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Nawaf Al Fares, who has close ties to the Syrian security services, was the first senior diplomat to desert Al Assad, following hard on the heels of Manaf Tlas, a brigadier general in the elite Republican Guard and a close friend of Al Assad.
Al Assad’s swift and bloody crackdown on what began as a broad, peaceful pro-democracy movement helped turn it into an armed rebellion. But the insurgents cannot match the army’s firepower, and instead need to erode the loyalty and conviction within Assad’s establishment to loosen its hold on power.
Tlas, the son of a veteran former Syrian defence minister, has made no public comment since fleeing to Paris. But Fares posted a video statement on Facebook on Wednesday that repeatedly said government forces had been killing civilians.
“I declare that I have joined, from this moment, the ranks of the revolution of the Syrian people,” he said.
“Every Syrian man has to join the revolution to remove this nightmare and this gang,” he said, accusing the Al Assad family and its allies of corruption and “destroying society” for 40 years.
The defection was seized on by Assad’s opponents, but also by Western and Sunni Arab powers who insist, like the opposition, that Al Assad must leave power in any political settlement for Syria.
In Damascus, a terse government statement said: “The Syrian foreign ministry declares that Nawaf Al Fares has been relieved of his duties and he no longer has any link to our embassy in Baghdad or the foreign ministry. They embassy in Iraq will continue carrying out its normal duties.” “This is just the beginning of a series of defections on the diplomatic level. We are in touch with several ambassadors,” said Mohammad Sermini, a member of the main opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council.
Al Assad’s opponents say just under 13,000 armed and unarmed opponents of Assad, and around 4,300 members of security forces loyal to Damascus, have been killed since he launched a crackdown 16 months ago, using tanks and helicopter gunships to attack rebel strongholds inside Syria’s biggest cities.
With events on the ground outrunning diplomatic efforts, Britain on Wednesday circulated a draft resolution, backed by the United States, France and Germany, to make compliance with a transition plan drafted by international envoy Kofi Annan enforceable under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
This would allow the council to authorise actions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention.
Annan himself asked the 15-member council to agree on “clear consequences” if the Syrian government or opposition failed to comply with his plan, which has produced neither a ceasefire nor political dialogue since it was agreed in April.
The draft in particular threatens the Syrian government with sanctions if it does not stop using heavy weapons and withdraw its troops from towns and cities within 10 days.
But Al Assad’s chief backer on the UN Security Council, Russia, remained firmly in the Syrian leader’s camp, having submitted its own draft resolution on Tuesday that made no mention of sanctions.
Comedy Central said Monday that it has signed comedian Carlos Mencia to a multifaceted new deal.
Mencia will go on a nationwide tour, tape a one-hour stand-up special and host a second season of Mind of Mencia, the network said.
Season No. 2 of the series, 13 episodes, will debut in March.
Mind of Mencia’s first season debuted July 6, and Comedy said the series has averaged 1.4 million total viewers and an 0.84 Nielsen Media Research rating among viewers 18-49.
“Carlos' visceral, take-no-prisoners comedy instantly struck a chord with our audience, turning Mind of Mencia into one of the most successful new comedies of the year,” Comedy executive vice president of original programming and development Lauren Corrao said in a prepared statement.
“We are thrilled to renew the series for a second season and continue to build our relationship with Carlos, both on and off the screen,” she added.
Canonical has pulled down their own Ubuntu forums, instead presenting users who head to the site with a black and white warning that the company is dealing with a serious security breach.
The user database for Canonical’s Ubuntu forums has been breached during a recent attack on the site, exposing the username, password, and email address for every user who has ever created an account on the forum. A total of 1.82 million users are affected by this attack, and Canonical is now warning forum users to change their passwords for other services immediately.
The passwords were stored as salted hashes instead of plain text. So while it is less likely that the attackers will have a list of passwords to play with, it is still a really good idea to change your passwords if you’re an affected user.
A twitter account claiming credit for the attack has released a statement assuring users that their passwors are safe, that they have no interest in them. Whether or not this is truly the person responsible is difficult at best to confirm, but the account claims that there were no real malicious intentions. The breach and the home page defacing are the only things this attacker claims they were interested in.
While the investigation into the attack continues, the Ubuntu forums will remain down. Canonical is assuring their users that this breach does not affect Ubuntu One or Launchpad, and they promise to keep the forum splash page updated with any information that is relevant to the investigation. Canonical has begun reaching out to users via email regarding the attack and the risks attached.
THE number of former Football League clubs that have bounced back from the Conference at the first time of asking can probably be counted on one hand.
