Migrant crisis: Grim find of bodies in Austria lorry

Cuba Meeting Between Obama and Castro Exposes Old Grievances

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAMIEN CAVE

March 21, 2016 - The New York Times

HAVANA — President Obama stood beside President Raúl Castro on Monday and declared a “new day” of openness between the United States and Cuba, but old grievances and disputes over human rights marred a groundbreaking meeting and underscored lingering impediments to a historic thaw.

The two presidents, meeting at the Revolutionary Palace for the first such official contact between their two governments in more than a half-century, engaged in a frank and at times awkward exchange with each other and reporters. Mr. Obama at turns prodded Mr. Castro to submit to questions during an extraordinary 55-minute news conference.

Standing at lecterns in a cavernous granite-walled hall in front of Cuban and American flags, the two leaders traded criticism of each other’s countries even as both said they were committed to continuing on the path to normalizing relations.

“Give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately,” Mr. Castro said, asked by a reporter about dissidents his government has arrested. “Just mention the list. What political prisoners?”

Human rights groups quickly produced rosters, distributed over email and social media, of people they said had been imprisoned in Cuba for demonstrating against or otherwise challenging Mr. Castro’s government.

Mr. Castro sought to turn the human rights criticism on the United States, arguing that countries that do not provide universal health care, education and equal pay are in no position to lecture Cuba. He also said Guantánamo should be returned to Cuba. “It’s not correct to ask me about political prisoners,” Mr. Castro said.

Mr. Obama said he had pressed the Cuban president in their meeting over Cuba’s treatment of dissidents and reaffirmed that he would meet with some dissidents privately on Tuesday. But he also assured Mr. Castro that the United States had no intention of dictating his country’s future.

Adapted from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/ world/americas/obama-and-raul-castro-to-meet-in-pivotal-moment-for-us-cuba-thaw.html?hp&action=click&pgtype= Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Read the following text and answer question.

Southern Europe’s Immigration

Test Immigrants have been making their way to Europe for tens of thousands of years. The first modern humans – the first real immigrants – came north from Africa through the Middle East. Since then, periodic waves of migrants have helped redefine Europe’s population, its food, its knowledge. After World War II, most migrants headed to northern Europe but as the south has prospered over the past 20 years, it has drawn in growing numbers of people looking for a better life. By the mid-2000s, migrants headed for southern Europe accounted for more than 60% of the continent’s new arrivals. They swung the hammers during Spain’s construction boom, changed diapers in Greece and worked Italy’s fields. European immigration policy has become more bureaucratic over the years. In south, where enforcement of rules has been more lax and informal economies are large, working illegally is often easier than getting proper permits. The economic crisis will slow the flow but is unlikely to undo the demographic shift, not least because the birthrate among immigrants is much higher than the general population’s. “If there’s a lesson that can be learned from the northern European experience, it’s that temporary migrants tend to remain,” says Joaquín Arango, professor of sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid. Here’s another: when a society marginalizes its newest members, trouble ensues. Southern Europe needed its immigrants. Now it needs to find a place for them.
(Adapted from: <www.content.time.com/article/0,28804,1964957_1964>. Accessed on: April 1st 2015.)

provide historical information on immigration in some European countries over the past few years.

I. Society should not marginalize immigrants to avoid serious social problems.
II. The economic crisis will not stop the flow of new immigrants.
III. The migrants population tends to decrease because they are not welcome in Southern Europe.
IV. Historically, migrants usually do not go back to their countries of origin.

Migrant crisis: Grim find of bodies in Austria lorry

Cuba Meeting Between Obama and Castro Exposes Old Grievances

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAMIEN CAVE

March 21, 2016 - The New York Times

HAVANA — President Obama stood beside President Raúl Castro on Monday and declared a “new day” of openness between the United States and Cuba, but old grievances and disputes over human rights marred a groundbreaking meeting and underscored lingering impediments to a historic thaw.

