موسوعة المدونات

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is looking for volunteers to assist in cleaning up sections of the Conway Sandhills on Monday, Aug. 26. Volunteers will assist in cleaning up the beach, knocking down and removing several old shacks and identifying birds. A spokesman for the conservancy said a number of people have already registered for the event but more are needed. The Conway Sandhills are part of a network of ecologically rich sand dunes and wetlands found along the north shore of western P.E.I. This barrier beach system is a part of two important bird areas and critical in the life cycle of many populations of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds and passerines, including the nationally endangered piping plover. There are only 6,000 piping plovers left in the world. The NCC wishes to improve the health of this ecosystem, preserving this habitat and the birds it supports by demolishing and removing these shacks. "This is a chance to contribute to the steward...

UN agencies say the number of children forced to flee Syria has reached one million, describing the figure as "a shameful milestone". The UN's refugee agency and Unicef say a further two million children are displaced within the country. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He has also called for an investigation "without delay" into the recent alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus. Activists say hundreds were killed in Wednesday's attack, and Mr Ban is sending disarmament chief Angela Kane to Damascus to press for an investigation, his spokesman Eduardo del Buey said on Thursday. Russia - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main ally - on Friday urged Syrian rebels to ensure that a UN team already in the country had safe access to the site of the alleged attack. Bridget Kendall investigates how we can interpret the alleged chemical attacks ...

NEW DELHI: The gang rape of a young photojournalist in Mumbai triggered an avalanche of outrage across the country on Friday and condemned as despicable and shameful stirring memories of a similar attack last December in New Delhi that led to nationwide protests . As people from all walks of life voiced their anguish, political parties, media associations and Bollywood were one in demanding harshest punishment to the perpetrators of the crime in a city which is seen as far safer for women than the national capital, The attack also had its echo in Rajya Sabha which erupted in anger with agitated members expressing serious concern over increasing atrocities on women and the government assuring "harshest" action against the culprits. Union law minister Kapil Sibal said sex assaults must be dealt with "in the severest manner". "We cannot afford to let our women and children live in insecurity and must make sure that such attacks against women are dealt...

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A University of California at Riverside co-ed is accused of asking two former boyfriends to kill two other of her ex-boyfriends in a bizarre murder-for-hire plot. Barbara Wu, 22, faces six felony charges including soliciting murder, making terrorist threats and stalking. Wu's attorney, Rajan Maline, told ABC News the charges against his client were baseless. "They have yet to produce one threat of any kind that my client made," he said. "What you're going to see though, is a spurned young person that was very much in love." But one of her former boyfriends, Dennis Lin, testified that Wu asked him during their four-month relationship to abduct another one of her ex-boyfriends in order to kill him. "She asked me to kidnap him, tie him up so she could break his legs with a bat, to motorcycle him and then to somehow kill him and then dispose of the body," he said in Riverside County Superior Court on Friday. Once Wu allegedly asked Li...

A Pennsylvania couple tied the knot this weekend after having only one week to prepare for their wedding to ensure their 2-year-old son, who is dying from a rare disease, would be present to share in the experience. Doctors told Christine Swidorsky and Sean Stevenson that Logan, their little boy, only had weeks to live. The couple had been planning to get married next year, but once they got the dire news from the doctor, they decided to move up the wedding, which took place Saturday in Jeannette, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh. They had the 12-minute ceremony in the backyard of their home. Logan wore a pin-striped suit as he was carried by Swidorsky. "This is our dream come true," said Swidorsky, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Saturday. Sean Stevenson thanked friends and family who donated food and helped out with wedding arrangements so the family could spend much of the day together. "It means the world to me. It means the world to me. We...

اختتمت الدورة الرابعة من مهرجان «أصوات حية» الشعري الذي تستضيفه مدينة سيت (جنوب فرنسا) كل عام على مدى تسعة أيام وليال. وكالعادة، غصّت المدينة بجمهور غفير قدم من مختلف أنحاء فرنسا للمشاركة في هذا المهرجان الذي يُعتبر أكبر تظاهرة شعرية في أوروبا إن على مستوى عدد الشعراء المدعوين أم على مستوى كثافة نشاطاته الشعرية والفنية. هذه السنة، دُعي للمشاركة في المهرجان تسعون شاعراً بينهم 85 شاعراً من دول حوض المتوسط وخمسة شعراء من بلجيكا ودول أميركا اللاتينية. أما النشاطات اليومية فتجاوزت الستين أحياناً وتراوحت بين أداءات وقراءات شعرية، يواكبها في أحيان عزف موسيقي، ونقاشات، في ساعات النهار، وحفلات موسيقية وعروض مسرحية في المساء. نشاطات توزعت على ساحات المدينة وشوارعها الضيقة وحدائقها الخاصة والعامة الخلابة، وطاولت مرفأها ومسرحها البحري ومراكب صياديها. ومثل كل عام، كانت حصة الشعراء العرب المدعوين كبيرة مع ستة وعشرين شاعراً وشاعرة، هم: عباس بيضون وعيسى مخلوف وصلاح ستيتيه (لبنان)، أيمن إغبارية وناصر رباح (فلسطين)، محمد فؤاد ورولا حسن (سورية)، جليل حيدر (العراق)، علي العامري (الأردن)، عبدالمقصود ع...

أفاد مسؤول بارز في الهيئة العليا لتطوير مدينة الرياض أمس بأن تمويل مشروع المترو العملاق الذي تتكلف عقوده 22.5 بليون دولار متوافر لدى الحكومة السعودية، مستبعداً تكهنات بأن تصدر الحكومة صكوكاً لتمويل المشروع كما حدث في مشاريع أخرى. وقال عضو الهيئة رئيس مركز المشاريع والتخطيط فيها إبراهيم السلطان لوكالة «رويترز» إن الحكومة تولي المشروع أهمية كبرى وستعطي الأولوية لتوفير اليد العاملة اللازمة لإنجازه في الوقت المحدد. وبدأت الحكومة السعودية المشروع العملاق الأحد الماضي بمنح عقود لثلاثة ائتلافات تقودها شركات أجنبية من أكبر مصنعي شبكات القطارات في العالم ومنفذيها لتصميم أول شبكة مترو في الرياض وتنفيذها من ضمن مشروع سيستغرق استكماله خمس سنوات. ورداً على سؤال عن صحة تكهنات انتشرت في أسواق المال في شأن احتمال إصدار الحكومة السعودية صكوكاً لتمويل المشروع العملاق، قال السلطان: «عندما جرى الإعلان عن فائض الموازنة العام الماضي أمر خادم الحرمين الشريفين الملك عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز بتخصيص 200 بليون ريال (53.3 بليون دولار) لمشاريع النقل العام. هذا المبلغ موجود لدى مؤسسة النقد العربي السعودي». وأضاف ا...