Archive for April 11th, 2009
Evangelicals stunned by u-turn on gay marriage
(The Washington Times): Evangelical leaders say they are bewildered and stunned by the Rev. Rick Warren’s apparent turnaround on gay marriage after the famous California pastor said earlier this week that he was not a proponent of California’s Proposition 8. Mr. Warren told CNN’s Larry King on Monday that he "never once even gave an endorsement" of the proposition, which said marriage in the state could only involve one man and one woman. The measure won at the polls last November by a close margin, in effect negating an earlier California Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriages.
Tax-dodge city, USA
(The Guardian): It lacks the palm-fringed sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands. Or the craggy Alpine peaks of Liechtenstein. But should the second smallest US state, Delaware, go on a blacklist of globally notorious tax havens? A wedge-shaped chunk of land 96 miles long sitting halfway between Washington and New York, the state of Delaware is home to 870,000 people, 0.3% of the US population. But more than half of the nation’s publicly traded companies are incorporated here, including 60% of the Fortune 500 firms. One anonymous office block serves as the registered address of more than 200,000 corporations.
London to be ‘electric car capital of Europe’
(The Independent): Motorists would get at least £2,000 towards the cost of buying an electric car under government moves to revolutionise driving in cities. In an interview with The Independent yesterday, Gordon Brown said that this month’s Budget would pave the way for the mass introduction of electric cars. But ministers acknowledge many drivers will need a cash incentive to be convinced to abandon petrol-run vehicles.
Tourists alter stingray habits
(The Good 5c Cigar): Based on the research of a University of Rhode Island professor, tourist activity in the waters off the Grand Cayman Islands is responsible for the disruption of behaviors and an increase in the size of the female population in stingrays. Biology professor Bradley Wetherbee has been studying the effects of sites where tourists feed wild stingrays in the Grand Cayman Islands since 2002. In 2002, 2003 and 2008, Wetherbee traveled to Stingray City, one of the world’s most popular dive sites, where he began his research. "We were interested in how feeding the stingrays was influencing their behavior," Wetherbee said. In the wild, stingrays are known to be nocturnal and maintain a diet consisting of organisms that dwell on the sea floor.
Metropolitan Police in crisis
(The Independent): A succession of bungled investigations, a lack of leadership and the prospect of some of its most experienced officers facing compulsory retirement in the next year has plunged Britain’s biggest police force into one of its most turbulent periods in recent history. Already under pressure after the death of the G20 protester Ian Tomlinson and the botched investigations into two of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders, the Metropolitan Police’s list of problems increased yesterday with the revelation that only two of the six most senior positions at Scotland Yard are currently filled.
Disturbance at UK prison
(BBC): About 400 prisoners are involved in a disturbance at a prison in Rutland. The Prison Officers Association (POA)said riot-trained officers had been called to the incident at HMP Ashwell, which started on Friday. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said there had been "concerted indiscipline" from a number of prisoners at the category C jail. A three-mile police perimeter has been set up around the jail near Oakham and fire engines remain outside the prison. The BBC’s Barnie Choudhury said it is understood some prisoners have been transported out of the jail – just after noon a prison van left with loud banging coming from inside.