House votes to overturn Obama immigration actions, bill heads to Senate - VIDEO: White House blasts move to block Obama"s immigration action

The Republican-led House voted Wednesday to overturn President Obama’s immigration actions from last November — and to unravel a directive from 2012 protecting immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children — sending the bill to the Senate where it faces an uncertain fate. 

The House voted 236-191 to approve the legislation, which funds the Homeland Security Department through the rest of the budget year to the tune of $40 billion. But as part of that bill, Republicans added provisions to gut the president’s immigration directives. 

Despite deep Democratic opposition, the House voted 237-190 on an amendment to undo the actions Obama announced in November that provide temporary deportation relief, and offer work permits, to some 4 million illegal immigrants. 

Another amendment would cancel Obama’s 2012 policy that’s granted work permits and stays of deportation to more than 600,000 immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as kids. That measure passed more narrowly, 218-209, as more than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats in opposition. 

Republicans say Obama’s moves amounted to an unconstitutional overreach that must be stopped. 

“We do not take this action lightly, but simply there is no alternative,” House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday. “It’s not a dispute between the parties or even between the branches of our government. This executive overreach is an affront to the rule of law and to the Constitution itself.” 

But as the White House threatened a veto, Democratic leaders claimed the GOP provisions would hurt immigrant families — and ultimately hurt Republicans politically. 

“The amendments … that the Republicans are tacking onto the bill, or at least trying to tack onto the bill, to keep the Department of Homeland Security open are inconsistent with our nation’s values and its history. They would tear families apart,” House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. 

Even with Republicans in control of the Senate the bill faces tough chances there, especially because House GOP leaders decided to satisfy demands from conservative members by including a vote to undo the 2012 policy that deals with younger immigrants known as “Dreamers.” The amendment, which is opposed by some of the more moderate Republicans in the House, would ultimately expose those young people to deportation. 

Security-minded lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also are worried about using the DHS funding bill to wage the immigration fight, saying security funding should not be put at risk, particularly in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. Current DHS funding expires at the end of next month. 

In the Senate, Republicans would have to rally a 60-vote majority to advance the legislation, and they have only 54 members. 

With even some Republicans voicing reservations, the Senate may have to strip out the immigration provisions and send a straight DHS funding bill back to the House, as the Feb. 27 deadline looms. 

This, then, could set up another fight between GOP leadership and the conservative reaches of the party. 

One senior House GOP aide told Fox News, “I don’t know how this one ends.” 

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, in a written statement, said the bill would not pass the Senate. “Republicans have only been in control for a week and already they are picking an unnecessary political fight that risks shutting down the Department of Homeland Security and endangering our security,” he said, urging Republicans to pass a “clean” funding bill.

Some House Republicans acknowledged that the Senate is likely to reject their approach. 

“They’re not going to pass this bill,” Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said in predicting the Senate outcome. 

Obama has threatened to veto the House bill, and Democrats roundly denounced it, even as immigrant advocates warned Republicans they risked alienating Latino voters who will be crucial to the 2016 presidential election. 

“Just two weeks into this new Congress, Republicans have turned a bipartisan issue, funding our Department of Homeland Security, into a cesspool of despicable amendments that cater to the most extremist anti-immigrant fringe,” Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said in a House debate. 

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View the original article here

House votes to overturn Obama immigration actions, bill heads to Senate - VIDEO: White House blasts move to block Obama"s immigration action

Union in Trinidad warns of protest action

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad

The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) Monday warned that it could not guarantee industrial peace and stability in Trinidad and Tobago as it accused the government of frustrating efforts to settle outstanding wage negotiations at several state agencies.

“If we cannot get settlement on the bargaining table we are prepared to initiate legal strike action. We are prepared to have total withdrawal of enthusiasm in areas where we do not have that option,” OWTU president Ancel Roget told reports, adding “in other words we cannot guarantee industrial peace and stability, the prerequisite for our economy’s development and growth”.

Roget said that the union would embark on the industrial action “unless we have all of these issues resolved” naming a number of state agencies where negotiations are not completed.

“Most of them expired…rolling over into the new period and some of them just about approaching time to be expired. That is unacceptable,” Roget said, accusing the government of continuing to mislead the country in indicating that 85 matters had been successfully negotiated.

