagues at the University of Denmark, discovered the health benefits of falcarinol in carrots four years ago. Heat effectRats fed on a diet containing carrots or falcarinol were found to be one-third less likely to develop full-scale tumours than those in the control group. Since then the scientists in Newcastle have been studying what happens when carrots are chopped and cooked. The latest findings show that when carrots are heated, the heat kills the cells, so they lose the ability to hold on to the water inside them, increasing the concentration of falcarinol as the carrots lose water. However, the heat also softens the cell walls, allowing water-soluble compounds such as sugar and vitamin C to be lost via the surface of the tissue, leading to the leaching out of other compounds such as falcarinol. If the carrot is cut before being boiled, the surface area becomes much greater – and so the loss of nutrients is increased. More tastyDr Brandt added that in blind taste studies the whole carrots also tasted much better. Eight of ten people favoured the whole vegetables over those that were pre-chopped. This is because the naturally occurring sugars which are responsible for giving the carrot its distinctively sweet flavour were also found in higher concentrations in the carrot that had been cooked whole. Dr Brandt said: “The great thing about this is it’s a simple way for people to increase their uptake of a compound we know is good for you. “All you need is a bigger saucepan.” Dr Kat Arney, of the charity Cancer Research UK, remained unconvinced that keeping carrots whole would have any impact on cancer risk. She said: “When it comes to eating, we know that a healthy balanced diet – rich in a range of fruit and vegetables – plays an important part in reducing the risk of many types of cancer, rather than any one specific food.”

Source:BBC

Children are ‘wrongly’ locked up
Up to three-quarters of children who are locked up before they appear in court do not subsequently receive a jail sentence, a report says.The Prison Reform Trust says children should only be remanded before trial if there is evidence they may commit a violent offence if released on bail. It wants budget reforms to remove the incentive to jail children on remand. The Ministry of Justice said decisions on whether to remand an under-18 to custody were “rightly for the courts”. The report, Children: Innocent Until Proven Guilty, says that of those children placed in remand by magistrate courts, three quarters will be found innocent or will not a receive a prison sentence for their crime.
This, the report says, means they were locked up without ever being convicted. The Trust quotes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which the UK government is a signatory, states child imprisonment should be used “only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time”. It says that in 2007-08, the average population of under-18s in custody at any one time was 2,942, of whom 606 were on remand. This is an increase of 41% from 2000-01, when the average population was 2,807, with 429 on remand. The Trust estimates more than 1,000 children who are found innocent at trial are locked up each year. It recommends the government and the Youth Justice Board should focus on areas with particularly high remand rates. Additional support and training to local youth offending teams, prosecutors and magistrates should also be given, it says. The report also states that because child custody is paid for by central government, “there is a perverse incentive which encourages local authorities not to provide specialist remand accommodation as an alternative to prison”. ‘Convenient place’It calls for the budget for remand to be delegated to local authorities, stating that “if local councils had to foot the bill for every child in their area who goes to jail they would have a greater incentive to prevent offending and to offer robust alternatives to custody”. Penelope Gibbs, of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “It is disturbing that in many parts of the country prison is being used as a convenient place to park innocent children while they await trial. “If we want an effective and decent youth justice system which is focused on helping children out of trouble rather than criminalising them, the government must work with local councils and courts to put a stop to this abuse of the remand system.” A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The decision as to whether to remand a young person under 18 to custody is rightly for the courts. “Similarly, bail decisions and sentencing in individual cases are a matter for the judiciary who are independent of government. They will make their decisions based on the facts of each individual case. “The government believes that young people should only be sent to custody as a last resort. During the last seven years there has been a 10% in the number of young people remanded to custody.”

