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Fans hold up signs in support of the Los Angeles Clippers before Game 5. |
Basketball’s summary ouster of Donald Sterling for his viral racist harangue is yet more proof — as if any were needed — that race remains the essential fault line in the American experience, even (or perhaps especially) in the age of Barack Obama. |
But the National Basketball Association’s decision to ban the cranky L.A. Clippers owner from the game till death is also fresh evidence that the major commercial institutions of national life — whether the NBA or Fox News — find racist sentiment, overtly expressed, instantly and intolerably bad for business. |
Just as Sean Hannity and other media defenders of Cliven Bundy, the embattled Nevada rancher locked in quixotic standoff with the Bureau of Land Management, dropped him cold after he allowed that blacks might have been “better off as slaves,” so the NBA abandoned Sterling, whose benighted views on race have been the su... |
Sterling’s tasteless tirade was beyond the pale, and not just because three-quarters of the NBA’s players and a sizable percentage of its fan base are black — or even because the Clippers’ guard Chris Paul heads the players union. Sterling had the audacity to despoil the league’s season playoffs and to threaten one of ... |
It was no accident that Sterling’s comments were the centerpiece of TMZ’s newly launched sports-oriented niche — part of its effort to cash in on a market that is richer and more lucrative than ever. |
In one particularly notable exchange in April 1964, Sens. Strom Thurmond (D-S.C.) and Russell Long (D-La.) mused aloud about whether it was inhumane to use cattle prods on civil rights demonstrators. |
No sanctions, no fines, no lifetime bans — not even from their dismayed colleagues — chastened Thurmond or Long, who continued to win reelection and hold positions of great power for years to come. |
A schoolboy from India suffers from a rare condition known as 'werewolf syndrome' which has left his entire face blanketed in hair. |
Lalit Patidar, aged 13 from Ratlam in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, was born with hypertrichosis. |
The condition causes abnormal amounts of hair growth on a person's face, arms and other parts of their body. |
Despite his condition, Lalit says he lives a happy life and dreams of one day supporting his parents by becoming a policeman. |
There are various types of hypertrichosis, with the congenital (present from birth) form of it the rarest. |
It is not known how many people suffer from this type of the bizarre disorder but estimates online suggest only around 50 people have ever been diagnosed. |
Short, fine hairs are generally associated with the condition and can grow to be up to 5cm long. |
Children affected by genetic hypertrichosis are believed to inherit it, although it may come from a parent who doesn't have the condition themselves. |
Other more common forms of the disorder may develop later on in a person's life. |
Outlays for U.S. construction projects inched up 0.1% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.27 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected growth of 0.3%, compared with an unchanged reading in January. Spending on public construction projects dropped... |
The weeks prior to graduation day are exhilarating and active. Despite the overwhelming excitement, many graduating students feel emotionally and physically exhausted with the duties that need to be completed before May 20. |
Normally, the word stress wouldn’t be associated with the sentence “I’m done with college,” but this is 2011 — things have changed. |
When I decided to major in mass communication and journalism in 2006, the California economic crisis was non-existent. My dream was to become the next Barbara Walters or Katie Couric — a successful on-air personality. After the California economic crisis was declared a few years later, my broadcast courses started focu... |
Students in my field of study have to know how to operate a video camera, organize story ideas, edit video, write a script and be an on-air personality. Due to the economic crisis, most broadcast stations want to employ someone who can do it all. This put more stress on my shoulders, but I took courses with talented pr... |
I started searching for a journalism career on the Internet last month. I found several open positions that I had all the qualifications for, expect one — five or more years of prior experience. |
My dream career of being an entertainment reporter for E! News requires far more knowledge and experience than my degree embodies. |
Similar to most people trying to find their dream career after graduation, I have to work my way up the ladder. If I have to move to Wichita, Kansas to be a weekend assignment editor at a small-sized broadcast station, then so be it. |
Although going the extra mile during a period when time is essential, graduates earned the opportunity to make college graduation day standout. We spent four years, five or more for some students, busting our brains and giving up our social lives for this one day. |