Roget, who is leading union workers ina demonstration outside the office of the finance minister, said that only after workers take to the streets the government acts.

“I wish to reiterate the point that they mislead the country by boasting about the settlement of some 85 negotiations. Every time they talk about it the numbers go up and when you call for them to identify them they can’t identify those negotiations.

“But I wish to say that the settlement of the negotiations that broke the five per cent cap only came about as a result of workers pounding the pavements throughout the streets of Trinidad and Tobago.

“It took a threat of a national strike to break that five per cent cap. They (the government) did not give up anything,” he said, noting that in his delivery of the 2014-15 national budget, Finance Minister Larry Howai spoke of an estimated TT$60 billion (US$9.6 billion) in revenue.

— CMC

View the original article here

Union in Trinidad warns of protest action

All talk, no action - Blindness prevents master"s degree holder Wilbert Harvey from gaining employment

Contributed

Wilbert Harvey was born blind.

Social worker Wilbert Harvey may have been born blind, but he has a clear vision of a future of equal rights for persons with special needs in Jamaica.

With both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work, he is qualified to take on corporate Jamaica. However, according to the 30-year-old, his biggest difficulty has not been living with his disability, but the inability of others to offer equal opportunities.

Since his graduation from the master’s programme at the University of the West Indies, Harvey has not been able to obtain a full-time job.

Gap between the rhetoric and action

He said: “One of the biggest challenges has been the barriers created by society in terms of discrimination, based on ignorance. My story is not an individualistic one either. Various stakeholders, the Government and business entities, in keeping with the global inclusive approach, say they are on board with special needs – that they welcome people like me – but there is a significant gap between the rhetoric and action.”

Harvey said persons with special needs are increasingly ensuring that they are qualified to compete in the corporate world and yet their skills are being underutilised. “I know of one colleague who has been job hunting for more than 20 years and has resorted to other studies as a means of keeping occupied,” he said. “We all have obligations in this society and I just want to highlight this situation and to make an appeal for people like myself not to be boxed into a corner.”

Harvey is considering participating in the upcoming Digicel Foundation 5K Run/Walk which is geared at generating contributions for various special-needs institutions across the island. Taking place on October 11, the 5K Run/Walk is one of the many platforms that Digicel Foundation has utilised to assist those with special needs. Persons interested in participating may register at www.runningeventsja.com.

View the original article here

All talk, no action - Blindness prevents master"s degree holder Wilbert Harvey from gaining employment

Experts call for international action as greenhouse gas levels hit record high

GENEVA, Switzerland, Friday September 12, 2014 – A surge in the level of carbon dioxide drove greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere to a record high last year, a recent study claims.

Scientists say carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations grew at the fastest year-to-year rate since reliable global records began in 1984 and have called for international action to combat climate change.

The volume of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, was 396 parts per million (ppm) in 2013 – a 2.9 ppm increase over 2012.

The second most important greenhouse gas, methane, reached a global average of 1824 parts per billion (ppb), increasing at a similar rate as the last five years, while nitrous oxide, the other principal contributor, reached 325.9 ppb, growing at a rate comparable to the average over the past decade.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), greenhouse gas emissions are rising mainly due to industrial growth in China, India and other emerging economy nations.

The rise in CO2 levels is now outpacing fossil fuel use, moreover, which suggests that the planet’s natural ability to absorb emissions of the gas may be slowing.

The biosphere, which includes plants, soil, and the oceans, absorbs around a quarter of man-made CO2 emissions.

If the absorption level drops, more of the planet-warming gas will stay in the atmosphere, where it can remain for centuries.

“We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels,” WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud told a news conference.

“It may be due to the reduced uptake of CO2 by the biosphere. If that is confirmed, it is of significant concern.”

WMO experts noted that the ocean is getting rapidly more acidic, impairing its ability to absorb carbon dioxide and the rate of ocean acidification is unprecedented at least over the past 300 million years.

According to WMO scientific officer Oksana Tarasova: “The total change of ocean acidity since pre-industrial (times) is 25 percent, and six percent was done within the last 10 years.”