Source:BBC

MIAMI – A telegenic Miami priest who left the Catholic Church amid an uproar over published photos of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach made the relationship official Tuesday, marrying the woman he was involved with for about two years.
The Rev. Alberto Cutie and Ruhama Canellis were married by a judge in Coral Gables, according to Miami-Dade County court records. No other details of the wedding were known.
It was the latest in the public spectacle that started when photos of Cutie embracing his longtime girlfriend surfaced last month.
Amid the scandal, Cutie was removed from his South Beach church, protesters marched to support him, and he departed from Catholicism to become an Episcopal priest.
Cutie, 40, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Last month, in an interview with CBS, he said, “I believe that I’ve fallen in love and I believe that I’ve struggled with that, between my love for God, and my love for the church and my love for service.”
Canellis, 35, met Cutie in church. The priest said they were friends for years before becoming romantically involved. An e-mail to Canellis prompted an automatic reply that said the account was not being checked but to “keep us in your prayers.”
Cutie remains, technically at least, a Catholic priest, though the Miami archdiocese has barred him from celebrating Mass, providing the sacraments or preaching. Only the Vatican can fully remove him from the priesthood.
The Catholic archdiocese declined to comment on the marriage. A message left with a spokeswoman at the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida was not immediately returned. Cutie gave his first sermon before Episcopalians last month, but must meet other requirements before becoming a full-fledged Episcopal priest.
Even before the scandal erupted, Cutie’s face and voice were known to many for radio and TV broadcasts beamed throughout the Americas and in Spain. He was widely known as a relationship expert, even referred to as “Father Oprah,” and he authored a book titled “Real Life, Real Love: 7 Paths to a Strong, Lasting Relationship.”

Banking regulation ‘not to blame’
Chancellor Alistair Darling is to announce later that he does not plan fundamental reform of the way UK financial institutions are regulated.Mr Darling will say the current regulatory system is not to blame for the credit crunch, according to speech extracts released by the Treasury. Instead, he wants to focus on improving the quality of judgement of regulators. The current system has been widely criticised for failing to prevent excessive risk taking at banks. The Tories, for example, are planning to announce sweeping changes to current regulations. The system, which was introduced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he was chancellor, relies on the Financial Services Authority, the Treasury and the Bank of England to regulate financial institutions. ‘Huge price’However, despite the criticism, Mr Darling believes no fundamental shake up of the UK system is necessary.
“Mr Darling does not believe that the tripartite model is to blame. He believes institutional reform is less important than improving the quality of the judgements of those who work at the FSA, Bank of England and Treasury,” said BBC Business Editor Robert Peston. The chancellor does, however, believe that some reforms are necessary. “Having stabilised the banking sector, we are faced with the challenge of building a stronger, more efficient and more resilient financial sector in the future,” he will say in his annual speech at Mansion House on Wednesday. “Anyone who thinks that we can carry on as if nothing has happened should think again. In every country we are paying a huge price for this crisis. Not just the financial cost but also a profound social and human cost,” he will add. ‘Wealth creation’But the boardroom is where the focus should be, he will argue. “I strongly believe that the process of learning lessons has to start in the boardroom. Bank boards must have the right people, skills and experience to manage themselves effectively… Their focus must be long-term wealth creation, not short-term profits.” Mr Darling also signalled a planned paper on reform of the banking industry will be much less forceful than the Treasury had originally suggested. The paper, which is expected to be published in about a fortnight, will be a consultative green paper, rather than a policy-setting white paper. Also on Wednesday, the US is due to unveil a new financial regulatory structure designed to prevent a repeat of the credit crunch that sparked the global economic downturn.

Source:BBC

“Tiananmen + Twitter = Tehran”
Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb cites a comment he’s seen highlighting the similarities between the violence in China’s Tiananmen Square 20 years ago and the melee in Iran today, with the addition of one thing: the Internet.
Iranian authorities issued an order Tuesday restricting all journalists, including Iranians, working for foreign media from reporting from the streets of Tehran. The edict forces reporters to work only from their offices and limits them to conducting telephone interviews and citing official sources from state television reports.
With the ban on media, users on social networking sites like Twitter have upped their efforts to provide first-hand, real-time news.
The Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies in London said in a statement:
“They’ve cut off telephone, e-mail, texting, and for foreign press issued a letter saying nobody can report without permission…Twitter is the one thing being used. It’s a sign of crackdown. They don’t want people outside Iran to see what’s going on there.”
As the embattled regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seemingly cuts off Iran from the rest of the world, Iranians are working around the restrictions by blogging, posting to Facebook, and organizing protests on Twitter.Twitterers post messages with the term #IranElection, allowing users to search all tweets on the subject. #IranElection is now a top trending topic and Twitter was registering about 30 news posts a minute with that tag, according to The New York Times.The feed “mousavi1388″ (named for Ahmadinajad’s leading opposition candidate Hussein Moussavi) has more than 11,000 followers and is filled with protest news, links to photos and encouragement to keep fighting, both in English and Farsi.One poster wrote:
“We have no national press coverage in Iran, everyone should help spread Moussavi’s message. One Person = One Broadcaster. #IranElection”
And Twitter is well aware of the importance of its site. The San Francisco-based social networking service delayed a planned upgrade, citing “the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran.”Mousavi himself has used text messages, Facebook, and Twitter to reach out to voters. His Facebook page has attracted more than 54,000 fans, and his slogan during the election was “Every citizen is the media.”A highly computer-literate society with a large number of bloggers and hackers (see this video about the importance of Iran’s bloggers), the people of Iran have used Tweets, blog posts, photos, and raw video to give themselves a voice. A Washington Times editorial opines:
“What we are seeing is the flickering flame of freedom…The people of Iran are exercising their sovereign right as a people to stand before their rulers and say ‘No more.’ They are commanding the attention of a world that seeks to make deals with their oppressors. Iranians are telling us that they yearn to be free.”
Commanding the attention of the world in 140 characters or less … that’s power to the people.