Students graduating from college means finding a career that will help pave the way to a successful future. It’s time to put that degree to work, and to make the most of the tuition money spent over the past several years. |
Bogota, Colombia -- Colombian authorities have blamed the only rebel group still operating in the country for a brazen car bombing at a police academy in Bogota that has left more than 20 people dead. The attack has rattled residents and raised tough questions about lingering security threats in the wake of a peace dea... |
It proved especially unsettling because the target, the General Santander school, is one of the most protected installations in the capital and indications it may have been the result of a suicide bombing -- something unprecedented in decades of political violence in the Andean nation. |
President Ivan Duque, visiting the academy in the aftermath, said the "terrorists are looking to intimidate us as a society and attack the state." |
On Friday, Colombia's defense minister said rebels from the National Liberation Army, or ELN, were behind the deadly car bombing. |
In a televised address, Duque declared three days of mourning and said Colombia would, "demonstrate that it is a strong state, united and won't break in the face of the dementia of these aggressions." |
Little is known about Rojas. Records show he bought the car last year and had it inspected six months ago in the eastern city of Arauca, near the border with Venezuela. The volatile area is a stronghold of the ELN, the country's last remaining rebel group following a 2016 accord between the government and the Revolutio... |
Investigators were looking into Rojas' ties with the rebel group after reports -- so far unconfirmed -- that he was a longtime explosives expert for an ELN cell who went by the alias Mocho Kiko. |
Chief Prosecutor Nestor Martinez said Rojas drove a 1993 Nissan pick-up loaded with 175 pounds of pentolite explosive past a security checkpoint and onto the school's leafy campus, where a start-of-the-year honor ceremony had just finished. |
But until now the Cuban-inspired group, which is believed to have around 1,500 guerrilla fighters, has never been capable or much interested in carrying out such a high profile act of violence. Thursday's attack was the deadliest since a 2003 car bombing against the elite Bogota social club El Nogal that left 36 dead, ... |
Amid the tragedy there was an outpouring of solidary. |
COLUMBIA (AP) — A decade ago, it was still illegal in South Carolina to sell specialty beers with a higher alcohol content than a Budweiser. But a succession of pro-craft-beer laws has created a booming brewery business in this Bible Belt state. |
"We've certainly come a long way. There's never been a better time to be a brewer in South Carolina than right now," said Brook Bristow, director of the South Carolina Brewers Guild. |
Since 2007, the craft brewery industry has grown from just a few to more than 50 statewide, with the heaviest concentration in the Charleston region. |
In 2016, South Carolina's breweries produced 101,200 barrels of beer collectively and pumped an estimated $650 million into the state's economy, according to the Colorado-based Brewers Association. |
Tom Davis, co-owner of Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville, called the 2007 law a "game changer." |
Lifting the 6 percent alcohol-by-volume cap on beer "started the trend of South Carolina embracing craft beer," said Davis, whose business celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Previously, Davis could make higher-octane beer but couldn't sell it anywhere in the state. |
That "Pop the Cap" effort was followed by a 2010 law that allowed limited on-site sampling of breweries' concoctions — 2-to-4 ounces per sample, depending on the alcohol content, of up to four brands — provided customers first took a tour. It also allowed each customer to buy up to a case of beer to go. |
At the time, there were five craft breweries statewide. |
Advocates sold the changes as a way to increase brewers' sales while boosting tourism — potentially making South Carolina a travel destination for beer connoisseurs, akin to wine enthusiasts trekking to Napa Valley, California. |
But it wasn't until after the 2013 "pint law" allowed customers to buy up to three pints on-site that the industry really got brewing. The following year, legislators allowed breweries to sell food, too. |
"Before, while South Carolina had a great tourism industry, it was not for beer," Bristow said. "Now that has changed completely. It is a big-time industry here." |
Davis said the laws have increased Thomas Creek Brewery's sales and brought an influx of group tours, as well as customers who come to fill their growlers or grab a case. |
The laws have also changed where breweries locate, as well as how they build and operate, said Davis, whose beer is sold in seven states. |