The longer fossil fuel use grows, the harder it will be to reverse the warming effect, so even if human-made carbon emissions fall by 80 percent by 2050, the total warming effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will have barely receded by 2100 the WMO said.

As Jarraud explained: “Past, present and future CO2 emissions will have a cumulative impact on both global warming and ocean acidification. The laws of physics are non-negotiable. We are running out of time.”
Representatives of about 200 governments will meet at a summit in Paris next year to work out a deal to limit global warming.

The aim is to keep global warming within 2°C above pre-industrial times, a goal that was set by the UN in 2010.

If this could be achieved, it would “give our planet a chance and our children and grandchildren a future,” said Jarraud.

Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)

View the original article here

Experts call for international action as greenhouse gas levels hit record high

OECS adopts action plan for labour needs assessment survey

Sean Mathurin -coordinator OECS Labour Market Information Systems programme

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Thursday July 17, 2014, CMC – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) sub-region has adopted a plan of action for the successful piloting of a region-wide Labour Needs Assessment Survey in 2014.

The plan was devised at a recent meeting of Directors of Statistics from the sub-region in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

The two-day seminar also facilitated the piloting of the OECS wide Labour Needs Assessment Survey.

The survey will also evaluate difficulties encountered by employers in filling job vacancies.

Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)

Sean Mathurin, coordinator for the OECS Labour Market Information Systems programme expects the survey results to provide detailed information on job creation based on the rationale, industry and occupation as well as difficulties employers have with finding suitable labour.

“The OECS Commission also values such information as critical for policy makers in macro-economic planning and investment as well as for human resource strategies.

“Social planners also need this information for finalising technical/vocational training and the provision of services to employers and job seekers,” Mathurin noted.

The OECS-wide Labour Needs Assessment Survey, a component of the OECS Labour Market Information Systems Programme will also produce information on demand flows of labour and unfilled vacancies.

View the original article here

OECS adopts action plan for labour needs assessment survey

Ellington contemplating legal action

Police Commissioner Owen Ellington is reportedly contemplating legal action to protect his reputation, in response to recent news reports that he regards as damaging and without basis.

Howard Mitchell, a spokesman for the Commissioner, told  RJR’s Earl Moxam, on Monday that some of these reports, including one in the Gleaner newspaper on Monday, were very troubling.

“We are concerned about it because it is reputational damage to a man who has dedicated his life to the particular profession that he’s in… The logic of it is that similar to somebody saying that because the Pope of the Catholic Church has a friend who participated in sexual abuse of little boys, that he may be implicated. There is absolutely no logical connection!”

Pressed as to whether the Police Commissioner was denying any such connection or inference, Mitchell, an attorney by training, responded “categorically,” that Mr. Ellington was “denying any inference, in respect of the publication in the newspaper, any knowledge of, any dealings with or any relationship to the particular incident that has been alleged.

Mr. Ellington surprisingly announced his early retirement last week, citing his desire to remove himself from the command of the police force while the Commission of Inquiry into the 2010 Tivoli incursion is being held, and the trial of police officers accused of being part of a “death squad” is taking place.

It has subsequently emerged that the Commissioner might have acted in response to pressure from foreign governments, particularly the United States, for him to demit office because he was in the charge of the police during the Tivoli operations and during the emergence of allegations that there has been an organised programme of extra judicial killings by the police in the Central Jamaica parish of Clarendon.

It has further emerged that the US Government might have imposed a limited arms embargo on Jamaica, under the provisions of the Leahy Law.

View the original article here

Ellington contemplating legal action

Couples in Action group treats seniors

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 03, 2014    

The Hampton Court and Port Morant Circuit of Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Thomas have not only sought to meet the spiritual needs of its members, but also the physical, as was evident through a dinner reception held recently to honour several senior citizens.

Some 38 senior citizens were treated to fine dining courtesy of the Couples in Action group, which is a ministry of the Family Life Department — a first for many of these rural folks.

“We went all-out to ensure an elegant ambience and some persons have said it is the first they were treated to such fanfare and elegance,” Murlenia Whyte Stephenson, assistant president of Couples in Action, told the Jamaica Observer North East.

Whyte Stephenson explained that the idea to establish a couples group four years ago was the brainchild of Pastor Titmus Morgan and his wife Kerry-Ann.