-Allison Louie-Garcia
Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don’t have to.

New MI6 boss is ‘excellent dancer’
By Laura Trevelyan
UN correspondent, New York
Tall, dashing and an astute judge of character, we profile Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations Sir John Sawers, who is to be head of MI6.At the UN Correspondents Association annual dinner one Christmas, Sir John Sawers laughed heartily as he saw how journalists had compared him to James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan. Tall, dashing, and an excellent dancer, Britain’s Ambassador to the UN could indeed be a character out of Ian Fleming – and now he becomes the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). ‘Sound bites’As Downing Street coyly noted, Sir John is “rejoining” the SIS – no details were given about his previous career in MI6. But as UN watchers have often observed, Sir John is an astute judge of character, a quality invaluable in both diplomacy and spying. An experienced negotiator, he has been an effective advocate of Britain’s interests at the UN for the past two years.
Britain is an influential power at the UN, with a permanent seat on its Security Council, the body charged with maintaining international peace and security. The five permanent members – Britain, France, the US, China and Russia – have the power to veto decisions they do not like. Britain’s mission at the UN will often draft resolutions – holding the pen, as it is known in diplospeak. So as an ambassador of one of the permanent five, Sir John has played a central role in the key resolutions negotiated here over the past two years – on Iran, North Korea and the Middle East. On Sri Lanka and Burma, he has been pushing the UN to play an active role. An Iran specialist and scientist, his press briefings on the status of Iran’s nuclear programme have been known to resemble seminars on nuclear physics.
The allies from the end of World War II, known as the P5, tend to set the agenda for the council’s discussions, and dominate the proceedings, often to the chagrin of the 10 countries who are temporary members. Confident with the media, Sir John is a regular at the stakeout, the microphone in front of the UN Security Council where ambassadors come to give on-camera statements to journalists. In often complex negotiations, he has mastered the art of delivering sound bites which sum up both the issue and Britain’s position. That is no mean feat in a place where baffling acronyms and arcane procedure are the order of the day. Sir John is regularly in contact with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is known to listen carefully to his advice. The worlds of politics and diplomacy overlap at the UN – for example, the US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice is also a member of Barack Obama’s cabinet – and Sir John is clearly at ease in both. He is not in the stuffy, Foreign Office mandarin mould. On a trip to Darfur in Sudan, Sir John was the only ambassador to go inside a camp for people displaced by the fighting, amid mutterings about how diplomats had come all the way from New York and not seen how people really live. Leading by example, the man who now becomes C was showing the importance of intelligence-gathering.

Source:BBC

US senator admits having affair
US senator John Ensign, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, has admitted to an extra-marital affair with a member of his campaign staff.Senator John Ensign, of Nevada, said in a statement to the Associated Press news agency: “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions.” An aide in Mr Ensign’s office said that the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008. The staff member was married to an employee in Mr Ensign’s Senate office. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008, the aide said. The Washington Post described Mr Ensign as a rising star in the Republican Party who may be considering a 2012 presidential bid. The aide, speaking to AP, declined to comment on Mr Ensign’s political future.