"When we opened up, our only avenue for revenue was outside our doors. We were just looking for warehouse space. We had to build a tap room out of something we didn't have," he said. "Now breweries are opening with the intent to sell onsite, building them like restaurants. ... It becomes about location, location, locat... |
Freehouse Brewery opened along the Ashley River in North Charleston in 2013 as legislators debated the pint law. |
"We were going for it either way," but the changes certainly helped, said co-owner Arthur Lucas. A busy week can bring hundreds of tourists, he said. |
Freehouse's beer sales have increased five-fold since 2013, largely from onsite sales. The brewery didn't start canning its certified organic beer for grocery stores until last summer. Plans for 2018 include a major expansion of the tap room, with screen porches where customers can hang out and enjoy the riverside view... |
"When people are deciding where to visit, it used to be good enough to just be a brewery," Lucas said. "Now, with the competition, people are spending millions on beautiful tap rooms." |
State Sen. Sean Bennett, a sponsor of several pro-craft-beer laws, said the industry has grown even faster than he expected. |
Bennett, R-Summerville, said his own "affinity for craft beers" made him an advocate of the brew masters he met. |
"It was really pretty cool to watch," he said. "These are true American entrepreneurs ... excited about the companies they've built, but yet running headfirst into big brother governmental regulations that made little sense to those entrepreneurs." |
Laws passed last year, which Bennett sponsored, allowed breweries to participate in nonprofit events and let breweries sell liquor. The latter essentially erased the distinction between a brewery and a brewpub, such as Edmund's Oast in Charleston, which, as a brewpub, couldn't sell the beer it made beyond its own doors... |
Despite the growth, South Carolina's brewery industry remains far behind North Carolina's, where 200 craft breweries produced 1.3 million barrels of beer in 2016, according to the national Brewers Association. It ranks North Carolina fifth nationwide in craft beer production, while South Carolina is ranked 34th. |
South Carolina brewery owners say the biggest remaining difference is that North Carolina has cut out the middle man, allowing small breweries to sell directly to grocery stores and restaurants. In South Carolina, state law mandates a three-tiered system involving distributors. |
Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, a co-sponsor of the 2013 pint law, said he's heard grumblings about the distributor requirements and how that potentially inflates customers' costs, but changing that could be very difficult. |
Bennett said he's open to the idea, but he also understands distributors' resistance to change. |
They've "invested millions in capital to operate in the business they were told to operate under," he said. "I get the desire for an open system, but we can't change everything overnight." |
Longtime president says he quit to let citizens 'take Algeria to the better future they aspire to'. |
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned with immediate effect, according to state media, ceding power in the face of massive street protests against his 20-year rule. |
The ailing, 82-year-old leader announced he was stepping down in a letter published by APS news agency on Tuesday, just hours after the army chief demanded immediate action to remove him from office. |
"My intention ... is to contribute to calming down the souls and minds of the citizens so that they can collectively take Algeria to the better future they aspire to," Bouteflika said in the letter to the president of the Constitutional Council. |
"I have made this decision to avoid and prevent the arguments which distort, unfortunately, the current situation, and avoid its turning into serious skirmishes, to ensure the protection of persons and property," he added. |
The announcement prompted celebrations in Algeria's capital, Algiers, with hundreds of people singing songs and waving flags in front of the city's central post office. |
"This is a victory for my country," said 25-year-old Kamel, who only gave his first name. "We now want the rest of the old guard to leave, we also want the corrupt businessmen to be judged. We have won one political battle, not yet the war." |
Translation: "President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, officially notified the president of the constitutional council his decision to end his mandate as president of the Republic." |
The anti-Bouteflika protests broke out in late February when the longtime president, who has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, announced a plan to seek a fifth term in elections scheduled for April. |
Hundreds of thousands of people, for several weeks, took to the streets of Algiers and other major cities calling for the president's resignation. |