Since then, the couples ministry has been engaging in various ventures to help others. They include distribution of grocery baskets to the less fortunate, being a tower of strength to persons who have lost loved ones, and bringing souls to God.

“As our motto states, ‘Fostering healthy, happy Christian homes’, we sought to spend time not only in church activities but also in social gathering where we are able to relax and enjoy nature,” she said.

The decision, Whyte Stephenson said, was however taken to host the three-course dinner for some of the senior citizens as this year’s major project.

Although 38 persons were feted, Whyte Stephenson said the next staging of the event will be bigger so as to include many more persons. This as they could only afford to invite a few representatives of the respective churches in Bath, Port Morant, Rowlands Fields, Arcadia, Wheelerfield and Hampton Court in the parish.

The senior citizens in attendance included two visually impaired persons who were delighted to have been a part of such an occasion.

“One sister was ill and was feeling left out but she said whenever she is alone at home feeling down, she will always remember that the church cares about her,” Whyte Stephenson said.

President of Couples in Action Lucan Turner said the occasion was also used to recognise the contribution made by some of these elderly members to the Adventist church over the years. Church stalwarts Lenard Sinclair, Enid Smith, Vivia Smith, Winifred Bromwell, Petrona Henry, Carmen Eccleston, Ella Brown, Hyacinth Melbourne, and Ronald Morgan were all presented with certificates of appreciation.

“Many of these persons were giving over the years and this was the first time they were getting anything in return, and so we made an impact on them that we didn’t even realise,” Turner said.

Guest speaker for the event was Verona O’Conner, who spoke on the topic “Ageing with Dignity.”

View the original article here

Couples in Action group treats seniors

Action surges in Western Confederation Super League

PAUL A REID OBSERVER WRITER

Tuesday, January 28, 2014    

PITFOUR, St James — Tomorrow’s People, last season’s mid-season champions and defending champions Wadadah FC will this afternoon seek wins that will bolster their hopes for a place in the mid-season final of the Jamaica Football Federation’s Captain’s Bakery and Grill/Charley’s JB Rum Western Confederation Super League.

Tomorrow’s People who have scored 17 goals from their last four games, all wins, are in fifth place on 17 points and are facing a tough Granville United team in Pitfour where a victory would give them second place on goal difference over Savannah SC.

Wadadah FC’s three-game winning streak was snapped by Granville United last Wednesday but they are still in the running for a mid-season place and have an easier task when they take on a slumping Montego Bay Boys Club at the UDC Field. The champions are on 15 points and don’t control their own destiny as far as the mid-season race is concerned.

The race was thrown wide open on Sunday after leaders Reno FC and then second placed Sandals Whitehouse both suffered 2-1 upset losses to Savannah SC and Holland United respectively.

Despite losing at Frome for the first time in two seasons, Reno FC still lead with 22 points, two more than Savannah SC, with Sandals Whitehouse-18, Tomorrow’s People-17 and Holland-16 points behind them.

Over the past two seasons Granville United and Tomorrow’s People have met three times in the regular season and both have won once with the other game ending in a 1-1 draw and another close contest is expected.

As they proved when they beat Wadadah FC 2-0 last week and earlier when they stopped Reno 3-2, Granville are not to be discounted and despite being out of the mid-season finals race are still a formidable opponent for any team on any given day.

Wadadah FC should bounce back from their loss against a Boys Club team still seeking their first win for 2014.

On Sunday, Savannah SC, champions two years ago, won back-to-back games for the second time with a big come-from-behind victory over Reno who were threatening to run away from the field.

Denmark Gillings scored his joint league leading ninth goal in the 12th minute to give Reno the lead but Shamar Bernard brought the ‘home’ team level in the 44th minute just before the half-time break before Shanar Cattan gave them all three points in the 79th minute.

Sandals Whitehouse’s five game win streak also came to a halt when Holland United came from back-to-back losses to win their fourth game of the campaign.

Sandals gifted the home team the lead in the 9th minute with an own goal and Romaine Lewis doubled the advantage in the 14th minute. Tristan Sommerville pulled one back for Sandals in the 65th but that was all they could muster on the day.