And Wrexham’s failure to do so this season puts them in good company with, among others, the likes of Oxford United, York City, Kidderminster Harriers and, of course, Mansfield Town who accompanied the Dragons through the trapdoor 12 months ago.
That’s of little consolation to everyone associated with the Racecourse outfit, particularly supporters who, like probably most of their counterparts at the aforementioned Football League exiles, anticipated a first non-league campaign with a degree of optimism bordering on arrogance.
The same could not be said of Wrexham manager Brian Little, despite his experience of steering Darlington back to the promised land in 1990, just a year after their fall from grace.
The former Aston Villa boss reckoned the top six Conference sides would have beaten the relegated team he largely inherited from predecessor Brian Carey and set about building a squad based on non-league journeymen.
It was to prove a flawed strategy as was the decision to abandon traditional Racecourse virtues in favour of a long-ball game, even though the opening match of the season against early promotion favourites Stevenage Borough ended in a resounding 5-0 home win.
In hindsight that was the high point of Little’s tenure, a mixed set of results thereafter highlighting the manager’s reluctance to play the younger, home-grown members of his squad and performances that failed to inspire the fans.
Ironically, one of the better displays at the Racecourse came against league leaders Burton Albion, who were fortunate not to go behind before an error by Dragons goalkeeper Gavin Ward gifted them the three points.
But it went rapidly downhill from there and three weeks later with less than quarter of the campaign completed, Little fell on his sword, to be replaced by the flamboyant Dean Saunders, whose bold and confident manner seemed to more than compensate for his lack of management credentials.
The former Wales international wasted little time in evaluating the players at his disposal and the wholesale surgery that followed had a galvanising effect as the Dragons boss enjoyed a run of nine wins from his first 10 league matches in charge.
From mid-table obscurity Wrexham climbed to within sight of the coveted play-off zone and, with games in hand, looked to have rediscovered a golden streak last witnessed when Denis Smith’s side stormed to promotion in 2003.
Even a February defeat at Burton Albion – at that stage odds-on favourites for automatic promotion – seemed no more than a blip, Saunders glibly commenting at the time that he was trying to do in seven months what it had taken counterpart Nigel Clough 10 years to achieve.
But it was a statement that came back to haunt him as the wheels then came off in spectacular fashion.
A season-ending injury for leading goal scorer Marc Williams, a sudden inability to defend with any degree of confidence and the toll taken on young, inexperienced players being asked to deliver top performances week in and week out all contributed to an 18-game sequence of results that came within one defeat of being the worst in the club’s entire history.
As such it was a chastened team and manager that at least avoided that ignominy by virtue of last Sunday’s 2-0 win against Weymouth to end a season that in many respects provided as many questions as answers for Wrexham and their supporters.
But it’s surely no coincidence that the two most successful spells in the club’s long history were enjoyed under managers John Neal and Brian Flynn, both of whom were given the time and the backing they needed to build slowly and surely.
That sort of stability and continuity has been conspicuous by its absence since rookie football club owners Geoff Moss and Neville Dickens inexplicably sacked the hugely respected and experienced Smith just over three years ago, the pivotal event from which the Dragons’ subsequent demise can be traced.
Ever since, the boardroom focus has been dominated and driven to a large extent by the Racecourse redevelopment plans necessary to balance the books and not enough attention paid to a long-term strategy for the equally as important footballing side of the business.
Now that last month’s go-ahead for the Wrexham Village project signals financial stability for the Dragons and a more equal distribution of boardroom responsibility, the directors could do worse than heed the lessons of the past.
In the absence of unlimited funds it took Neal the best part of four years before his patient efforts bore fruit and it would have taken as long for Flynn, but for an unscripted FA Cup victory over Arsenal.
Under similar fiscal conditions today, the minimum expectations are for play-offs and a wiser and more realistic Saunders would hope to achieve that, providing he is given the appropriate budget.
Having agreed to back him, it would be a mistake if the directors were to now sell him short, particularly as the implications for getting it wrong would in all probability prove a lot more expensive in the long run and also lead to a repetition of the upheavals that have characterised the past few turbulent years.
Defense Secretary James N. Mattis told the 983 graduating cadets from the U.S. Air Force Academy that now their missions commence and he expects them to follow in the footsteps of giants.
Mattis was the commencement speaker at the Colorado Springs, Colorado, school.
The secretary told the graduates that they must make the Air Force better every day. "You must make it into your own image and you have a legacy to carry forward," he said.
The retired Marine Corps general told the cadets that they must lead by example as they enter the force. "More than any other piece of your leadership, it will be your example that most inspires and shapes our Air Force for the future," he said.