The two presidents, meeting at the Revolutionary Palace for the first such official contact between their two governments in more than a half-century, engaged in a frank and at times awkward exchange with each other and reporters. Mr. Obama at turns prodded Mr. Castro to submit to questions during an extraordinary 55-minute news conference.

Standing at lecterns in a cavernous granite-walled hall in front of Cuban and American flags, the two leaders traded criticism of each other’s countries even as both said they were committed to continuing on the path to normalizing relations.

“Give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately,” Mr. Castro said, asked by a reporter about dissidents his government has arrested. “Just mention the list. What political prisoners?”

Human rights groups quickly produced rosters, distributed over email and social media, of people they said had been imprisoned in Cuba for demonstrating against or otherwise challenging Mr. Castro’s government.

Mr. Castro sought to turn the human rights criticism on the United States, arguing that countries that do not provide universal health care, education and equal pay are in no position to lecture Cuba. He also said Guantánamo should be returned to Cuba. “It’s not correct to ask me about political prisoners,” Mr. Castro said.

Mr. Obama said he had pressed the Cuban president in their meeting over Cuba’s treatment of dissidents and reaffirmed that he would meet with some dissidents privately on Tuesday. But he also assured Mr. Castro that the United States had no intention of dictating his country’s future.

Adapted from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/ world/americas/obama-and-raul-castro-to-meet-in-pivotal-moment-for-us-cuba-thaw.html?hp&action=click&pgtype= Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

He is ridiculed for his mendacity and ostracized by his
peers. He presides over a free-falling currency and a rapidly
shrinking economy. International sanctions stop his
kleptocratic friends from holidaying in their ill-gotten
[5] Mediterranean villas. Judged against the objectives Vladimir
Putin purported to set on inheriting Russia´s presidency 15
years ago – prosperity, the rule of law, westward integration –
regarding him as a success might seem bleakly comical

But those are no longer his goals, if they ever really were.
[10] Look at the world form his perspective, and Mr. Putin is
winning. He remains the Kremlin´s undisputed master. He has
a throttlehold on Ukraine and domesticating Ukraine through
his routine tactics of threats and bribery was his first
preference, but the invasion has had its benefits. It has
[15] demonstrated the costs of insubordination to Russians. The
conflict has usefully shown who is boss in Russia. Best of all,
discord has been sown among Mr. Putin´s adversaries: among
Europeans and between them and America.

His aim is to divide and neuter that alliance. From his
[20] tantrums over the Middle East to his invasion of Georgia and
Ukraine, Mr. Putin has sometimes seemed to stumble into
accidental disputes with the West, driven by a paranoid fear of
encirclement. In hindsight it seems that, given his outlook,
confrontation may have been inevitable. Either way, the
[25] contest he insists on cannot be dodged. It did not begin in poor
Ukraine and will not end there. Prevailing will require far more
resolve than Western leaders have so far mustered.
(from The Economist, February 14^th, 2015.)

Texto - MED

Islamic State’s destruction of Palmyra temple confirmed by satellite photo

Satellite images have confirmed the destruction of a Roman-era temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a United Nations agency said, after the hardline Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blowing up the structure a week ago.

Islamic State detonated explosives in the ancient Baal Shamin temple on August 25, an act that cultural agency UNESCO has called a war crime aimed at wiping out a symbol of Syria’s diverse cultural heritage.

The temple of Bel stood just outside the main area of the ancient city, whose column-lined principal street leads to its gate.

Its richly decorated central shrine area, or cella, was extremely well preserved.

An analysis of an image taken in June and others taken several days ago show the obliteration of the temple in the central desert city, the Geneva-based United Nations Institute for Training and Research said in a statement.

“We confirm the destruction of the main building, while surrounding columns seem to be less affected.”

Islamic State captured Palmyra, an oasis town and former trading centre in Syria’s central desert, from government forces in May.

Photographs published by IS last week showed a pile of rubble on the site of that temple.

Its destruction was condemned by UNESCO, which lists Palmyra as a World Heritage Site, as a war crime.