Source:BBC

NEW YORK – ABC News has asked Nielsen Media Research to investigate after the company’s ratings indicated that “World News” most likely had its smallest audience ever.
The news ratings were a downer for the network after the entertainment division won in the prime-time ratings for the first week since last September, keyed by the National Basketball Association finals. It was ABC’s most-watched week in the summer in five years, according to Nielsen.
“World News” averaged 6.2 million viewers last week (4.3 rating, 9 share), its worst showing since at least 1987, when Nielsen’s “People Meters” technology was introduced, and probably for many years before that. The previous week, the “CBS Evening News” hit a similar low point. ABC’s average did not include Tuesday and Thursday’s newscast, because “World News” was pre-empted out West those nights for the NBA Finals.
What ABC is questioning is Friday night’s ratings, when Nielsen said “World News” was watched by 4.1 million people, well below its Friday average of 7.3 million this year. Friday marked TV’s digital transition, when analog signals were cut off and an estimated 2.5 percent of the nation’s TV homes lost their TV transmissions.
News ratings are typically down in the summer, but not by that much, ABC said. Given the relatively small number of homes losing signals, ABC claimed that a loss of more than 3 million off its season average makes no sense. CBS, for example, had 5.1 million viewers Friday compared to its season average of 5.8 million that night, Nielsen said.
“The numbers don’t make any sense,” said Jon Banner, executive producer of “World News.”
Banner said the network has already learned that some of its affiliates that made the digital switch over early were inadvertently left out of the news ratings.
Gary Holmes, a Nielsen spokesman, said the company is working with ABC to determine what happened.
NBC’s “Nightly News” averaged 8.3 million viewers last week (5.5 rating, 12 share), while the CBS “Evening News” had 5.4 million (3.7, 8).
In prime time, the last three games of the Los Angeles Lakers championship series victory over the Orlando Magic were the most-watched programs of the week.
HBO also reported that the second season premiere of “True Blood” on Sunday was seen by 3.7 million people, the most-watched original series telecast on the network since the June 2007 finale of “The Sopranos.”
ABC averaged 7.3 million prime-time viewers (4.4 rating, 8 share), with second-place CBS at 6.9 million (4.6, 8). Fox had 5.1 million viewers and NBC 5 million (both 3.2, 6), My Network TV had 1.5 million (0.9, 2), the CW 1.2 million (0.8, 1) and ION Television 670,000 (0.5, 1).
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with 3.3 million viewers (1.7 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 1.2 million (0.6, 1), TeleFutura 740,000 (0.4, 1) and Azteca 150,000 (0.1, 0).
A ratings point represents 1,145,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of June 8-14, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: NBA Finals, Game 4: L.A. Lakers vs. Orlando, ABC, 15.96 million; NBA Finals, Game 3: L.A. Lakers vs. Orlando, ABC, 14.2 million; NBA Finals, Game 5: L.A. Lakers vs. Orlando, ABC, 14.17 million; “NBA Trophy Presentation,” ABC, 13.48 million; “The Mentalist” (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 11.62 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 11.05 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 9.52 million; “The Mentalist” (Thursday, 10 p.m.), CBS, 8.94 million; “48 Hours Mystery” (Tuesday), CBS, 8.85 million, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 8.74 million.
___
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.
___
On the Net:

http://www.nielsenmedia.com

WASHINGTON – Setting up a certain fight with big business, President Barack Obama is proposing a new regulatory agency to police lenders and protect consumers in credit, savings and other banking transactions .
The consumer agency and a newly empowered Federal Reserve will be two of the central elements of a broad overhaul of the financial regulatory system that the president will announce on Wednesday, officials said.
Already the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve would supervise large financial institutions that are considered so big that their failure could undermine America’s economy, according to the administration proposal.
But even as the Fed gains new powers, Obama also would transfer some banking authority that now rests with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department to the new consumer agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
“There is going to be streamlining, consolidation and additional overlap so that you don’t find people falling through the gaps, whether it’s the consumer protection side, the investor protection side, the systemic risk that we need to make sure is avoided,” Obama said Tuesday.
The expanded Fed role and the new consumer regulator are likely to be the two main political flash points in the administration’s proposal. Many bankers oppose a new consumer protection regulator and many lawmakers in Congress worry the Fed could turn into a too-powerful and independent financial overseer. Friction over those points could slow any major overhaul of banking and market regulations.
In addition to having the Federal Reserve supervise “systemically significant” institutions, Obama will recommend a council of regulators, which would include the Fed, to monitor risk throughout the broader financial system.
The arrangement is designed to prevent any more crashes like those that felled AIG and Lehman Brothers.
The plan does not attempt major consolidation of regulatory agencies and does not inject itself in an ongoing debate over whether to bring some insurance companies under federal oversight.
Asked on CNBC whether the plan stopped short out of political concerns, the Obama said: “We want to get this thing passed. We think speed is important … but we don’t want to tilt at windmills. … We want to get the best regulatory system in place.”
Obama’s decision to create a consumer agency comes amid criticism that mortgage lenders and credit card companies have taken advantage of unwitting customers and saddled them with debt. The financial crisis was precipitated in part by the preponderance of securities backed by mortgages that went sour when the housing market collapsed.
Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said lax consumer protections contributed to the financial crisis and that the recession revealed even more weaknesses in consumer protections across the spectrum of financial markets. The new agency, he said, will “help ensure that consumers have the protection and the representation they deserve.”
The new regulator would have the power to impose fines and allow states to pass laws that are stricter than the federal standards — an approach favored by consumer advocates. Consumer protections are now spread among various state and federal authorities, including the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and banking regulators.
“Tremendous problems could have been avoided had such an agency weighed in against some of the abusive practices that Congress acted on only recently,” said Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, citing excessive bank fees and misleading practices.
But business leaders made their opposition clear.
David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets, said the chamber will oppose a standalone agency “that cannibalizes regulatory expertise, adding yet another regulatory layer.”
The administration will also have to use its political skills to strengthen the Fed. While Democrats generally agree with a need for regulatory changes, many oppose relying too heavily on the Fed.
They say its status as a politically independent organization would make it difficult to keep the newly empowered organization in check.
“What happens if the representatives of the people and the president want a certain action and it’s not taken?” asked Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, a senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.
“You can’t fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve,” Kanjorski said.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, is likely to become Obama’s toughest opponent on Capitol Hill.
In private deliberations with the administration, Dodd has advocated an alternative plan to strip the Fed of its regulatory role entirely. Dodd’s plan would create a new consolidated bank regulator that would assume the roles that the Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. now play in helping regulate state-chartered banks.
Under this scenario, the Fed would focus on its existing mission as the nation’s central bank — setting monetary policy and acting as a “lender of last resort.”
Lawmakers, including Dodd, also say they are open to the administration’s proposal that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. be put in charge of dismantling financial institutions that the Fed and Treasury Department decide pose a threat to the economy.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has not taken a position on the administration’s plan to bolster the powers of the Fed. A spokesman said Frank supports the idea of monitoring risk across the financial system.
In a staff document circulated last week, House Republicans on the committee argued that expanding the Fed’s responsibilities and increasing government spending pose “a far more significant source of ‘systemic risk’ to our nation’s economy than the failure of any specific financial institution.”
___
Associated Press writers Alan Zibel, Jeannine Aversa and Dave Carpenter contributed to this report.

MIAMI – A telegenic Miami priest who left the Catholic Church amid an uproar over published photos of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach made the relationship official Tuesday, marrying the woman he was involved with for about two years.
The Rev. Alberto Cutie and Ruhama Canellis were married by a judge in Coral Gables, according to Miami-Dade County court records. No other details of the wedding were known.
It was the latest in the public spectacle that started when photos of Cutie embracing his longtime girlfriend surfaced last month.
Amid the scandal, Cutie was removed from his South Beach church, protesters marched to support him, and he departed from Catholicism to become an Episcopal priest.
Cutie, 40, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Last month, in an interview with CBS, he said, “I believe that I’ve fallen in love and I believe that I’ve struggled with that, between my love for God, and my love for the church and my love for service.”
Canellis, 35, met Cutie in church. The priest said they were friends for years before becoming romantically involved. An e-mail to Canellis prompted an automatic reply that said the account was not being checked but to “keep us in your prayers.”
Cutie remains, technically at least, a Catholic priest, though the Miami archdiocese has barred him from celebrating Mass, providing the sacraments or preaching. Only the Vatican can fully remove him from the priesthood.
The Catholic archdiocese declined to comment on the marriage. A message left with a spokeswoman at the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida was not immediately returned. Cutie gave his first sermon before Episcopalians last month, but must meet other requirements before becoming a full-fledged Episcopal priest.
Even before the scandal erupted, Cutie’s face and voice were known to many for radio and TV broadcasts beamed throughout the Americas and in Spain. He was widely known as a relationship expert, even referred to as “Father Oprah,” and he authored a book titled “Real Life, Real Love: 7 Paths to a Strong, Lasting Relationship.”

WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a former member of his campaign staff. Ensign told The Associated Press in a statement, “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions.”
An aide in Ensign’s office said the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008 with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign’s Senate office. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the developments.
The aide declined to comment on whether Ensign would resign. Ensign scheduled a news conference in Las Vegas for later Tuesday. Ensign did not participate earlier Tuesday in a vote concerning the ailing travel industry, an unusual absence considering the topic’s relevance in his home state.
“I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my staff and the people of Nevada who believed in me not just as a legislator but as a person,” Ensign said.
Ensign’s wife, Darlene, also released a statement about the affair.
“Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger,” Mrs. Ensign said.
Ensign was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and has been an influential conservative voice within that chamber. Last year, his GOP colleagues picked him to serve as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, moving him to the No. 4 position in leadership. The committee coordinates the GOP’s legislative efforts in the Senate. Previously, Ensign ran the Republican Senate campaign operations.
Last month, Ensign traveled to Iowa for a speech organized by a conservative advocacy group, sparking speculation that he had an interest in possibly running for president. Aides said the visit was about staking out a leadership position within the GOP.

NEW YORK – Former slugger Sammy Sosa reportedly tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003. The New York Times reported the failed test Tuesday on its Web site, citing lawyers familiar with the case. The newspaper did not identify the drug. Sosa is sixth on baseball’s career home run list with 609. He has not played in the majors since 2007.
The newspaper reported Sosa is one of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in a 2003 baseball survey. As part of an agreement with the players’ union, the testing in 2003 was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.

Romanians flee homes after attack
Natasha Sayee
BBC News
A five-day-old girl is among 115 Romanian people being put up in a church hall overnight after fleeing their homes in south Belfast.They said they left their homes in the Lisburn Road area after suffering racist attacks for almost a week. The church offered to help after about 20 families tried to take refuge in a house at Wellesley Avenue. Church officers said the Romanians may stay as long as they need to and police are patrolling the area. ‘Threatened verbally’The families said they were tired and frightened but that the help of the church had shown them a positive side to the people of Belfast. Jolena Flett, Racial Harassment Adviser for the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, said they had been threatened verbally and then three properties were attacked on the same day. “There has been an issue about the families feeling unsafe in the properties they were attacked in. What we are trying to do is provide them with alternative accommodation,” she said. Malcolm Morgan, pastor at the church, said they were happy to help. “It’s a sad indictment of our society, but hopefully we can show them a different side to Northern Ireland and a caring side of Northern Ireland,” he said.