While the new lieutenants will be the future of the force, they should look to the past for examples, the secretary said. He pointed to the Doolittle Raiders of World War II who lifted the spirits of a shocked country by launching a bombing attack on Japan from an aircraft carrier. He pointed to the bombing attacks against oil production targets in Ploesti, Romania, during World War II that sought to strangle the Nazi war machine and which took incredible casualties to accomplish the mission.
The secretary also pointed to the 41 Air Force aerial aces from the Korean War, and the graduates of the class of 1968, who a few short months after graduating, found themselves flying high-performance jets over North Vietnam.
The members of the class of 2018 may find themselves flying in defense of America and its values in the complex skies over Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, he said. "I share this because of the legacy that is now entrusted to you: the warrior ethos and the fierce character that you now inherit as your own character will now have to stand between us and some of the forces that would take our democracy and liberty away," he said.
For decades, American ground and naval forces could operate knowing that the United States Air Force was overhead "protecting them like guardian angels," Mattis said.
"Each of you is now responsible that American air superiority survives in a world of renewed competition," the secretary said.
The cadets could have gone to any other college in the country, but they chose the academy and the Air Force. "You now stand ready to hold the line to protect America`s experiment in democracy with all the cunning, ferocity and grit you have inside you," he said. "As you step into your new roles, my expectation for you is quite simple - always be ready to fight and to win. There is no room for complacency as our adversaries will do everything in their power to erode our military`s competitive edge and even less room for a sense of cynicism or victimhood.
"It is now your responsibility that our adversaries know they should always prefer to talk to our Department of State rather than face the U.S. Air Force," he said.
Trump’s vindictive tweets degrade the presidency. They continuously remind the public of Trump’s dangerous lack of self-control, weakening his authority, instead of strengthening it, as he seems to believe. Moreover, they provide an abysmal example to boys of mature male comportment.
Why weren’t all men equally insulted by Scarborough being called “psycho?” The New York Times did not even report that epithet in its front-page lead story on the offending tweet, except as mentioned by a female Republican pollster who had counted the number of characters devoted to Brzezinski and to Scarborough. (Naturally, the pollster reached the usual conclusion that Trump was a sexist.) During the campaign, Trump routinely mocked Rick Perry’s intelligence and eyeglasses and belittled George Pataki’s political virtù. He mocked the size of Marco Rubio’s ears and insinuated that his own sexual organ would put everyone else’s to shame. There was no men’s-movement backlash claiming that “all men” were being attacked.
With typical feminist narcissism, the Times claims that the silly tweets were about “gender”: “The tweets ended five months of relative silence from the president on the volatile subject of gender,” write reporters Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman. The tweets “reintroduced a political vulnerability,” they opine, “his history of demeaning women for their age, appearance and mental capacity.” No, Trump’s tweet was not “on the volatile subject of gender,” it was about two specific individuals. Trump doesn’t give a damn about gender, and rightly so. Wrongly, he recklessly indulges his pique, but he does so as an equal-opportunity offender, treating his real and imagined enemies with perfect equality.
It would be nice if Western feminists displayed comparable degrees of outrage at mass sexual assaults in Western Europe, honor killings in the Middle East, or cliterectomies in Africa. The perpetrators of those actual misogynist attacks, however, are protected by the mandate of multicultural tolerance. It is only in the context of white heterosexual cis-normative males that feminists revive the antebellum code of protecting the honor of the womenfolk.
Trump’s tweet, along with his obsession with watching cable news, are beneath the office. But feminists belie their claim that females are identical to males every time they break down over an insult that would have been treated simply as a matter of Trumpian course if directed to a male.
Since the Southeastern Conference introduced the East and West divisions in 1992, Florida has been the dominant program in the league.
Winning four of the first five SEC championship games, and playing in each of the first five, UF became the standard for the East. In all, the Gators have represented the East in half of the 20 SEC title games. That's more than Tennessee (five) and Georgia (four) combined.
The East would win six of the first seven SEC title games. UF was victorious in the game from 1993-96, with Tennessee taking the crown in 1997-98.
The '90s are long gone.
As Florida has relinquished its elite status, so has the East. The Gators have lost their last seven games to opponents from the West. Florida's last win over a West program was on Oct. 24, 2009 when UF beat Mississippi State 29-19 in Starkville.
The Gators, 43-27 all- time vs. the West, aren't the only team in the East struggling to keep up. Last season, the West was 13-6 against the East. The West also produced the two national championship participants in Alabama and LSU, as well as Cotton Bowl winner Arkansas. The Razorbacks have won seven consecutive games against teams from the East, followed by LSU (six) and Alabama (four).