View the original article here

Action surges in Western Confederation Super League

Brazil"s universities take affirmative action

28 August 2013 Last updated at 18:53 ET By Julia Carneiro BBC Brasil, Rio de Janeiro Antonio Oliveira has benefited from the “quotas” in the first semester since the law came into effect Twenty-four-year-old Antonio Oliveira was born into a poor, mixed race family in the state of Maranhao in north-east Brazil.

As a teenager he had to balance his time between school and helping his parents harvest vegetables to sell at a farmer’s market, and doing other small jobs to scrape by.

Until recently, he says the only prospects for those growing up in his city, Colinas, were to work with crops or to get a post at the city hall – “a mediocre job that people think is heaven,” as he puts it.

But Antonio has just finished his first term studying Economic Sciences at Rio de Janeiro’s prestigious Federal University (UFRJ), a dream he had nurtured since his days at a rural public school.

His placement represents a radical change in the Brazilian university system.

Competition for places

A new law approved a year ago reserves 50% of spots in Brazil’s federal universities for students coming from public schools, low-income families and who are of African or indigenous descent.

Continue reading the main story

I hope I will get a good job after university and be able to give my parents more comfort as they grow old”

End Quote Antonio Oliveira Student The number of posts reserved for black, mixed race and indigenous students will vary according to the racial make-up of each Brazilian state.

Ten years ago affirmative action gradually started being adopted in both state and federally funded Brazilian universities, in an attempt to give underprivileged Brazilians better chances of getting free higher education – and thus access to better jobs.

Half of Brazil’s population is of African descent, but the country’s public universities tend to reflect the Brazilian upper classes – who are mostly white.

Although these universities are free, those who traditionally made it in usually came from expensive private schools. Students from public education – the majority of whom are black or mixed race – were less likely to secure one of the highly competitive places.

Now the “quotas” are mandatory in all of Brazil’s 59 federal universities, which have until 2016 to reserve half of their positions for affirmative action.

Controversial issue Antonio Freitas says the country is moving backwards with the quota policies

“I think this is a life-changing opportunity,” says Antonio. “I hope I will get a good job after university and be able to give my parents more comfort as they grow old.”

But racial quotas have sparked widespread controversy in Brazil. Many who are against them argue that easing access to higher education denies the principle of merit that brings excellence to universities.

“This is bad for the future of Brazil, because the main objective of universities is research, is to achieve quality,” says Antonio Freitas, provost of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a prestigious private university.

“Eventually you may not have the most qualified people in engineering, in medical school, in the most challenging areas which Brazil needs to develop.”

Mr Freitas says Brazil is trying to solve a problem artificially. Instead of giving everyone good basic education, and thus conditions to compete as equals, the government is “trying to force students without preparation into university”.

Quota critics also argue that Brazil has never before had public policies based on race and that this establishes divisions in society. They say that promoting these policies would contradict Brazil’s national identity, where most of the population is mixed race.

Slavery legacy Continue reading the main story

Quota students have a new opportunity, and they grasp it and study like crazy”

End Quote Ricardo Vieiralves Rector, State University of Rio de Janeiro Before the Quotas Law was introduced for federal universities, the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) was a pioneer of affirmative action.

After 10 years, rector Ricardo Vieiralves says their experience challenges critics’ arguments and says the quotas programme has been successful.

He says there are fewer dropouts among students admitted through quotas, and they are the ones who graduate the fastest.

“They have lower grades in the beginning but are level with the others by the middle of the course and sometimes excel non-quota students in the end.”

Mr Vieiralves says Brazil was unprepared for the abolition of slavery, which came to an end 125 years ago but its legacy has impacted generations of Brazilians of African descent and left deep racial inequality within the country’s society.

“Brazilian studies always showed that poor and black people did not make it into higher education. University was a place for the elites.

“Quota students have a new opportunity, and they grasp it and study like crazy,” says Mr Vieiralves.