On March 11, Bouteflika sought to defuse the unrest by abandoning his re-election bid. However, he delayed the presidential vote indefinitely and announced he would only step down once a new constitution had been passed and a successor had been elected. |
But public anger continued to mount, prompting key allies to abandon the president. |
Ahmed Gaid Salah, the army's chief of staff, last week called for Bouteflika to be declared unfit to rule, and on Monday, the embattled leader said he would quit before the end of his term on April 28. |
On Tuesday, Salah again reiterated his demand for impeachment proceedings, saying: "There is no more room to waste time." |
He added: "We decided clearly ... to stand with the people so all their demands get fulfilled." |
Pressure had been building during the day on Tuesday with opposition groups demanding Bouteflika go immediately, while hundreds of students marched through Algiers to demand to the replacement of a political system widely seen as incapable of significant reform. |
Bouteflika's resignation will put his ally, Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of the upper house of parliament, in charge as caretaker president for 90 days until elections are held. |
Nazim Taleb of the opposition Rachab movement, speaking to Al Jazeera from Algiers, said a transitional council was necessary to pave the way for a free and fair election in the country. |
"Bensalah and the army will not facilitate a free election. Bouteflika's most trusted people are still part of the system. They don't want a free election because they might end up in jail," he said. |
The Algerian people "want oversight of the election, to control the process so there can be a fair vote that reflects the people's will," Taleb said, adding that the Rachab movement was open to including representatives of the army in any transitional body. |
Francis Ghiles, researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, said such an interim council should include elderly statesmen who "have historical legitimacy" as well as "younger members of society, such as human rights lawyers, to create a transitional administration that is credible in the eyes of the m... |
He said Algeria lacked an organised opposition because Bouteflika had "smashed every bit of opposition or bought them out". |
"The great challenge for Algeria is to organise this transition, bearing in mind there are no strong well-constituted parties," Ghiles told Al Jazeera from the Spanish capital, Madrid. |
Meanwhile, Benjamin Brower, a historian at the University of Texas, said he feared Salah, the army chief, was positioning himself to take control of Algeria. |
"He precipitated Bouteflika's resignation today with a speech that he gave earlier in the day calling for an immediate step down of the president," Brower told Al Jazeera. |
"I think that's a person who wants to see himself in some kind of power. But I think the question is whether that's ratified by the demonstrators in the street who have an immense energy and momentum moving into this after six weeks of demonstrations where they've really driven the political events forward in a way tha... |
In Algiers, 65-year-old Halima said she intended to continue to protest until Bouteflika's allies also stepped down. |
"We are turning a page in Algeria's history," she told Al Jazeera. |
"Bouteflika's removal is not enough. We want all the veterans to leave ... It is now time for a new generation of leaders to take over." |
Djamila Ould Khettab contributed in this report from Algiers. |
The Indian Navy sailboat INSV Tarini left New Zealand on Tuesday for the next leg of its journey towards Falkland Islands, after completing the second leg of its circumnavigation voyage, an official statement said. Tarini, with its all-women team of Indian Naval officers, had arrived in New Zealand on November 29. |
During their stay in the port of Lyttelton, the team members interacted with a wide range of stakeholders during the welcome reception hosted by the High Commission on November 30. It was attended by about 100 distinguished guests, including members of Parliament, state officials, businessmen, academicians, leaders fro... |
INSV Tarini was open to visitors at Lyttelton Port of Christchurch on December 3. Nearly 200 visitors, from all walks of life, visited the vessel and interacted with the crew. |
The crew was also welcomed by the city of Christchurch during the traditional festive march, known as the 'Santa Parade'. More than 200 school children attended a presentation and interaction session with the crew at Prebbleton School on December 5. |
The all-women team also visited the Naval Point Yacht Club, Canterbury and Ara Institute, New Zealand, where a presentation on 'Navika Sagar Parikrama' was given to the audience. |
The crew visited the traditional Maori cultural centre, 'Rehua Marae', during the port stay and also had a trip to few tourist places near Christchurch, including Hanmer hot springs and the French harbour, Akaroa. |
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