The head of the UN cultural agency, Irina Bokova said Palmyra’s art and architecture was “a symbol of the complexity and wealth of the Syrian identity and history.”

Two weeks ago Islamic State beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, who was the city’s chief archaeologist for decades, and hung his body from a lamp post.

Islamic State, which controls most of eastern Syria and the central desert, has previously destroyed ancient monuments as well as Christian and Muslim holy sites in neighbouring Iraq.

DPA, Reuters

Immigration has many drawbacks

Immigrants can be exploited for their cheap labor:

-Developing countries may suffer “brain drain” as the limited resources they spend in educating their students amount to very little if that talent is enticed to another country (The UK for example is often accused of actively hiring medical staff from developing countries.)

- Immigration can also attract criminal elements, from trafficking in drugs and people to other forms of crime and corruption;

- Immigration can become a social/political issue, where racism can be used to exploit feelings or as an excuse for current woes of local population;

- Where there is a perception that immigrants and refugees appear to get more benefits than local poor people, tensions and hostilities can also rise;

- Concerns about illegal immigration can spill over to ill-feelings towards the majority of immigrants who are law-abiding and contributing to the economy;

- Many die trying to flee their predicament, and this can often make sensational headlines giving the appearance that immigration is largely illegal and “out of control.”

Despite what appears to be large population movements, Gary Younge, from the Guardian noted some time ago that people still are not able to move as freely as commodities. In some places around the world, there are additional restrictions being put up on people’s movements.

Roraima is an interesting mountain located in the Guiana Highlands. The peak actually shares the border with Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, but the mountain is almost always approached from the Venezuela side. The Brazil and Guyana sides are much more difficult. The mountain's highest point is Maverick Rock which is at and on the Venezuela side (though some other sources may differ on this). The Guiana Highlands is a very unusual mountain range covering parts of Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The highlands are made of ancient sedimentary rock that is over two billion years old and are some of the oldest sedimentary rocks on the planet.

The mountain is known as a Tepui, which describes a flattopped mountain with vertical sides. Many waterfalls spill off Roraima, and the other Tepuis; nearly everyone has heard of Angel Falls, which spills off another nearby Tepui. There are many interesting plants that grow on the summit, including many carnivorous plants, i.e., ones that eat insects. There is little soil on top because the constant rains wash it away.

Monte Roraima was the first of the Tepuis to be climbed and the credit goes to English botanist Everard Im Thurn on an expedition sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society in 1884. It was his subsequent lectures in England, that are believed to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book 'The Lost World'.

Shoes with high heels are the fashion choice for many women around the world. However, a new study by Stanford University in the USA proves that wearing high heels over a long period of time can permanently injure the body. The study by a biomotion team from the University scanned the knees of healthy women as they walked at a normal pace in flat shoes, 1.5 inch heels and 3.5 inch heels. The results send a warning to women who want to wear high heels that they risk permanent damage to their knees. The researchers found that when women wear high heels, their knees are held in an awkward, bent position causing the joints to perform as though aged or damaged joints would – increasing the risk the condition known as osteoarthritis, which could require surgery.

Britain’s Daily Express newspaper reports a recent survey of 1,200 women that shows how popular high heels are. It said 93 per cent of women felt sexier and more feminine when they wore heels, 88 per cent said they considered themselves more stylish and 77 per cent said their heels made them feel slimmer. Most women prefer to ignore health warnings, and even the pain and discomfort of wearing heels, to look and feel good.

A British doctor, Tim Allardyce, said he regularly treats women with problems caused by wearing heels. “Because of the odd angle at which the feet are held in high-heeled shoes, it increases the downward pressure on the knees by 25 per cent, placing significant stress on the kneecaps, even when you’re standing still,” he explains. He added: “Standing and walking on the balls of your feet throws the skeleton out of its usual, healthy alignment, which means muscles and joints throughout the body have to compensate to maintain its centre of gravity and keep the body upright.”