Breaking expectations Continue reading the main story Brazil has almost 200 million residents, around half of whom are black or mixed raceIn 2012 the average income of a white worker in Brazil’s six main state capitals was 2,237 reias a month; for a person of African descent it was 1,255 reiasIn 1997, the rate of black or mixed race students aged 18-24 attending universities in Brazil was 2.2%. Last year it was 11%Since the Quotas Law was introduced, the number of posts reserved in federal universities for underprivileged Brazilians has doubled from 30,000 to 60,000

Sources: Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and Group of Multidisciplinary Studies of Affirmative Action (IESP/UERJ)

In Brazil, poverty and a darker skin colour often coincide. On average, black or mixed race people earn little over half of what white Brazilians do.

Those of African descent spend on average two fewer years at school than the country’s white population. With less education, many African-Brazilians only manage to get basic jobs.

Joao Feres Jr, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, says it is “undeniable” that there is still racial discrimination in Brazil. He believes quotas are necessary not only to level inequalities but also to challenge expectations.

“You grow up in a society where you never see a black person in a position of power or high status, so you learn to associate black people [with] menial jobs, [with] low paid-jobs.

“Even people who are not actively prejudiced build up this kind of expectation,” he says. “I think the affirmative action breaks with that.”

University ‘gap’

But even as the university system tries to level the playing field, the Brazilian job market still largely reflects the white elite.

Less than 30% of Brazil’s employers are black or mixed race. But some companies are trying to change the make-up of their workforce.

IBM is one of them. Logistics procurement manager Warley Costa is in charge of a human resources group that aims to increase racial diversity at the company in Brazil.

Warley Costa, who is mixed race, is in charge of promoting racial diversity in IBM Brazil

But when the company announces job opportunities, only a small number of Afro-descendents come forward as candidates, he says.

“We see a gap on the university level. There is a small number of black people being prepared to go into university and to fill market positions that are open.”

The company liaises with universities, high schools and institutions linked to Brazilian black communities to attract and better prepare candidates.

“We are trying to support them in order to give them better conditions to fill the job opportunities we have open,” says Mr Costa.

He says the number of black or mixed race employees has been growing by about 3% a year in IBM Brazil, which employs close to 20,000 people.

“Today I can say that we are ok reflecting the Brazilian population inside our team. We have a big diversity here. We don’t have gaps. But we are trying to grow, as much as possible.”

You can hear more on this story on Business Daily on BBC World Service on Friday at 08:30 BST (07:30 GMT) and 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT).

View the original article here

Brazil"s universities take affirmative action

Fake chargers prompt Apple action

6 August 2013 Last updated at 06:15 ET Apple said “safety issues” prompted its trade-in initiative Apple has begun a worldwide programme to replace third-party and counterfeit USB chargers.

The initiative comes after reports that a Chinese woman was electrocuted by a non-Apple charger.

Apple said it would swap third-party chargers for an official replacement on payment of $10 or the equivalent in local currency.

The programme begins on 16 August and will run to 18 October.

In mid-July, Apple said it was investigating reports that a Chinese woman, Ma Ailun, was killed when she answered her iPhone 5 while it was plugged into a wall charger. The third-party charger was later blamed as the cause.

No mention was made of Ms Ma’s death in the blogpost announcing the trade-in programme but Apple said that the initiative was prompted by “safety issues”.

Give serial number

In a related move, Apple has recently updated its Chinese website with information to help people identify fake USB chargers.

Those who want to get an official charger must hand over the third-party device and give the serial number of the iPhone, iPod or iPad it is being used to charge. The $10 or equivalent fee is a discount on the usual price of a charger. In the UK an Apple charger costs about £15.

Owners will only be able to trade in one adapter for each relevant Apple gadget they own. Trade-ins can be made at Apple stores or via authorised service providers.

Apple said that the third-party and fake chargers would be “disposed of in an environmentally friendly way”.

View the original article here

Fake chargers prompt Apple action

VIDEO: Bruce on action heroes and royal baby gifts

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

VIDEO: Bruce on action heroes and royal baby gifts

Twitter action urged after threats

27 July 2013 Last updated at 16:49 ET By Keith Moore BBC News Caroline Criado-Perez: Twitter complaints procedure “completely inadequate”

A petition calling on Twitter to add a “report abuse” button has received thousands of signatures.

It follows a deluge of abuse and rape threats received by Caroline Criado-Perez, who successfully campaigned for women to be included on UK banknotes.