"There was a big imbalance in the '90s favoring the East," Florida coach Will Muschamp said. "I think it goes in cycles for whatever reason. I don't really have a good reason for that. You hit a good cycle in recruiting and you get a good run on some kids. Some of them pan out and stay away from injuries. I think it's a natural thing that just kind of happens."
Most experts seem to expect the West to pad its all-time mark of 201-176-3 against the East this season. The West has won the last three SEC titles and four of the last five overall. LSU and Alabama are the top two contenders this season.
The future balance between the two divisions will also be altered by the debut of new SEC members Missouri and Texas A&M, formerly of the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers will compete in the East, while the Aggies take on the West.
How each team stacks up in its new conference will be a compelling storyline this season and one that will begin to quickly play out. On the second Saturday of the season, Sept. 8, Florida travels to Texas A&M, and Missouri hosts Georgia.
"I think the two crucial games are obviously Georgia and Missouri early and Florida and Texas A&M early," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. "I think those are two interesting ballgames. I hope we're playing at a different hour so that I can watch both of those live. I think those will be very interesting for all of us."
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to announce on Tuesday his intentions to run for President in 2016. He will make the formal announcement at Livingston High School in North Jersey where he attended high school. (see picture below) The reports come from several people familiar with his plans that spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the details. Christie forwent a run for President in 2012 to focus on New Jersey and his reelection. Since then his star has tarnished following political scandal in the wake of Bridgegate. Christie will join a bloated field of GOP candidates, and will have some work to rise to the top. We'll find out on Tuesday.
Thousands are still without power in Delaware County and South Jersey following Tuesday's severe thunderstorms. Cleanup crews are out in force clearing trees and downed power lines while trying to get power back to those affected. The Philadelphia Union opened up PPL Park in Chester so that residents could get a shower, food, recharge devices, and get a break. The storm caused damage at Newlin Grist Mill and this weekend's Rock The Mill festival will be postponed. Delaware County is in a state of emergency and should get disaster relief funds. Gloucester County in NJ was also hit hard and 70,000 are still powerless. Red Cross and Salvation Army emergency centers are providing for people there to charge devices, get ice and food, and have a cool place to stay. Stores are without electricity and food in fridges is starting to go bad. Power could be restored by the weekend.
Philadelphia Police have released surveillance video of two suspects who stole an entire ATM machine from a market in Manayunk last weekend. It happened on Saturday, June 20th around 5:15 a.m. at the Palm Tree Market at 4366 Cresson Street. They forced their way into the front door, pried the machine from the wall, and carried it out on a hand truck to a white work van. The men were wearing baggy jeans, dark colored hooded sweatshirts, gloves, and had their faces covered. If you have any information about the men or the burglary call Northwest Detectives Division at 215-686-3353.
The original Segway held out the promise of reinventing transportation. It didn't, of course. But the product found its niches, including patrols, recreational tours, and warehouse fleets. More importantly, it drove fresh thinking around a class of green, portable wheeled devices that can be easily transported on a train or bus in order to solve the "last mile" problem.
The requirements for these "PETs" (personal electric transporters) have become relatively uniform: At least 10 to 15 miles per charge, foldable frames so they can be taken on public transportation, and a weight of under 30 pounds. There are several products that come in well under that spec, but they tend to be electric skateboards, minimalist scooters, or those electric unicycles that require a longer learning curve or exceptional sense of balance. At the other end, there are far more substantial PETs that are better tuned to the ergonomics of a more mainstream audience. Unfortunately, their pricing is not, with products typically priced at above $1,000.
In any case, the design challenge has unleashed the creativity of mechanical engineers. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to try the Immotor Go standing scooter, which I stepped on with great trepidation despite it having the stability of two rear wheels. After a few halting attempts to ride it, I was comfortable enough after a few minutes to pilot it around Manhattan's midtown Bryant Park neither striking nor striking fear in my fellow New Yorkers.
Last week, I tried Stigo, a folding mini-e-bike-like device that has been sold in Europe for some time and is now coming into the US market. Despite my reluctance to give it a spin on the Snowballian premise of "two wheels bad" for the balance-challenged, company CEO Ardo Reinsalu assured me, "Everyone can ride it." And, indeed, within a minute, I was able to take a lap around part of Madison Square Park, a less crowded urban oasis about a mile south of where I tried the Immotor Go (and home to the first Shake Shack burger joint). Even at low speeds, riding the Stigo was so fun, it was hard to believe it was a practical device.