Source:BBC

GOLDEN, Colo. – Authorities said a naked intruder startled a woman in her home west of Denver, then fled in a sheet to another home where he was discovered wearing women’s clothing. Jefferson County deputies said the first break-in occurred shortly before 7 a.m. Monday. The man fled when the woman screamed.
Deputies said he entered a nearby home through an unlocked door, where the female owner discovered him in a bathroom wearing women’s underwear, a nightgown, stockings and a scarf.
He was arrested in the front yard by deputies alerted by a call from the first home.
Clinton S. March, 24, was arrested on burglary, indecent exposure and theft charges. No phone listing could be found for him, and it wasn’t clear whether he had a lawyer.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak presented a united front to North Korea on Tuesday, saying Pyongyang must abandon its nuclear weapons program and will not be rewarded for provoking a crisis.
With Lee at his side in the White House Rose Garden, Obama said a nuclear-armed North Korea would pose a “grave threat” to the world and vowed that new U.N. sanctions against the reclusive communist-ruled nation would be strictly enforced.
“Given the belligerent manner in which they are constantly threatening their neighbors, I don't think there's any question that that would be a destabilizing situation that would be a profound threat to not only the United States' security, but to world security,” Obama said.
He promised to end a cycle of allowing impoverished North Korea to create a nuclear crisis, then granting concessions in the form of food, fuel and other incentives to get Pyongyang to back down, only to later see it renege on its promises.
“This is a pattern they've come to expect,” Obama said. “We are going to break that pattern.”
While talking tough, Obama — who took office in January pledging a new approach of talking to America's enemies — also extended an olive branch.
“I want to be clear that there is another path available to North Korea … including full integration into the community of nations,” Obama said. “That destination can only be reached through peaceful negotiations that achieve the full and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
North Korea, which last month conducted a nuclear explosion and missile tests in defiance of international pressure, said at the weekend it would start a uranium enrichment program and weaponize all its uranium in response to new U.N. sanctions.
Lee said the U.N. Security Council's vote last week to expand sanctions on North Korea showed the global community's firm resolve.
He said South Korea, along with the United States, Japan, China and Russia — members of stalled six-party talks with Pyongyang — will be seeking new measures to get the North to “irrevocably dismantle” all nuclear weapons programs. The White House declined to say what actions were being considered.
The South Korean leader has followed a tough line on North Korea, even before Pyongyang raised tensions in recent weeks by test-firing missiles, restarting a plant to produce arms-grade plutonium and conducting a nuclear test on May 25.
As a stark message to Pyongyang, Obama re-committed to Washington's defense of South Korea, including keeping it under America's “nuclear umbrella.”
NORTH KOREAN HEIR
Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday that the youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il secretly visited China last week and his hosts were told he had been appointed heir to the ruling family dynasty.
The report, citing unidentified informed sources, said Kim Jong-un met Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders of the ruling Communist Party when he flew to Beijing around June 10.
Analysts have said North Korea's recent nuclear test and other belligerent acts may be aimed at a domestic audience, with the elder Kim trying to bolster his position at home to secure the succession of his youngest son. The 67-year-old leader is believed to have suffered a stroke last year.
An aide to Jong-un told Chinese officials the younger Kim had been appointed heir and that he held an important post in the ruling Korean Workers' Party, Asahi said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had no knowledge of the reported visit. North Korean state media has never told the country's public that leader Kim has children, let alone reported on a trip by one of them.
LOYALTY PLEDGE
Jong-un is the Swiss-educated third son of Kim Jong-il and was born in 1983 or 1984. Earlier this month South Korean media, quoting informed sources, said Pyongyang had asked the country's main bodies and overseas missions to pledge loyalty to him, indicating he will take over from his father.
China is the closest thing North Korea has to an ally, and in theory Beijing wields more influence over Pyongyang than any other power, but experts say the relationship is brittle and China actually has limited room for maneuver.
Hu apparently asked North Korea not to go ahead with another nuclear test or test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, Asahi reported. Jong-un was believed to have asked China for emergency energy and food aid, the newspaper said.
In a development on a case that has caused further tensions with Washington, the official North Korean news agency KCNA gave its first details of the case of two U.S. journalists it sentenced to 12 years of hard labor last week, saying they were trying to slander the state.
“At the trial the accused admitted that what they did were criminal acts committed, prompted by the political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK (North Korea) by faking up moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slanders and calumnies at it,”
“We are following with a high degree of vigilance the attitude of the U.S. which spawned the criminal act against the DPRK,” KCNA said. The reporters are Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both in their 30s and working for media outlet Current TV.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin, David Alexander and Jeff Mason in Washington, Yuko Kubota and Yoko Nishikawa in Tokyo, Jon Herskovitz, Jack Kim and Christine Kim in Seoul, Emma Graham-Harrison and Lucy Hornby in Beijing; Editing by David Storey and Frances Kerry)