MP Stella Creasy told the BBC she was “furious” Twitter had yet to do anything about Ms Criado-Perez’s abuse.

Twitter UK’s Tony Wang said the company was “testing ways to simplify” reporting abuse.

‘Frequently ignored’

Ms Criado-Perez, who had appeared in the media to campaign for women to feature on banknotes, said the abusive tweets began the day it was announced that author Jane Austen would appear on the newly designed £10 note.

She reported them to the police after receiving “about 50 abusive tweets an hour for about 12 hours” and said she had “stumbled into a nest of men who co-ordinate attacks on women”.

Continue reading the main story

Once again, a social network is at the centre of a storm over hateful and offensive content posted by its own users.

Twitter now faces a tricky dilemma – it has never been keen to police the messages posted by its users, and wants to be seen as a protector of free speech.

If it agrees to campaigners’ demands for a “report abuse” button on every tweet, it will then need to employ an army of monitors to respond to complaints and decide what constitutes abuse.

The company would prefer that threatening tweets were referred to the police, who in the UK have been active in pursuing social media users suspected of breaking the law.

But with a campaign for a boycott on 4 August gathering pace, Twitter will need to show it understands the pressure to make the network a safer and more polite place – and come up with ideas to make that happen.

Ms Criado-Perez, from Rutland, told the BBC she had also tried to contact Twitter’s manager of journalism and news, Mark Luckie, about the rape threats she was receiving, but he did not respond and locked his tweets to become private.

She said the form that allows Twitter users to report abuse was not adequate – particularly when such a high volume of abuse was being received. “Twitter need to be on the side of the victims,” she said.

An online petition has been started in response to the abuse Ms Criado-Perez received calling for Twitter to introduce a “report abuse” button. It had been signed by more than 9,000 people by 15:00 BST on Saturday.

Kim Graham from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, put the petition online at 09:00 BST after seeing abuse that Ms Criado-Perez had been getting. She told the BBC the “report abuse” button was something that came into her mind after finding it was “harder than it should be to report abuse”.

The petition says: “Abuse on Twitter is common; sadly too common. And it frequently goes ignored. We need Twitter to recognise that its current reporting system is below required standards.

“The report abuse button needs to be accompanied by Twitter reviewing the T&C [terms and conditions] on abusive behaviour to reflect an awareness of the complexity of violence against women, and the multiple oppressions women face. It’s time Twitter started protecting its users.”

‘Hate crime’

Ms Criado-Perez’s cause has been supported by other prominent tweeters, including the journalists Caitlin Moran and Suzanne Moore and Independent columnist Owen Jones.

Ms Moran has called for a 24-hour Twitter boycott on 4 August to try to get Twitter to come up with an “anti-troll policy”.

Labour MP Ms Creasy said: “This is not a technology crime – this is a hate crime. If they were doing it on the street, the police would act.”

She told the BBC she had been chasing Twitter for the past 24 hours but they had not yet responded to her.

“I am absolutely furious with Twitter that they are not engaging in this at all,” she said.

A Twitter spokesperson said: “The ability to report individual tweets for abuse is currently available on Twitter for iPhone and we plan to bring this functionality to other platforms, including Android and the web.

“We don’t comment on individual accounts. However, we have rules which people agree to abide by when they sign up to Twitter. We will suspend accounts that once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules.

“We encourage users to report an account for violation of the Twitter rules by using one of our report forms.”

The general manager of Twitter UK, Tony Wang, later tweeted that the company was “testing ways to simplify reporting, e.g. within a Tweet by using the ‘Report Tweet’ button in our iPhone app and on mobile web”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that “officers from Camden have received an allegation regarding comments made via a social network, that was reported on 25 July”.

He added that “inquiries continue” but so far there had been “no arrests”.

There have been some high profile arrests related to celebrities abused on Twitter, including a teenager arrested over the abuse of Great Britain’s Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Guidelines published by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer in June said there should be a “high threshold for prosecution in cases involving communications which may be considered grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false”.

View the original article here

Twitter action urged after threats

Twitter action urged after threats

27 July 2013 Last updated at 16:49 ET By Keith Moore BBC News Caroline Criado-Perez: Twitter complaints procedure “completely inadequate”

A petition calling on Twitter to add a “report abuse” button has received thousands of signatures.

It follows a deluge of abuse and rape threats received by Caroline Criado-Perez, who successfully campaigned for women to be included on UK banknotes.

MP Stella Creasy told the BBC she was “furious” Twitter had yet to do anything about Ms Criado-Perez’s abuse.

Twitter UK’s Tony Wang said the company was “testing ways to simplify” reporting abuse.

‘Frequently ignored’

Ms Criado-Perez, who had appeared in the media to campaign for women to feature on banknotes, said the abusive tweets began the day it was announced that author Jane Austen would appear on the newly designed £10 note.

She reported them to the police after receiving “about 50 abusive tweets an hour for about 12 hours” and said she had “stumbled into a nest of men who co-ordinate attacks on women”.

Continue reading the main story

Once again, a social network is at the centre of a storm over hateful and offensive content posted by its own users.

Twitter now faces a tricky dilemma – it has never been keen to police the messages posted by its users, and wants to be seen as a protector of free speech.

If it agrees to campaigners’ demands for a “report abuse” button on every tweet, it will then need to employ an army of monitors to respond to complaints and decide what constitutes abuse.

The company would prefer that threatening tweets were referred to the police, who in the UK have been active in pursuing social media users suspected of breaking the law.

But with a campaign for a boycott on 4 August gathering pace, Twitter will need to show it understands the pressure to make the network a safer and more polite place – and come up with ideas to make that happen.

Ms Criado-Perez, from Rutland, told the BBC she had also tried to contact Twitter’s manager of journalism and news, Mark Luckie, about the rape threats she was receiving, but he did not respond and locked his tweets to become private.

She said the form that allows Twitter users to report abuse was not adequate – particularly when such a high volume of abuse was being received. “Twitter need to be on the side of the victims,” she said.

An online petition has been started in response to the abuse Ms Criado-Perez received calling for Twitter to introduce a “report abuse” button. It had been signed by more than 9,000 people by 15:00 BST on Saturday.

Kim Graham from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, put the petition online at 09:00 BST after seeing abuse that Ms Criado-Perez had been getting. She told the BBC the “report abuse” button was something that came into her mind after finding it was “harder than it should be to report abuse”.

The petition says: “Abuse on Twitter is common; sadly too common. And it frequently goes ignored. We need Twitter to recognise that its current reporting system is below required standards.

“The report abuse button needs to be accompanied by Twitter reviewing the T&C [terms and conditions] on abusive behaviour to reflect an awareness of the complexity of violence against women, and the multiple oppressions women face. It’s time Twitter started protecting its users.”

‘Hate crime’

Ms Criado-Perez’s cause has been supported by other prominent tweeters, including the journalists Caitlin Moran and Suzanne Moore and Independent columnist Owen Jones.

Ms Moran has called for a 24-hour Twitter boycott on 4 August to try to get Twitter to come up with an “anti-troll policy”.

Labour MP Ms Creasy said: “This is not a technology crime – this is a hate crime. If they were doing it on the street, the police would act.”

She told the BBC she had been chasing Twitter for the past 24 hours but they had not yet responded to her.

“I am absolutely furious with Twitter that they are not engaging in this at all,” she said.

A Twitter spokesperson said: “The ability to report individual tweets for abuse is currently available on Twitter for iPhone and we plan to bring this functionality to other platforms, including Android and the web.

“We don’t comment on individual accounts. However, we have rules which people agree to abide by when they sign up to Twitter. We will suspend accounts that once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules.

“We encourage users to report an account for violation of the Twitter rules by using one of our report forms.”

The general manager of Twitter UK, Tony Wang, later tweeted that the company was “testing ways to simplify reporting, e.g. within a Tweet by using the ‘Report Tweet’ button in our iPhone app and on mobile web”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that “officers from Camden have received an allegation regarding comments made via a social network, that was reported on 25 July”.

He added that “inquiries continue” but so far there had been “no arrests”.

There have been some high profile arrests related to celebrities abused on Twitter, including a teenager arrested over the abuse of Great Britain’s Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Guidelines published by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer in June said there should be a “high threshold for prosecution in cases involving communications which may be considered grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false”.

View the original article here

Twitter action urged after threats