Part of what makes the Stigo is so easy to ride its short stance; this ensures that the rider has a low center of gravity and one's feet are never more than an inch or two from the ground. Despite its small size, though, the Stigo is very comfortable. The design allows for a relaxed arm position and the seat has been designed to accommodate longer commutes. Furthermore, the Stigo is one of the fastest devices to fold and unfold; the company's website touts its two-second transformation. It has two small inline skate-sized wheels that allow it to be dragged around when not being used.
Alas, as is the case with any of these kinds of devices, one will attract looks when riding the Stigo, although this should subside somewhat if these kinds of products can proliferate. Also, riding products like the Stigo are technically illegal to use on the streets of many American cities (including New York), although enforcement has been, at best, inconsistent.
Unlike many other PETs, the Stigo is not using a crowdfunding campaign to make its debut. The company recognizes the costs associated with promoting a crowdfunding campaign as well as those for shipping such a relatively heavy object globally. Speaking of which, it also has concerns about possibly attracting customers in geographies where it would not be able to service the product properly. That said, another seated PET, the Reflex, is currently making the rounds on Kickstarter. Designed by a team spanning the US and UK, the Reflex looks a bit more like the Urb-E than the Stigo. At the time of this writing, the Reflex had attracted $8,000 of its $20,000 goal with about 10 days to go.
One thing that really sets the Reflex apart, though, is its standard reward price, which is only $599. In contrast, the Stigo starts at $1,399. Like Immotor, the company offers the option of a second battery to extend range as well as connected options to track distance and locate the device should it become lost or stolen. Stigo's pricing is consistent with other products in its class; the Urb-E line ranges from $900 to $2,000, and the Immotor Go starts at $1,499.
At these prices, PETs are more expensive than a run-of-the-mill bike, but they're a fraction of the cost of a car or even a motorcycle. Unlike the historically industrial Segway or almost purely recreational "hoverboards", though, PETs are emerging as viable means of transportation. As cities striate urban roadways with bike lanes to alleviate maddening car traffic, they are paving the path to the future of personal transportation.
Premium design and materials aim to justify a high cost of entry to preventing unwelcome entries.
Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the government has launched Atal Pension Yojana, PradhanMantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri SurakshaBima Yojana for all citizens.
New Delhi: Employees of IT start-ups and industries can claim provident fund and social security benefits under various provisions of labour laws, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in Parliament on Monday. "The workers of IT start-ups and small scale industries may avail of benefits of provisions of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, the Employees' State Insurance Act and social security schemes under the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act depending on eligibility," Mr Dattatreya said in a written reply in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament.
He was responding to a question on social security and welfare of workers in these sectors.
The government has launched Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for all citizens, he said. These schemes are specifically targeted towards unorganised workers to give them comprehensive social security.
In a separate reply, Mr Dattatreya said the ministry is implementing the National Career Service (NCS) project in mission mode to transform the National Employment Service to provide job-related services.
Job seekers and employers can register with NCS, match jobs, get career counselling as well as vocational guidance.
"The scope of the NCS project was enhanced during 2016-17 to include a component for providing part funds for improving the infrastructure in employment exchanges for organising job fairs," he added.
Nearly 540 job fairs were organised under NCS last fiscal year, Mr Dattatreya added.
Soil texture data was collected via pipette and laser granulometer, each horizon from three pedons. This example illustrates a simple approach to comparing the two methods with both standard XY-style scatter plot and on a soil textural triangle. This example uses code in the plotrix package for R, but you could also use this pythonapproach.
Sample Plot: Soil Textural Triangle: pipette values are in red, granulometer values are in blue. Line segments connect corresponding observations.
Chances are, you’ve had cellulitis or know someone who has. The infection is incredibly common, caused by bacteria entering the skin thanks to a simple cut, a case of athlete’s foot or a skin condition like eczema. It usually shows up on the feet and lower legs, but it can affect other parts of the body. While it’s easily treated if caught early, it always pays to be proactive. We asked the experts for the lowdown on cellulitis and how to combat it so you can keep your feet healthy.
Cellulitis is a skin infection caused by a break in the skin such as a scratch or a cut, which then allows bacteria to enter. The infection causes the skin to swell, and turn red, tender and warm to the touch. Cellulitis can be minor or severe depending on the breed of bacteria that’s involved (usually staphylococcus or streptococcus), but almost everyone experiences that kind of inflammation.
“Someone with athlete’s foot may already have bacterial contamination of the toes. A simple scratch or small cut on the foot will then allow easy passage of bacteria into the skin surface,” he tells SheKnows.
While cellulitis isn’t contagious, it can quickly spread to the lymph nodes, bloodstream or other parts of the body if left untreated.