Living the blues in New Orleans
By James Coomarasamy
BBC News, New Orleans
JD Hill has plenty of experience playing the blues. Now, the respected harmonica player says that he is living them.
When I last met JD, nearly three years ago, he was the proud owner of a new, bright blue house; the first to be built in New Orleans’ newly-established Musicians’ Village. The community for struggling artists, who had lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina, grabbed plenty of attention. President Bush even came to put the finishing touches to JD’s house, earning himself – and his wife Laura – a free concert in the living room. No workSitting on his porch, under a blazing, Cajun sun, JD showed me the photos of that impromptu presidential performance. Smiling through a jaw that was broken in a street attack, he reflected on the reaction he had got to that unusual concert. “Yeah, he was all ‘buddy, buddy’. They said I was shaking hands with the devil… but he’s alright” But JD is not. He may have been given a roof over his head, but he has been finding it hard to get work. He tells me that he is having trouble paying the mortgage and fears that he could be facing foreclosure.
The city is hot, but his water has been cut off. “I’ve been using my neighbour’s water hose to take a bath,” he laments. “It’s embarrassing.” If JD is in danger of losing his home, a couple of miles away, in St Bernard Parish, I met another man, preparing to get his back. For the past three years, 73-year-old widower Anthony Amadeo has been living in his front yard, in a trailer he calls his “candeminium”. For the first six months after the storm, he slept on couches and armchairs in the nursing home, where his late wife was being treated for cancer. Now, thanks to the work of a non-profit organisation, the St Bernard Project, he is getting a new house – at no cost to him – on the spot where his old one stood. The Project relies on a stream of young volunteers, from across the United States, who continue to flock to New Orleans, especially during the summer months. Mental rebuildingWhen I met Anthony, he was watching a group of volunteers, their faces caked with plaster, as they put the finishing touches to his new home. “How does it look?” I asked him. “Terrible,” he dead-panned, to a few chuckles. “That’s why I’m getting it done up.” Later, as we talked in the garage at the back of the house, the man who was Irish-Italian king at this year’s Mardi Gras parade admitted that his humour is something of a mask. He had decided to return to New Orleans – the city where he had always lived – but most of his friends and family were no longer there. It is estimated that almost half of those who left St Bernard Parish after Hurricane Katrina, have simply not returned. “I have to laugh, to keep from crying,” he said, through watery eyes.
“That’s why I’m kinda goofy and silly. That’s my way of warding it off.” He told me he had thought about committing suicide, but that the support of the St Bernard Project had kept him going. Tears filled his eyes again as he was shown a black exercise book containing messages written by previous volunteers who had worked on his house. Anthony’s is a common story. Zack Rosenburg, a former Washington DC lawyer, who founded the St Bernard Project with his partner, Liz McCartney, in 2006, told me that – in some ways – the mental rebuilding of New Orleans has proven to be harder than the physical reconstruction. ‘Relentless stress’Many people, like Anthony, have returned to very different neighbourhoods; devoid of their old friends, neighbours and points of reference. After he realised that some people felt they could not return to the houses his volunteers had rebuilt for them, Zack decided to establish a mental health centre. Located in a small room next to his office, it has had no shortage of visitors. Zack thinks this is because local people have found it easier to talk to an outside organisation they have come to trust. Dr Chuck Coleman, of Louisiana State University, is one of the doctors working at the centre. “It’s important to understand how relentless the stress is from the storm. It never stops,” he told me, as he waited for his next patient to arrive. “The length of the stress these people have had is unusual.” The local authorities are not sitting still, though. St Bernard Council President, Craig Taffaro, showed me a raft of impressive building projects underway in the parish; from a new school complex, to an impressive leisure centre. A Walmart superstore is also due to open in the new year – an important sign of recovery, according to Craig. At the same time, he acknowledged that – while the authorities may want to build bigger, better and smarter – the recovery is not entirely in their hands. “Much of the recovery depends on some things we don’t have control over. Whether the nation’s economy gets better and allows people to move around a little bit more, whether the housing market improves. As long as the federal dollars continue to flow, our recovery projects will continue.” Those are big ifs. On the surface, St Bernard Parish is returning to normal, but – underneath – there is a sense that the recovery is still pretty fragile. And as he sits playing the blues, under the sleepy gaze of his two sickly dogs, the fragility of recovery is a concept that musician, JD Hill understands all too well.

Source:BBC

LONDON (Reuters) –
Diamond jewels worth around 250,000 pounds ($410,000) have gone missing after a London photo shoot involving U.S. actress Lindsay Lohan, her U.S. spokeswoman and British police said Tuesday.
British media said the jewels were made by Dior and loaned to Elle magazine for the shoot in north London on June 6.
“Officers from Westminster police are investigating an allegation of theft of jewelry from studios in Brewery Road, Islington,” the police said in a statement.
They did not name Lohan, but the statement was issued in response to a query about the 22-year-old actress.
“The theft was reported to a central London police station on 8 June 2009 after earrings and a necklace, believed to be diamond and estimated to be worth in the region of 250,000 pounds, were found to be missing approximately two days earlier.”
The police said there had been no arrests, and that they would be interviewing several people in connection with their inquiry.
A spokeswoman for Lohan, who is trying to rebound from recent troubles that included a 2007 drink driving conviction, acknowledged the probe.
But she added that there were some 20 people at the photo shoot, Lohan was not being investigated personally and she had not yet been questioned by police.
“No one has contacted us” about it, said the spokeswoman.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles)